After a quick stay in Singapore, my six month travelling adventure is over

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My incredible Aussie experience has come to an end. I am now sitting at home in good ol' Milton Ontario, about to write my final blog about the conclusion of my time spent down under. It sure was one of the best experiences of my life! Saying goodbye was pretty difficult. Not only did I have to say good bye to beautiful beach scenery, gelato, and tim tams (delicious chocolate biscuits), I also had to say goodbye to some incredible people, including Rich, an Aussie I had been dating for the past three months.

I couldn't have asked for a better way to celebrate my last night in Australia. It was Canada Day and all our friends came over to the apartment dressed in red and white. Someone had even found tattoos of the Canadian flag, and the guys put them on their necks, joking that they were hickeys from Canadian girls. After some dinner and drinks, we all took the bus into the city, and then a cab to Zachary's, a bar whose Canadian bartender was leaving, and so they too were celebrating Canada Day. The bar was decorated with red and white streamers, all the bartenders were wearing big Canadian flags as capes, and they were serving Canadian Club. It felt so cool to be in Australia, celebrating Canada Day. It was a very good night...until around 1am when people started to leave and say goodbye. As I was a little drunk, and extra emotional that day, I just lost it! I cried a lot that night, so much so, that the next day my eyes were all swollen. Don't get me wrong, I was very excited to come home and see all my family and freinds, but it was hard to say goodbye.

So the next morning, a small group of us went out for brunch, and then Rich drove me to the airport. Saying goodbye to him was more difficult than I had anticipated. But we're staying in touch, and I know I'll always have a great friend in him.

So then my long journey home to Canada began. I had a 7 hour flight to Singapore. I arrived in Singapore around 10pm and took a cab straight to my hotel. Spent the night and then waited in the lobby the next morning for my scheduled 3.5 hour city tour of the city. While I was waiting I met another girl, and Australian named Karen, who was also waiting for the tour. I had an instant friend! The tour was pretty good. It consisted of driving for 10-15 minutes at a time while listening to our tour guide, and then stopping for pictures for about 20 minutes.

Singapore is a pretty country and extremely clean. Chewing gum is illegal and littering and vandilism is punished with a huge fine and a couple slaps of sugar cane...I kid you not. It is one strict country. The penalty for people who committ crimes like murder, kidnapping, and drug trafficking, is death by hanging. Something I found quite surprising is that homosexuality is illegal!

After the tour I went out to lunch with Karen and her friend Tom, who is also Australian but has been living and working in Singapore for the past 8 months. Then Tom gave us a nice walking tour for the next couple of hours. I couldn't believe how lucky I was in having met Karen and now her friend Tom!

Around 4 o'clock I said goodbye to Karen and Tom and took a cab to Sentosa beach, where I laid on the beach and suntanned until about 7pm. Then I had dinner on the beach at this nice little outdoor restaurant and watched the sunset. It was quite nice and I felt quite independent! After dinner I took a cab back to the airport and my plane took off at midnight.

13 hours later I landed at London Heathrow airport, where I had 8 hours to kill before my flight left for Toronto. So I read, and read. Then after a long 8 hours, I boarded the plane and flew 7 hours to Toronto. I was exhausted! Shannon and Mom picked me up at the airport and it was so good to see them!

It's good to be home and I'm excited to see Justine, Char, Sam, and Matt at Queen's, and to show those Aussies just how great Canada is!

Love Becca

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