London to Paris (start of tour)

Early start today as we depart on our tour, meeting at 7am with the some of the group. Breakfast as usual of rolls with jam at the hotel. Coach to Waterloo station, then Eurostar to Gare du Nord (Paris) and coach to hotel where we met the others on the tour joining us in Paris. Most people are Australian, a few New Zealanders, one Korean and a Canadian family.

Once checked in, we were then taken by coach to the Eiffel Tower. As a group we jumped the large queues and went straight up, however we only got to the second viewing platform as the top platform was full at the time we got our tickets. It was a clear day so we got a good view of the city and we didn't bother going up to the top.

Following that we had a group dinner where Andrew had a very expensive beer - 10 euros for 0.5l. Dinner was average. We had a very rich chocolate mousse for dessert which not many people finished, not even Andrew (who loves his desserts)!

After dinner, we had a cruise down the Seine river. We saw the sights of Paris by night - some fancy bridges, Notre Dame, The Louvre. There was a running commentary in 4 different languages however it was difficult to hear as there were too many people talking, which was a shame. We also saw the light show of the Eiffel Tower after the cruise, and Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysee before heading back to the hotel.





View from Eiffel Tower












The base of the Eiffel Tower (it was raining a bit!)








Eiffel Tower by night - pretty isn't it :-)












Eiffel Tower by day

London

We left Singapore on Tuesday and arrived in London on Tuesday evening. No major hassles at the airport, but a rather thorough security check at the boarding lounge in Singapore. We had to start the laptop and use the cameras to prove that they were the real thing.

Caught the Heathrow Express to Paddington and then a taxi to where our hotel was. We were surprised that we had to load our own luggage into the taxi, no help from the driver whatsoever (unlike in NZ). The hotel (Bayswater Inn) was pretty awful for the price that we paid for it. Firstly the room was difficult to get into, there was a special knack to turn the key and knob (we had to get someone from the hotel to show us the first time). Secondly the bed had springs, which would have been ok if there was any padding on top of the springs, Andrew got woken up in the middle of the night because he was sore from the springs digging into him. Thirdly there was no hand towel and bath mat consisted of a piece of paper with two footprints on it. So we were pretty disappointed with it given the amount we paid, and we will never make the assumption again that because the hotel was booked through a touring company that it will be of decent quality - always check on www.tripadvisor.com!

Anyhow, the 2 days that we had in London were pretty full on. On Wednesday, we had our interviews with the recruitment agent, Andrew also had a phone interview for a job at the same time. We tried to get our bank accounts sorted but the queue was so long that we never got our turn before we had to leave to get Andrew to his second interview out in Guildford (south of London). We both caught the overland train out there for it. We saw Jonno Fletcher (ex Beca) as we were leaving the company, who he currently works for.
Today (Thursday) Andrew had two interviews (one in High Wycombe - northwest London, and the other in West Byfleet - south of London) which he went to alone. I had a phone call for an interview in central London, which I went to in the avo. And we managed to get our bank accounts sorted today in between all of the above. And we tried our first Cornish pasties today too (real Cornish pasties from Cornwall!)

In the evening, we dropped off our extra suitcase to Rob in Putney Bridge, before making a midnight expedition to BK for some ultra late dinner. They were closing so we only had 1 option of a bacon cheeseburger.

Bayswater seems like a nice area, good street for shops with cheap internet.

The Zoo!

Our last day in Singapore. We slept in quite late because we had a string of late nights, as well the zoo last night. We headed back to the Zoo and spent all afternoon looking around at the Giraffe, Otters, Pelicans, Jaguars, Leopards, Monkeys, Rhinos to name a few. We saw the feeding of the Polar Beers, an animal show with monkeys, snakes and sea-lion and an elephant show. The heat and humidity isn't too bad but after a day outside we were feeling hot and sticky. Still, there are loads of people who wear trousers and long sleeves.






Finally, we'd like to thank all the family who've kindly put us up at their homes and taken us out, we really appreciate it and it was really good to catch up with everyone.

Back to Singapore

We had a quick breakfast of Bak Kut Teh again, then headed straight for the Coach pickup (quite an early departure). This time we at the front of the coach (double level) so a great view out the front (until it rained!)

We went to dinner with more of Grace's cousins (Mother's side). They took us to a hawker centre (like an outdoor foodcourt) with really good food. It was good to go out with people close to our age for a change too (who aren't married and without kids yet!). They dropped us at the MRT (train) station and we headed for the Night Safari at the zoo. After a short taxi ride we arrived and got straight on the tram tour. There is a commentary and they slow down when there are animals to see. Photography is nearly impossible since it is so dark but i managed a few shots with my new 50mm lens (f1.8 for those photographers out there). We had great view of Leopards.

More eating!

This morning (to continue the trend of eating) we went to another restaurant for Bak Kut Teh (Pork & herb soup with rice and bread). This is a common type of breakfast, I'm told.

Grace's Auntie, cousin and his wife (on her Mother's side) came around and we all headed off to a fishing village on the coast for a seafood lunch. It was about an hour away, but there are so many highways around here that it isn't bad getting around. I had a bit of a battle getting the meat out of the crab but the food was good. Also had a coconut. They find it strange that we buy coconut milk in a can and get dry desiccated coconut in packets.

Dinner at home tonight. The two 2yr olds gave us plenty of entertainment.

Andrew with cousin niece Lana.

KL City

We went to the markets (surprisingly busy for a weekday morning) then to a restaurant for breakfast. By the time that was finished and more fruit was eaten at home we left around midday and caught a bus to KL (nearly an hour's ride).

We caught the LRT (train) to KLCC where the Petronas twin towers are. It was too busy to go up but we got great views looking up from below. Behind there is a large 7 level shopping centre (full of expensive brands like Guess, Chanele, Giordano but probably cheaper than in NZ). After some browsing (no buying) we had some food in the food court and headed off to another cheap electronics shopping centre. We rode the monorail went to a supermarket and caught a crazy taxi back to the bus station. I thought our RM15 ($6.50) taxi ride was cheap ($15 would have been the cost in NZ) but the others in the other taxi were only charged RM6.50 ($2.80)!

Tonight was dinner at a big restaurant in town with everyone.

Singapore to Klang

This morning we took a coach from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. I was not looking forward to 5 hours on the bus (sure, we're prepared for 4 weeks on a bus around Europe!) but it was very comfortable. They served a meal and drinks and it passed pretty quickly. As usual I was gazing out the window with camera in hand. The roads are great. There is a 4+ lane highway (dual-carriageway) from Singapore to KL and it continues to Penang and possibly up to Thailand too. Apart from some inevitable road works, the roads are in good condition. We don't even have a decent motorway from Auckland to Hamilton yet!

Uncle Bin and Grace's Dad were waiting there to pick us up. Grace's Grandmother lives in Klang, a town about 20mins away. There we met Uncle Chee and his wife, Grandma, Uncle Lai. Such a big family! I drew a family tree (with Grace's help of course) and counted 54 Uncles/Aunties, Cousins and children on just one side of the family. Before I had finished being introduced to everyone there was food on offer. A table full of fruit (most of which I had never heard of) and more food came out. This was my first experience with Durian (a large spikey fruit with very strong smell). Once you get into it (not a simple task) it has soft creamy flesh. It was good, although not my favourite fruit.

Grace in front of her Grandmother's home.





I found this place fascinating since it is not far from a big city but has a sort of small village feel to it. There is a very different driving style over here. You change lanes when you like, (sometimes without indicating), push your way in when you need to. People are quite tolerant though. I guess for every time you cut someone off, you expect it to happen to you.

Tonight we went to a local (2 minute walk) restaurant and had steamboat for dinner. This is a bowl of boiling soup in the middle of the table where we add whatever we want. All the restaurants are very open with fans (essential) and have a very casual feel. LOTS of Chinese tea too!

Later Grace's cousin Marilyn arrived from Germany with 2yr old daughter Lana. Lana's dad speaks to her in German so occasionally she speaks German and no one except her mum can understand.

Sentosa

This morning we attempted to fit everything back into our bags (not an easy task, especially after some shopping in Singapore) and checked out of the hotel. Grace's cousin Winnie and husband picked us up and took us back to their place (where we are staying for a night before going to Malaysia). We got distracted on the way and bought chicken rice which was good since we only ate something really light from a local superette.

They dropped us off at Sentosa (the small island/resort off Singapore). First we walked around the ferry terminal and then up the hill past the musical fountain and the Merlion (the Merlion is a symbol of Singapore's past and present - the mermaid and the lion).


At $8 we decided not to go up the Merlion, especially as there is a viewing tower further up the hill. We went up the tower which rises from the ground and rotates giving a good view over the island, Singapore and out to Indonesia and Malaysia. Andrew then discovered that there was a New Zealand Natural on the island so we HAD to get there! This involved a bus to the beach, then a walk/tram ride along the beach. Yummy ice cream though! Back up the hill and we went through "Images of Sinagpore", a really good museum about Singapore's history. From there we went on Cinemania, a short motion simulator ride, which was ok. After that we decided that we had had enough of the island and left.

Today was National Day in Singapore so it was a public holiday. The Singaporeans are very patriotic and you can see many flags flying from people's balconies. There was a National Parade which was held in the National Stadium, very close to where we are staying. We watched the fireworks display from a field just outside.

Singapore, finally.

Well we made it to Singapore after what seemed like a really long flight [Andrew: not used to this longhaul flying], and managed to get through immigration and pick up our bags quite quickly - less than half an hour from getting off the plane, and this includes walking for about 5-10 minutes down the loooooooong pier. But unfortunately for us, our pickup guy wasn't there... As it turns out the tour operator thought we were arriving that morning (long story, a previous mixup with the travel agent in NZ, whom we'll be complaining to very soon). Anyhow somebody finally came to get us and we made it to the hotel about two hours after we got out. [one thing I noticed already was the huge number of apartments, so far from the city there are apartment building lining the side of the motorway]

That was last night, today in the morning we had a guided tour around the city and saw the famous Raffles hotel, Singapore river, a Chinese temple, an Indian temple, went to a factory which made pictures and jewellery out of precious stones and finally a brief visit to the botanical gardens. After the tour we decided that we would head back into the city (our hotel is on the outskirts), so we made our way to the nearest MRT station (Novena for those who know Singapore), and managed to get ourselves onto the transport system with no major problems. [Andrew: It's a lot like the London Underground from what I can remember] but so clean and tidy. We headed to Newton Circus and had lunch at the hawker stalls there - Satay and laksa (yum yum!). From there we headed to Orchard Rd to check out the shopping scene. By this stage my feet were starting to hurt from blisters caused by my Teva's (sandals), so we found a pharmacy in a shopping centre to get some plasters. We couldn't decide what to get so we just decided to leave it. Lucky for me there was a Birkenstock shop just around the corner on the same floor so I got some new Birk's which are way more comfortable!!

[From there we caught the MRT with a line change to the Sim Lim Square. A big shopping centre with 6 storeys of electronics shopping heaven!! Whether it's computers, cameras, home audio, mobile phones etc someone will have what you want. After much bargain hunting I got my 50mm SLR lens for S$130 ($180 in NZ) and after nearly giving up Grace got her 28-105mm lens (not available in NZ). I also bought a small wireless optical mouse.]

A train ride and more walking and we were back at the hotel, feeling pretty weary. We had buffet dinner at the hotel (Andrew the only white person there [luckily I have been trained in eating Asian food at the Lee's house.])

[Typing this and charging up all the gadgets now. Will post this once we get to a computer with internet]

Bye for now. Hope everyone is well.

Leaving Tomorrow!!

Well it's finally our last night.. (so much for the good night's sleep) After so many months to go, we are now down to less than 24 hours to go.
We are finally on top of our last minute things to do, after spending all of the last week doing packing and running around sorting out travel money etc etc.
Thanks to everyone who made it to our leaving drinks on Sat, it was really good to catch up with you.
Anyway first stop Singapore!