Happy Chinese New Year!!!

February 18th - Singapore

We managed to get up early, despite poor sleep the night before again, and headed to the Botanical Gardens. We enjoyed yet more walking around here but that morning it was very hot. 

The lakes at the gardens were full of terrapins and we also saw a massive lizard skulking around.

Alongside one path we noticed a terrapin stuck in the drain. He was pretty far from any water and really dry; we think he got into the gutter and then was unable to turn around so just had to keep going. We went and found a park-keeper who came and rescued him!

Mike posing behind a waterfall

Later we met with Chieh again who took us for some 'Chicken Rice' which is a very popular dish in Singapore. The chicken is boiled and served cold with soy sauce poured over the top. We also had tofu in breadcrumbs, pickled vegetables and barbeque pork. 

Afterwards Chieh took us to his family house where we met his parents. A couple of years ago his parents knocked down their semi-detached house and built a new, modern house in its place and it was INCREDIBLE. They were preparing for Chinese New Year - that night it is tradition for a 'Reunion Dinner' that all family members attend (like Christmas dinner) - and they gave us lots of food to try.  

That night, after yet another much need nap, we headed out to experience Chinese New Year. Chinatown was heaving with people out eating food and waiting for what we think was a parade. We headed down to Marina Bay and waited for the fireworks. Because all the Singaporians were at home enjoying their Reunion dinner there weren't many people out so we had a fantastic view of the fireworks over the bay. 

The top end

So there is a story in our guide book about how several expeditions to the Northern Territory of Australia to establish an outpost failed. They were trying to go there to connect a telegraph line from southern Australia to Java and the rest of the British empire. Aborigines boomeranged them and snakes ate them alive. 

It took them decades to finally establish Darwin (known then as Palmerston) as a northernmost settlement in Australia. 

We are now in Darwin and my reason for telling you that story is that they must be having similar problems with establishing Wifi. In other words we have really poor access to the Internet so the blog will be updated as soon as we tackle a wallaby or whatever challenge we may face to get some wifi!  

Hope you guys are well. I'm already sunburnt (Mike). Otherwise we are OK and avoiding crocodiles successfully. 

More gluttony

February 17th 2015 - Singapore

We slept in until 1pm due to our inability to sleep the night before. We then had to glam up as we had a posh date with the Tiffin Room at Raffles Hotel!

And so the gluttony began... Dim Sum, sandwiches, croque monsieur, curry puffs, cakes, scones, iced tea, English Breakfast tea... Om nom nom.

I think we were still full from dinner the night before and I was disappointed I didn't have enough room to try the bread and butter pudding!!

Afterwards, we though a gentle stroll would aid digestion so we headed for Marina Bay. The bay had changed quite a lot since I was last here 10 years ago - the main addition being the Marina Bay Sands Hotel - it is what looks like a massive ship aloft 3 tall pillars and stands across the entrance to the bay, so it makes it into more of a lake than a bay.

As any thoughts of ever eating again were far from our minds, we continued walking around the arena to Gardens by the Bay: http://www.gardensbythebay.com.sg/en/home.html

It is like a botanical garden but with more sculptures and activities to do. They have these big trees that are made to look like mushrooms and there is a walkway around the tops that people can go on. When we arrived it was dark and there was a light and sound show going on, so the trees were all illuminated and looked very cool. Also the shots came out really well on my new camera!

We arrived back very weary from all the walking but still sleep would not come to us... why??!

Singapore = hot

February 16th 2015 - Singapore

We landed about 2pm on the 15th and our friend Chieh kindly picked us up and dropped us at our hostel. Chieh studied medicine with us at UCL and moved back to Singapore to continue his training afterwards. 

We are staying at Tree In Hostel: http://www.treeinlodge.com/

The people who run the hostel are really friendly and have loads of advice on where to go and what to see - most of this involves food recommendations. Singaporians love their food!

We were really exhausted when we got to the hostel so just slept. We are currently still jet-lagged 5 days later and are running out of patience!!

On the 16th we decided to explore the city on foot. Singapore is a lot hotter than we thought it was going to be. We ended up walking ~10 miles taking in all the sights!!

We first headed to Chinatown which was preparing for Chinese New Year.

The streets had been decorated with gold coins hanging from the trees and a parade of goats (the new year is the year of the goat) running down the middle of the road, both of which lit up at night.

We then headed across the river to Raffles, and then on to Orchard Road, which is the main shopping area and is lined with loads of designer shops - we have concluded that Singaporians are pretty rich!

That night Chieh took us out for dinner and we tried some Singaporian delicacies such as chilli crab (Chieh asked them to tone down the spice level and it was still pretty hot!), white pepper crab, clams, duck and bean curd. The food was delicious and we felt very full, which only exacerbated the tiredness. 

We then went to a bar called Level 33 which is on a floor high up one of the business buildings in the business district. It gave us incredible views of the Singapore skyline at night.

We went home very tired, but again stupid jetlag raised it's ugly head and we couldn't get to sleep until about 4am. Fantastic first day though.

Goodbye miserable, cold, grey England... Hello World!!

February 14th 2015 - London Heathrow

So after 6 months of boring everyone with our travel plans, we are finally off!

We started our trip in style, with a fry-up and a glass of bubbly (note, this is Prosecco, not Champagne - we are backpackers for heaven's sake!)