Greetings from Singapore!
I'd better start from when I finished the last blog. The journey from home to The Hive in Singapore took a total of 11 hours. Everything went very smoothly. After saying goodbye to loved ones at the airport, we boarded the plane for Singapore. The 5 hour flight was pleasant enough, even if we had to make our own entertainment. This primarily came in the form of a game of I Spy in which it took Scottrina most of the flight to figure out what began with L. (The answer was 'Label')
After landing, we boarded a fleet of Taxi's and were driven to our lodgings whilst here in Singapore, The Hive. As it was close to 4am by the time we got there, none of us were in the mood to appreciate our surroundings. We went straight to bed and would have gone to sleep immediately if it weren't for Kevin's 'hygiene routine.' I think Joel summed up everyone's feelings; "Who cleans there ears at 5 in the morning?"
Due to the heat and humidity, the boys room has established the rule of 'Pants off, shirts optional' which is being enforced, mostly by Joel. The rooms are basic but secure. Both rooms were air conditioned until the girls AC started leaking. In Kate's ear so I'm told. So there may be a small invasion tonight. So I'll be fortifying the room after this.
So today, whilst the girls (and Kevin) hit the shops, myself, Scottrina and Mud (John Langdale) decided to go explore some of what this city has to offer. My overall impression so far is that Singapore is a very charming place, particularly by the waterfront. The public transport is of a high quality. The trains are on time and clean. As someone who uses Perth's trains a lot, I am unsure how I can ever return to a normal life after the dizzying heights of Singapore's standards. A place where T.V's display movie trailers and informative transport announcements while you wait, a place where the bars you hold onto whilst standing on a moving train split into three bars at shoulder height, meaning three times as many people can use them. A place where the signs say "No smoking, No eating or drinking, No flammable goods and No durians."
The buildings here are some the most daringly designed I've ever seen. I can't even begin to describe some of them to you. I'll put up pictures when I get back but they are incredible. But the building that impressed me the most was the Manchester United themed cafe on the waterfront. We stopped there for a tasty lunch as the others watched me get very excited over the wall dedicated to United's great number sevens and the framed and signed Rooney and Giggs shirts.
Once we had eaten, we left the cafe (with me now wearing a new official United top that cost over $50 less than it would back in Aus!) and decided to take a river cruise. Singapore continued to be amazingly beautiful, with highlights of the tour being a brilliant statue of 5 little boys jumping into the river. They literally were! Again, pictures will be available when we get back.
We made our way back to The Hive afterward and sat down with Joel and John (King) with some Tiger beers, which I would recommend everyone trying. People began cooking up plans for a night on the town but tiredness and Tiger Beer caught up with me and I had to have a long nap. This worked out perfectly for myself because, as much as I'd love to drink until my brains turned to mush and started dribbling out of ears in a Singaporean night club, instead I get to kick back and relax in the lounge of The Hive, write this latest installment of our travels and watch the World Cup with a Tiger Beer or two ;)
A trip to the zoo is planned tomorrow, so with any luck you may get another of these blogs in the evening. Or I may wait until we arrive in Johor Bahru on Monday. We'll see. Anyway, going to watch the England game in about an hour or two and then hit the hay.
Wishing that you were all here with us,
Stephen
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^_^ This sounds great.
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