What country friend is this? Ponchos, Joel's Bed, Harrison Ford and The Scott Suffling International Fan Club

Sorry for the delay in this update, everyone. A lot has been going on and i've only just found a computer. This blog covers the rest of our stay in Singapore, the journey to Johor Bahru and our first performance at the Temple of Fine Arts. Also, by popular demand, puns will be appearing in this blog. You can thank Emma for this. :)

So, where to begin? Well on our second day in Singapore, the tutors decided to take us to the zoo. When we got there, the dark grey clouds that had appeared in the morning turned into a monsoonal downpour. You could say it was Singapouring it down. In spite of this, we carried on, with bright green ponchos to protect us. The zoo was incredible, in particular the elephant show, which I would highly recommend you all seeing if you get the chance. I had no idea just how incredible these majestic creatures were. I could tell you more about the zoo, like Melissa 'emu-lating' the emus, the chimp that won a race, therefore becoming the 'Chimp-ion', or the pizza shop inside the zoo called 'Pizzafari' but they are irrelephant by comparison. (Happy now, Emma?)

After the zoo, myself, Scottrina, Joel, Jason, Nick Choo, Claire and Kate went to a local bar to watch the Australia/Germany game. Oh dear. That was a mistake, if not for the result but for the large amount of alcohol that was consumed. The shop owner, who insisted we call him 'Uncle' was more than happy for our patronage. I also got to try a 'Singapore Sling' at a swanky bar in the CBD with Scott and Mud, an interesting cocktail to say the least.

The following day (Monday) we left The Hive on a coach and drove into Malaysia. After a quick delay at the check in (Kylie, Meagan and Leanne managed to get lost somehow) we had a lovely lunch and were taken to our new lodgings in Johor Bahru, the Straits View hotel. It is an improvement on The Hive, as we are now in rooms of two or three as opposed to rooms of 6 and 12. I am currently sharing a room with John King and Joel. As myself and John were the first two in the room, we claimed the proper beds, leaving Joel with the fold out cot. We haven't heard the last of it;

"It's too small! My feet are hanging over the edge!"

"This pillow is too hard!"

"You call this a blanket? I can see through it!"

"I can't see the TV properly at this acute angle!"

Etc, etc. In fairness, these comments are justified. But Joel's complaining has been very funny none the less. Anyway, in the evening we were taken to the Temple of Fine Arts for a rehearsal. The Temple is a dedicated school of the arts, mostly in the area of dance. We were treated to a short segment of a 35 minute dance routine that the students had been training for for an exam. It was pretty incredible and I don't know how impressed they were with our Duck Dance by comparison.

The first night went by without much incident, or so i thought. It turns out that John and Joel are the latest to experience a sleeping Stephen, who it turns out is just as talkative when unconscious as when awake. I have been know to talk in my sleep and apparently (i have no memory of my dream from the night) I was talking to Harrison Ford. We must be good friends, as i referred to him as Harry for the most part.

The following evening (Tuesday) we had our first performance scheduled. So after a morning shopping and lunch at 'Kenny Rodger's Roasted Chicken Restaurant' we spent the afternoon relaxing before the show. Unless you were Claire, Kate and Kylie that is, who proceeded to climb through windows, spell out words with their bodies to say "Joel love poop long time." and zip poor Hannah up in a suitcase and leave her outside our room.

Once we were all hi-jinxed out, we had another quick rehearsal before leaving for the Temple. Now CT people, if you thought it was warm and uncomfortable backstage in the Nexus, you have no idea how we felt last night in full makeup and costume outside on a balmy Malaysian evening. It was disgustingly uncomfortable and the thought that in an hours time I have to start putting that gear on again is making me a bit unhappy. However, it is cooler today so it shouldn't be as bad and the audience were incredible. They made us all feel very welcome in their community and after the show the children came to have lots of pictures taken with us. So in spite of the discomfort, we are all more than willing to do the show again.

Last night also saw the reformation of the SSIFC (Scott Suffling International Fan Club), an organization with two main objectives:

1.) To show an almost irrational amount of love and general revelry towards Scott Suffling.

2.) To really annoy Claire and Kate.

Last year, when Scott, Claire, Kate, Katrina and a few other students toured a play around Chile, Scott had a huge appeal to the youngsters, particularly 15 year old girls i'm told, who had 'I LOVE SCOTT!' written on their foreheads. Well last night, the Malaysian branch of the SSIFC turned up and demanded that Scott come out of the changing area to have photos taken. They absolutely love him and it is remarkable. Claire thinks it is because they have never seen anyone with ginger hair before and I wouldn't be surprised if Kate turned up tonight with her hair a redder shade than 'The Fire Boy.'

So tonight we are performing our second and final show in Johor Bahru and then tomorrow we fly out to Kuala Lumpur. I'm not sure how long it will be before there is another of these blogs. Possibly tomorrow night but it is more likely to be up the next day. (Friday) I do hope that this finds you all well.

Take care,

Stephen