Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
So our time in Asia is nearly over. We leave Singapore tonight and head for Australia.
After leaving the bustling metropolis of KL we took a bus (no cockroaches) to Melaka. We stayed in a Muslim guesthouse which meant we had to cover our knees and shoulders. It also meant no pork...not that we have been eating much pork. It's been a solid rice with rice diet followed by more rice.
We arrived in Melaka around 3pm and after getting our rooms and dropping our bags off, we headed on a stroll into the town square. We posted some things home (cost a fortune) and then visted the church of St.Francis Xavier which overlooks the Straits of Melaka which were once a huge shipping destination. Melaka has been colonised by the Portugese, Dutch and Brits at one point or another. As a result, most people in Malaysia can communicate in English which has made it easy to do things and get around.
After waiting a while in the main square we all took a Tri-shaw tour around the town centre. A tri-shaw is a bike with a sort of sidecar. You would think that this would be a young man's job but the average age of the men was about 65!! We visited more temples and had to jump out before going up hills. Quite enjoyable in the evening sun. We went for dinner and had....yes rice again! We visited the street market which was packed and finished an enjoyable day with a few local beers.
We left the guesthouse early the next day at 8am for the bus station where we caught the bus to Singapore. We had another border to cross (Singapore broke away from Malaysia and is a seperate state) and after about 6 hours we arrived at the Royal Peacock hotel in Chinatown...a hotel with no windows in the bedroom. It was our last night with the group so we went for dinner at a Chinese where we were lucky enough to make Happy Hour. I say lucky because it is bloody expensive in Singapore-7 quid a beer!!!! We did Karaoke then went to a rooftop bar which had nice views of the city.
Yesterday we moved to a new hotel and compared to some of the places we have stayed it was Paradise-rooftop pool and gym and 3 towels each!!! We didn't want to leave today! After changing hotels yesterday, we went to Sentosa Island just off Singapore which is like a resort. We went by cable car which Laura found a wee bit scary. We met up with a few of the group who were still in Singapore and did a spot of sunbathing. We also did the Luge (a go-kart on a steep hill) and took the Skyride back up again...Laura's fear of heights is getting worse. How the hell is she going to do a skydive...I'll have to drug her like BA Baracus. We finished the day watching the all Ireland in an Irish pub Muddy Murphy's. Because they aren't allowed Satellites here we had to watch it in an Internet stream...worst picture ever!!
We fly tonight at 11ish to Oz. Asia has been great...much better than we expected. The people have been friendly, the food (rice) has been great and it has been HOT! There have been a variety of smells..not all nice and the local beer had been drinkable Maybe we will come back some time in the future. It has been a non-stop, hectic tour and we are only now getting a chance to chill out.
We will update when we get to Oz. Miss you all,
Brian and Laura
- comments