Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
We left KL for Melaka at around 11 am on Sunday morning. I wish I could have stayed in KL for longer as there was so much more to see and do...maybe next time!!! Melaka was to be only a short stop before our move across the border into Singapore so there was not much time to see the town. It was founded in the 14th century by a Sumatran prince, taken over by the Portugese in 1511, and then captured by the Dutch East Trading Company in 1631, providing Melaka with its large Chinese populations, not uncommon in Malaysia. The heat was stifling when we arrived and our hostel did not have any air conditioning so, in search of a cool place to sit and not really being in the mood for sightseeing, Louise, Sarah and I decided to try out the local cinema. We watched Disaster Movie, which, although a load of rubbish, was in English, without any sadistic fighting and only cost 1.30...bargain!!! We went to meet the others for dinner before having a mini competition at the bowling alley. I am completely pathetic at this game despite all the practice on the Wii! I just can not get the ball to turn and so was constantly directing it into the grooves on either side. At least I didn't come last! We arose early the next morning to catch the express bus to Singapore. The journey was only 4 hours long, nothing compared to some of the others we had completed. At the border we had to disembark and pass through customs. This all went smoothly enough, although I doubt that my clumsiness, which resulted in the official's pen flying through the air, was much appreciated! At lunch time we arrived in Singapore. I never knew that it was an island, a whole country and a capital city all in one. This city, with its high-rising towers and multiple office blocks, vaguely resembles New York but without any of its character. Although I only stayed for 2 days, I soon found it to be a little cultureless, boring and very expensive. The highlight was a visit to Raffles after dinner and so, in preparation, we decided to tackle one of the many large shopping malls. This was not a pleasant experience. As seems to have been a trend in all the places we had visited, the shopkeepers seem to think it necessary to tail any foreigner that enters their shop without any regard for personal space. I, as did most of us, found this very off-putting and exhausting. We ate our last supper together on Boat Quay, a line of restaurants beside the river, and then moved on to Raffles Hotel. While waiting for everyone to arrive, Chris and I took a wander around this very smart hotel, feeling a little out of place. It is an immense complex with a designer shopping arcarde, very well-dressed customers and extraordinarily beautiful cars. The white Lambroghini outside the entrance was particularly impressive!!! I also recommend their Singapore Sling...not cheap by any means but absolutely delicious (and I don't even like gin!). As it was our last night we returned to our hotel to collect Johann and decided to check out one of the local karaoke bars. Luckily this also contained a pool table, so while the rest threw themselves into singing, I played pool with some of the boys until about 3 am. It was finally decided that it was time to play a prank on Ronnie, our trainee tour leader. Chauw revealed a new side to his normally placid character, becoming the ringleader and buying the ice from the 7/11. This promptly ended up on Ronnie's head while Lynzey sprayed him with shaving foam...luckily he saw the funny side! The following day was full of goodbyes and I was very sad to see everybody disppear on the rest of their travels. I had had such a fantastic time over the past couple of weeks and had met so many cool people that it was rather hard to leave. As Sarah, Louise and I weren't flying out until the evening and Jenny was remaining in Singapore for an extra day, we decided to check out Raffles Place. Here we caught a sightseeing boat tour which was supposed to show us the most interesting sites of the city. Unfortunately all I saw were the insides of my eyelids and some rather embarassing pictures of me catching flies...the exertions of the last few days had definitely caught up with me! That evening we eventually caught a shuttle bus to Changi airport after the hotel had neglected to book us a taxi and soon the final goodbyes were said as Louise, Sarah and I went in our different directions (they to Sydney and me to Auckland). I hope the next stage is every bit as new and exciting as the past 2 weeks have been!
- comments