Singapore

 Our Diary Begins - 3/4 Sept 2010
For most people it will be incredibly boring as it will probably take me all the school holidays to write it but for Chris and Me it is a Year we will never forget! For all those people who look at this site you will say, 'Hey, Helen was out to celebrate her 50th birthday for a whole year, and she did, with the help of Chris.

As written in earlier scripts, I started my year in Queenstown and exploring the Milford Sound - a cold New Year but loved it and not like the -11 degrees Sarah said she drove to work in London a few days ago!

March 5th saw me being swept away to Waiheki Island for a 'Glam Weekend' to celebrate my 50th birthday. A beautiful Island about 40 minutes by ferry from Auckland. I was very spoilt and we loved the 60's atmosphere, great food and wine.

The year then cruised along with the anticipation of our very exciting trip to the UK, Europe and Ireland in September. I had an amazing class this year and they enjoyed my excitement and planning of our trip.

I still remember the excitement of waking up about 4.30a.m on Friday 3 September, not really believing I would be seeing Sarah in 4 days time. The taxi arrived at 6.00a.m and we were at the airport far too early.

After a 2 hour wait in Auckland we were finally on our way to Singapore. 13 hours later we landed and walked straight through customs before being taken to our central Singapore Hotel, Penisula Excelisor. It was a lovely hotel and we were able to walk to most places. Umm... I do remember the 'sleezy bar ' at the hotel that ripped Chris off a huge amount for drinks and I am sure my wine was watered down!

Our sleep patterns were very out of the norm so Chris and I went down to the dinning room for a very comprehensive early breakfast, catering for every nationality. I don't usually eat breakfast so I could already see myself putting on heaps of weight over the next 5 weeks.                        

                                          Chris had been to Singapore before so he was looking forward to showing me the beautiful country. We walked around the main part of Singapore, leaving the hotel about 7.30a.m. and arriving on Orchard Road before the shops even opened.

We were really big spenders there with Chris buying a McDonald's chocolate milkshake and me purchasing some postcards. We were hounded by the less exclusive shop owners in the department stores, as we were obviously 'tourists'! It was like there were two classes of shops along Orchard Road. We crossed a street when seemed to go from the very expensive part to shops catering for the locals. The shops, way people were dressed and general atmosphere changed a lot. One thing which I found interesting was an outdoor escalator in a beautiful park near our hotel.

                                      

                 
It was getting hot so we went back to our resort to get changed then went to a nearby shopping centre. It had at least 5 levels of just electronic shops alone. Chris enjoyed looking through some of these while I managed to find a lovely jewelery shop and bought a silver Singapore 'Merlion' (Singapore's icon)to start my silver charm bracelet collection. I did a bit of bargaining with the young shop assistant and as it was her first sale of the day I got a good deal. She even kissed the s$50 note I gave her but I readily accepted my change.  Across the road was a beautifully preserved fire station.                       

One of Chris's Singaporean work colleagues and his wife met us for lunch and were lovely hosts. Mr and Mrs Choo Ai-hoe took us to the 'Turf Centre' for an Indian lunch then dropped us off for a 'bum boat cruise' along the Boat and Clark Quays. Showed the skyline well with lots of very, high rise buildings and a reconstructed cruise boat (now a restaurant) high above the city.

                                               

                                                

The Merlion is the mascot or symbolic feature of Singapore and stands on the river edge spouting water  from its mouth.  It has the head of a lion and the body of a fish. It is derived from Singapore's old fishing village called, Temasek which means 'sea' in Japanese.  'Mer' means sea and the lion's head represents the original name 'Singapura', which means "lion city'.

                       

There were many beautiful displays, cafes and attractions along both Boat and Clark Quays.  5 o'clock drinks were being offered at cheap prices in hopes tourists would stay on for a meal.  Very competitive, but and the main menus were very much seafood.  We even saw a display of New Zealand crabs.

 

We then returned to our hotel, got dressed up and went to The Raffles Hotel for a Singaporean Gin Sling, peanuts tossed all over the floor and Chris trying to bargain for a $20,000 bracelet for me. Yeah like I am wearing it!!! It was all fun and he did have the shop assistant convinced we would pick it up at 11.00a.m the next morning, with a $8000 reduction!                      

                                                     

                                   

       

                                                                                                                

We then got a rickshaw ride back through the busy streets of Singapore to our hotel. The drivers have right-of-way on some parts of the roads and ring their bell to ensure they can merge into traffic safely. The driver of our rickshaw quoted $20 but on arrival at our hotel he wanted another $20 as he said it was hard work. Yeah right! I threw $20 on his seat and then disappeared.

Singapore is a very clean, beautiful country but everywhere is busy and lots of tourists.

A great way to start our big adventure.

Counting Down

Only 16 more days to go until we leave for Singapore / Europe. Time is zooming by but trying not to get too excited yet. I collected our tickets and tour information last Monday which made it seem a little more realistic. I have made a few alterations to places we are staying and booked train tickets to visit Wales and Chester as well as a tour of Buckingham Palace on the afternoon before we go to the 'We Will Rock You' Westend Show.

Chris and I spent the day in Wanganui with Mum on Saturday. Great to see her and she is looking really well. Always hard to say goodbye when we leave, especially as we won't see her for quitre some time and will be in the other side of the world.

Have been sorting through clothing Sarah wants me to take over for her. Hard to know what she wants but will just make a good judgement call. Will be great to see Sarah and Stephen after 18 months and feel Sarah will be quite different.

Tour

Trafalgar Tours must have read my blog. Our tickets and tour documents were ready for Chris and me to collect yesterday but I didn't pick up the email until after Flight Centre closed so I am so excited to be picking them up tomorrow, Monday.

Had a lovely, long chat with Sarah this morning. We tried to sort out what clothing I will take over for her as she now would like some of her more formal work clothes. Sarah has a 'shop-full' of lovely clothing and under-wear stored with us so we will take as much as we can.

Only 26 sleeps to go. Getting very excited - like a kid anticipating Christmas I guess!!

Close

I can't believe it is August already and only 4 weeks until Chris and I travel to see Sarah and Stephen in London and get a taste of the other side of the world! We are getting so excited after months of planning, saving and anticipation so, 'ROLL ON' Sept 3. Still haven't got our flight tickets and tour documents but they will arrive. I am so organised that I am looking for things to change, which annoys Chris!! He'll get over it and love the better hotels etc.

It is hard to imagine being in 14 countries in 5 weeks (that includes good old New Zealand of course!) but it will be a great experience. New Zealand, Singapore, England, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, France, Spain, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

So looking forward to being with Sarah. It seems so long since I have seen her but it is crazy to say 'the time has gone fast' since Sarah and Stephen left New Zealand. We will stay with them on the first night but as they have work and other commitments, we have booked into a hotel very close to their home for the rest of the first week. Hopefully they will put up with us for short stays after our tour??

I will try to keep this blog up-to-date while we are traveling and post photos as we go.

New Year

We can't believe how fast 2009 went and now nearly a week into another decade already. Like everyone, it was a very busy year for Chris and I both at work and home. Maybe age is catching up on us! We hosted a number of international girls who attended either Onslow College or Wellington Girl's College. Most have been pretty good but we faced a few challenges with a couple we had to be moved on. The girls came from Brazil, Germany (and our dear Kevin from 2008 for a couple of months again), Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong and China. We currently still have Florin from Germany with us until June. Her dad is out here for a holiday at the moment so they are travelling around the South Island for a week.

It was great to see the end of the school year and my class were lovely but ready for a break. This year will be interesting as I am having a straight year four class for a change and we have an ERO visit ten days into the new school term. We have a great school so cannot see us having too many issues.

Unfortunately Chris is extremely busy at work so hasn't been able to get anytime off yet so I did an impulsive trip to Queenstown for three days, enjoying the experience of New Years eve there. It was incredible to experience snow coming over the Remarkables on the evening of 30 December. Very cold and I had not taken very warm clothing so it was good excuse to have to shop in Queenstown! I also did a Fiordland National Park / Milford Sound coach/cruise tour. What an amazing experience. The scenery was fantastic and I would fully recommend it to anyone.

Later in the month Chris and I are heading North as Chris would like to do the Tongariro Crossing, which I did four years ago. We will then head to Rotoura and Taupo for a few nights. It will be a nice break before our other student arrives from Brazil for 5 months and getting back to normal routines.

We hope everyone had a great Christmas and best wishes to you all for a very happy and successful 2010!