Another day for a bit of a plodge. I set off after lunchtime today, so missing the strongest sun, and walked for about 30 minutes down to the Chinatown area, just south of the river. The first thing that struck me was that it wasn’t very… well… Chinese. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by the likes [...]

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 Nicer weather today than yesterday, so I decided to walk down to the Raffles area and do the “colonial walk” detailed in Lonely Planet. Rather than get the MRT to the starting point, I thought I’d walk it. Singapore isn’t much bigger than London so there’s no real need to get the underground everywhere (though [...]

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 Before I kick off, I’d just like to recommend the site Best-Singapore-Vacation. It’s nice, friendly, simple and full of good advice. It doesn’t go into huge depth, but it’s a cracking starting point for information on Singapore. I didn’t plan anything today as the weather still looked a little… changeable. As it happens, the expected [...]

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Well, last night was a bit of a giggle. We had three new people in the room (well, by “we” I mean Esther as I wasn’t actually in the room any more) – a Swiss guy, a chap from Ireland and Claire from Cardiff. After we’d been chatting for a while, the irish lad (sorry, [...]

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OK, after the delay and all I will be flying to Singapore in a little over 12 hours. I have some plans for when I get there and, depending on the weather, I’ll also take a coach/boat trip to an island off the East of Malaysia for some very cheap diving. Details, as ever, will [...]

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 I was up fairly early this morning, around 7:30, as Esther has an early start for work – she’s the Dutch girl I probably mentioned earlier who I’m sharing my dorm with. I’m an early riser anyway, so this suits me. I’d decided that I wanted to go to the museum today. It’s nearby, kind [...]

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Well, I’ve been here for some time and I’ve seen and experienced a lot. Let me tell you about some of the quirkier things and some of the things that simply “jar” compared to the UK. All in no particular order as I’ve been adding to this as time have gone on! The high cost [...]

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The post arrived today… and it included both my passport and my PADI card. Whew. More relief than the biggest poop ever after the biggest curry ever. But less smelly. Thing is, I’ve reached the point where I’ve almost talked myself into staying in Darwin for another week to chill out as I’ve met a [...]

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As I’m writing this a huge weight has been lifted from my mind, but I’m still on tenterhooks. I finally got through to someone at the Indian Embassy today (after three phone calls and around 30 minutes on hold) who told me that my visa application has been approved and that my passport was put [...]

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 A late start today, only having to be up at 6:30. However, the tents were all transparent fly-netting so the sun woke us all at 5:30 instead. We’re definitely in the tropics now – the weather is very hot and humid. I’m remembering what Asia was like now! It’s surprising how quickly the change takes [...]

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