tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91702057529338898922024-02-27T00:34:52.765-08:00Singlish LivingBritish expat blogging about life in SingaporeRowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05864524347207028829noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170205752933889892.post-81806937545412596092019-10-14T22:44:00.000-07:002020-01-10T03:05:16.458-08:00Australia: round III<span style="font-family: "courier new", courier, monospace;">Phil and I were lucky enough to have two weeks leave from work and had been invited to a wedding in a picturesque little town called Daylesford near Melbourne over the middle weekend.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We crammed in so much, but it felt like a truly relaxing and soul nourishing break. Especially at a time when our work life is going through some turbulence!</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Day 1 - Hobart</b></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We flew overnight from Singapore to Hobart in Tasmania and had a full day wandering around MONA when we arrived. MONA stands for Museum of Old and New Art and is a really quirky and interesting place. Lots of art themed around sex or death, along with live jazz, trippy light installations and stunning restaurants, all hidden along an underground maze. We ate and drank at Faro where the food and views were matched in their brilliance. Who'd have thought plonking a massive sphere in the middle of a room would look so good?</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Despite it being a Saturday there wasn't any real nightlife, which came as a bit of a surprise considering Hobart is the main city in Tasmania. We eventually found a couple of jazz musicians and I began what was to become my daily routine of drinking Tassie pinot noir.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Day 2 - Freicynet, Wineglass Bay, Bicheno</b></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">A delightful little farmers market was open so we stocked up on Tasmanian pepper, bread, cheese and gin before driving to Freicyenet National Park and the Wineglass Bay area, known for its stunning views of the bay, which as you've probably guessed, looks like a wine glass. We had a lovely little walk taking in the views and, of course, taking terrific selfies.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We tried and failed to see little penguins in Bicheno that evening (pretty sure we were at the wrong part of the beach), then got in an early dinner before the kitchen closed at 7.30pm - something which we came to realise was standard pretty much everywhere in Tassie!</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Day 3 - Bay of Fires, Weldborough</b></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We detoured a little to reach the Bay of Fires and I am so glad we did as it was a slice of coastal heaven with white sand and orange hued granite. The Garden was our favourite area, where we stopped to clamber over rocks and take it all in. </span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new", courier, monospace;"><br></span><span style="font-family: "courier new", courier, monospace;">On the way back we stopped at a place called Anson Bay and ate lunch on a boat pier looking out at a huge lake with no other visible life but for a few birds (including one mahusive pelican!)</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">After lunch we drove to Little Blue Lake which looked as though the saturation had been turned up. The brightest blue water, paired with green trees all around and large white rocks. Absolutely stunning, and so different from anything we had seen previously.</span><br><br>
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">If these places were anywhere else, they'd be heaving with tourists. What I love about Tassie is that you can go somewhere incredible and be the only ones there.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We ended the day by going on a dusk to dark walk in a tiny village called Weldborough. Not much to say about Weldbourough as it appeared to consist of a hotel and little else. The walk was stunning though and would be epic for off-road biking.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Day 4 - Mount Victoria Reserve, Launceston, Devenport</b></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We drove through Mount Victoria Reserve, stopping at St Columbia Falls, Ralph Falls and a little cheese factory along the way to Launceston. </span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We were in Launceston by the late afternoon so walked along Cateract Gorge (lovely name) and took a cable car over the lake at the top as the sun went down. </span><span style="font-family: "courier new", courier, monospace;">We continued on driving all the way to Devenport, our base for the night. </span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Day 5 - Sheffield, Cradle Mountain, Tullah</b></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We passed through a tiny village called Sheffield, complete with a marble shop, a few wacky cafes, an antique shop and hundreds of murals covering the walls. I'm so glad we got to see this little gem on the way through.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We then drove up to Cradle Mountain and hiked up to Marions Lookout and back down to Dove Lake. It was exceptional. Hardly anyone along the track. Large plains of bush and grass (and the odd wombat), rocky faces to scramble up, icey snow at the top, and views for miles.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We headed to Tullah and found a pub. We played chess as the sun set over the mirror lake behind us. I reckon I only lost the game because I was distracted by the view...</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Day 6 - Strahan</b></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We took the West Coast Wilderness Railway from Strahan which included champagne and brekkie. It was fun chugging along and interesting to hear that the path was all knocked out and built by tools alone (i.e. no explosives). It sounded pretty horrendous to have worked in the wet and cold for so long, but the payoff was large when the trainline eventually started running and transported copper to Queenstown.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">After the train we watched a fantastic 2-man play called The Ship That Never Was. It is the longest running play in Australia so it wasn't surprising that it was incredibly well done.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We stayed in a beautiful AirBnb called Stables - the best place we'd stayed so far on the trip with all its wooden panels and large rugs.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Day 7 - The Wall</b></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Most of the day was spent driving or at the airport waiting for our delayed flight. However, <a href="http://thewalltasmania.com.au/" target="_blank">The Wall</a> made it a day to remember. A man called Greg Duncan has self-funded a project, carving a sculpture in 100m of wood. It is sculpture like I have never seen, with the veins on hands, or the strands of hair being carved so delicately it is hard to believe it's not real. No pics I'm afraid.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Day 8 & 9 - Daylesford</b></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Saturday marked the wedding of our friends at Quirindi Stables. So much fun, so much champagne, so much pain the next day nursing our hangovers.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Day 10 - Grampians</b></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">On the way out of Daylesford we stopped at <a href="https://www.lavandula.com.au/farm" target="_blank">Lavendula Farm</a>. Imagine a children's book of a farm and that is pretty much what you get - it had everything down to the little chicks, a cafe for scones and tea and a lake. We arrived at Hall's Gap at dinner time and our Aussie dreams came true when we saw about a hundred kangaroos grazing in the field outside our lodge.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Day 11 - Grampians</b></span><br>
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br></span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">A kangaroo joined us for breakfast about 2 metres away on our little balcony. Cute when bent over, terrifying when standing up.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We walked up to the Pinnacle Lookout and almost got blown off the cliff. Wind, then rain, then sun, then hail.. the weather was crazy.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">After the Pinnacle we drove over to McKenzie Falls and the Balconies for some more spectacular views over the Grampians.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Day 12 - Grampians, Port Fairy</b></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We met some local friends who took us on a walk to Beehive Falls and up to Briggs Bluff. It was only about 13k but a killer going up such steep inclines. The view was out of this world.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We drove to Port Fairy in the evening which looked like a lovely place. However we were just there to eat and sleep before driving onto the Great Ocean Road the next day.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Day 13 - Great Ocean Road, Lorne</b></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We snuck in a quick game of mini golf then drove along the Great Ocean Road. There were helicopters flying overhead so we made a very rash decision to swing in to the office and inquire. Before we knew it we were up in the air looking down on the GOR, the Twelve Apostles, London Bridge and the Bay of Islands. The weather was sunny on one side and raining on the other, very cool to look at from up above. A very impulsive but utterly fantastic experience.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Phil ran up to Erskine Falls to collect the car then we drove over to Melbourne to meet a friend for lunch. We spotted a seal in the Yarra River which, after googling, learnt was called Salvatore. </span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We had a night out with some other friends in the evening. Lots of dancing, a bit of singing, and another sore head the next day.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Day 15 - Melbourne</b></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I borrowed a bike from the hotel and rode along the river from Richmond up to the city. I didn't realise rowing was so popular in Melbourne. Every 50 meters there was a boat and a cyclist on a loudspeaker belting them instructions. </span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I can't believe how much we fitted in to just 2 weeks. The scenery, the wildlife, the people. Everything was even better than I imagined. Australia - you've done it again.</span>Rowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05864524347207028829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170205752933889892.post-8512651921929724982019-02-12T00:40:00.000-08:002020-01-09T05:05:43.496-08:00Australia: round II<div dir="ltr">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Gong xi fa cai - which means two days extra leave in my world. Thank you lunar new year for allowing me to go on another holiday!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">First impressions of Perth - clean, friendly, chilled. We stayed in North Bridge, at a place called <a href="https://alexhotel.com.au/" target="_blank">Alex Hotel</a>. It was decked out with scandi style furnishings, had a lovely roof garden breakfast/chill out area. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We spent the first day ambling around the city and did well out of Perth's various clothes shops (which are so much better than Singapore). It was warm, but not sticky like Singapore. Made a change walking around without the familiar feeling of sweat dripping!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I'd heard there's not much to do in Perth usually, but lucky for us the <a href="https://fringeworld.com.au/" target="_blank">Fringe festival</a> was running while as were there, showcasing musicians, dancers, comedians and a sorts of other acts. We bought tickets to see two acts later that evening - a hypnotist and some kind of bizarre cabaret.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">There's a great little restaurant opposite Alex Hotel called <a href="http://bivouac.com.au/" target="_blank">Bivouac</a>. Good cocktails. Great food. Especially if you find yourself in newfound vegetarian land like me..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">After dinner it was Matt Hale the hypnotist who was incredible. Unfortunately I wasn't able to be hypnotised (not through lack of trying) but it was LOL hilarity watching the others all dance or speak whale to one another on stage. Highly recommend!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Straight after it was El Bizzaro - a bit of burlesque, a bit of nudity and a bit of self-mutilation. I thought it was pretty out there when a guy pushed needles through his cheeks and arms, but then a woman put a sword down her throat and another </span><span style="font-family: "courier new", courier, monospace;">attached stirrups to rings on a man's back skin and rode him like a horse! Some other things involving his balls + a tube happened which will be engrained on my retinas forever and is just too gross to write here.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">To try and forget what we had just witnessed, we found a bar with some live music and proceeded to drink and dance the night away. I can't remember where we went, but aussies sure know how to have a good time!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Despite a raging hangover, we managed to get up and have a look around Fremantle the next day. It's a pretty little town which boasts the 'roundhouse' - apparently the oldest building in Western Australia. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Something I noticed about Aus, is that almost all women have colourful tattoos on their arms. It looks awesome. Kinda makes me want one... Although the whole 'what do I get that I won't hate in 10 years?' question always holds me back.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We drove down south along the coast towards Margaret River. Along the way we found ourselves in Bussleton. Now Bussleton is world renowned for its pier, which is the longest in the southern hemisphere and the second longest in the world. Pretty amazing eh. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">No I didn't think so either.. but it's brilliant that Bussleton have managed to make a whole tourist attraction from a pier. But we had a good time, catching the little train there and back and spotting some dolphins out at sea along the way. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Something which surprised me was that as soon as the sun goes down, it gets cold. I didn't expect that at all, but I guess I makes sense as the air is so dry, so there's no moisture to retain any heat.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We had booked an air BnB in Prevally, owned by a gorgeous Aussie/English couple, Rob and Sue, who were super friendly. It was difficult not to be over-familiar with Rob, who was the spit of Phil's Dad. </span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Their home was lovely too with a large deck overlooking the ocean. Something I love about air BnB in general is the personal touch. Rob and Sue were able to recommend lots of places for us to go and made us feel so welcome. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Rob also told us about the history of Prevally which was rather interesting.... An Aussie chap was fighting in Crete in WWII and sought safety at an old monastery in a town called Prevally. The Nazis left them alone as they didn't want to attack the monks which meant our Aussie friend got out safely, picked up by an English submarine. When he returned to Australia, he built the town of Prevally in honour of the Greek monks and sent the monastery money over the years.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Although I'm not sure Prevally can be classed as a town as it has just one shop and one cafe, both of which close by 8pm. Although this was kind of perfect for me who'd been dreaming of sleep all day. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We booked an all-day wine tour with <a href="https://www.margaretrivertours.com/" target="_blank">Margaret River Wine Tours</a> the following day and were picked up by Matt, the most Aussie person I've ever met. We were the only people on the tour for the morning so had a personal experience and tasted all sorts of wine from cellar doors in the area.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I would recommend the tour company, but wouldn't advise on an all-day tour - </span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I couldn't hack more wine after lunch so the afternoon was a little wasted on me. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We were back in time to watch the sunset at Surfers Point,</span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"> watching the windsurfers doing crazy jumps and bracing ourselves against the wind. </span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">With a cloudless sky, the sunset was all sorts of gold and made everything around look beautiful. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Saturday and our last full day on holiday. We booked a little coasteering experience with a guy called Cam on air BnB experiences. A little tamer than I had hoped, but still good fun climbing over rocks and taking leaps of faith into the foamy ocean below. Cam used to be involved in air rescue and told us a few stories about the shark attacks in the area. He also chose to tell us about the deadly blue ringed octopus that are found in the water where we swimming, just as we jumped in.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Once we finished, Cam recommended we drive over to Hamelin Bay to see sting rays, and being my favourite animal, I didn't need telling twice. We headed straight there and OH MY... Jaw dropping scenes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">There are lots of caves to explore in Margaret River, all along the aptly named Caves Road. We chose to check out Mammoth Cave as it's self-guided, whereas some of the others you have to wait until a tour group is ready. Mammoth was interesting and bloody enormous (hence the name). The part I found most interesting was the fossils they had found of animals from millions of years ago, which were wiped out when the first humans arrived - we really are shit sometimes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We had dinner on Margaret River high street, mainly to suss out the area. Dinner was delicious, but there really isn't much down that way. I would suggest doing what we did and staying somewhere near the ocean rather than in the centre. If you hire a car it's easy enough to get everywhere.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Initially we had planned to get up at sunrise and drive back to Fremantle, catch a ferry to Rottnest Island, meet some friendly quokers, and be back in time for our flight. Thankfully, our air BnB host warned us against this as we hadn't thought about how long it would take. Recommendation to others - give yourself a full day/ overnight at Rottnest as the ferry is a couple of hours each way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Instead of Rottnest, we rented a kayak and SUP from River Mouth and headed up the Margaret River. I've never seen anything quite like it - the river one one side and the ocean on the other. I'm so glad we got there, it was bloody beautiful. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Before driving back to the airport we took a little detour to Eagle Bay. Lunch at <a href="https://wisewine.com.au/" target="_blank">Wise Wine</a> was delicious and the view </span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">overlooking the vineyard and the ocean wasn't too shabby either.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Before this trip I thought nothing could beat Victoria or Sydney. I have to say, Western Australia has blown me away! It's not too far from Singapore, so hopefully we'll be back again soon.</span><br />
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Rowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05864524347207028829noreply@blogger.com0Western Australia, Australia-27.6728168 121.62830980000001-56.2645173 80.319715800000012 0.91888370000000208 162.9369038tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170205752933889892.post-9583358698466436962019-01-11T05:14:00.000-08:002020-01-09T05:17:43.010-08:00A Filipino Christmas<div dir="ltr">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">For the first time in our lives, Phil and I chose to spend Christmas away rather than at home with our families. It was not an easy decision for me as I love the opportunity Christmas brings to have everyone together; not to mention all the delicious food, drink and cheer. However, having been home twice already this year we thought it a good time to try something different.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">A few friends had recommended Tao - a boat tour from El Nido to Coron in the Philippines. We booked the 5 night trip over Christmas followed by a few nights in the Coron area to do some diving. It was hands down one of the best things we've ever done and I can see why it comes so highly recommended.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Like most of the less touristy idyllic places, our little area of the Philippines was a bit of a mission to get to. We caught our first red-eye flight to Cebu, then a second to Puerto Princessa, then finally a 5 hour drive to El Nido.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">El Nido had lovely chilled beach bars and hundreds of horny stray dogs (who woke me up very early with their noisy antics). We stayed at a cheap hotel called Ambience Place but were there less than 24 hours as the next morning we set sail on our Tao boat.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">On registering for Tao you have to write a little bit about yourself and why you want to join the trip. The website makes it clear that the trip isn't for everyone and tries to arrange the groups so that 'like-minded' people are together. We were lucky in that the other 22 people were lovely and there's definitely a good bunch to keep in touch with. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Tao doesn't follow a specific itinerary or route. The boat stops at different islands throughout the day so you can snorkel, lie on the beach, play volleyball, cuddle the adorable puppy Moana, read a book, or wax lyrical with new pals.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">This was our little route...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Along the way we caught some tuna from the back of the boat which was killed, prepared and eaten in all of 30 minutes. The freshest sashimi ever.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">On Christmas eve we sat around a fire and sang carols. A few of us also walked around the island and shared a few songs with some local islanders which was pretty cute.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We woke up on Christmas morning like any other day of the trip. Even though I tried my hardest, it really didn't feel like Christmas at all. Not that I'm complaining, as we were in the middle of absolute paradise. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We ended our tour in Coron and stayed at a great hotel called Coron Bay Area. The first thing I did was have a massage in my room (priorities), then headed out for drinks and dinner with the Tao crew. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We were only in Coron town for one day and were told a typhoon was coming which would stop all tours and boats to other islands. Luckily we managed to organise a private tour to a couple of places recommended online: Twin Lagoon and Kayangan Lake. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">The Twin Lagoon was very beautiful and peaceful, but Kayangan Lake was definitely our favourite of the two.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Kayangan Lake was slightly marred by the large number of tourists there when we arrived. We began a climb up rocky steps until we reached the end of a long queue of Asian tourists. Confused why there would be a queue for a lake, I went ahead to check and it transpired that the queue was in fact for a viewing point photo opp. Crazy, but good for us as it meant we could manoeuvre around and see the lake.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">The lake is well worth a swim but you need to bring a mask and snorkel with you to get the best of it. The water is crystal clear and the underwater rocks are stunning. There's also a little cave along the side which is pretty cool. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We stayed in the lake long enough for the large numbers of tourists to disperse on their group tours. It's definitely worth doing the private option as we did as it means you can go at a less busier time and go at your own pace, and it only costs a fraction more.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We ate a lunch of fresh fish and veggies on our little boat then headed back to Coron. With a whole afternoon at our disposal, we donned our trainers and sports gear and began the 742 steps to Mount Tapyas. I was prepared for a challenge after reading another blog post about the walk, but it was fairly painless and we were at the large CORON letter in no time at all, meeting some of our fellow Tao crew at the top by chance. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">After a leisurely walk back down, we caught a 30 minute tricycle to the Maquinit Springs just in time for sunset. </span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">The Springs were wonderfully warm and the perfect place to chill out with friends as the sun went down. An hour was probably enough for us all before we turned into prunes and overheated.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">There was still rumour of a fast approaching typhoon the next morning so we were slightly concerned about getting our transfer over to Sangat Island. We waited a short while in anticipation and were thrilled when we were collected and taken to the most beautiful little island resorts I've ever seen. It turned out that many of our friends weren't able to arrange any transportation off the island so we were very lucky!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I recommend alot of places, but I really cannot recommend <a href="http://sangat.com.ph/" target="_blank">Sangat Dive Resort</a> enough. Even if you aren't a diver you'll have an amazing stay there, trust me. Be warned that it is a little on the pricey side, but in my opinion, very worth it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">As we arrived on the island we were greeted by some the friendliest staff I've come across, and taken up to our villa on top of the hill. It was surrounded by jungle and warned to keep our belongings inside to avoid the thieving monkeys!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We had long enough to get changed into our dive gear and we off out to dive the Morozan Maru - an English passenger liner which was captured by the imperial Japanese navy and used as an auxiliary cargo vessel during work war 2. It was sunk, along with several others in 1944. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">The next couple of days we dived the Olympia, Okiawa and Irako. All fantastic in their own right, but nothing compared to the Morozan. We dived the Morozan once more on the last day. Ducking under and over debry, squeezing ourselves into tiny gaps, swimming up in to an air pocket, and losing our dive master...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Certainly the most interesting diving I've ever done. Thanks to the typhoon stopping other travellers, we had each dive site to ourselves. I'm not sure we would have quite the same positive experience had their been other divers 20m down disturbing the haunting quiet of the wreck.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">The last night of our stay was new year's eve and Sangat had arranged a huge buffet dinner, decorated the area with fairy lights, blasted the music, and arranged games for us all. It became clear that alot of the guests fancied a chilled night, but Phil and I got carried away with shots, more shots, skinny dipping and more skinny dipping.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I'm now writing this at the end of our trip and I can hands down say that this has been one of the best holidays we've had. But at the same time, it hasn't really felt like Christmas at all.</span></div>
Rowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05864524347207028829noreply@blogger.com0Palawan, Philippines9.8349493 118.73836151.8533723000000002 108.411213 17.8165263 129.06551tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170205752933889892.post-88279678771916788322018-10-23T00:40:00.000-07:002019-06-08T00:06:05.665-07:00A Solo Retreat<div dir="ltr">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">In my 27 years I have never been on holiday alone, so I utilised some extra lieu days and booked in a three night trip to Ubud in Bali.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I arrived at <a href="http://www.hotelvillaubud.com/" target="_blank">Villa Ubud</a> in the afternoon and squeezed in a Yin yoga session before dinner. It was a bit strange eating alone but it appeared that nobody else was staying at the villa. Eager to make the most of my time there I signed up for a hike up Mount Batur, leaving at 2am the next morning. Unfortunately I drank a full pot of green tea after dinner - a huge mistake as before I knew it I was up for the hike without any sleep. Who knew it contained caffeine?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I was picked up and driven over to the base for a quick breakfast and to meet the tour group, before beginning the hike up Mount Batur. Two hours of uphill scrabbling, weaving and climbing; getting wet from the clouds and fog and not knowing how far we were from the top. </span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">It was a lot more difficult than I thought!</span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"> My group summited around 5am where we had our second breakfast and quietly froze against the icy wind (top tip: bring a scarf and jacket and not make the same mistake I did).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We kept getting glimpses of the sunrise until the clouds eventually lifted and we were able to see the sun creep up out from behind. IN the end, it was worth the aching legs and cold!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">The downhill trek was easier and I was back at Villa Ubud for my third breakfast in no time at all. I've never achieved so much before 9am! I had a massage followed by a second yoga session. It was all I could do to stay up for dinner then fell asleep with my book. Bliss.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I had a different yoga instructor who really pushed me. I already feel more flexible. There's something to be said for daily yoga. I might try and get up an hour earlier each morning and fit in a session back in Singapore (I wonder how long that will last..)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">After breakfast I headed into Ubud town centre and shopped, had a pedicure, drank a fresh coconut and wandered aimlessly for a couple of hours. I love the little clothes shops in Bali - such a treat compared to Singapore, and cheap too. It would have been wrong of me not to buy anything ;)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">After another yoga sesh I stumbled across an awesome bar called <a href="https://www.nomasubud.com/" target="_blank">No Mas</a>. It didn't look like much from the front but head through a mini garden path and suddenly there's a pool with beds, deck chairs and little booths all around with vibey music and great cocktails. As Ubud is a fairly quiet town, I'd recommend going there to anyone visiting who fancies a bit of night life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Monday</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">My last day and my first yoga session with other humans! Five others in fact. </span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">After yoga it was sunbathing, breakfast and off to the airport. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I feel healthier, bendier and more relaxed after the trip... however, I was disappointed that there weren't other yogis to interact with during my stay. It's definitely the kind of retreat for those who are happy with their own company, but for others (like me), I'd recommend a different style of retreat or perhaps bring a pal along for some bants.</span><br />
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Rowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05864524347207028829noreply@blogger.com0Ubud, Gianyar, Bali, Indonesia-8.5068536 115.26247779999994-8.569671099999999 115.18179679999994 -8.4440361 115.34315879999994tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170205752933889892.post-59575473630222063802018-07-23T23:02:00.000-07:002018-10-07T23:22:21.590-07:00Malaccacacaca<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">A group of us booked a very impromptu weekend away in Malacca; an old Straits Settlement just 3 hours up the west coast of Malaysia. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I had no expectations, but was rather just keen for a cheap weekend away with friends. Perhaps having no expectations was a good thing, as I was pleasantly surprised by how pretty and interesting it was.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We made a bit of a mistake by travelling up at peak hour on a Friday night. What should have been a 3 hour trip, became a 7 hour trip due to the tailback at immigration. We hired a private car for general ease, but I think getting a public bus over the border is quicker as they skip the normal queues. I would definitely recommend doing a bit of research beforehand, as holding your bladder for several hours in stationary traffic is not the one!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We arrived in the early hours to a cracking little one-floor, Air BnB house right next to Jonker Street - the city's main street.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We spent all of Saturday exploring and eating. I can't recall the names of the restaurants we went to, but Malacca is famed for it's good food, so I'm sure most places would be pretty decent. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">There were a few street vendors selling coconuts, but instead of chopping the tip off and sticking a straw in, thy somehow managed to spoon out the whole inner flesh/juice and proceeded to juggle with them. Never seen anything like it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We had a cheeky margarita (or two) at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/SidsPubs/reviews/?post_id=1835781316453497&referrer=page_recommendations_home_card" target="_blank">Sid's Pub</a>, ate along the river side and checked out all the amazing street art. It reminded me a lot of Penang, but in my opinion, better.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We came across a little shop owned my an artist, selling all kinds of paintings, sculptures and sketches. Phil and I bought a beautiful little hand painted peranakan house which is now on our wall at home:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">There was an old church called 'St Paul's' which was built in 1521, making it the oldest church in Southeast Asia! Inside the dilapidated ruins was a husky voiced busker and we could have stayed there for hours listening to him and letting the the sun shine through the trees and gaps in the building.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">As the sun was setting, we hopped on a boat for a tour of the city. We were all a little crammed in, but we were able to see the city at dusk and the street art from a slightly different perspective. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">As Malacca is so small, I wasn't expected a wild night. We had some street food on Jonker street and sat in <a href="http://geographer.com.my/" target="_blank">Geographer Bar</a> listening to live music. Before we knew it we were all dragged onto the dance floor and doing shots of tequila...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Later on we found <a href="https://www.facebook.com/mixx.com.my/" target="_blank">Mixx Club</a> which was huge, and as some of the only westerners there, were treated like little celebrities by other girls in the club. A bit strange, but hilarious. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Hungover and hungry, we could just about muster brunch and a massage the next day (it's a hard life), before heading back to Singapore.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Getting away for a weekend is great as it feels like a holiday, even if it's just a few hours drive. I'd recommend anyone in Singapore to head over the boarder for a weekend - it's cheap, refreshingly different and beautiful. </span><br />
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Rowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05864524347207028829noreply@blogger.com0Malacca, Malaysia2.194418 102.249062999999981.6867070000000002 101.60361599999997 2.7021290000000002 102.89450999999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170205752933889892.post-87550473002336010602018-06-25T01:06:00.000-07:002018-06-28T01:14:13.835-07:00Ho Chi Minh weekender<div dir="ltr">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We had one last chance to catch up with the Swedes (the couple we met in Nusa Lembongan) before they headed back to Europe, so Phil and I flew to our chosen meeting point - Ho Chi Minh - to spend some time with them over a weekend. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We rented an AirBnB in District 4 and arrived to beer, cider and a smorgers board of cheese. Couldn't have been happier to catch up with what feels like old friends and wax lyrical until the early hours.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Saturday was the only full day we all had in HCM so had a hearty breakfast at <a href="http://shgsaigon.com/elbowroom.html" target="_blank">Elbow Room</a> and walked around the city for a few hours. There's an amazing bar at the top of Centec Tower called </span><a href="https://www.shri.vn/" style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;" target="_blank">Shri</a> <span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">which the Swedes had been to before and recommended. We had fantastic views of the city and the cocktails arrived to the table in ships, handbags, scientific apparatus and other strange things. Each one came with a culture/history lesson about why it relates to Vietnam and if I remembered any I would love to tell you... but unfortunately the sun and cocktails got to my head far too much that day!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I had booked us on to a city food tour with <a href="https://backofthebiketours.com/" target="_blank">Back of the Bike</a>, and after the nightmare I'd had booking the tour in Dubai, I was a bit nervous we would have the same bad luck again. I needn't have worried. The tour was incredible and the highlight of our trip to HCM by far.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">The four of us were picked up by local guides, all of whom were warm, friendly and extremely knowledgeable about Vietnam. We hopped on the back of their bikes and drove through the city to thr first of five food stops.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Stop 1</b> was an amazing papaya salad which we ate on mats at the side of the road. The lady who made it has been selling from the same spot for decades and a firm favourite for locals and tourists.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Stop 2</b> was called Cút Chiên Bơ </span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">and in my opinion, the best of the whole tour. Roasted quail in a Vietnamese baguette dipped in some kind of sweet and sticky sauce. So so good.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Stop 3</b> was crab and fish soup or bún riêu cua (I think) made with coconut milk and fat noodles. Delicious again, but to be honest we were all getting a bit full by this point. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Stop 4</b> was a small version of an Indian dosa, called something like banh khot. Little fried pancakes with prawn and veggies, which then became the filling for a rice paper roll with added greens. We also had beetle nut leaf wrapped around beef and dipped in anchovy sauce which was pretty tasty.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Once we had finished, we were given the opportunity to try a duck embryo, something which is really common in Vietnam but in the words of my tour guide, 'rather challenging for Westerners'. We all declined to try it, but chose to watch our guide eat one instead. It was bizarre to see her eat the yolk which was full of veins, then the white of the egg which had already formed half a chick. Definitely not my thing and has probably put me off eating eggs for a while!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Stop 5</b> was the final stop and the desert course. We had black sticky rice, white sticky rice, coconut ice cream, frozen yogurt with mulberries and fruit. I absolutely love Vietnamese food and need to start cooking more of it back home.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I would highly recommend this tour to everyone visiting HCM. Not only do you get to try good local food, but you also get free flow beer (or soft drinks) and hear all about the history and culture of the city from the guides. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">My guide Tinh was telling me that each t</span><span style="font-family: courier new, courier, monospace;">here are 24 districts in HCM and each is known for something different amongst the locals. I.e. the western expats live in D2, Koreans live in D7, the rough area is D4, Chinatown is D5, there are also districts for shopping, karaoke, love hotels etc. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new", courier, monospace;">She also taught me a few Vietnamese words:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Yo - cheers<br />
Hello - sing chow<br />
Thanks - cam on</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Pronounce 'Pho' as Pha, otherwise it means prostitute</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Don't say 'yum' when something tastes good as it means 'horny'</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Definitely don't say 'yum, Pha!'</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: courier new, courier, monospace;">After the tour we found a bar for a few cocktails then the Swedes wanted to go somewhere quiet so they could watch the Sweden vs Germany football match. Whilst the Swedes watched the match, I</span><span style="font-family: "courier new", courier, monospace;"> popped into the spa opposite for a pedicure. </span><span style="font-family: "courier new", courier, monospace;">It was a bit of a shame the footy was on the one night we had together, as it kinda put a stop to the momentum of the evening. That said, it was so much fun to see them again, and it's such a shame we don't live closer so can get together more regularly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new", courier, monospace;">We said our hungover goodbyes the next day, with a promise to visit Stockholm at some point in the not too distant future.</span><br />
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Rowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05864524347207028829noreply@blogger.com0Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam10.8230989 106.62966389.8247624 105.33877030000001 11.8214354 107.9205573tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170205752933889892.post-15393488701152282222018-06-08T02:20:00.000-07:002018-06-21T02:21:57.804-07:00A stop-over in Dubai<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">We headed back to the UK for my brother's wedding and my best friend's Hen do. It was an EPIC two weeks but that's another story. What I want to write about here is our two day stop-over in Dubai...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">We always fly Emirates so thought that it was about time to spend more than a couple of hours in the airport and see some of the city. We landed at about 1am and stayed in a fancy hotel, the <a href="https://www.jumeirah.com/en/hotels-resorts/dubai/jumeirah-zabeel-saray/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=google%20places&utm_campaign=hotel" target="_blank">Jumeriah Zabeel Saray</a>. </span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">t was lavish and exactly what I imagined, but it was so big it felt a bit impersonal and I did kind of wish we had stayed in a smaller place like we usually do. We also had very loud neighbours which meant we only got a couple of hours kip. The breakfast the next day made up for it though. It was a buffet of every breakfast food we could want. We ate then sunbathed at the huge pool until the afternoon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I had booked us onto an overnight desert safari tour as it had come highly recommended by friends and the internet in general. It was a bad start as the driver was a whopping two hours late, but we tried not to let is bother us too much and went on to have a good time quad biking and dune bashing in a 4x4. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">At sunset we ended up at a little camp site to eat some food and watch a fire breather/dancer. We were very confused by the fact that everyone else at the site drove off the minute the performances ended. We were the only tourists left along with our driver and a couple of people who must have worked there. We asked where our cabin was and were promptly told that we had to sleep on a mat on the sand. No privacy, no tent, no sleeping bag, no nothing. Gobsmacked and confused we left the campsite immediately and I've been trying to get reimbursed ever since. The company, <a href="http://sougattourism.com/" target="_blank">Sougat Tourism</a>, have been an absolute nightmare so I would strongly discourage anyone else booking with them if they can help it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">We booked a late room at a hotel next to Dubai Mall which was lovely, then went up the Burj Khalifa the next day to take in the view. I was surprised at how barren Dubai is. There are a few skyscrapers (most of which follow the architecture of other buildings like the Eiffel Tower or Big Ben), and between the skyscrapers are construction sites, dust and sand. I'm not sure what I expected, but I was generally quite underwhelmed by the place.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">We flew back to the UK later the same day and had a whale of a time catching up with friends and family in sunny London and the West Country. The stark contrast between the vibrancy and beauty of England vs Dubai was huge. I'm so grateful I am able to travel around different parts of Asia, but even more grateful I am from such an incredible place as the UK!</span>Rowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05864524347207028829noreply@blogger.com0Dubai - United Arab Emirates25.2048493 55.27078280000000624.2844238 53.9798893 26.1252748 56.561676300000009tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170205752933889892.post-36387451126988953072018-04-03T00:53:00.000-07:002018-06-21T19:49:03.261-07:00Nothing else mantas when you're in Nusa<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Number one on my dive bucket list was to dive with manta rays, and this weekend it finally came true.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Making the most of the easter weekend, Phil and I spent 4 nights on Nusa Lembongan which is a stone's throw from Bali's main island. Most of Friday was spent traveling but were able to arrive at our beautiful <a href="https://sukanusaluxuryhuts.com/" target="_blank">Sukanusa Luxury Hut</a> before sundown and scope out our little bit of the island. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We had pre-booked two days of diving with <a href="http://www.divinglembongan.com/" target="_blank">Legend Diving</a> as they came highly recommended on trip advisor. We had a fantastic local guide and went with a lovely Swedish couple who were also AOW PADIs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">The main dive spot for manta rays is Manta Point, but the guide had said they'd been no sightings there for three days so we were to hedge our bets at Manta Bay instead. This was great as it meant Manta Bay was relatively quiet when we arrived. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We descended down to 20 metres and saw one manta at the surface. It was incredible but such a brief sighting so I was pretty disappointed to think that was all we would see. It turns out I shouldn't have given up hope, as once we were back on the boat we saw a big black fin cutting through the water, then another, then another. We grabbed our masks, jumped back into the ocean and suddenly a few centimetres in front of us were huge, three-metre manta rays. There must have been three or four of them and they kept circling around to swim right up to us before ducking down. It was surreal and one of the most magical moments of my life. I honestly have to keep reminding myself that it was real.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">That evening we went out for dinner with the Swedish couple we met diving. It was fun but impossible trying to find any nightlife - it's definitely more of a chilled family place rather than the backpacker vibe of Gili T or Seminyak.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We had two more dives booked for the next day which were stunning. No more mantas but endless coral reefs and numerous turtles and fish. </span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">The coral around Nusa was some of the most colourful we've seen and it was good to see such a healthy reef compared to a lot of bleaching we've seen on other recent dives. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">The island is fairly small so we rented bicycles and headed to Mushroom Bay to meet the Swedes and proceeded to drink the bar dry until the early hours. They're traveling around Asia with plans for Singapore next week, so I'm thrilled we get to see them again so soon!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Our final day was spent eating everything there was to offer at <a href="http://www.indiana-kenanga-villas.com/index.php" target="_blank">Indiana Kenanga</a> (a delicious French restaurant on the beach) and nursing our hangovers. The ocean breaks far out at low tide so the sunset and reflection was absolutely stunning.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Altogether an epic holiday to remember. Nusa Lembongan is a peaceful paradise and an absolute must for any diver who wants to see some gentle giant manta rays.</span>Rowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05864524347207028829noreply@blogger.com0Lembongan island, Jungutbatu, Nusapenida, Klungkung Regency, Bali, Indonesia-8.6785828 115.4555858-8.7099763 115.4152453 -8.6471892999999991 115.4959263tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170205752933889892.post-74186697439850559952018-03-05T00:21:00.000-08:002018-06-21T00:45:41.913-07:00Japan: beautiful, weird and wonderful<div dir="ltr">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Phil I were in Japan together just over two years ago in December 2016. It was one of the most incredible holidays, so I had high hopes for our return this year. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We arrived at lunchtime for sushi and a wander around Harajuku, we then headed to Shinjuku for another delicious meal at a tiny teppanyaki restaurant called Teshu (or something similar). We sat along the bar and had the chef serve us wagyu sashimi, grilled seafood, beef and veggies, all cooked in front of us and absolutely delicious.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We ended the night at the famous <a href="http://restaurants.tokyo.park.hyatt.co.jp/nyb.html" target="_blank">New York bar at the Park Hyatt</a>: Drinking cocktails, listening to a live jazz, and pretending we were Bill and Scarlett...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I felt pretty rough the following day so slept a lot whilst Phil watched the Tokyo marathon runners outside our hotel. We then headed to the samurai museum and met a couple of friends at a strange immersive restaurant called <a href="https://appetiteforjapan.com/2016/03/08/alcatraz-er/" target="_blank">Alcatraz E.R</a> in the evening.. Only in Japan.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Thankfully I felt alot better the next day for our trip to Nikko, Okunikko and Utsonamya. Nikko is where the Shogun shrines are and a place of tranquil beauty. Okunikko is a little further up in the mountains. It was freezing cold but amazing to see the huge icy waterfall and watch the sun set over the sulphur lake.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">On the way back to Toyko we stopped in Utsonamya which is where Phil lived a couple of years ago. We ate at a famous gyoza restaurant, had a night-cap at a cute little bar and wandered through the miniature golden gai. I thought Utsonamya would be a quiet, sleepy town, but it had so much character and I can see why Phil loved living there so much.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">The next day was Tuesday and our travel day to Hokkaido where we spent the remainder of our trip. We flew into Sapporo then took a scenic 3 hour bus ride into Niseko. I have never seen so much snow! The roads had been cleared to leave huge walls on either side which must have been 10ft high.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Our pal had picked an awesome apartment for us all in Hirafu village, right next to the gondola. It was called <a href="http://www.nisekolandmarkview.com/" target="_blank">Landmark View</a> and I'd recommend anyone to stay there. </span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We had dinner at a cute little bar called <a href="http://bigfootlodge.jp/" target="_blank">Big Foot</a> and got into bed like excited children ready for skiing the next morning.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We got up early, tested our ski legs and sped up and down the mountains until the evening, stopping only to meet our two other pals who arrived at lunchtime to join us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">No research had been done about where to go in the evening so we were lucky to stumble upon a secret little place called Buddha Bar which was practically invisible from the outside. We ate a lot of gyoza and met a fun Aussie who insisted on doing everything backwards, because, that's what Aussies do right?!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Shitty weather hit us the next day so we were in limbo for a while until we learnt about some runs open in Hanazono around the side of the mountain. Phil and I accidentally skied down a black off-piste run which was terrifying but also a bit of a proud moment for us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We all went to an onsen in the early evening to boil ourselves. They split the males and females and stipulate for everyone to be nude - a weird concept for us straight-laced Brits, especially sitting on a tiny stool afterwards to wash ourselves. Fun though and definitely helped the aches and pains.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We found another izakaya (a joint serving Japanese tapas) and met three lovely Aussie guys</span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">who we went onto <a href="https://www.gyubar.com/" target="_blank">Bar GYU+</a> with. A night of drinking, jumping into walls of ice and snowball fights ensued until sunrise...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Not much to comment on the next day as we nursed our hangovers and ate ramen but we were thankfully back on the slopes for our final day as weather has cleared up. I'm a bit of an idiot though... I kamikaze skied again and managed to injure my knee and tear by calf muscle which meant a few trips to the hospital when we'd landed back in Singapore. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">If I had to describe Japan in three words I would say it was beautiful, weird and wonderful. </span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Despite the sickness and injury, it was an excellent trip and I'm sure we will return for skiing again next year.</span></div>
Rowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05864524347207028829noreply@blogger.com0Niseko, Abuta District, Hokkaido, Japan42.8047045 140.6874930999999842.618272 140.3647696 42.991137 141.01021659999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170205752933889892.post-23724193856514142722017-12-06T22:02:00.000-08:002018-03-28T04:09:10.775-07:00Angkor Wat Temple Run<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">My plan is to run a half marathon every two years to keep my fitness in check and given my last half was in 2015, I was due a run before the new year. I had heard great things about the Angkor Wat run so I recruited some friends and together we flew to Cambodia to run 10k and 21k as the sun rose over the temples.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We arrived a day prior to the run so had lots of time relaxing by the pool at Sokha Angkor Hotel, eating delicious food at Vibe and Olive, and collecting our race packs. We also managed to get over to the temples for sunset which was stunning.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">The race started at 6am so we had to get up at about 4am and battle to queues of tuk tuks and pedestrians leading into Angkor Wat. We were a bit disappointed that the route had changed this year due to a diplomatic event taking place at Angkor Wat, however it was still a beautiful run and we saw lots of other temples along the way. I was hoping to finish in under 2hrs but ended up with a time of 2hrs 13mins in the end.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We celebrated (in silence because we were so exhausted) at a lovely brunch place called Sister Shrey and Phil and I said goodbye to our pals who had to fly back ready for work the next day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">As we had an extra couple of days off work we spent the next day at the floating village an hour out of town. I loved the people there, such a community feel and the kids were adorable. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We had a Cambodian BBQ in the evening along Pub Street and enjoyed a beer (Phil) and a massage (me) before heading back.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">It was so good to go back to Cambodia as my trip a few years ago was so short I really wasn't able to get a sense of the country at all. Siem Reap is a bustling but small city and I would happily go back again next week!</span><br />
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<br />Rowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05864524347207028829noreply@blogger.com0Krong Siem Reap, Cambodia13.3670968 103.8448134000000213.1198938 103.52208990000003 13.614299800000001 104.16753690000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170205752933889892.post-8377763628676896072017-09-05T00:26:00.000-07:002017-12-18T00:27:55.804-08:00A whistle stop tour of Sri Lanka<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Last week I met an old friend for a tornado trip of Sri Lanka. I flew 4 hours from Changi to Colombo and arrived just over an hour later thanks to the time difference.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">We had booked a driver for the week as it seemed the easiest and most efficient way to see the island, particularly as we were doing a very peculiar route as a way to cram everything in to the trip. The first morning we were up before the sun and drove all the way to the east coast to Yala National Park. We hopped on a Jeep and drove around for hours spotting mongoose, deer, water buffalo, wild boar, elephants, black and red faced monkeys, painted storks, crocodiles and peacocks. I was gutted I didn't take my SLR as some of the things we saw were incredible. Everyone stopped to look at a leopard sitting in a tree in the distance, but to be honest it was so far away it could have been anything.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">We had our first taste of Sri Lankan food that evening at <a href="http://www.richardscabanas.com/">Richards Cabanas</a>. Curried beetroot, sweet potato and beans, daal, popadum, spicy onion relish and salty aubergine. It was all delicious! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The following day we were on the road again towards Nuwara Eliya. They call it Little England and I could see why. The little houses, windy streets and rolling hills really reminded me of home. It was also freezing cold which was a bit of a shock to the system after living in Singapore for so long! Along the way to NE we stopped off at a waterfall (I can't remember the name) and also Glenloch tea factory to learn about the different tea produced in the area. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The next day we walked 19km around the Horton Plains at sunrise. Green valleys, flowing rivers, floating mist, the sound of frogs and birds waking up. It was bucolic.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">One of the reasons the Horton Plains are so well known is due to the famed World's End and Cloud Forest. Essentially a cliff edge with clouds behind so you feel like everything ends right in front of you - the photo doesn't do it justice.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The next stop was Mirissa and the last place we visited together before I headed home and my pal continued on for another two weeks exploration of the island. We stayed at a hotel called <a href="http://www.paradisemirissa.com/">Paradise Beach Club</a> which was pretty good in comparison to the hostel we stayed in in NE. The pool backed onto the beach and we were able to sit about reading and relaxing. The initial idea was to go whale watching, I'm a bit disappointed I didn't go ahead and do it but it was lovely to relax and have no plans for a whole day.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKdlND-7RuSAhRcr159BvRLUXqfwpbNwq2DlUpaDAoa0IG3Ogo2aWhmbZ1ZE4utDPOFUIXXveeBLj67qpFQDNJRzROCVic16DCa8mVSBMyj_Apv9T3MKN5egaDPl48rFCbWu6tgeW35-E/s1600/IMG_20170904_132936_756.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKdlND-7RuSAhRcr159BvRLUXqfwpbNwq2DlUpaDAoa0IG3Ogo2aWhmbZ1ZE4utDPOFUIXXveeBLj67qpFQDNJRzROCVic16DCa8mVSBMyj_Apv9T3MKN5egaDPl48rFCbWu6tgeW35-E/s320/IMG_20170904_132936_756.jpg" width="256" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I've spent the past year in Asia and before coming to Sri Lanka, I assumed it would look and feel different - less tropical perhaps. But driving through the country I kept forgetting where I was and thinking I was in Indo or Malaysia. Overall I did really enjoy Sri Lanka as it was good to go somewhere new and catch up with my pal but I do feel like we rushed around too much. If I was to do it again I'd pick a different route to avoid 7 hour car journeys!</span>Rowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05864524347207028829noreply@blogger.com0Sri Lanka7.8730539999999989 80.7717969999999923.8495274999999989 75.608223 11.896580499999999 85.935370999999989tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170205752933889892.post-9569350620582839642017-08-14T21:06:00.000-07:002017-09-19T03:53:16.911-07:00Exploring Borneo<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Our first stop was My Nature Resort in Sandakan, just 20mins from airport. It was beautiful. We relaxed by the pool, had cocktails on the veranda and at 6.30pm as the sun was setting, we watched huge red flying squirrels soar from one tree to another to begin their night of hunting. They're the size and weight of cats and can soar hundreds of metres. We were really lucky to see them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">The next morning we went to Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre. Most of the orangutans there had been found as people's pets somewhere in Asia, and the idea of the centre is to slowly rehabilitate them into the wild. We saw a few of the the littluns at the nursery then onto the outdoor feeding platform where a mother and baby, along with a cheeky male stopped to grab a bite to eat. We also saw some of the rescued Sun Bears which are apparently the smallest species of bear.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">That afternoon, we got a boat over Abai Lodge to have lunch, then on to Kilamantan River Lodge where we stayed for two nights. During our stay we took a boat out for a few river cruises and were lucky enough to see salt water crocodiles, long and short tailed macaws, proboscis monkeys, red leaf monkeys, wild orangutans, kingfishers, hornbills and a snake.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Saltwater crocodiles looks so different to ones I've seen before with spiny, dragon like tails. We were told that they're quite dangerous over here and get the local fisherman every now and then.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">The proboscis monkeys were brilliant - making odd moaning noises to one another and wiggling their falic noses. They have two stomachs to process the leaves they eat, which gives them a beer-belly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">The red leaf monkeys were beautiful and bouncing around from tree to tree. They have amazing cheekbones, black faces and kind of a wise expression. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">As well as the boat tours, we also took a trip to the Gomantong Caves to learn about the birds nests and see the bats leaving for their night of hunting. I have never seen so much poo. The cave was piled high with bat feaces and every wall was covered with spiders, cockroaches and other bugs. Looking up on one side was a huge black mass of birds and their nests, and on the other was a rippling expanse of over 2 million bats. As dusk came, the bats flew in a swarm up and out the top of the cave. It was cool to see, but I was a bit preoccupied with getting cockroaches in my shoes and bat poop on my head at that point.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We learnt that once the chicks have fledged their nests, they are harvested and sold to the Chinese for large sums of money. 1kg of nest costs between 3000-6000 ringitt. They put it in soups with lots of sugar and the idea is that it prevents aging. Who knows if it's true, but some people are making a lot of money from it! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We met some really cool people on the trip - Sarah and Dela - a couple from Cirencester, as well as a family from Essex. We have plans to see Sarah and Dela at Japan 2020 Olympics. I hope we do.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">The thing that has shocked me most about Borneo is the palm tree plantations. The plantations go on and on as far as the eye can see - and this is all at the expense of the natural rainforests. It's how the people of Borneo make their money, so who am I to say it's wrong. But it just doesn't feel right when so much wildlife lose their homes to palm trees producing oil to fry our chips and burgers in MacDonalds!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We got a blink-and-you-miss-it flight from Sandakan to Tawau then drove a couple of hours over to Semporna. The next morning we were up early again to get a boat over to Mabul where we would be staying for the next few days. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Mabul is a tiny little island just east of Borneo. We were diving with a company called Scuba Junkie which is based right next to the islands sea gypsies who use explosives to fish and leave all their trash in the ocean. Scuba Junkie do a weekly clean up of the surrounding oceans and the explosives have now been banned in the area. It's still not great though. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">The diving was incredible. We saw huge Green and Hawksbill Turtles, Stingrays, and Eagle Ray, dancing Frog Fish, Trumpet and Cornet Fish, Moray Eels, and all the other usual suspects on the reef like Bat, Clown, Angel Fish etc. There were also invisible jellyfish which got me three separate times during my dives! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Both Phil and I have developed a new respect for Nudibranches. Dive masters always bang on about them and we never understood why, but after seeing so many different colours, shapes and sizes on the trip I now kinda like them too.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Our last day of diving was in Sipadan and it was out of this world! We did 4 dives around the island, the best of which was called Barracuda Point. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We saw upwards of 50 turtles, a huge shoal of Barracuda and another whirlwind shoal of Jack Fish we got lost in.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">There were also Black Tip, White Tip and Grey Reef Sharks. We swam into the blue at one point and saw a shoal/shiver of Grey Sharks, it was unreal.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">My favourite were the huge Bumphead Parrot Fish which look quite scary with their beaks but are completely harmless. All they do is swim and poop which we got caught up in along the way..</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I've never been on a trip like it - I feel really lucky to have seen such an array of beautiful birds, mammals and reptiles and fish in the wild!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span>Rowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05864524347207028829noreply@blogger.com0Kalimantan0.96188339999999994 114.55484950000005-15.0791941 93.900552500000046 17.0029609 135.20914650000003tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170205752933889892.post-25556555225733317142017-06-27T20:28:00.000-07:002017-09-19T03:53:06.009-07:00A Weekend in Penang<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">In hindsight, we probably shouldn't have gone to Penang. Phil had just had his appendix out and neither of us were really feeling it. But the flights were booked so we thought - why not.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Penang is a short flight from Singapore, in north-west Malaysia. It's famed for it's street art and local food and lots of colleagues had recommended it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We spent the first day walking around the city looking at all the street art which was excellent. We had a nice lunch and then were a at a bit of a loss of what to do next. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">The following day we wandered around, had some food and waited for our return flight. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I'm sure Penang is lovely if you're in the right mood, but we certainly weren't. I would say it's a great place to stop by if you are on your way from A to B, but I wouldn't suggest going there for longer than a day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I'm being super negative. The art was really very good - here's a few of my favourites:</span></div>
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Rowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05864524347207028829noreply@blogger.com0Penang, Malaysia5.4163459 100.332761699999994.9104559 99.687314699999988 5.9222358999999996 100.9782087tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170205752933889892.post-50066819221959782032017-05-16T20:13:00.000-07:002017-09-19T03:52:48.133-07:00Cruising Ha Long Bay<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">A couple of friends from the UK were touring Vietnam so Phil and I took a long-weekend to join them in Ha Long Bay.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">There are numerous tour packages to choose from offering different levels of luxury, activities and duration of trip. Luckily we didn't have to worry about making the decision as it had already been made for us by our friends who had gone for Garden Bay Cruises.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We got picked up from Hanoi and driven over to the harbour. The Garden Bay boat was relatively small with just a handful of other people and us.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Breakfast, lunch and dinner was served for us on the boat and in between we kayaked around the limestone pillars, explored caves, went squid fishing, drunk G&Ts, did some tai chi on the deck and sunbathed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">It really was a flying visit and we could have done with another day to properly switch off from work and relax, but it was well worth it and great to see a little bit of Hanoi before our return flight to Singapore as well.</span><br />
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<br />Rowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05864524347207028829noreply@blogger.com0Hạ Long Bay, Thà nh phố Hạ Long, Quảng Ninh Province, Vietnam20.9100512 107.1839023999999720.672619700000002 106.86117889999997 21.1474827 107.50662589999996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170205752933889892.post-61790950935683347802017-04-25T19:52:00.000-07:002017-08-24T01:57:53.884-07:00Boracay International Dragon Boat Festival<div dir="ltr">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Various Singapore international dragon boat teams joined forces as the 'Singapore Barabarians' in the 11th Boracay</span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"> International Dragon Boat festival, racing against 35 other teams from across the world over a long-weekend in paradise.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Although we paddled alongside other DB teams most weekends in Singapore, the teams never really interact much. One of the reasons why BIDBF was so incredible was that we had the opportunity to get to know loads of new people from the British, American Dragons, AustCham and the Spanish Armada teams. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">As is now tradition, the opening ceremony takes the format of a sort of talent contest, with teams performing a choreographed dance on stage. There's no obligation to participate but of course Phil and I were got stuck in, and consequently found ourselves dancing around with coconuts and being launched into the air with a Filipino flag in front of hundreds of people on the first night. The whole experience from practising after work before the trip, through until the performance itself was so much fun and the effort paid off when we were ultimately crowned first place!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We weren't needed for training until lunchtime the next day so we managed to squeeze in a dive with a few other DBers. We did a 28m plane wreck and reef dive which was pretty cool then raced over for a quick test paddle with the rest of the team.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">The next day was race day. Up before the sun and on the beach getting nervous for the first 500m heat. I was put up front as pacer for a couple of races and also drummed in another which was a great experience...but also quite scary feeling like I was about to be thrown off the front of the boat by the force of the paddlers!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Paddling in the sea is incomparable to our regular mirky Kallang river training. All the teams were out in the shallows cheering the racers, the sun was shining and the sea was crystal clear. Everytime a wave came in the boats were at risk of capsizing and I'm pretty sure it happened to the Singapore Barbarians more than any other team! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">The second day was 250m race day and a hell of a lot easier and quicker than day one at 500m. The mens and mixed boats didn't place but some of the women brought in some medals.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">The whole weekend was fantastic. We ate like kings with fresh meat and fish from the market (thanks to our Filipino Captain) and partied till the wee hours every evening. The locals, the other DB teams, the ocean, beach and food made my time there feel like paradise!</span></div>
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Rowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05864524347207028829noreply@blogger.com0Boracay, Malay, Philippines11.9673753 121.9248149999999711.9052413 121.84413399999997 12.0295093 122.00549599999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170205752933889892.post-22857656230357307932017-04-09T19:32:00.000-07:002017-08-24T01:57:03.827-07:00Melbourne and Sydney <span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I recently went to Australia for the first time and had an absolute blast - it must be one of the best places I've ever visited and a trip I'll remember for ever. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Saying that.. it didn't start off too well. If you're a Brit, the first thing you should know is that a visa is required to enter Australia. You don't want to make the same mistake I made by turning up at the airport, running to get a visa, and getting back to check-in to find it was closed and I couldn't board my flight.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">It was a bummer, but I eventually managed to get a flight 24 hours later and arrived in sunny Melbourne. We spent the day walking around the Laneways laughing at all the tourists taking edgy shots of each other in Flinders Lane.. and then joining in.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXb96iP149AP0SavRegFkLBV6I90X7j5GsEPLy6YADVadgDuLuoyA8p3hhS_rbIv9p3bpJse3zVsXIWZNSJAdkD_ITDjffxk5pJV1lmbVdGRSP9eZeBhMhEXxYhajGlVeUKBUMYTnTiNo/s1600/IMG_20170326_194812_369.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Flinders Lane" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXb96iP149AP0SavRegFkLBV6I90X7j5GsEPLy6YADVadgDuLuoyA8p3hhS_rbIv9p3bpJse3zVsXIWZNSJAdkD_ITDjffxk5pJV1lmbVdGRSP9eZeBhMhEXxYhajGlVeUKBUMYTnTiNo/s320/IMG_20170326_194812_369.jpg" title="Flinders Lane" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVkj6DlZEHszL7hEZHc4iTZPY_8UxR2BQ8z1f9YeDI6NdOZmnToVzL1L54kVuybOCw7Hx6eF96BP5M6zR50SUb6Ad2x0idjKGtHluEiucUlsqc6T8O216C7CQis0ply0tAK-gyIjYAvOo/s1600/20170326_134459.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Flinders Lane" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVkj6DlZEHszL7hEZHc4iTZPY_8UxR2BQ8z1f9YeDI6NdOZmnToVzL1L54kVuybOCw7Hx6eF96BP5M6zR50SUb6Ad2x0idjKGtHluEiucUlsqc6T8O216C7CQis0ply0tAK-gyIjYAvOo/s320/20170326_134459.jpg" title="Flinders Lane" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We went to Kew for a friend's BBQ then</span><span style="font-family: "courier new", courier, monospace;"> headed to the recommended bar in Fitzroy called 'Naked for Satan' to watch the sunset, finishing the night at 'Black Cat' for cocktails and live music.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhebONwcCv5s4g2CwNNLs2XRfEdD760ArWg3V-oLnDfPzMUCuu4tKWICtcP8obgwz_oF-oi7KZjMNwoENK50NK9KOau135DCprOr9l5vNIvpH318Ylk3pv_H74EqGxzELVtv3zNCFvk-tM/s1600/20170326_190255.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Melbourne sunset" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhebONwcCv5s4g2CwNNLs2XRfEdD760ArWg3V-oLnDfPzMUCuu4tKWICtcP8obgwz_oF-oi7KZjMNwoENK50NK9KOau135DCprOr9l5vNIvpH318Ylk3pv_H74EqGxzELVtv3zNCFvk-tM/s320/20170326_190255.jpg" title="Melbourne sunset" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">The next day we started our road trip in St Kilda (with a delicious brunch at Dr Jekyll) then got onto the Great Ocean Road. We stopped in Apollo Bay for some grub at La Bimba then went on to the Twelve Apostles. The scenery along the GOR is stunning!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Vbbh0oMsSzOImDDo_jSCyKYdpCyb-VpKw1mdi8-aZMwl62nUSZghPL4wTuinxnOMT0n0uKF3h-5Er0nC2Vx-1MV9lY2uXLT9iikz69honqeMUTc5thKld0Vb3k6AMw9royHO2dPz50M/s1600/20170327_152346.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Great Ocean Road" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Vbbh0oMsSzOImDDo_jSCyKYdpCyb-VpKw1mdi8-aZMwl62nUSZghPL4wTuinxnOMT0n0uKF3h-5Er0nC2Vx-1MV9lY2uXLT9iikz69honqeMUTc5thKld0Vb3k6AMw9royHO2dPz50M/s320/20170327_152346.jpg" title="Great Ocean Road" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhFF7U7L8Au6oKAxubALPsXiVU68FQR8CuFC_R__s_AUvmiofPY5d9-8Zo8oN_n_PQ9y0ViTpfP77x-_RfTaIdIubytzvLiK4pNN9UyzyJqqB521JFkS8Rg_GeeXlD8ybVJJ7dOYgpDws/s1600/IMG_20170328_115435_204.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Twelve Apostles" border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1080" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhFF7U7L8Au6oKAxubALPsXiVU68FQR8CuFC_R__s_AUvmiofPY5d9-8Zo8oN_n_PQ9y0ViTpfP77x-_RfTaIdIubytzvLiK4pNN9UyzyJqqB521JFkS8Rg_GeeXlD8ybVJJ7dOYgpDws/s320/IMG_20170328_115435_204.jpg" title="Twelve Apostles" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">The next day we drove over to Philip Island. Seeing the Nobbies was yet another moment where we were blown away by the beauty of Australia. Endless blue and lots of little penguins. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin8oflfMBelzNmjXfhF_vyq5odJt4XAP1yDVXCKGbKLzuFo4PGgkGoEgF0G8krB7rEWqdNwUaCfbSogsX2-LpLgOPSvZJuZ7kKg5JtzNWuNYAt9b7DWE-eFKeWhR88KL9jrJUqsDTTr7c/s1600/IMG_20170329_080510_958.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Nobbies" border="0" data-original-height="894" data-original-width="1600" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin8oflfMBelzNmjXfhF_vyq5odJt4XAP1yDVXCKGbKLzuFo4PGgkGoEgF0G8krB7rEWqdNwUaCfbSogsX2-LpLgOPSvZJuZ7kKg5JtzNWuNYAt9b7DWE-eFKeWhR88KL9jrJUqsDTTr7c/s320/IMG_20170329_080510_958.jpg" title="The Nobbies" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We had organised a tour with a guide as the sun set, to witness all the penguins coming back from fishing. We sat on the beach with our night vision binoculars and watched them all waddle up towards us. I'd highly recommend it to anyone as it's super cute. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We were back on the road again early the next day and made our way over to Yarra Valley to taste all the local wines and visit a friend who lives in the Dandenongs.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3PuvadhcUH4BC6g3t5k2VrHe23cJJLQF_xj6CrvO4njgLOO_bfULkFt962qhUSFvMt8V2eWw5JJgszspJ36_eQ-3R1l4esWCeUxjI59PGDb4yquzncI9py0YMHQMXo5dzEWuB9Ag1_HU/s1600/IMG_20170329_123031.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Yarra Valley" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3PuvadhcUH4BC6g3t5k2VrHe23cJJLQF_xj6CrvO4njgLOO_bfULkFt962qhUSFvMt8V2eWw5JJgszspJ36_eQ-3R1l4esWCeUxjI59PGDb4yquzncI9py0YMHQMXo5dzEWuB9Ag1_HU/s320/IMG_20170329_123031.jpg" title="Yarra Valley" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQDsywgCOROo6kSYTKJOh_Dayc0BYKzTzc2dahk5rJJR4uOoOqmU5v-s-Gv7RVCU-bmt4HMXd0xCLZtMCEjlQ7lL-qYvWwPDH0AR1Z7t3pw61kKzirnQr308d_DXevIFSR-YKmw1k_FOs/s1600/IMG_20170329_164743_575.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Yarra Valley" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQDsywgCOROo6kSYTKJOh_Dayc0BYKzTzc2dahk5rJJR4uOoOqmU5v-s-Gv7RVCU-bmt4HMXd0xCLZtMCEjlQ7lL-qYvWwPDH0AR1Z7t3pw61kKzirnQr308d_DXevIFSR-YKmw1k_FOs/s320/IMG_20170329_164743_575.jpg" title="Yarra Valley" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We were stayed in an air bnb right on the top of the hill overlooking the valley and as the sun rose the next day, I walked out onto the front lawn to see two kangeroos grazing in front of the house. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">That was the end of our Victoria trip and I remember thinking that anywhere else would be hard pressed to beat it... but we then caught a flight over to Sydney and I feel in love all over again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We hopped on and off ferries, saw the cannon fire at Fort Denison, tried to by trendy in Manly, had drinks at the Opera Bar, had a cheese fondue in Martin's Place, went up the sky tower, wandered around Paddington Market, sunbathed at Bondi Beach and met friends at Octupus for dinner. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjma9iHa14MPOijf_Q5_8qnT_cbaMlI3fbkNoUTuuGPUrC1_gpBwDdvBQYa3RZILRl8hqK_QrMZ5amulzSuf62wTYtrQ06RlmN0vp6ig5OMg9l8rSAXquG7gjC3u0ccoEaxeQD6fdEd7KA/s1600/20170331_130034.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Fort Denison" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjma9iHa14MPOijf_Q5_8qnT_cbaMlI3fbkNoUTuuGPUrC1_gpBwDdvBQYa3RZILRl8hqK_QrMZ5amulzSuf62wTYtrQ06RlmN0vp6ig5OMg9l8rSAXquG7gjC3u0ccoEaxeQD6fdEd7KA/s320/20170331_130034.jpg" title="Fort Denison" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCjXTGfdytGlxy5HhvlRWhyZ0PlXA-T5sQhvvVAzc_Oxg2VqmyFCpLmNc5Hd3voGybYDT-23yE0t1tiVoF0nutrwPR2Zv_oyUF_8rhfiZ7b7hg4JB1H0nvpgblNfqQ_PXS0HoJYjHrA8Q/s1600/IMG_20170401_110921_818.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Manly" border="0" data-original-height="889" data-original-width="889" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCjXTGfdytGlxy5HhvlRWhyZ0PlXA-T5sQhvvVAzc_Oxg2VqmyFCpLmNc5Hd3voGybYDT-23yE0t1tiVoF0nutrwPR2Zv_oyUF_8rhfiZ7b7hg4JB1H0nvpgblNfqQ_PXS0HoJYjHrA8Q/s320/IMG_20170401_110921_818.jpg" title="Manly" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNKSmzKhYlIKTIP2Cy6zgZZ1jI0NBBe0mTNOyo31wvwMtS8lMIgvZOLoRksbQmt_9b_gtzEtmKrCFQJY5ZOtBGEwnlfsEUaAlC1An0D-d-UJJ6lYvRJUPfaaXDeUewhLimMo3oJY_J0UA/s1600/20170331_175447.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Sydney Opera House" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNKSmzKhYlIKTIP2Cy6zgZZ1jI0NBBe0mTNOyo31wvwMtS8lMIgvZOLoRksbQmt_9b_gtzEtmKrCFQJY5ZOtBGEwnlfsEUaAlC1An0D-d-UJJ6lYvRJUPfaaXDeUewhLimMo3oJY_J0UA/s320/20170331_175447.jpg" title="Sydney Opera House" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIcFfAgGT9qNrg87rei-8lLnbc9EK8BIczEmsEQXqxAntvvTuuvSk3ZD1YfWscfRN7M6fg1RjNrFY7b2X9WdbqjXRs5XCwN_9nm5x7bGOZ0ztFeOtMX-nlXopIhwTQuwf0wvvq4Q0rcPY/s1600/20170401_155523.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Bondi Beach" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIcFfAgGT9qNrg87rei-8lLnbc9EK8BIczEmsEQXqxAntvvTuuvSk3ZD1YfWscfRN7M6fg1RjNrFY7b2X9WdbqjXRs5XCwN_9nm5x7bGOZ0ztFeOtMX-nlXopIhwTQuwf0wvvq4Q0rcPY/s320/20170401_155523.jpg" title="Bondi Beach" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Great trip and I can't wait to go back!</span>Rowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05864524347207028829noreply@blogger.com0Australia-25.274398 133.77513599999997-75.0662695 51.157948499999975 24.517473499999998 -143.60767650000003tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170205752933889892.post-9187104574262634282017-02-01T03:46:00.000-08:002017-02-13T04:18:12.683-08:00Diving with Thresher Sharks in the Phillipines<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">As it was Chinese New Year, Singapore gave everyone a long weekend which Phil and I used to head over to to Malapascua Island, just north of Cebu in the Philippines.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We caught the 8pm flight landing in Cebu at 1am... we then had a 3 hour drive up to Maya port, a 45 minute boat ride to Malapascua Island, then finally a half hour walk to our resort just as the sun was rising over the island.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Although it was a long way to travel, it was well worth it. I liked the Spanish vibe and it's off the beaten track making it far less touristy than other places I've gone to like Bali or Thailand. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We did four dives over the two days we were there - two of which were pretty incredible. (We dived with <a href="http://evolution.com.ph/">Evolution Divers</a> who I would highly recommend)</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicjaTybYmwJQyXf1dosbYD9iIbjjcuDL6GpSEnr3QPH-DKrARiA2eFmYeM68rxp_bmm-tHqzSdBhcoVc4WUrdRPYfD5yCczAd-GfEmZ2r9DNKbjvfoMb1Lysbuhf5Yhu4OicEfJcConBc/s1600/IMG_20170129_185608_500.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Diving Malapascua Island" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicjaTybYmwJQyXf1dosbYD9iIbjjcuDL6GpSEnr3QPH-DKrARiA2eFmYeM68rxp_bmm-tHqzSdBhcoVc4WUrdRPYfD5yCczAd-GfEmZ2r9DNKbjvfoMb1Lysbuhf5Yhu4OicEfJcConBc/s320/IMG_20170129_185608_500.jpg" title="Diving Malapascua Island" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">1. The Monad Shoal. We were up and in the water at the crack of dawn to watch majestic Thresher Sharks enjoy their morning cleaning session. Apparently the sharks go to the Monad Shoal almost every morning to wait for the cleaner fish to nibble all their parasites and dead skin away. Thrshers are pretty rare so I feel pretty lucky to have got the chance to see them in their natural habitat.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Here's a photo of a Thresher Shark... unfortunately I didn't get any good underwater shots of the real thing so this is a carrot version. Basically the same thing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br />2. Gato Island. We left the bright sunshine to swim down into the Gato caves where it was completely black except for the small circle of our torch lights. The best bit was moving my torch to find it land upon two 5ft white tipped reef sharks right in front of us. We also watched, mesmerised, as a huge shoal of mackerel glimmered in the sunlight like silver. I have a video, but it really doesn't do it justice:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">After the dives, we wandered around the island where we saw whole rows of washed up damaged boats and rubbish from where Typhoon Yolanda had left her mark. There were lots of men building new boats and renewing old ones as their children flew their kites along the beach. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwQXS2YbuXA95nUWjFBVYDikxc-9taUFbjudChq286hDakBhhyphenhyphensqgmNiGTluma33CVs5V-aSVj1NWIZd_b298U7cnjk1h2VSfcxXeH3g7cts8uiYowtTFkglc7Lrb1D3qr2AYrkLBx5F0/s1600/IMG_20170128_172857.vr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Malapascua Island" border="0" height="114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwQXS2YbuXA95nUWjFBVYDikxc-9taUFbjudChq286hDakBhhyphenhyphensqgmNiGTluma33CVs5V-aSVj1NWIZd_b298U7cnjk1h2VSfcxXeH3g7cts8uiYowtTFkglc7Lrb1D3qr2AYrkLBx5F0/s640/IMG_20170128_172857.vr.jpg" title="Malapascua Island" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; text-align: center;">Eventually we found our way to an idyllic</span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; text-align: center;"> bar where we spent the evening watching the sunset and drinking cocktails. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">To anyone interested in diving, I would recommend visiting Malapascua. It was a good little getaway, but with the travel time we could have definitely done with another night on the island!</span><br />
<br />Rowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05864524347207028829noreply@blogger.com0Malapascua Island, Daanbantayan, Philippines11.3358464 124.1156361999999311.3047089 124.07529569999993 11.3669839 124.15597669999993tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170205752933889892.post-53546625211223257792017-01-16T18:42:00.000-08:002017-01-20T21:48:28.440-08:00Blink and you miss it<div dir="ltr">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">With all the excitement of Christmas, I realised it's been ages since my last post.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">It was so good to get home and catch up with friends and family.. and of course my gorgeous dog! Early morning walks on the common in the dark with woolly hats and wellies. Cosy nights in with friends, wine and cheese. Pub lunches, ice skating, board games and port.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">It was all too quick though. And before I knew it, Phil and I were on a plane and back in Singapore.</span></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Thankfully we've had a relatively chilled start back at work and a couple of visitors from the UK passing through to see us which has eased any blues we might have had.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">My friend was in town for just a few days, so we planned a weekend soaking up the culture and getting active. (This is the guy who ran 32 marathons in 36 days last year!! Don't even..)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">On Friday night we headed over to <span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.gillmanbarracks.com/others/gillman-barracks/538">Art After Dark at Gillman Barracks</a> for some art, music and food. I'm not really into contemporary art, but the live music and set-up they have for their evening open house is pretty cool, so definitely worthwhile checking out.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj11JMhkwa0l3PFcPv33J3H0iS4vvzKfQwiP-67gnjjm7cluBX7gy8FtRjRGLn0Urd6glnIaHymBAZ0rW_ROHGWSVPei3kDLoSxKHfWRvhM6TcZLdKBBtWYI8CY78biiNZv2cnLVVjq4fE/s1600/IMG_20170114_005559_291.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><img alt="Gillman Barracks" border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj11JMhkwa0l3PFcPv33J3H0iS4vvzKfQwiP-67gnjjm7cluBX7gy8FtRjRGLn0Urd6glnIaHymBAZ0rW_ROHGWSVPei3kDLoSxKHfWRvhM6TcZLdKBBtWYI8CY78biiNZv2cnLVVjq4fE/s400/IMG_20170114_005559_291.jpg" title="Gillman Barracks" width="400"></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: small;">Art After Dark</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">As it's Chinese New Year coming up, China Town is buzzing with activity at the moment. The annual international <a href="http://chinatownfestivals.sg/chinatown-chinese-new-year-celebrations-2017/#LionDance">Lion Dance</a> competition took place on Saturday so after an afternoon of dragon boating, we bought our $10 ticket and headed over to see what it was all about.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Not having done any research beforehand, I didn't really know what I was expecting - but it certainly wasn't two acrobats in a lion costume carrying out jaw-dropping manoeuvres and jumps between small raised platforms! Tak a look at the video:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Our final day with my friend saw us pack a picnic and walk the <a href="https://www.nparks.gov.sg/gardens-parks-and-nature/parks-and-nature-reserves/the-southern-ridges">Southern Ridges</a> trail. Starting at Mount Faber, walking over the Henderson Waves, along the Canopy Walk and over to Hortpark. It was a bit of a novelty finding a decent hill in Singapore so I'd recommend it to others who want to get away from the bustle of the city on a weekend. </span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I didn't take photos of the walk, but did manage to get a shot of the Bell of Happiness at the top of Mount Faber!</span><br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF6DxsQxrCZTPHaJfo1iGF_zVspjKD4EV3k1iuWtqAh7AvWCMw_AO_EWw52qu167ube4zWD-KiwE3ZzKWHy92TnjbiY1up8okRR_uWUh5kC5tC-_cbrlx4Qwpo10R4tRwWPW63YTLkI2E/s1600/IMG_20170116_192236_811.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><img alt="Bell of Happiness" border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF6DxsQxrCZTPHaJfo1iGF_zVspjKD4EV3k1iuWtqAh7AvWCMw_AO_EWw52qu167ube4zWD-KiwE3ZzKWHy92TnjbiY1up8okRR_uWUh5kC5tC-_cbrlx4Qwpo10R4tRwWPW63YTLkI2E/s320/IMG_20170116_192236_811.jpg" title="Bell of Happiness" width="320"></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: small;">The Bell of Happiness</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">It's always so nice having friends over and I love that everyone who has visited so far has fallen in love with Singapore just as I have. My folks are going to be in Singapore in just a few weeks an I can't wait!</span></div>
Rowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05864524347207028829noreply@blogger.com0Singapore1.352083 103.819836000000010.8441055 103.174389 1.8600605 104.46528300000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170205752933889892.post-1612814321100170942016-12-21T05:03:00.000-08:002017-04-07T00:23:26.092-07:00It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Over the last few weeks I've had my team & work Christmas party, </span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">the Gaelic Dragons Christmas party & paddle</span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"> and Phil and I also had our own little Christmas party at our flat. We also found the time to head over the Palau Ubin where we spent a day cycling around and singing Christmas carols with friends and an evening at Christmas Wonderland at Gardens by the Bay.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">After all of this, it's safe to say that I am well and truly in the Christmas spirit and counting down the days until I'm back in the UK with my family and friends! </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVrZWw8boancjaLqOmSX0gxxmJvV9yqikEsXcXeDSITJ6wX2JQZ2UDpycWDd-2w6yKsA2o-VDFW07_4IbMhi4AWR6tPsVCCCVsXF8JsEPI-ZOohvQs1eOg3fuoh8wbkz98C9MHDPFPLos/s1600/FB_IMG_1481201641964.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Christmas Dragons" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVrZWw8boancjaLqOmSX0gxxmJvV9yqikEsXcXeDSITJ6wX2JQZ2UDpycWDd-2w6yKsA2o-VDFW07_4IbMhi4AWR6tPsVCCCVsXF8JsEPI-ZOohvQs1eOg3fuoh8wbkz98C9MHDPFPLos/s320/FB_IMG_1481201641964.jpg" title="Christmas Dragons" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Sober Christmas Dragons</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8OY2Ue1cwQlkorQW6neozQ8mANsWbbJo9mUGBG5mo8i_ps6CyUS6L7ug63-Ysbzd9gaGw97dqjp0PZTJhYgw9NchIQX_o9QybCzp4RvVQ3-NHsImeDlmmGZNjFPEkGYX_n7ecoh4WlZ0/s1600/IMG_20161204_010229.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Christmas Dragons" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8OY2Ue1cwQlkorQW6neozQ8mANsWbbJo9mUGBG5mo8i_ps6CyUS6L7ug63-Ysbzd9gaGw97dqjp0PZTJhYgw9NchIQX_o9QybCzp4RvVQ3-NHsImeDlmmGZNjFPEkGYX_n7ecoh4WlZ0/s320/IMG_20161204_010229.jpg" title="Christmas Dragons" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Drunk Christmas Dragons</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglXKHyjguhyHUcEZkxHcteTNJPEbOv2ENIpQkM0y3rziB3wuU0pk5Xc1m3zO_Hcrm5bu5hY9chXlFsu2kLi-AS-j5GkyhD203CdiN6kq9zAKd-_fVuam70glo-vRW-E5AaR53BL0LK2v4/s1600/20161204_162336.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Palau Ubin" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglXKHyjguhyHUcEZkxHcteTNJPEbOv2ENIpQkM0y3rziB3wuU0pk5Xc1m3zO_Hcrm5bu5hY9chXlFsu2kLi-AS-j5GkyhD203CdiN6kq9zAKd-_fVuam70glo-vRW-E5AaR53BL0LK2v4/s320/20161204_162336.jpg" title="Palau Ubin" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Pedaling around Palau </span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih74HbxnXUd_1L2FtWZgmRdiGzblL5rFJZGGyIm0UeMWjWFVOe4L1d7RDPLY40o5jVW6IJOHomCA2hcW6ZPeEALkUEt1po75FnlrYldzMO_fjnbDPo7Icd9AtZLwYsXAyxlXZafwg_Ulw/s1600/IMG-20161204-WA0029.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Palau Ubin" border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih74HbxnXUd_1L2FtWZgmRdiGzblL5rFJZGGyIm0UeMWjWFVOe4L1d7RDPLY40o5jVW6IJOHomCA2hcW6ZPeEALkUEt1po75FnlrYldzMO_fjnbDPo7Icd9AtZLwYsXAyxlXZafwg_Ulw/s320/IMG-20161204-WA0029.jpg" title="Palau Ubin" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Oh the weather outside is frightful<br />(lol jk its 32 degrees)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcJcYUtHjOFFUMqXsmVKJPt1DjxXX1OCqjtgMKOMfplMipbu0ikY6azwNxdB7mMNEjOsl9-19hfo5GUuSc656jfOU8CiZd-S1fOmuhPN61PU3B9gs58PLHbF9sumuASWOv2O0pSGBsbr0/s1600/IMG_20161211_022352.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Christmas" border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcJcYUtHjOFFUMqXsmVKJPt1DjxXX1OCqjtgMKOMfplMipbu0ikY6azwNxdB7mMNEjOsl9-19hfo5GUuSc656jfOU8CiZd-S1fOmuhPN61PU3B9gs58PLHbF9sumuASWOv2O0pSGBsbr0/s320/IMG_20161211_022352.jpg" title="Christmas" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Can you tell we're excited?</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzoh_WG8mmaRaer-Eqg1WNQSuWfQBAgP7HhoiSPqua-D6Kc8z_AMpuNQdE1heTiGu0k4ZB6WqqD1e6dSZHl7RmOYWDzYB09net1Ml4gxiM9gvoeKKlNmXejfazweridM5Q4Su_IFO3d9k/s1600/IMG_20161210_183000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Christmas Dinner" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzoh_WG8mmaRaer-Eqg1WNQSuWfQBAgP7HhoiSPqua-D6Kc8z_AMpuNQdE1heTiGu0k4ZB6WqqD1e6dSZHl7RmOYWDzYB09net1Ml4gxiM9gvoeKKlNmXejfazweridM5Q4Su_IFO3d9k/s320/IMG_20161210_183000.jpg" title="Christmas Dinner" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBN6yAHCkJN-AWjWOO5tDcInoMED2UZOCaBdAfxhgJcv2KpGwjUuAQFf4LsFxsJCMSSEyhezb_RLbkSL-Ro5DxXiOcM-PvY6HVTgG0TAmxLYi292AjlohoM1erSci_hMs78Txy_ZO8AUA/s1600/IMG_20161211_015648_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Christmas" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBN6yAHCkJN-AWjWOO5tDcInoMED2UZOCaBdAfxhgJcv2KpGwjUuAQFf4LsFxsJCMSSEyhezb_RLbkSL-Ro5DxXiOcM-PvY6HVTgG0TAmxLYi292AjlohoM1erSci_hMs78Txy_ZO8AUA/s320/IMG_20161211_015648_1.jpg" title="Christmas" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFw2ja-3XV4jEHnguPieCP9rtSGnAG-ZPrSNc3qYrqMqhTAXIHz0pe8KlT6yYUDaYyVQH0ZYR01KYOYS1gsGGsvtEvQPUo69uU1KNMZ9dZGlqCAOITujSkG_fcFmW9GPspo65U8WK5DgY/s1600/Screenshot_20161221-134437.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Dragon boating" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFw2ja-3XV4jEHnguPieCP9rtSGnAG-ZPrSNc3qYrqMqhTAXIHz0pe8KlT6yYUDaYyVQH0ZYR01KYOYS1gsGGsvtEvQPUo69uU1KNMZ9dZGlqCAOITujSkG_fcFmW9GPspo65U8WK5DgY/s320/Screenshot_20161221-134437.png" title="Dragon boating" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Festive paddling</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNgvhfoo-FR-FlSSqmwVvRjc_a_iYBAYa45N56_WrfvAhDygGDjrHNSk1o9-0fadP-qWtMV5LnTnqlTyA2NTlwSfUDgbUm-m1JGigHWcT6BaP69RXrlZa87GbBSe8UKSay7NhqSOZbagk/s1600/Screenshot_20161221-134504.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Dragon boating" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNgvhfoo-FR-FlSSqmwVvRjc_a_iYBAYa45N56_WrfvAhDygGDjrHNSk1o9-0fadP-qWtMV5LnTnqlTyA2NTlwSfUDgbUm-m1JGigHWcT6BaP69RXrlZa87GbBSe8UKSay7NhqSOZbagk/s320/Screenshot_20161221-134504.png" title="Dragon boating" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFjZLvX4yiRKECCYqcI8GeftQRCTTI0tMAOlymzV15gSuHXx7vkqy7PGGVf2oUA5c4JLPzxgAVAl8PYlcnPe3l1y9Tv2vYkFGlHfVMluOFAuw0j8-yKVW-4AxwhoG8_voGaLXkloGdGjg/s1600/20161220_213954.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Christmas Wonderland" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFjZLvX4yiRKECCYqcI8GeftQRCTTI0tMAOlymzV15gSuHXx7vkqy7PGGVf2oUA5c4JLPzxgAVAl8PYlcnPe3l1y9Tv2vYkFGlHfVMluOFAuw0j8-yKVW-4AxwhoG8_voGaLXkloGdGjg/s320/20161220_213954.jpg" title="Christmas Wonderland" width="240" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4e8fvEd-EvudRXatEOJVoNySPAiXewdosZQG4Iio1yaTFxHjGGZkec3C9l6PqmIl_AKgkRLMTGdUtE3CA27MDZTi5kD5vqSqbfvGdCBY_1x_9ZRVyynt1nrGaqScAAnRt1PYJBftBcuc/s1600/20161220_203213.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Christmas Wonderland" border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4e8fvEd-EvudRXatEOJVoNySPAiXewdosZQG4Iio1yaTFxHjGGZkec3C9l6PqmIl_AKgkRLMTGdUtE3CA27MDZTi5kD5vqSqbfvGdCBY_1x_9ZRVyynt1nrGaqScAAnRt1PYJBftBcuc/s320/20161220_203213.jpg" title="Christmas Wonderland" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Christmas Wonderland</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGjDwAUHfVNXjf0fPukq6jIdZaTNNKYFdlP0EQMcjH3fZACecKrSZQnFi1HAitdYMzQwKbSRm0iCyFUKSlE9mgrU-BmrQNuhktkOAVr7Pe9NldNvFsE6MHLZwkL-2LZ5gkFkvfscQdFjQ/s1600/20161220_205706.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><img alt="Snow in Singapore" border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGjDwAUHfVNXjf0fPukq6jIdZaTNNKYFdlP0EQMcjH3fZACecKrSZQnFi1HAitdYMzQwKbSRm0iCyFUKSlE9mgrU-BmrQNuhktkOAVr7Pe9NldNvFsE6MHLZwkL-2LZ5gkFkvfscQdFjQ/s640/20161220_205706.jpg" title="Snow in Singapore" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Snow in Singapore</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>It's going to be a great Christmas this year, I can tell !</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span>Rowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05864524347207028829noreply@blogger.com1Singapore1.352083 103.819836000000010.8441055 103.174389 1.8600605 104.46528300000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170205752933889892.post-34347490923413730632016-11-28T04:02:00.000-08:002016-12-14T05:14:07.280-08:00Big Kids<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new";">Last weekend dragon
boating was cancelled because - believe it or not - a crocodile was spotted in
the Kallang! As a result, Phil and I spent Saturday watching the
new Moana Disney movie at the cinema and trying out all the rides at Universal
Studios. Phil's company has hired use of <a href="http://www.rwsentosa.com/language/en-US/Homepage/Attractions/UniversalStudiosSingapore/tab/events/?utm_medium=cpc&gclid=Cj0KEQiA-MPCBRCZ0q23tPGm6_8BEiQAgw_bAkbmz0SccagtRNmpT1tfqNmSajHBksHbRJBVUqQhFNoaAq6x8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds">Universal</a> for the evening which meant
pretty much no queuing - #winning!</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new";">We continued in the
same vain on Sunday, hanging out with some pals at <a href="https://www.legoland.com.my/">LegoLand Malaysia</a>, just one hours drive north over the border of Singapore. Considering most of the rides
were aimed at toddlers we still managed to have an amazing time. I won a big
cuddly panda, Phil got his face painted and we all screamed our voices hoarse
on the rides. The only warning for any other Singapore residents would be to
avoid driving back down on Sunday evening. It took us about 4 hours, 3 of which
were sat, stationary in traffic. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfzi3cJArNWgi5tFHvRGL_MaBD0N-voyZjk_69sPLLjBYqqZh1RDGvq3N3NKCB0qU9mMo00r46iYto7ZkDqRA7_mm_RDv6j5Pu9qaLhlkzp1Q9hd5tbGCIf6_P9QjFoW1L7yfYGSfBMZU/s1600/20161127_184326.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="LegoLand" border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfzi3cJArNWgi5tFHvRGL_MaBD0N-voyZjk_69sPLLjBYqqZh1RDGvq3N3NKCB0qU9mMo00r46iYto7ZkDqRA7_mm_RDv6j5Pu9qaLhlkzp1Q9hd5tbGCIf6_P9QjFoW1L7yfYGSfBMZU/s400/20161127_184326.jpg" title="LegoLand" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz-LeKDtjCGCOuck_ycOy4F9ID41nwY7-GPZiZOrdTXqKXqLnIkY0MDK1ScC-2gSYiauT2SSozzryE10eYoUFNYjJ1IPjE6jXXMsAUY0dD7sVGUbTlXKKK4dR1nTntAB2_LWyYeFgz94M/s1600/IMG_20161201_204738.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="LegoLand" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz-LeKDtjCGCOuck_ycOy4F9ID41nwY7-GPZiZOrdTXqKXqLnIkY0MDK1ScC-2gSYiauT2SSozzryE10eYoUFNYjJ1IPjE6jXXMsAUY0dD7sVGUbTlXKKK4dR1nTntAB2_LWyYeFgz94M/s1600/IMG_20161201_204738.jpg" title="LegoLand" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">This year's Xmas card!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new";">Since my last post, I've bought two new purchases which I'm really excited about...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new";">The first is
a Gear VR - the new virtual reality headset from Samsung. I can be under the
water swimming with sharks, flying in a fighter jet hundreds of meters up, on
stage watching the Lion King with Rafiki, or in a haunted house being chased by
zombie children. It's awesome. I took it into work last week and suddenly
became the coolest kid at school!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgInLDIBAauE_WqvEtc7E1Z1YMdWJshJq9-KokRg_BKNBnqq9n6hUjrBk-SsH3NCb2q4m8mU9THZuP2Dxv2D9Dn063UW3s9VCdeWcoscq3fztfDv4eM9dt3rLsSlyUJRH8ClfAvO3tYpus/s1600/IMG-20161117-WA0004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Gear VR" border="0" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgInLDIBAauE_WqvEtc7E1Z1YMdWJshJq9-KokRg_BKNBnqq9n6hUjrBk-SsH3NCb2q4m8mU9THZuP2Dxv2D9Dn063UW3s9VCdeWcoscq3fztfDv4eM9dt3rLsSlyUJRH8ClfAvO3tYpus/s320/IMG-20161117-WA0004.jpg" title="Gear VR" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new";">The other new purchase is
even better. Phil and I went to the 'IN Art' exhibition at the Australian High
Commission as some of the student's art at my school was being exhibited. Just one look at the
mandala piece and I knew I had to have it. Take a look:</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggkBLPOzfii5_zU7FL1X0v1xPKXl4G6GoJ6KQxGxGC83zIs95DXk6dNscn8lJV-p2puRuiDvmc5bIW0V53mqTFDd-mDiTOf7nplk9w6FDyjSvDV3jJ2vDyxURET5Y50dX8ACAzx12L4Jw/s1600/IMG-20161115-WA0009+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Mandala" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggkBLPOzfii5_zU7FL1X0v1xPKXl4G6GoJ6KQxGxGC83zIs95DXk6dNscn8lJV-p2puRuiDvmc5bIW0V53mqTFDd-mDiTOf7nplk9w6FDyjSvDV3jJ2vDyxURET5Y50dX8ACAzx12L4Jw/s400/IMG-20161115-WA0009+%25281%2529.jpg" title="Mandala" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new";">What makes it even
better is that this is the first sale the artist has ever made, and I'm so
happy that she's one of the students at school. I can't wait to take it home
and display it on our wall!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new";">As per, Phil and I
have also tried a few new places to fill our bellies so here's a mini review...</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext;"><a href="http://www.thewhiterabbit.com.sg/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "courier new";">White Rabbit</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "courier new";">, Dempsey - beautiful chapel
venue, good food but a tad overpriced.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.fullertonhotels.com/singapore/the-fullerton-hotel/Dine/The-Lighthouse-Restaurant-Rooftop-Bar"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "courier new";">The Light</span></a><a href="https://www.fullertonhotels.com/singapore/the-fullerton-hotel/Dine/The-Lighthouse-Restaurant-Rooftop-Bar"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "courier new";">house</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "courier new";">, The Fullerton Hotel - a
lovely little roof terrace overlooking the bay. We only stayed for a drink
but will be back for sure.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext;"><a href="http://originalsin.com.sg/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "courier new";">Original Sin</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "courier new";">, Holland Village -
vegetarian, Mediterranean menu. Absolutely delicious! </span></li>
</ul>
Rowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05864524347207028829noreply@blogger.com0Singapore1.352083 103.819836000000010.84135999999999989 103.1716425 1.862806 104.46802950000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170205752933889892.post-14753410268887508492016-11-13T18:30:00.000-08:002017-09-26T07:28:57.745-07:00My friends are here! Part 2.<span style="font-family: "courier new", courier, monospace;">As I've been so busy with work I'd neglected to plan activities or outings with my friends when they came to visit. If we were in London I'm sure this would have proved to be a bit of a disaster, but in Singapore - no fear - there is always heaps to do.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">If anyone reading this post is expecting visitors and needs a few ideas, please feel free to steal/replicate as we had an awesome few days.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><u>Day 1</u></span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Dinner at <a href="http://www.dintaifung.com.sg/">Din Tai Fung</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"><span id="goog_21162386"></span>Marina Bay Sands light show <span id="goog_21162387"></span></a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><a href="http://www.gardensbythebay.com.sg/en/home/search.html?q=Garden+Rhapsody">Gardens by the Bay, Garden Rhapsody </a></span></li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-jK12jY5zE58Djp5xYM36JA-bFYjJYZg2sPvK6onnw0DHu41DwifdigW4LKLfP8Ebd8w9h8Dz_Qp6AOFfvH5QMbIyaFIGs4xqtTZQa0_CpGfanc3eQzmHFaH6aRx2BWU2qLd57uWJH6A/s1600/IMG_0874.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Marina Bay" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-jK12jY5zE58Djp5xYM36JA-bFYjJYZg2sPvK6onnw0DHu41DwifdigW4LKLfP8Ebd8w9h8Dz_Qp6AOFfvH5QMbIyaFIGs4xqtTZQa0_CpGfanc3eQzmHFaH6aRx2BWU2qLd57uWJH6A/s320/IMG_0874.jpg" title="Marina Bay" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY1fsV60npncd_0TwCMHLWlp_zqf9EOrAKBbhBe2TNt3rHXzT1ESsFZzwu69chSSRtBjLvvmOzZIJABPht4tQ_Lc70gj2Q6Y9ZaB1jlcHkwcOoNQTULJ9W16UvF3YWExdsoVr17q6CBa8/s1600/IMG_0878.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><img alt="Marina Bay Sands Light Show" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY1fsV60npncd_0TwCMHLWlp_zqf9EOrAKBbhBe2TNt3rHXzT1ESsFZzwu69chSSRtBjLvvmOzZIJABPht4tQ_Lc70gj2Q6Y9ZaB1jlcHkwcOoNQTULJ9W16UvF3YWExdsoVr17q6CBa8/s320/IMG_0878.jpg" title="Marina Bay Sands Light Show" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Marina Bay Sands Light Show</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfEa1eG-fghsaODWij8j-xH7RhnFPeu3s09oNK3mZsngJSydhJVp_eUxg1hd1Bo3fAA5vuqQmKUKH7IFEv_B0SmQpWLSTNHw7NECtlrzCGFUQStG6MxanwNTbIdkfxafO0ByZWW5Hejss/s1600/IMG_0891.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Garden Rhapsody" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfEa1eG-fghsaODWij8j-xH7RhnFPeu3s09oNK3mZsngJSydhJVp_eUxg1hd1Bo3fAA5vuqQmKUKH7IFEv_B0SmQpWLSTNHw7NECtlrzCGFUQStG6MxanwNTbIdkfxafO0ByZWW5Hejss/s320/IMG_0891.jpg" title="Garden Rhapsody" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Garden Rhapsody</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><u>Day 2</u></span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><a href="http://www.gardensbythebay.com.sg/en.html?gclid=CjwKEAiA6rrBBRDsrLGM4uTPkWASJADnWZQ4GihjgIb13LEoq54VDdxhSOKf6BoeJEahMDyEDiO7wBoClf3w_wcB">Gardens by the Bay</a> - Cloud Forest, Flower Dome, SuperTree Skyway</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><a href="http://www.1-altitude.com/">1 Altitude</a> ($10 cocktails on Wednesday ladies night!)</span></li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQzGl_zj_LUiHg0LDDh34Rg-fHn6eAPlrIr-58Svwo31C0JtxG6u9Cvz1o2-5yiJ5IGuYp_ljIw0dYh4XXVmFJfrHgo93YgQ7TxMxDWvefED4V2XCKaHlZtxyym4wyYKpPQw1X40FMMFM/s1600/IMG_0904.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="1 Altitude" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQzGl_zj_LUiHg0LDDh34Rg-fHn6eAPlrIr-58Svwo31C0JtxG6u9Cvz1o2-5yiJ5IGuYp_ljIw0dYh4XXVmFJfrHgo93YgQ7TxMxDWvefED4V2XCKaHlZtxyym4wyYKpPQw1X40FMMFM/s320/IMG_0904.jpg" title="1 Altitude" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkpA7Wj3MhddT3_IjZCCRrnwkfMJ12Z9c_4W3CqLkwD5v9f_PywNIISfUloCCs_mxwRhAg4cU7Hcg39YfY_dQSF3tsIs52jMz0K6DgIDc6dFsN89g8y_6lq5kR0hPkI55-MN92w9wBtfE/s1600/IMG_0903.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="1 Altitude" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkpA7Wj3MhddT3_IjZCCRrnwkfMJ12Z9c_4W3CqLkwD5v9f_PywNIISfUloCCs_mxwRhAg4cU7Hcg39YfY_dQSF3tsIs52jMz0K6DgIDc6dFsN89g8y_6lq5kR0hPkI55-MN92w9wBtfE/s320/IMG_0903.jpg" title="1 Altitude" width="291" /></a><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Sentosa Island - MegaZip, beaches and lunch at <a href="http://www.tanjongbeachclub.com/">Tanjong Beach Club</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Dinner at <a href="http://www.marinabaysands.com/restaurants/buffet/the-chocolate-bar.html">Club 55</a>, all-you-can-eat cheese and chocolate buffet</span></li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZLmJt2GqI0yj_eT1xm1w0lm09kNWJyVwXAqog28wDweNUgsgdoJ3wBSIsK7qPKUxxmFIzzOVVCmr6BVX7TerWn_0sZwVl3Fiv0choqTlcGC9vp4yTdfRFWxU8Hok4wAPKQh-ojI1UIrE/s1600/IMG_0919.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Club 55" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZLmJt2GqI0yj_eT1xm1w0lm09kNWJyVwXAqog28wDweNUgsgdoJ3wBSIsK7qPKUxxmFIzzOVVCmr6BVX7TerWn_0sZwVl3Fiv0choqTlcGC9vp4yTdfRFWxU8Hok4wAPKQh-ojI1UIrE/s320/IMG_0919.JPG" title="Club 55" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><u>Day 4</u></span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><a href="http://www.marinabaysands.com/museum.html?gclid=CjwKEAiA6rrBBRDsrLGM4uTPkWASJADnWZQ47t9TNpT-uNHxTe9ubpVIvGcTYXIy-AvOFFfYVxc_exoCb3jw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CNmTpLTds9ACFcncGwodksAPNA#GyRmLKYrqChOPEsm.97">ArtScience museum</a> - Future World Exhibition</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><a href="http://www.rwsentosa.com/Homepage/Attractions/UniversalStudiosSingapore">Universal Studios</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><a href="http://www.timeout.com/singapore/bars-and-pubs/the-library">The Library</a> speak-easy, <a href="http://www.ptthead.com/">Potato Head Folk</a>, Club Street</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><u>Day 5</u></span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><a href="http://www.xcape.sg/">Xcape room</a> (We did the 'Annabelle' room which was terrifying but incredible)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Brunch at <a href="http://super-loco.com/">Super Loco</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><a href="http://sg.celavi.com/">Ce La Vi </a> for sunset drinks</span></li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYFGsN29Yp7XJpMItkPEJRnpJSI5nHUEaResOuEslHblEyn3ubFoPB7qJX59ALOZyvtmr1iw5IMJwIb7zqY4eNlQbm1BKfWGyHMIMAcNEqkmDgpQL6-TRFIoxtDa0ecOBzr48wHv4JbfE/s1600/IMG_0948.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Xcape room" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYFGsN29Yp7XJpMItkPEJRnpJSI5nHUEaResOuEslHblEyn3ubFoPB7qJX59ALOZyvtmr1iw5IMJwIb7zqY4eNlQbm1BKfWGyHMIMAcNEqkmDgpQL6-TRFIoxtDa0ecOBzr48wHv4JbfE/s320/IMG_0948.jpg" title="Xcape room" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6jQWS79tqXYScC4xDYDHlCQhuodYm7du_7hhAxm2kuNCtkmckk4mx_cRscr8W10uVg5BtQlmChxN6Zd3DHq2cm2ND9RHk3JG5tg2bvLdWQEwIuYEQLmouUSfSCPAVLMPnl2erwcNuXmw/s1600/IMG_0949.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Super Loco" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6jQWS79tqXYScC4xDYDHlCQhuodYm7du_7hhAxm2kuNCtkmckk4mx_cRscr8W10uVg5BtQlmChxN6Zd3DHq2cm2ND9RHk3JG5tg2bvLdWQEwIuYEQLmouUSfSCPAVLMPnl2erwcNuXmw/s320/IMG_0949.JPG" title="Super Loco" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">There's so much more to do and they've already promised to come back next year. I'm thrilled they loved Singapore as much as I do.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span>Rowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05864524347207028829noreply@blogger.com0Singapore1.352083 103.819836000000010.84135999999999989 103.1716425 1.862806 104.46802950000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170205752933889892.post-47770402560264639342016-11-09T15:00:00.000-08:002016-11-18T17:30:21.347-08:00My friends are here! Part 1.<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I have had THE best long-weekend in Bali.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I flew over late on Friday night to meet two of my dearest friends from London. We spent the first day taking in the picture-perfect views of the beach from </span><a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/Restaurant_Review-g469404-d804047-Reviews-La_Lucciola-Seminyak_Bali.html" style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">La Lucciola</a><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">, followed by a long day of tanning and drinking at </span><a href="https://www.ptthead.com/" style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Potato Head</a><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">. It was paradise. I don't think I will ever get bored of sun, sea and palm trees.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieKYdoMKO71OIUdSL9-4LctBcBulDXMK9Ogi91-zyM0tCd4sVkSh_633uDmnjpVk_vXA4WTHwfmxP66UeJCTrd0AlxL_98flpa9FuhVCR6ru4JxN5DvWUn5DrCD25PQOMnsHzhIpkfbRI/s1600/IMG_0867.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Potato Head" border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieKYdoMKO71OIUdSL9-4LctBcBulDXMK9Ogi91-zyM0tCd4sVkSh_633uDmnjpVk_vXA4WTHwfmxP66UeJCTrd0AlxL_98flpa9FuhVCR6ru4JxN5DvWUn5DrCD25PQOMnsHzhIpkfbRI/s320/IMG_0867.jpg" title="Potato Head" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4VirjBUzGa_R7I7LfwMUNfusselS-TvB5m5sX2nOWuDhqY5Yn42Rh1f_eWG7moQQ2QIE3U6oEfw5mXJPXX1l6Tzm9SqR4m2JPYOEkUWUOyOMnDIBSFyANncvzTXxh2KWYLlkn2oPMZjI/s1600/IMG_0868.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Potato Head" border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4VirjBUzGa_R7I7LfwMUNfusselS-TvB5m5sX2nOWuDhqY5Yn42Rh1f_eWG7moQQ2QIE3U6oEfw5mXJPXX1l6Tzm9SqR4m2JPYOEkUWUOyOMnDIBSFyANncvzTXxh2KWYLlkn2oPMZjI/s320/IMG_0868.jpg" title="Potato Head" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">In the evening we spruced up and headed to <a href="http://www.motelmexicolabali.com/">Motel Mexicola</a> for dinner. I've never been anywhere like it... kind of a split-level, indoor circus/market. It was raining so hard when we got there that water was streaming through a hole in the roof. In minutes the floor was wet up to our ankles, people were dancing on the tables and staff were pouring tequila into our mouths. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJffaHrwLgvEMMYqaz-q0Sqtfge0L71FcgcMlEVNi4Z6QEI5CRsyucBiN2CdknmEBuDBlhrqn5LFKX1dh96SaiY9YBIJGe16FjztGlFAzvF-4KkwwejCxa59jt3uc93iiqeqwqZHyfN1c/s1600/IMG_0759.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJffaHrwLgvEMMYqaz-q0Sqtfge0L71FcgcMlEVNi4Z6QEI5CRsyucBiN2CdknmEBuDBlhrqn5LFKX1dh96SaiY9YBIJGe16FjztGlFAzvF-4KkwwejCxa59jt3uc93iiqeqwqZHyfN1c/s320/IMG_0759.jpg" width="255" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs3Dmtjv7oPO6-lAjBv8aCsfYcvND0YT_7NEb6uPJyH08dTAxcTU4H1Bavik6i29a360bb5McPB4g272b18iEHq5hFLri67nHpIy9DUZ5Be0Pp5iWxabJUWgYtQyHZ99yWfD7ybcmHnL0/s1600/IMG_0729.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Motel Mexicola" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs3Dmtjv7oPO6-lAjBv8aCsfYcvND0YT_7NEb6uPJyH08dTAxcTU4H1Bavik6i29a360bb5McPB4g272b18iEHq5hFLri67nHpIy9DUZ5Be0Pp5iWxabJUWgYtQyHZ99yWfD7ybcmHnL0/s320/IMG_0729.jpg" title="Motel Mexicola" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgggjIL7qYwU4NtP6fj2AskKp2AeFA9EZpTgVc-4RMdvlTGgfxktXq0lCKBLPMB8JzCJgP-lp6ruBQItf5s4LD7AHvgZHykKKpo4ON96xupg5BjTYk37NCx5kFniStEtzV8B9_Uuinr4u0/s1600/IMG_0744.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Motel Mexicola" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgggjIL7qYwU4NtP6fj2AskKp2AeFA9EZpTgVc-4RMdvlTGgfxktXq0lCKBLPMB8JzCJgP-lp6ruBQItf5s4LD7AHvgZHykKKpo4ON96xupg5BjTYk37NCx5kFniStEtzV8B9_Uuinr4u0/s320/IMG_0744.jpg" title="Motel Mexicola" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Around midnight the done thing seemed to be for everyone to ditch Mexicola and jump into taxis over to <a href="http://www.lafavela.com/">La Favela</a> on the main strip. I can see why. </span><a href="http://www.lafavela.com/" style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">La Favela</a> <span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">is a never-ending maze of a place with great music. We met some really cool people and </span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">continued on until morning. I don't think my feet have ever been so dirty.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We had pre-planned to go to Uluwatu for days 3 & 4 as I'd heard from a few people that it had breath taking scenery and beaches. They were definitely right about the views. We spent the first day at Uluwatu Temple taking heaps of photos...and just about avoiding the monkeys stealing our sunglasses.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeKMG-DYiVxoaFO4LzwARkCCTRbvcR7L72pIU5DAuwU9mp73-l9GdtSDAk14b01NbLzPv-p8_bg0TuUq8jDm-BrrLfUAxHjR_j7P5c_BOW3iIRup-A8Wd5o9xqBBGAYRI37AX9fm1Hn30/s1600/IMG_0791.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Uluwatu Temple" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeKMG-DYiVxoaFO4LzwARkCCTRbvcR7L72pIU5DAuwU9mp73-l9GdtSDAk14b01NbLzPv-p8_bg0TuUq8jDm-BrrLfUAxHjR_j7P5c_BOW3iIRup-A8Wd5o9xqBBGAYRI37AX9fm1Hn30/s320/IMG_0791.jpg" title="Uluwatu Temple" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We had booked ourselves in at an amazing villa called The Innpossible on Bingin beach. It was in a fairly remote location which meant we had to climb up and down 200 steps to get there - but it was totally worth it. We had the private penthouse to ourselves which overlooked the never ending-ocean filled with surfers morning, noon and night.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We had dinner and drinks at <a href="http://singlefinbali.com/">Single Fin</a> just as the sun was setting over the ocean, before proceeding to have another long night of drinking, chatting rubbish and attempting to get back to our remote villa.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Our last day in Bali was spent at Padang Padang beach (fun fact: this is where they filmed |Eat, Pray Love!). The waves were pretty angry so after two pairs of sunglasses had been lost to the sea we called it a day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">It was such an amazing holiday. One of the best. I was really sad to leave but exciting for my pals to see Singapore... maybe I can convince them to move over here too?!</span><br />
<br />Rowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05864524347207028829noreply@blogger.com0Bali, Indonesia-8.4095178 115.18891600000006-9.420089299999999 113.89252950000007 -7.3989462999999995 116.48530250000006tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170205752933889892.post-21497201094960561812016-10-31T06:14:00.000-07:002018-05-20T22:34:34.192-07:00Hong Kong<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: 14px;">What a memorable, eye-opening and wonderful few days in Hong Kong.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><span style="background-color: font-size: 14px; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I was in Kowloon, Hong Kong from Wednesday through until Sunday helping with a international school sports tour. 70 of our young sportsmen and women versed Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Hong Kong in what would be the third annual tournament of its kind.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">It was such an emotional couple of days with countless triumphs, a few defeats, laughter and tears. My highlights were the basketball and netball finals - who knew a school sports game could be so gripping!? I was on the edge of my seat until our teams claimed victory in the last few minutes, resulting in a deafening roar from the rest of the students supporting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><span style="background-color: font-size: 14px;">My other highlight was during the prize giving, just as Hong Kong was announced as the overall winner. Instead of acting disappointed or groaning as most teenagers (and lets face it, most adults) would have done in not winning the gold, our teams immediately stood up to give Hong Kong a standing ovation. Completely gracious in defeat.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: font-size: 14px;">I think back to how I behaved aged 11-14 and I cannot even begin to compare to how these kids are. The camaraderie, sportsmanship and friendships that developed over the few days were clear to see and the students have all returned to Singapore standing that little bit taller. I was blown away by how respectful each student was throughout the trip and well they conducted themselves. It was incredible to be part of the tour and I feel so proud to work for a school who's students are such well-rounded and mature individuals. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: font-size: 14px;">Before the kids arrived a colleague and I had one free evening and the best part of a day to enjoy and explore Hong Kong. We caught a boat from Kowloon to the Island where we ate the most delicious dinner at the <a href="http://www.fourseasons.com/hongkong/dining/restaurants/caprice/">Caprice Bar in the Four Seasons Hotel.</a> We chose 'a little bit of everything' cheese platter along with a selection of tasting wines and port.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: font-size: 14px;">Once our bellies were full we headed over to the Mid-Levels. The Mid-Levels is a 3km walkway/escalator system running up the side of Victoria Peak. Apparently the escalators travel downwards in the mornings to take commuters to work, and then up in the evenings to take them back again. All along the walkway are cool bars and restaurants with people spilling out of the open doors on to the street. As it's Halloween at the moment, everywhere was decked out w</span>ith pumpkins, cobwebs and bats. The whole experience of Hong Kong was a far cry from Singapore. Hong Kong felt grittier, more authentic and had heaps of history and character.<br />
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<span style="background-color: font-size: 14px;">The following day we pushed our hangovers to the backs of our minds and trekked for two and a half hours along the Dragon's Back Trail. The views were out of this world - with grassy mountains, the endless ocean and then the juxtaposition of skyscrapers in the distance. </span>The sun warmed our skin and para-gliders floated around above us. It felt so far removed from the hustle and bustle of the Mid-Levels or the fresh food market we'd visited the day before.<br />
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We ended our trek at Big Wave Bay and cooled off in the sea before heading back reality - AKA, 70 tired but excited students who had just arrived at the hotel.</div>
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<span style="background-color: font-size: 14px; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I've come back to work this week completely exhausted, but with a new lease of life. I learnt such a lot in the short time I was in Hong Kong and I'm going to remember those few days forever.</span></div>
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Rowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05864524347207028829noreply@blogger.com0Hong Kong22.396428 114.1094970000000322.396428 114.10949700000003 22.396428 114.10949700000003tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170205752933889892.post-39089466201478791112016-10-24T23:00:00.000-07:002016-11-01T05:10:43.342-07:00I think all I really do is work and eat...<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">AustCham really do put on some awesome events. I've mentioned their epic wine and cheese night in a <a href="http://www.singlishliving.com/2016/08/wine-cheese-and-heaps-of-paint.html">previous post</a>; well last week I went to one of their other networking events and had a blast. Made some great contacts and I'm already looking forward to their next event... they're doing another wine and cheese night in March. I'm there with bells on!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Work's been crazy again this week so I've been trying to counter the long days by being more active: Swimming in our pool for the first time in ages, tried out a couple of boot camp sessions (which made me ache for days), and of course the usual dragon boating on Saturdays. I'm getting so much better at dragon boating now, they even put me at the front as pacer this week - I'm chuffed to have found something I'm good at and really enjoy doing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">At the weekend Phil treated me to a slap up meal at an Italian place called <a href="http://www.zafferano.sg/">Zafferano</a> which is on level 43 of the Ocean Financial Centre. I had a huge octopus tentacle which was delish. </span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We also had a lip-smackingly-good dinner after dragon boating this week. We were craving cheese (I mean, when are we not..) and a mate recommended we try </span><a href="https://www.wineconnection.com.sg/content/14-cheese-bar" style="font-family: "courier new", courier, monospace;">Wine Connection</a><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">'s cheese bar on Robertson quay. Ah.. it's amazing. We had a huge slab of raclette, potatoes, bread, salad, pickles and a huge plate of cold meats.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I'm off to Hong Kong for work tomorrow, and Phil has just left for Melbourne where he'll be working for the next three weeks. I'm sure I've have lots to update on in my next post!</span><br />
<br />Rowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05864524347207028829noreply@blogger.com0Singapore1.352083 103.819836000000010.84135999999999989 103.1716425 1.862806 104.46802950000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170205752933889892.post-75359347171957770552016-10-15T22:09:00.000-07:002016-10-19T06:40:29.705-07:00Let's paint the stress away<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Work seems to have taken over. 12 hour days, and I'm even dreaming about it at night. Not ideal. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Phil and I are finding that as we are always so busy, there is never any time to catch up with friends and family back home, watch a movie or read a book. Don't get me wrong, I love Singapore and the lifestyle, but I do miss being able to sit back, switch off and relax sometimes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We've just about managed to keep it low-key this weekend: Dinner and drinks with some girls from work on Friday, painting on Saturday, swimming and shopping today. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I have to tell you about the painting. One of our friends had recommended this little interior design studio called <a href="http://copperda.com/">Copper Design</a> who open their doors for people to come along and '<a href="http://copperda.com/art-jam/">Art Jam</a>'. It's a cool little place with beautiful art, interesting lamps and lots of copper furnishings. Along one side; easels, canvas, paint and brushes had been set up for us when we arrived. We were given a cup of tea, various photos/art books for inspiration and then set to it for 3 hours of painting whatever we wanted.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I'm not thrilled with my painting, but hey, it was such a relaxing thing to do on a Saturday afternoon. It costs just $35 and I'll definitely be back next time I need a zen-weekend.</span></div>
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Rowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05864524347207028829noreply@blogger.com0Singapore1.352083 103.819836000000010.84135999999999989 103.1716425 1.862806 104.46802950000001