Singapore Stopover

The flight from the UK to Singapore was fine. The A380 is the smoothest plane we’ve been on – although there was a collective squeal from all the ladies on the plane as we were coming into land and the plane seemed to drop as we flew through low cloud! (And then there was a collective manly chuckle from the blokes!)

It was early morning when we landed and we got a cab to the hotel. Entering the hotel lobby is quite amazing – it’s called the 'Atrium', and when you look up each floor has a row of lights, and there are 6 glass lifts in a row with lights on going up and down. I’m not really explaining it very well, but it was quite cool (hopefully the pictures will show it better!).

We were determined not to go to sleep so that we could try and overcome the jet lag quickly. So we went to our room on the 15th floor to quickly freshen up, and then it was off out to the famous Orchard Road to see the sights! First stop Burger King!!! After re-fuelling we set off with good intentions, but after not too long the heat and humidity, combined with tiredness, got the better of us so we headed back to the hotel to lie down before we fell down!

We agreed that we’d only get some sleep for two hours max before getting up again, incase we couldn’t manage to sleep in the night.- 6 hours later I was still trying to wake Mr Booy! But eventually he could be stirred and we went out for a meal in a fab restaurant by the river – an Australian bar called Boomerang! When we got back to the hotel we went to the bar for a cocktail and watched the world filtering through the lobby. The more we watched, the more we got suspicious about the number of women who were potentially ‘ladies of the night’! Interesting viewing, however on reflection we realised that there was a nightclub just through the back door so we might have been being a little unfair and judgemental about the ladies of Singapore!!!

In the morning we got up and had breakfast in the hotel restautant overlooking the city, and then we caught the free shuttle bus back to Orchard Road to carry on where we had left off the day before! The shops in Singapore are amazing, so if you fancy a fab shopping trip it's the place to go – however it’s not quite the same when you can’t add any more weight to your case!!! But the shopping arcades are nice and cool which is a blessing as it was incredibly hot and humid! We still managed to do a lot of walking though and walked the length of Orchard Road, through Suntec City and down to the Singapore Flyer. This sounds easy, but it’s the time of the Grand Prix and a lot of roads are fenced off, so we did a lot more walking than we had planned in order to get around the circuit! And when we got to the Singapore Flyer we couldn’t go on it because it was closed due to the Grand Prix! We then walked again and found the Merlion. Again we had to detour round the Grand Prix circuit but it was worth it.

So what else could we do other than head to Raffles for a Singapore Sling! Raffles really is an impressive hotel and as we sat outside the billiards room and bar sipping the lovely pink stuff, looking out at the fountain in the courtyard, we remarked on how romantic it all must have been back in the day – and then we heard the roar of the grand prix!!!! Very much enjoyed it though and saw parts of the hotel we shouldn’t have been in (residents only – oops!), and got a piccie taken with the scary guards!!!

We then went as saw the biggest fountain in the world – which as the photo shows obviously wasn’t on full when we saw it!!!!

Dinner the second night was in a Chinese restaurant – chopsticks and all!

For our final day in Singapore we spent the morning in China Town. The hustle and bustle of the marketplace was a world away from the modern arcades of Orchard Road. We bought ourselves some chopsticks – a nice souvenir that won’t take our baggage over the limit! We then went to Raffles City and Suntec City to cool off with the air conditioning, and then back to the hotel for a swim in the rooftop pool – bliss!!!

All too quickly it’s early morning and we’re making our way to the airport again. Singapore airport is a great place to have to wait for a while, so we made the most of looking round the shops before boarding the plane and setting off again. This time it’s a smaller plane and it’s not such a nice flight, but it went really quickly.  In what seemed like a lot less than 6.5 hours we land in Melbourne - the place that will be our home for the next 4 years!!!!! Going through Customs they sent us to the quarantine bit, and we prepared ourselves for it being a long wait while we’re searched. The guard asked if we had any food or wood with us, to which we replied no and he said ‘No worries mate I’m happy with that’ and he sent us on our way! Phew!!

As we came through arrivals there was my brother, Mark, waiting to greet us! It’s so nice to have travelled to the other side of the world and have a familiar face there waiting for you. I still don’t know quite how Mark and Emma managed to do all this over a year ago with two small children and no one to help them settle in! So it was back to Mark and Emma’s, with a stop to pick up pizza on the way! After being fed and watered with a couple of glasses of wine it was time to retire for a very good first night’s sleep in Australia!!!

No Fixed Abode!

Friends are hard to say goodbye to – really hard (a few in particular) – but when you’re tired and emotional, it’s family that nearly make you abandon the whole idea of leaving. But it’s also family that support you when you’re feeling fragile, and make you realise that distance won’t make you any less close. So with a stiff upper lip (very British!), and the last hug we’ll have for a fair old while, we said goodbye.

Of course it wasn’t goodbye! Both Darren and I rang our parents again in the evening to check that they were ok, and to convince ourselves that we were ok, and to say goodbye again!

It was a very weird feeling to drive away from our empty house, knowing that we wouldn’t be returning for a long time, and knowing that someone else would be moving in in just a few days! Dan, Darren’s brother in-law was kind enough to take us to the airport and it was hard to say a final goodbye to him. With apprehension we made our way to the check in desk. I turned to Darren and said ‘Are you sure that we’re doing the right thing?’ to which he replied ‘Well we haven’t got any choice now have we!’. Not quite the reassurance I was looking for, but he had a point!!!

Bags checked in, final phone call home, there we were – just the two of us about to leave the country with no fixed abode!

Singapore here we come!!!!

GB Liners turned up on our doorstep, just after 9am, all ready to pack our life up in a wooden box and drive away! To them it’s just a daily occurence – to us it’s the end of the life we have in the house we call home, and the beginning of moving our life down under!

4 men, many boxes, several cups of tea and 3 hours later it’s done! Everything we own that isn’t coming in a suitcase was sealed up, on a lorry, in the wooden crates that will go in the container on the ship. They even took my old bike that I haven’t been able to sell so that they can use it for spare parts!!! One less thing to dispose of – we left it outside the front of the house last night, but apparently we can’t even give it away!!

So here we are in our four bed detached house with nothing but a beanbag, footstool, computer chair, mattress and the TV! We might not be in luxury, but at least we still have Sky TV! We’ve made a make shift sofa with a duvet and pillows; and are having chicken, chips and beans for tea on plates that are way too small (the good ones have gone!)!

We’re loving the whole back to basics, camping feel – as long as we’ve still got Sky and the wireless router for the laptops!

But it was with some sadness that we waved off our belongings – it was suddenly real that there’s no turning back now, and that soon it will be us that are leaving and our families will be waving us off. But we waved the lorry off all the same – our life in a box – see you in Melbourne!

The Leaving Do!!!

So, here it is!!!! The first post on our blog!! I've tried to add a few piccies that capture the night that was our leaving do! I've only added a small number of pictures (you can see them all on my FaceBook page!), but I think they show that we had a brilliant night, and lots of people came to say their goodbyes and wish us well!

I'm still very excited about our adventure down under, but I did come away from the evening feeling very loved, and wondering why I was leaving so many good friends to move to the other side of the world! But then I remembered that it is because they are such good friends that I know we'll stay in touch and it will mean that I have more interesting stories to tell!
Love you all guys, and thanks for a brilliant send off!!!
xx