Why do we fall Bruce?
Trip Start
Jul 06, 2010
1
4
Trip End
Jan 06, 2011
Singapore, Singapore
Friday, November 5, 2010
Its me!! Wow, its been a while hey? I cant even remember the last time I wrote in this. Tsk tsk poor show. Apologies to ALL my devoted fans, I must try harder! In my defence I stare at a computer screen all day at work so its hard to get the motivation to keep doing that in my free time. But, enough, I'm here now so lets get down to it.
So how have you been? I have been well. My Singapore adventure is nearly over!! Where did that go?!? Only seems a couple of days ago I arrived and now I'm already getting ready to go. Ferris Bueller was right, time really does move pretty fast. So what have I been up to? Well plenty as it happens! I think I've pretty much been everywhere in Singapore now given its size, so I feel pretty qualified to talk about it these days. I've also managed to get quite quite drunk a fair few times now, which is obviously the whole point isnt it? So where should I start with my Singapore update? Well, Thailand obviously.
Last week I headed over to Koh Samui to see my good friend Ollie who lives there, and return the favour from August when he came here and got me hammered. As I'm lucky enough to have been there before I decided to fly to Phuket instead and get the bus from there so as to see something new as part of my holiday and not at all because it was a hell of lot cheaper and I'm tight. I arrived Thursday night, staying in Kata which is one of the nicest parts apparently, though its difficult to tell in the middle of a storm. Thats right, November is monsoon season! Hooray!! So I ventured out to see what was what and promptly got soaked to the bone looking for a good bar. I've never been to Phuket before but Thailand is Thailand and so it brought back happy memories of my travels back in 2004. It was also obviously nice to be back getting shouted at by dozens of hookers as I passed each bar. "HELLO" "WHERE YOU FROM SEXY MAN?" "COME BACK!!!". Luckily I'm no stranger to being fought over by women, so I managed to cope. It was a relief to find a few tourists to have a drink with though, I'll be honest! After chatting for a bit they asked where I was heading. Koh Samui? Really? I thought you couldnt go there at the moment because of all the floods? FLOODS?? WTF? Yeah, look (points to the TV news where they're showing images of Samui under 4 feet of water and people floating to work!). OLIVER!!!! This is all news to me! But then knowing him as well as I do, I shouldnt have been suprised he'd not mentioned it!! Luckily the images were from a few days ago and the ferries were back up running. Phew!
Anyhow ended up being fun but nothing crazy as I was up at 7 starting my journey over to Samui (Wet'N'Wild by the sound of it). The weather was much better so I got to see alot of good scenery on my trip over and hit the ferry port with no problems. The boat ride was really good too, amazing to be back on the Gulf of Thailand with endless views. Happy days indeed. And credit to Ollie, he may sometimes forget small points such as the fact he's being going to work in a wet suit for the last week, but his directions from Koh Samui ferry terminal to his local bar were pinpoint precision! Was good to see the big idiot and catch up over some beers. Alot of beers as it happens. Spent Friday night and all of Saturday in Chaweng which is the tourist town and a good laugh, though quiet this time of year. Managed to soldier on and drink endless beers and buckets of spirits though, and Ollie even squeezed in all his favourite local restaurants: McDonalds, Burger King and Pizza Hut. You just cant beat authentic Thai food. Highlights for me were a brilliant local cover band doing freebird whilst all balanced on top of each other, the beautiful beach bar Ollie refused to stay in because it wasnt happy hour, and the man himself getting the blotch after too many buckets! Good stuff. All in all we had a great time, though were broken men come Sunday. Managed to get him up and out of his house though and he took me round Samui on the back of his Scooter which was a lot of fun and got to see some cool stuff as you'll see from my photos. Its a great place, alot nicer than I remembered, and Ollie's doing pretty well there. Who knows when and where I'll see him again, but it was great to catch up.
Anyhow made it back to Singapore late on Monday night after an epic journey. Wont bore you with the ranting details but lets just say getting a bus anywhere in Thailand is a lottery and if I won on Friday, after 7 different vehicles and 14 hours of travelling I definitely lost on Monday! All good fun though, especially as I only had to make it through Tuesday at work before a bank holiday on Wednesday! Nice. And only a month left in Singapore! Wow. Not sure where to start with all that really. Since I last wrote I've been the Grand Prix (practice) which was pretty special to see, especially with the city at night as a backdrop. Also caught Missy Elliott as part of the ticket which was pretty funny as she spent the whole time trying to gee the crowd up and then when she finally managed it....power cut!! Oops. I've toured round pretty much everywhere now too and can recommend the botanical gardens and Pulau Ubin as good spots to explore away from the craziness. I did try Bishan park for that too but they've closed the whole thing off to build a river through it. Only Singapore!! The night safari was a lot of fun but sadly no flash photography allowed so you'll just have to take my word for it when I tell you that seeing a tiger fight a crocodile whilst riding a shark really is quite something. I've also made it to a lot of museums and learnt an awful lot about the (mainly English caused) mess that was WW2 over here.
But you dont wanna hear about that. I know what you're all after. And yes, dont worry, I've been drunk a number of times and fallen over things! There's plenty of bars out here and even though its often 8 quid a pint I've fought on so that you can all be safe and happy in the knowledge I'm still a mess when funds allow!! Some very pretentious places out here, not suprising given all the money around, but we've managed to find a good Amadeus/Roxy equivalent in ChinaOne! Good covers band, cheaper beer and everyone in the there with the same goal: drink to excess!! Had some funny nights in there as well as a couple of other places, and given where I live I've got an ongoing battle with the night bus home going on! Only once have I managed to get on the right bus which actually goes where I live. And I chose this time to fall asleep! Clever old Ralphy set his alarm though to wake him up! Sadly this ingenuity was unrewarded as I slept through it (bet the rest of the passengers enjoyed it though!) and woke up somewhere I'd never been before! Tried to act all cool like it was my stop but had to admit defeat after 10 mins of walking and get a taxi home! I'm determined to make it home drunk on the bus at least once before I leave!!
Other than that things have been ok. Works still plodding along, and football been alot of fun. We won Division 12 a few weeks ago after a hard fough 7-0 win over 2nd place! Fair to say we were ready to be promoted! They've bumped us up to Div9 now and its a bit harder so still enjoying that and even scored last week (was waiting until I did to write this!!). I wont bore you with the details though dont worry (sweet left foot volley into the roof of the net). Cant complain really!!
So there you go. Its fair to say I've been having a good old time of it here, where I can afford it that is. Its been a great experience, but I've never really settled or come to terms with just how expensive it is here (will try and get to properly that before I leave!)! So I'm looking forward to my next adventures already. A month from now I'll be heading to Perth to start a 3 week holiday (because lets face it, I really need one) in Oz split between there and Tasmania!! Cant wait. Will be awesome to catch up with some very good friends and see some very amazing places. Then assuming my visas through ok its New Zealand next year!! Life really sucks hey?
So yeah, its all happening. Will keep you posted where I can (it seems I do quite suck at this. Oh well), but get saving to come see me in Wellington next year!!!
Until next time
Ralph x
