The Last Post

The Last Post; that reminds me of Anzac ceremonies, listening to the bugler playing The Last Post.  That always brings a tear to my eye, gives me goose bumps and I guess that sort of sums up how I feel about the trip.  I can't believe it is all over and we are back in New Zealand.  Having said that, it is great to be home.  I certainly have a better appreciation of clean, green NZ and I missed the smell of NZ as well.

Has it all been worth it?  Absolutely it has.  This has been a trip of a lifetime.  "My Unforgettable Moment", which is exactly what is engraved on the last Pandora charm I brought in Singapore.  I have been collecting one for each place we went to and I reckon this was the ideal one to end the trip with.

So what have I learnt from all this travelling?

• History is the most amazing thing.  NZ is such a young country it is hard to comprehend the age of some of the places we have been and monuments/museums etc we have seen.

• Get fit.

• You will always pack too much stuff.  Pack your bag and then take half of it out again.

• You WILL be sick of the sight of yourself in the same clothes though.

• Really, I mean it.  Get fit!

• Your trigger happy husband will take too many photos.

• Always get a business card from the hotel you stay at.  This will save you an emergency text to one of your travelling companions asking her to text you with the hotel name and address so you can get home.  Especially if you have been enjoying a celebratory dinner with a wine or 4! Thanks Beth - I will remember your advice.

• Get used to having to pay to pee.

• You will get a cold when travelling in such close quarters with other people.

• Plan each day before hand.  Know what it is you want to see and research what else is to be seen.

• Ding, dong, cuckoo, cuckoo, wakey, wakey!   One of you needs to be the Tour Director, responsible for making sure the plans made for each day get started early.

• You will be grateful for the trigger happy husband and all those photos you have to remember the whole trip.

• You absolutely will have the most incredible experience.

• You will want to immediately start planning the next trip..... :-)

So folks, I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog as much as we enjoyed our trip and in writing this.  I also hope it has inspired some of you to plan your own "unforgettable moment".

Until the next time.......maybe!

Singapore

Sunday 7th October

Off for more sightseeing, so down to the Metro station to take us to the Harbour Front.  It never ceases to amaze does it, how your timing is so right that you get to coincidentally see someone or something when you consider how just one minute later this would never happened.  It did for us today as we went up to the ticketing machine for the train and who should we come across was Pam and Nick from our tour.  We snuck up behind them and suddenly said, "Ding dong, cuckoo, cuckoo, wakey, wakey", much to their surprise.  We had a quick catch up and heard a little about their adventures in Italy when Nick went to his home town.  They were doing some last minute stuff today as they are flying back to Aus tonight.  Incredible coincidence meeting up with them.

At the Harbour Front we caught a cable over to Sentosa Island.  This was pretty amazing giving us breath taking views of the city, Harbour and Sentosa Island.  This island is Singapore's favourite playground and is home to lots of themed attractions, lush forests, white sandy beaches and resort accommodation.  

Today we just sampled a few of the attractions, but man did we have an action packed day.  As you arrive, there is the souvenir shop of course and once through the main area we decided to head off to have a look at the Merlion.  

On our way there, what should we come across, but a snake charmer and his Albino Python.  This really did look quite beautiful but also very intimidating at the same time.  I really regretted not taking the chance to hold a snake when I was in Darwin and somehow having Colin egging me on gave me the courage to give this a go.  Initially I was very scared, but once it was actually resting around my neck it wasn't so bad at all.  It felt quite silken and very strong.  Man I am really glad I did this.  Colin's turn next and he said he was amazed at how the snake felt but at one point he had to slide his hand up towards the head, going against the grain and he said it felt really scaley like sequins.

We reached the Merlion - Singapore's mythical creature that has become an icon, part lion/part fish.  This stood at an impressive 37 meters tall and you can go inside this and hear the story behind the Merlion and go right up to the top for a photo opportunity and look at the view.  

On looking at the other options of what to do, there was a lot on offer at a price of course, but what we decided to do was visit Universal Studios instead which of course has the one admission price for lots of rides and things to do.  You might wonder about this given we spent a whole day at Paris Disneyland, but being the movie mad person I am and Colin the thrill seeker, it seemed the perfect choice and we weren't disappointed.

This has a similar set up as Disneyland, with all the different themed sections.  The entry was Hollywood with lots of shops selling souvenirs, places to eat and sets to look at.  Madagascar was next and the ride we went on there was pretty tame and again a good way to start our adventure.  

Far Far Away was the next area and we went on a 4D adventure with Shrek.  This was a movie in 3D with a seat that acted like a simulator and during the movie there were things that would happen and you would get to feel different sensations, like water being sprinkled on you when Donkey sneezed, blasts of air on the back of your neck, but the best and creepiest of all was when spiders were let loose and you had things tickling the back of your legs.  Ewwwwww!  

Once again there was queuing everywhere and unlike Paris, their system for preferential queuing had to be paid for so we opted out, this being an extra $30 each!  The attention to detail on the sets even as you queue were pretty amazing, not to mention the rides themselves.

The Lost World had Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure.  

This one had a few warnings about getting wet, even soaked.  

Feeling sure in this heat it wouldn't matter if we got a little wet, we chose not to purchase a $3 disposable poncho.  FOOLS!  On the last part of this water ride a huge bow wave came in and completely drenched us.  Right over my head and completely soaked my jean shorts.  Colin's shoes copped a filling too.  

 No wonder we got wet!

Funny thing is, the other clue at how serious they were with their warnings should have been the "stand inside" drying cabinets at the end of the ride.  So I ended up paying $5 to go in this instead of the poncho.  Not very wise!  The drying cabinet didn't completely dry me off and certainly didn't do a very good job blow drying my hair so for the rest of the day I had wet pants and terrible hair.   If you think wet pants must have been awful, try going to the toilet and then having to pull these wet pants back on!

Ancient Egypt was an incredibly detailed set and contained one of those completely in the dark roller coaster rides.  I had read this before going there and had quite decided I was not going on it, so gladly looked after Colin's bag and left him to it.  

He absolutely loved it.  Raved about it.  Said "you have to do it.  You will regret it otherwise".  You would be thinking I said no.  Once again I got talked into it and hated it!  Just don't learn do I.

Should have bought a hat to cover up the post rapids ride hair disaster!

Sci-Fi City was next with 2 roller coaster rides here.  They ran simultaneously, right beside and twisting around each other and for the rider it gave you the impression of an imminent collision.  One had you hanging down underneath the track and went upside down, the other was more like a traditional one.  It was heart stopping when they did what seemed like vertical falls but was quite fun.  

The final ride we did here was Transformers The Ride.  This was another 3D simulator ride, but was so realistic with the incredible special effects you really did think you were flying that spacecraft and fighting in that battle.  Amazing how the brain can trick you with right effects!

New York was the next themed area and we went into an empty sound stage and got to see some of the special effects used in movies.

You may be a bit bored reading about all this, but personally I think I enjoyed this more than Paris Disneyland.

So our day comes to an end and it is back to the hotel to pack.  Early wake up tomorrow as we have a 05.30 am pick up scheduled for the airport.

Paris - Singapore

Friday 5th and Saturday 6th October

Not much to say here other than we left the apartment at 8 am and reached the airport in good time.  Queues for check in were still lengthy even arriving so early, so it was a matter of going through all the formalities and straight up to the gate for boarding.

We had seats down the bottom of the double decker this time and the wall in front meant there was plenty of leg room for Colin.  Still not that conducive for sleeping so it was a couple of tired people who arrived at Singapore.

We were once again lucky, well to start with at least, being able to check into our room earlier than the scheduled check in time of after 2pm.  However, on going into our room, we couldn't get the lights to work.  We were so tired, we thought we'd have a shower and a quick kip and then let them know after that, thinking to was going to be an easy fix.

So we showered in the dark or at least by emergency LED torch which Colin found in the cupboard and put our heads down for a snooze.  I woke up about 12 midday, not even hearing the alarm previously set for earlier and started to get ready.  Colin was still sleeping at 1.30 pm so I woke him again and hurried him along.  He thought it was only 5-10 mins later so was stunned to realize it was another hour and a half gone.

We called reception to advise of the fault only to find it was not able to be repaired, so we had to change rooms, having used the toilet, shower and bed!  Fortunately we hadn't unpacked and we only needed to go next door.

Eventually making it out the door, we headed off for some late lunch and a bit of sightseeing.  Included in our stopover package were some free tours and sights, so first up was a cruise along the Singapore river and then the bus to the Singapore Flyer, which is just like the London Eye. 

Marina Bay Sands Hotel

Merlion

Most of the time I think either Colin or I were grabbing 40 winks in the boat and bus, so not really sure how much we saw.  We are pretty tired.  Very hot and humid here too.

Dinner back here at the hotel and finally to bed. Will try to pack in a bit more sightseeing tomorrow.

Last day in Paris

How do you spend your last day in Paris?  This is the dilemma we face.  Having been suitably, museumed, monumented and sightseed out ( are those words even real?) and not sure if we can take much more of these sights, it comes down to the question of what else then.   It's raining which is a real let down as well.  For me, I would have explored the local region and shops, having felt I haven't yet done that, apart from a brief look at Galleries Lafayette.  To take a look at the less frenetic places where the locals go, but given Colin's aversion to shops, which apparently have no oxygen as the fabric sucks it all up, this was a no go.

Before we left Colin expressed a desire to go to Disneyland Paris, having never been to one at all.  I was fortunate enough to see the one in Hong Kong and had a good time, apart from the one roller coaster which was in complete darkness and went forwards and backwards and absolutely terrified me, so I was not a great starter for this.  But said if we got the time we could consider it.  When the weather was crappy, I thought it wouldn't be a starter, but Colin was still keen so off we trot to get an umbrella and a couple of rain poncho's.

The train ride was long and when we got to Disneyland it was pretty cool but at least not raining.  

In fact the weather improved so much we didn't need the ponchos or umbrellas again.  It fined up so much we even had jackets off and were just in T-Shirts and Jeans.  Would never have believed it could clear up quite so well.

So first impressions,  this has to be the cleanest, most immaculately maintained area in Paris.  I think all the bright colours helped as well, being so used to seeing the bland landscape that is Paris.

Colin was like the proverbial child let loose in a fun park.  We took a main ride around on the Disneyland train, thinking we would be entertained along the way and see into all the different lands, but in actual fact this was a bit boring.

Following this we had some lunch in Main Street USA, American hotdogs and a drink, before making our way into Frontierland.  

 Through Phamtom Manor, a gentle way to prepare you for other rides.  A ghostly ride though a haunted mansion.  

Big Thunder mountain was next.  We queued for about 3/4 - 1 hour.  This ride through a mountain on a roller coaster ride is set up like a gold mine.  This was pretty good even if I do say so myself.  It was on this ride we noticed something called fast pass access for some of the rides.  You can scan your entry ticket at the participating rides and it gives you a ticket with a time frame to came back and then you get priority queuing.  Why wouldn't you do this on all the ones you could.  

We walked through Fantasyland, and the big Kid in me couldn't give up a chance to go on the Merry-Go-Round.  Feeling like a couple of twats, we both jumped on.  For a joke we kept saying to these little girls beside us, (are you alright girls?), to make it appear they were with us :-).  Creepy olds.

Adventureland was our next port of call and on to Pirates of Carribean.  This was a slow gentle boat ride through a cavern.  The level of detail in the scenery was incredible and told a great story with only a sligh "gasp" moment as we went down a short incline and got a little wet.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril, was one of those that once you were on, it was like I want to get off now, before it had even started.  I really wish I had as this was rough, scarey and was in and out of darkness.  Definitely not me, much evidenced by my eyes being squeezed shut through most of that ride.

Discoveryland was next up and the Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast was a hoot.  You were in carts that you could spin around and they gave you a laser gun to shoot at enemies and you could see your score on your dashboard. 

Next up was Star Tours a simulator ride which was pretty tame too. Space Mountain was one of those rides I told Colin to go by himself seeing this looked like it was all inside.  He came out full of assurances I would like it and it wasn't too scarey.  So I got talked into it. OK!  I can hear those of you who know Colin, that he was probably pulling my leg and gullible me believed him.  Well you would be right.  I HATED it!  And that doesn't begin to describe my terror!  It took me half an hour to recover, in which time I consumed a chocolate waffle (sadly nowhere near the quality of our Brussels one), to give me some sugar loading back.

Once recovered, it was back to one more ride on the Gold Rush and then it was time for home.  As it was quite late, and thinking the trains would be full of all the people leaving the park,  we stopped at Planet Hollywood for some dinner and then hopped on the train finally reaching the apartment at 9.30 pm or so where we proceeded to pack our bags - sadly.