This morning my parents checked out of the nice serviced apartment in Singapore, and as such, we were also forced out. They took the MRT with us to Kranji Station and then we took the bus towards Malaysia. It was raining heavily so it was quite dramatic as we said our goodbyes – though the goodbyes were very brief as the bus arrived a few minutes after we got to the stop! We will definitely miss having family around, especially as we had just ‘gone with the flow’ in Singapore and didn’t really have to organise much for ourselves. It was also a bit odd saying goodbye as we won’t…
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Lazy bloggers…
Turns out our appetite for blogging slowed a little in Singapore. Not surprising as we are staying in a great place, Orchard:Scotts Residences, mostly have just eaten or are about to eat and are just generally relaxing a lot. As Emma said, preparing the next few legs has been harder than expected. We put it off and then after a few hours of researching started laughing and realised we are possibly the world’s worst backpackers and laziest bloggers. Fear not – we are beginning our ‘real’ journey shortly and there will be some backdated posts from Singapore and then regular, actually relevant and current content… hopefully.
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Malaysia. Truly Asia?
This morning we woke up and didn’t really know where we were going to be staying tomorrow night. Now that half of my family has returned to Melbourne, and my parents are leaving tomorrow, we won’t have anywhere to stay (and certainly won’t be able to afford the current 5 star place). Not to worry though! After much deliberation, and near hysteria – we couldn’t believe how much time we had spent researching and yet, getting nowhere at all – we decided on Johur Bahru. Literally across the bridge from Singapore – about 20 minutes away! We’ll stay there for a night, get some Ringgit, get our bearings etc. then…
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Keep the romance out of finance
As a traveling couple we decided early on to split everything down the middle. This keeps it simple and fair and we won’t get into arguments about money down the track. This also ensures that both our journeys last the same amount of time as opposed to one of us busting our budget. We plan to stick to $50 per day per person + travel expenses, especially when we take flights. This doesn’t mean I won’t shout Emma her favorite Barley or Sugarcane drink from time to time!
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D.I.S.A.S.T.E.R
So I burst into tears at the airport, and this was just in Melbourne… Got to the airport with my cousin, my sisters plus 1 x BF (Lionel had already caught his Jetstar flight, and Mum and Dad were due to leave the following day on Emirates). This was where the problem started – checking in. Turns out when I had asked Emirates to cancel my Singapore to Melbourne flight a few weeks ago (when we had decided to embark on this epic adventure!), they had in fact, cancelled the whole flight (Melb to Singapore and return). I was unaware of this until I got to the check in counter,…
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In The Two Green Backpacks – What Did We Pack to Travel SE Asia?
We have two identical macpac tuatara 25l backpacks and filled them with slightly different things. Emma’s Bag 1x Thermal blanket Photocopies of all ID documents 1x Silk sleeping sheet 1x Pair of runners 1x Pair of thongs Week’s worth of underwear Antibiotics Gastro Stop Water purifying tablets Malaria tablets (Doxy-100) Gastrolyte (for rehydration) Contact lenses Bathers Kindle iPod Ear plugs Money belt Eye cream Hand sanitiser Lush solid shampoo Toilet paper roll Sunglasses Toiletries Thermal top Thermal leggings Fleece jumper Aerogard (tropical strength) Sunscreen 6.5KGs Lionel’s Bag Passport 3x tshirts Thermal top & long pants Copies of ID, additional passport photos Silk sleeping sheet Money belt Toiletries USB sticks International…
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April 9th! Time to Start Traveling South East Asia
So today’s the day the adventure begins! 1st stop is Singapore for a family, luxury holiday. Mum’s taking Dad to his birth country for his 60th birthday. Little does he know that Lionel, my two younger sisters (plus one bf), and myself will be already in Singapore to surprise him at the airport! For the past few months, we’ve all been avoiding Dad so as not to spoil the surprise – believe me, it’s difficult; we keep chatting about things we’ll do in Singapore, things we’ll eat in Singapore, things we’ll drink in Singapore etc. and then realising Dad is in the room and then changing the sentence to ‘oh,…
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Umbilical cord Port Melbourne CUT
Today we, finished up in Port Melbourne. We sold the last random shelves last night, scrubbed the place and the steam cleaning was done this morning. Now we have no car, no house (living with Emma’s parents for now, thank you!) and little belongings on us, it is starting to feel mighty real. Port Melbourne was a great suburb to nest in. I will particularly miss: – The continuous free cold meat “samples” from the deli girl at Thomas Dux – The friendly faces from Noisette, and even some free pastry from Rai – Our favorite cafe, Third Wave and it’s amazing food – 2-1 meals at the local –…
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Cleaning the fridge
The last piece of furniture to go and I find this.
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Home office deconstruction
I was blessed with some more freelance work to complete before I left. I didn’t realise how close to the end these projects would take me. One day as I was working a nice chap came by to buy my chair and literally bought it out from under by backside. Now I am sitting on a garden chair inside. It works. Then, just after I sent my invoice, a lady came to buy my desk and now I am lying on the floor with a glass of wine formatting my beloved wife (computer). I’m glad to announce that my favorite and most private possession sold today and is going to…
