Cairns

We're living in Cairns now and we explored the town a bit, which is very small really and not too exciting. There are a few shops but not that many people and the whole place is quite quiet really.

Planning on going down the Esplanade later to check it out and for me to also speak to some hotels to see if I can get a job in one of them using my Japanese and German. There are lots of Japanese people here and lots of shops are looking for assistants who can speak Japanese. I hope I'll get something like that soon, so we can boost our funds a bit.

Things are quite expensive here, very close to London prices for most things and after Asia, I think it's even more of a shock. I think until we get used to the money, we will be shocked quite often!

Phil now has another two weeks in his cast - we're next to the hospital, so we can go for a check-up and get it sorted out hopefully very soon. Until then, we'll have time to decide what we want to do around here and see about prices.

It's super hot here and it seems more oppressive than in SEA - not sure why.

Hello Australia

We made it to Cairns!

After going through a similar hoo-ha at immigration to the one at Singapore Airport, we made it into a cab and to the place which we'll call home for the next two weeks.

It's a flatshare near the centre of town and we are sharing a ground floor flat with four other people. It's got a tiny pool and a shared kitchen and bathroom and it's fine. But not that clean. Have bought some bleach and will give the kitchen and bathroom and loo a bit of a scrub. We had to clean our beds as well - Phil's pillow smelled so bad and the mattress too! Washed all the sheets and aired and turned the mattresses and now it's much better.

We've got a telly in the room and a fridge and I went to Woolworths for some shopping. Woolworths here is like ASDA. Still quite pricey though.

It was funny doing our own cooking and laundry again. I promptly managed to ruin four of my tops, because something was making blue blotches... but the cooking was fun and we had spaghetti for our dinner. Yay!

Leaving Singapore - well, trying to at least...

Oh man, what a journey!

We went off to the airport and thought we'd be pretty smart by taking the MRT and get there early etc. So we jumped on, so far so good, Phil on his crutches and me with both our rucksacks. Not that easy...

Anyway, we got on the MRT and all was well if not a bit squashed but lots of people were going home from work, so nothing too new. Change trains, get squashed a bit more, but OK, coz Phil got a seat. An older lady stood up for him and everyone else just kept sitting - so mean.

So we make it to the airport and reckon it should be easy from now on. Not really, because we get redirected to the budget airline departure building because we are flying with Jetstar. So there we are with crutches and bags, and we are walking down endless corridors trying to get to the bus that is meant to transfer you to that part of the complex. There is no signage, no people to ask, nothing! In the end, I find the bus but don't think it's right, so am hunting around in this underground parking lot in the dark and with the rain pouring.

Finally Phil managed to grab this random pilot who told us that actually we had to get to Terminal 1 and not the budget one at all. He was nice, but we were exhausted by that time. So we trundle along and after another long walk, we make it to the departure hall. So we're like, let's get checked in and then we get some food and chill out.

Checking in, I'm ok, but then there's a problem. Looks like they can't find Phil's visa on the system, so they tell us that we can't get on the flight. ????? So we check again and I know he's got the visa, because I did the paperwork and I don't make this kind of mistake so obviously the system is wrong. Try convincing the airline guy of that though! ;-)

Anyway, I've got email confirmation of the visas, so he tells us to find an internet cafe and to print out the confirmation for him. At this point poor Phil is knackered and so we organise a wheel chair for him and a nice guy who pushes him. Off we trot, with all the luggage again, because they wouldn't let us leave it there. By some miracle, I find a computer and pull out the confirmation, but alas and alack, no printer!

So back again to fetch the airline man, back to the computer so he can visually confirm it and then back again to the check in counter. Uff! So then, he still can't find the information on the system and is now calling Australian Immigration to find out what's up. They are not answering the phone!!!!!!

By this point, he's like "You've only got another ten minutes, then the flight closes." Eventually though, we get it sorted and we are steaming through the place and through the checks. The checks were really easy, because the guy pushing the wheelchair just jumped to the front of every queue! Wow.

So we made it to the lounge with enough time to spare to buy a bag of crisps and then it's time to board. Jetstar is a budget airline division of Quantas. It's cheap. But we didn't choose to fly with them, Trailfinders buggered us about basically. So there's no entertainment on the flight and normally you have to buy your food and drink but on this one, you get it complimentary so at least something.

The seats are leather which is nice, but the legroom ... let's just say that you get less legroom than when you're travelling in a packed London bus. We got put in the back so Phil had a row to himself to put his leg up and that was good. And we are off!

Sing Sing Sing Singapore

Made our way by bus from KT to Johor Bahru (11 hours!) and spent our last night in Malaysia in style! Well, that was the only hotel in the vicinity of the bus stop as we had missed the stop we were meant to have gotten off on... oh dear... never mind, it was nice being in a lovely hotel.

We have been spending more than what we would normally on the rooms in order to make sure that there is air-con and stuff to keep Phil comfy, but a lot of the time the rooms are still very basic. At this one, we had a lovely walk in shower and plants and other bits and bobs in the room so it was a lot more homelier!

Next day, we got on the bus and crossed the border to Singapore. It was a bit of a strange journey. It cost us 1.40 Ringgit each, which is too silly to convert into pounds and though we had to get on and off a couple of times, it took us across the border and right into the centre of town.

From there though, we had trouble finding accommodation... apparently there was a furniture convention going on and all the hotels were booked up! We spent about two hours in a cab driving from one hotel to the next and finally found one in Chinatown. I love Chinatown. Hooray for a room!

It's nice enough and we're not far from the action. There is food everywhere! It's really tasty and the variety is amazing. It's very tasty and international. We had some great food in some of the food courts at various shopping malls and in Chinatown. Had some great noodles and stir fries and numerous other things. The people here are very friendly too and the city is up to speed and very western in many respects. You can still find hawker stalls though, which is great!

Unfortunately though, it rained every single day!!!!!! We really wanted to visit the zoo which is meant to be great and see some other sights around town, but it was a steady deluge the entire time!

Made it to the Merlion Park though - the symbol of Singapore - and that was quite cute. We also saw the Performing Arts Centre which is the Durian shaped building right behind Merlion. Saw the Fountain of Prosperity which is the world's largest fountain, but when we went it seemed to be broken... there was the tiniest trickle in the middle of the structure and it was really deflating! Never mind. Had a look round the shopping malls and there's so much stuff to see and buy - GREAT!

Phil got himself a haircut at an express cut shop where you buy a coupon and they plonk you in a chair and finish you in ten minutes flat! He was told there though that his hair grows slowly. Huh? OK.

Off to Cairns next as planned!

Still in KT

Decided to spend some more time here to see if Phil can have his cast removed a bit earlier and go for a check up at the hospital here.

Sadly, no good news. He'll have to wear it for another three weeks. He'll be heading to Singapore and Oz in a cast...

Pulau Kapas

So after the excitement of KT, we decided to go to Kapas Island, which is not too far from the coast and meant to be very pretty.

We took a car to the jetty and then helped Phil onto a speedboat and off we roared! Wow, it was exciting!!! The sea was a little bit rough so we got to bounce quite a lot and it was really good fun! We were wearing big life jackets and trying to hold on to our luggage and Phil's crutches so they wouldn't jump overboard - heheheh.

Once we arrived, Phil got a piggy back off the boat and we settled into our little chalet smack on the beach. It's so pretty there! White sand, crystal clear water, lots of corals and fish - lovely!

Our chalet was really a hut and the place where we were staying was open but we were just before the season began so we had the place more or less to ourselves which was nice. Hung out on the beach every day and sat in a hammock or on a swing and did nothing. It was the first time I've been in a place like that and it was a really nice experience. Read loads!

Also went snorkelling and saw some great corals and such pretty fish! One was shimmering like a rainbow and it was as long as my arm. There were lots of zebra striped ones and blue ones with yellow little cute fins. Really sweet. There were loads of sea cucumbers and sea urchins too. I think if my Japanese genes were stronger, I would have picked them and ate them as sushi...

We both got pretty sunburnt over the days though we tried to cover up and it was so hot all through. But we made our way back to KT as a pair of pretty happy bunnies!

Valentine's Day

AHHHHH - romance, love, chocolates, roses, lovely candle lit dinners ... not for us!

We went to Pizza Hut and I got Phil some M&M's. (Hey, it was either that or KFC - the only other place that seemed to open in the evening.)

We enjoyed our pizzas though so that's the main thing! Who said romance was dead?

Kuala Terrenganu

Today, I took the opportunity to have a look around KT and see what was available. Also, we wanted to decide which island we could go to and what was available in general.

I spent about 4 hours walking and then had basically toured the complete town. Weird. There were no other foreigners in the town and everyone was staring at me. It's also ridiculously hot here - managed to get a really red nose and proper big t-shirt marks on my arms.

There's nothing to do here, nor nothing to see really... strange place, but the people are really nice though.

Leaving KL

After deciding to finally leave KL, we changed plans and got ourselves on a bus for about 9 hours to go down to a town called Kuala Terrenganu, which is the jumping off point to go to the Perhentian Islands and various other nice beach places along the East Coast.

The bus was very comfy and Phil got on quite well as well with lots of leg room. It was a bit of a long journey, but we got to see quite a bit of the middle on Malaysia too, as we were driving through the Genting Highlands, which is really pretty! Lots of mountains and lush vegetation. Entertainment was limited, so I did my best to keep Phil entertained with two ice cream cones.

We'd sorted a hotel in KT previously so once we arrived, we were grateful to be able to just get into bed and stretch out!