Home Again! OMG they all talk funny here !

Home again - so what are we going to plan next huh????? Come on Mark...please!

Vomiting , exploding backpacks

How are we going to get all this stuff into these back packs!


Ok so we did it..all of it !

Homeward bound - 6th November

Pauline & Marks Travel Awards

Pauline & Marks Travel Awards.

On our last night in Bintan Island we sat down and had a travel awards ceremony!

Best Toilet ;

Changi Airport- Singapore , spotless, sensor flush cistern and sensor taps. Touch screen rating scale on the service.

Worst toilet:

1. Kathmandu Airport- Faeces in the hand basins and toilets over flowing. No running water.

2. Dharan General hospital –squat toilet faeces inside, around and on the floor. No water or hand towel and the lock on the door didnt work .

Best Accommodation:

1. Bintan Island Resort

2. Viv’s Place in Urgup Turkey

3. Hotel 55 in Ealing London

Worst Accommodation:

1. Richards place in London- mould and damp on carpet and walls, no linen –sheets or towels. Dirty bathroom, broken toilet seat and yellow stained walls and ceiling( smokers !)

2. Hotel in Tamghas-Nepal

3. Hotel in Dharan - Nepal

Best bed : Hotel 55 in Ealing London – 3 nights

Worst Bed: Gokuls and Usa’s – Chatara – 2 weeks

Best Journey:

1. Business class Kingfisher Airlines from Delhi to Kathmandu

2. Ferry to the Princes Islands in Istanbul

3. Auto rickshaw ride at night, shared with others, Siligory to train station –Nepal

4. Rail car ride from local station to Coutances.

Worst Journey :

1. Micro bus ride (14 hours) from Kathmandu to Tamghas.

2. Night bus from Seljuk back to Istanbul

Best Meal;

1. Breakfast at Viv’s American friends place in Goreme Turkey

2. Lunch at Chateaux Reicheux - Cancale

3. Yum Cha in Sydney with JC and Barb

4. Roast Pork – Ireland –Martin & Louise

Worst Meal;

1. Coutainville France – ½ a plate of Haricot beans and skate wing!

2. Sauraha Resort- ½ cup of rock salt in the chicken fried rice.

3. French food generally was disappointing

Best Tourism site visited :

1. Pamukkale

2. Mont St Michelle

3. Wicked Stage Show in London

4. Bayeux and St Malo

5. Hagia Sophia

6. Taj Mahal

Worst Tourism site visited:

1. Guinness Brewery in Ireland

2. Chateau Le Salle- 3 rooms only to view ( library, kitchen and drawing room )The Guide only spoke French!

3. Dehli

4. Ephesus ( Mark,)

5. Paris ( Food disappointing)

Best Discovery :

1. Us and that we travelled so well together , we worked as a team and things were easy. Absolutely fantastic!

2. The generosity of people

3. Interacting with disabled children( Marks observations )

Worst Discovery :

1. Homophobic attitudes toward Jon .

2. Extremes of poverty and wealth

3. The filth and peoples acceptance of this

4. The presence of guns

5. The lack of access to WiFi and red tape to access the Internet

The biggest let down

1. Richard

Best Value:

1. French wine, cheese and pastries

Best Purchase

Laptop!

Biggest Rip Off.

Cafe in Paris - $20 euro’s for a beer and water!

Funniest moment (s): Common Theme

Mark choking on chili and the heat in a Dim Sim at Yum Char, AND, numerous times after when he broke out in a sweat having struck something very hot in his food!

The purchase we regret not purchasing .

Wall hanging in Turkey( Pauline)

The Countries we would considering moving to.

1. Australia- Sydney of Melbourne

2. Singapore

3. France

The thing that challenged us the most

The poverty , filth and lack of care and respect for the environment

Marks first, last and best photograph of the trip!

The back view of me standing in the line waiting to use the toilet at Notre Dame! I think he had to wait for 15 minutes.

Overall ( Paulines summary)

On personal level :

The ease of travelling together, how we enjoyed similar things and how much we have grown as a couple .

General level :

My knowledge and interest in world history has increased, as has my political and environmental awareness .

The diversity of cultures and similarities in people. .

The lack of infrastructure .

The high standard and ease of access to education and health in NZ.

Professional level:

The enormity of the social issues and how this impacts negatively on people with disabilities .

How is disability defined .

The meaningful occupations of different cultures .

The stigma attached disability in some societies .

The role of occupational therapy in developing countries

For the Golf Enthusiasts

Spot the flag. Where did that ball go????

Jack Nicklaus – Sea View course.

Designed by the masterful “Golden Bear”, the course offers majestic sculptured bunkers, a strategic use of the natural landscape and some unique water hazards. The Par 72 course measures 6443 metres.

12^th Hole- a par 3 , with a stunning backdrop of the South China Sea. Due to the high winds at certain times , club selection can be increased by at least four clubs, especially from the championship tees

13^th Hole- Par 4 has a unique feature of a split green, as one of the streams on the course runs through the middle. This makes it a difficult and tricky hole

18^th Hole- A tough hole characterized by large bunkers and rolling mounds.

Ian Baker –Finch – Woodlands Course

The overall concept of this course was to work closely with the natural site.

Many of the greens are surrounded by steep slopes and mounds to create an amphitheatre effect. It will entice challenge and reward the seasoned player while the less experienced will find it ‘flexible’ enough to suit their ability

The Par 72 course measures 6211 metres

8^th Hole- The elevated tee at the 526 metre par 5 is a favourite with many. Stretching downhill into the distance before rising to the green, it demands absolute precision from golfers who must negotiate their shots past bunkers, a lake and a solitary tree.

13th Hole-On the elevated tee, take in the enticing vista of the seaside villas and ocean. This hole is affectionately known as “beauty and the beast”

Our Travel Statistics

Countries we have visited -9

Airlines we have flown with -6

Air flights- 13

Beds we have slept in -25

Night trips -9

Modes of transport we have used -18

Currencies we have used -9

Languages (beside English) we have been exposed to -5

Argument s -0 ( just 2-3 "discussions" where we had opposing points of view. ( But once Mark eventually saw reason and came around to my way of thinking all was resolved )

A typical day at the Resort

Must have been a sour one!

Hat to cover the grey hair!

Day 1: Sleep, eat ,swim, walk , eat , Margarita, walk , sleep.

Day 2: Sleep, gym, eat , swim, walk to beach , cocktail by the pool- Singapore Sling, eat, walk , sleep.

Day 3; Sleep, gym , eat, swim, Frozen Margarita by the pool, massage , eat , walk, sleep.

Day 4: Sleep , gym , eat , swim at pool in the Monsoon rain, Tequila Sunrise at lounge bar , rest and read , walk along golf course , eat , movie on TV, sleep.

Day 5: sleep, eat, swim at beach, walk along beach, swim in pool and Long Island Iced Tea sitting in the pool, afternoon rest , walk around golf course , Awards Ceremony ( future blog) , eat, sleep.

Day 6: sleep, gym, eat, swim at the beach, pack for the last time, pay the cocktail bill , shuttle to Ferry, back to Singapore, shuttle to airport and 12 hour flight to Auckland NZ!

Confession : There were a few G&T’s thrown in

Bintan

The Welcome

A short one hour ferry ride across the South China sea and we arrived in Indonesia at Bintan Island Resort for “pay for 3 nights and stay for 5” , buffet breakfast included . The travel agent failed to mention we would be isolated at a Resort with expensive restaurants, the nearest village life being 30 minutes and a $40 taxi ride away! All this aside, it is a peaceful spot situated amongst 700 acres of scenic gardens and pools surrounded by 2 Golf courses - designed by Jack Nicklaus, sea view course, and Ian Baker-Finch woodlands course , and the beaches .

There are also 12 restaurants and lounges with some spectacular views and culinary selections ranging from Singaporean, Continental, Japanese, Mediterranean, Chinese and of course Indonesian.

There are a range of recreational activities such as tennis, Wii, badminton, basketball table tennis, Xbox etc. We opted for the air conditioned gym each day, swimming pool , and beach. At night time a walk around the resort of the golf course.

It took a few days to unwind and feel like we should be leaping out of bed Lonely Planet in hand and heading for the local attractions . We had to adapt to the change in standards and not feel guilty about relaxing and being in such a place , especially after India!

Singapore Sights

Our accommodation- Grand Mercure Roxy. The beginning of some long awaited luxury -yahoo!

East Coast beach. In the second photo look hard as you can just see the many ships that are in this straight . There are 1000 boats off shore at any one time and 1 leaves every 7 minutes from the port.



An Indian Temple - clean and well maintained! There is a district in central Singapore called "Little India" . This serves the local Indian community .

The outside of the Temple - "nooks and crannies" housed detailed carvings of various Gods
A revolving restaurant - meals from $240 per person.
(You can eat delectable Singaporean dishes at the many food halls for as little as $2.50

The Botanical Gardens - a BIG screen in a natural outdoor amphitheatre

A pond with fish and turtles

We caught the 'Hop on Hop off " Singapore airlines bus around the city .

This city is shoppers paradise with the main street Orchard road lined with Prada, Gucci and Louis Voutin to name a few as well as shopping complexes 7 or more stories high.

What a beautiful city. Now.... I could definitely live here!

Memorable Singapore-Wow!

Sometimes spur of the moment decisions can lead to the most amazing experiences where you meet the friendliest people, generous in many ways- Amanda, Chai and their son, Su Tian.
Mark and I are both still overcome stunned and humbled by meeting this family who observed our indecision when trying to select food from a wide range of tempting Singaporean dishes in a food hall, and when we finally chose we sat down at their table and a conversation began.
They live in Singapore but have travelled to NZ twice, once as a young couple , sleeping in their car and picking kiwi fruit, and again when their son was born. They loved NZ and enjoyed friendly hospitality, which they sought to repay by offering to take us to a local seafood restaurant , show us a little of Singapore and the culture, in the short time we were there.

The following night Chai and Amanda collected us from our hotel and we headed for an outdoor seaside restaurant . We dinned out on barbecue chicken, satay sticks , traditional soups and this amazing scrumptious hot and spicy crab casserole ! Food just kept arriving at the table , our fingers dipping into the wonderful food and sweat pouring off us in the humidity . We drank fresh coconut milk, freshly squeezed sugar cane and then milky sweet tea. After dinner we drove around their local district and walked through the night market . They happily shared information about life in Singapore, cost of living, cultural traditions and their own numerous travel experiences to such places as Malaysia and Taiwan .
WOW! What a truly amazing night with two new friends .

Thank you for making our stay in Singapore so special and memorable !

Comparing Risk Management in 3 different countries

Risk Management - identify, minimise , eliminate , isolate or.......... take your chances !

Standards from one country to another.

London: “ Please mind the gap between the train and the platform” – this recorded message is played every time the undergorund train doors open .

Singapore: “Please stand clear when the doors are closing” –this recorded messaged played in the lift of the Grand Mercure Roxy Hotel

India: “ Watch out!" . Autonomic nervous system - fight and flight response on stand-by as the cows, buffalo, rickshaws, motorcycles, cars , trucks, buses or bicycles transporting sheets of ply or iron , metal rods or bails piled so high and spilling over the sides of the trays, race toward you a varying speeds and from every angle!