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!

Forgettable Delhi

Delhi 24th October

A short train ride during the day and we arrived in Delhi from Agra. We had planned to spend 6 days here before flying out to Singapore, to be transferred to Bintan Island in Indonesia for 5 days. On arrival there was the usual harassment from the touts at the train station but there was a pre -paid auto rickshaw booth so we managed to make our way there through the crowds and get a 50 rupee fare . The driver queried the fare , rightfully so after we realised how far it was, and didn’t know the location of the hotel so we had to stop ring the hotel and get the reception staff to give him directions. Expensive hotel, but it had clean sheets and bathroom. We discovered at breakfast which was less than average ( I had a cockroach in my museli ) that others were paying cheaper rates, no consistency in pricing , but free WiFi. Yay!

Crazy city, more cars to add to the numerous forms of transport that congest the paved roads. Some semblance or order and knowledge of road traffic rules , and even traffic infringements enforced, so we were informed ( eg you have to go around the roundabout the correct way and you cant bride the local traffic personal to go down a one way street the wrong way -short cut, as we had experienced in other places in India) .

Every time we used the transport we were taken by some ‘government emporium’ where the driver was rewarded with a bonus if we entered ‘just to have a look’ or just for a ‘few’ minutes'. We were over it, but I did get persuaded into purchasing a hand embroidered quilted wall hanging/ bed spread. After this purchase we became very very forthright to the point of arguing with any drivers who wanted to take us to these places. We refused to pay them and told them we would get out if they even considered it! At this point Mark stated “I am over India and I think we should get out of here” I seconded it and so we devised a new plan. We went to the Air NZ agent and brought our tickets forward to fly to Singapore on the 27th. Mark found some accommodation in Singapore for 3 days and so we farewelled India, after a day of "Speed tourism" - Delhi on the run in a day – not that there is alot to see.

What can I say in this posting about Delhi –Expensive, touristy, you are forever ' dodging the dodgy' , rickshaw drivers refusing to transport us when we challenged them on price or asked them to use a meter and one driver even left us stranded after he had received his bonus for delivering us to yet another Emporium after we had listened intently to his life story of 2 wives, HIV and the expense of the drugs and him needing to stop to use the toilet frequently as the HIV medication gave him diarrhoea ! ( It is not intention to sound harsh and lacking in empathy here, but, it was hard to know what was fact and what was fiction , was it just a story to extort more money from us ? What sceptical, cynical travellers we have become - sadly so !)

What more positive things will we remember about Delhi – Great Thali,

Shopping( very pressured) , more security in shops , the statue of Humayan ( I think that's who it was !) The Lotus Temple.
The Red Fort which we travelled over the other side of town to see the 'Light and Sound' evening show only to discover after waiting 45 minutes that it was cancelled due to no power!


Marks statement: " I am officially over India!"