Orchard Road

March 13th, 2006:

On my last day in Singapore I went shopping in Singapore on the main shopping road in the city, Orchard Road. Now, when I'm shopping by myself, I try to play the following game to keep myself amused: (it doesn't take much to keep me amused :)
1. Goto a shopping center with a high rise car park so that you don't have to walk far (its more efficient than walking across a long flat car park). Also, the car park has to give you a 15 minute grace period for finding a free spot before you have to start paying.
2. Do your shopping.
3. Get back to your car BEFORE the original 15 minute grace period has expired... :)

As you can see, when shopping by myself, I don't hang around. However, as I didn't have a car with me, I thought I'd try a different game: good ol' "What's the most expensive thing I can find?". The search began at the Ngee Ann City shopping center, winner of Singapore's Best Shopping Experience Award 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004... and there it ended minutes after starting when I became dazzled by the sparkling rocks of Cartier. Now, you know that a shop is serious when there is a bouncer at the door. I was going to go in, but the disparaging look he gave my backpacker appearance spoke volumes about the likelihood of me being left in: I made do with the window displays instead. A bracelet could be bought for the pocket change amount of approx. 12,000 Euro while a nice looking diamond encrusted ring for approx. 70,000 Euro was the eventual winner.

The fact that I managed to keep going for another three hours (easily a personal best for shopping endurance), and still only saw a fraction of the place, indicates how much there is to see and do. A girl, or a more normal person :), could easily soak up a day or two wandering around.

A similar street in Europe would be the Champs-Elise in Paris, so which is better? Well, the Champs-Elise wins purely because of the Mercedes shop with the Formula One car hanging on the wall, but I'd imagine your credit card company would prefer you to go to Orchard Road as there are shops for every price bracket there with more variety on offer also.

Sentosa

March 12th, 2006:

Today's excursion was to the resort island of Sentosa. This island, just off the coast of Singapore, can be reached by road-bridge or the far more exciting cable car. I went with the cable car option and found myself dangling over 400ft above the ground, starting at a mountain top, passing over various big cruise liners in a sea port below, going through a hole near the top of a skyscraper until finally going down to the cable car station in the island below.The island, in the South China Sea, is a family resort and it looks like the entire island is owned by one or more companies: there are no houses, only resort-related businesses.

At the cable car station there were some preset tour packages which could be purchased and I got the most cost effective package (i.e. the cheapest). The first place on the tour was an aquarium where I could have used my new fangled SCUBA skilz to swim with the sharks. Sadly time was short so I made do with walking through an underwater transparent tunnel with sharks, manta rays and other sea creatures swimming above and to the sides.

Next stop was a virtual reality cinema ride, similar to some of the rides in Dreamworks Studios in LA. You were strapped into a seat in a cinema and as the rollercoaster movie played, the seat moved. I had expected it to be quite childish(!) but when we were warned that those who felt unwell or those who were pregnant should avoid it, things started looking up(!)... and sure enough, you had to hang on tight and sometimes you were thrown out of your seat by the seat-motors with just your seat belt preventing you from ending up on the ground. There were two movies which were shown and between the movies, the operator asked if anybody felt if they weren't able to handle any more... and some adults did actually leave (to a chorus of giggling from the other people present :) All-in-all, rather enjoyable and it gave a great massage :)

Last up was the Skytower which went up to a height of 130 metres and rotated at the top enabling you to take pictures of the surroundig area.

So, is it worth visiting? Well, I found some guide brochures of Singapore in my hotel and there just didn't seem to be much to do in the area: Sentosa at least passed away a few hours. It wasn't bad, but I wouldn't have been overly upset had I missed it. Still, the kids with families who were also there seemed to have a great time so maybe I'm just an old fogey(!)

Singapore

March 11th, 2006:

What a difference. Singapore and Thailand, though neighbors on a map, are like different worlds. I departed from the simplicity of Koh Samui airport, with its coconut-tree-lined open-air waiting area and its lack of walls anywhere (there was just thatch roofs on wooden supports, which gave a nice natural look to the place), and arrived in Singapore airport where the ATM machine talked to me (it even knew my name, though it pronounced it as {ion} instead of {owe-en}, but its the thought that counts) and the taxi drivers had wireless bluetooth headsets attached to one of their ears.
The drive into the city was literally an eyes-wide, jaw-dropping experience We came over the hill between the airport and the BCD (Business Central District, the heart of most cities) and suddenly all you could see were skyscrapers sparkling and glowing in the night. Even the first shop that we saw (Carrefuore, can't remember the exact spelling of it) appeared to have more floors than the tallest building in Ireland. I was sharing the taxi-minibus with two Germans and the taxi driver was grinning back at us as we ooooh'd and aaaaah'd at the sights every couple of seconds :)

I'm staying at the Holiday Inn Atrium, Singapore, and it is the most incredible hotel I have ever seen(!) It is 27 floors tall and it has no central core. Standing in the lobby, you can look straight up through the hollow center through the glass roof to the night sky. Its a nice design and ensures that every room has a view as they are all arranged between the hollow core and the exterior of the building. I don't know how child friendly it would be though: outside each door is a narrow walkway around the hollow core and there is a low wall to help stop people and things accidentally falling down a long way down to the lobby below: that low-wall only comes up to my waist and its definitely sweaty-palms time when holding the hand rail on that low-wall and looking down at the itty-bitty people way, way down below.

Quick tip, also, if you end up travelling a similar route as I have: buy everything you can in Thailand and aim to buy as little as possible in Singapore. Its mentally hard buying things that cost near normal European prices after the amazing value for money in Thailand. For example, laundry cost 0.84 cent Euro in Thailand total to get someone to wash and dry your clothes; in Singapore, wash and dry self-service costs 8.50 Euro... urgh the pain..!

Last notes from Thailand

March 10th, 2006:

Its interesting to observe the social effects of the Bangkok Ladyboys: most conversations among western blokes, if discussed long enough, end up about them in either a humorous or near phobic manner, depending on the perceived proximity to one.
For example, SCUBA diving. What has SCUBA diving got to do with Bangkok Ladyboys?! Well, there is a checklist which must be done after putting on your equipment, before jumping into the water, to check that you are ready to go. The checks are:
-> Buoyancy Compensator (an air jacket which can be inflated / deflated to aid buoyancy)
-> Weights (used to help you sink, they must be attached to a belt but should be easy to remove)
-> Releases (check that the quick releases for the equipment are ok so that you can get the equipment off in an hurry)
-> Air (check the air cylinder, mouth pieces, etc)
-> Final check (one last check of everything)

The acronym BWRAF is used for this list and is most parts of the world a normal sounding phrase is used to remember this list, such as (if you don't like Bruce Willis) "Bruce Willis Ruins All Films" :) . Do you know what phrase is used to help remember those letters in this part of the world? "Bangkok Women Really Are Fellas"!

In general this subset of society is seen positively, bringing fun and variety to society while demonstrating how free and open this society is. The only negative comments about them relate to how completely convincing they can be: the perceived trickery and the potential for an unwanted surprise results in most foreign guys tending to avoid meeting female Thai strangers in social situations just in case all is not as it seems. This probably leaves a major section of Thai society (naturally born females) feeling left-out/marginalised, which is a pity.

It was also fascinating at the airport, as I was leaving, to see the number of middle aged English blokes leaving with Thai women who were 15-20 years younger than them. It looked like the young women were being groomed for living in England and I overheard comments such as "Eat with your mouth closed, love"! and "That's it, stand up straight!". When I had arrived ten days ago, a taxi driver had joked that we Europeans come to Thailand to steal their women(!) I can see now that he wasn't entirely joking...!

Technology wise, if bringing a mobile phone from most countries in Europe, good luck getting it working. I'm with Vodafone Ireland and was able to receive text messages, but was barred from sending messages and making calls. People from Germany and Sweden were in the same boat. The British seemed to be ok. There is probably a way of getting it working for the rest of us, but it was not obvious.
Also, if you're lucky enough to have a high megapixel camera, and you intend to upload your pictures to an online photo gallery on the Internet, you may want to change your camera settings to use fewer megapixels. For example, my 7.1 megapixel camera takes images which end up at over 3.5MB in size: uploading 150 such pictures at over 400MB in size in total is no fun when paying by the minute at an Intermet café... I've my camera now set to use just 2.1 megapixels per picture resulting in smaller file sizes (0.8MB) with only minimal reduction in image quality (i.e. The same lens and image processing chips are used in the camera: the resulting image is just stored in a smaller size file).

Regarding the nationalities of my fellow foreigners, it was the British who were the most prolific travelers in Thailand. In second place were the Japanese or Chinese (its tough for this untravelled gaijin to tell the difference). Some had a passing level of English, but most conversations with the Japanese or Chinese involved overly dramatized hand signals and gestures Still, its great that you can still laugh with someone even though though ye don't share a common language. In third place came people from Scandinavian countries and in last place were Irish travelers: I did not meet any Irish people in Koh Tao and haven't met any since the three Cork women in Bangkok. For many foreigners I was their first Irish person. It appears that we rely all too often on Ryanair for choosing destinations and those countries not on Ryanair's routes rarely if never get to see us...

Finally, some people have a near phobic reaction when it comes to insects. If you are such a person, you'll be glad to hear that the insects are few and far between (in the places I visited in Thailand at any rate). I didn't see anything big, and those insects that I did see tended to be few in quantity (so no clouds of flies, or anything like that). Just watch out for mosquitoes at dusk and don't be too shocked if you see a small spider which can both scurry along like normal spiders but which can also... gulp... JUMP! Lets hope other spiders don't also evolve this creepy spider-superpower :)

SCUBA Diving at Koh Tao

March 8th, 2006:

SCUBA Diving is the business! Within moments of starting my first dive I found myself wondering why I had waited so long to try it. Well, alright: the near arctic conditions of the sea near Ireland may have been off somewhat putting, but now that I've started I'll have to make up for lost time.

It turns out that there are two main diving organizations worldwide: PADI and SSI. PADI is the more established brand, but SSI is becoming more and more recognized. My dive center (see below) recommended going with SSI so I have followed their advice.

The first day took only a couple of hours and consisted of meeting my fellow students (there was four of us, but the numbers vary) and watching a video about diving. Afterwards, the party scene on the beach made sure we were all suitably worn out.

The next day consisted of doing theory in the morning, followed by equipment fitting and then we moved onto the main event in the afternoon: our first dive. Taking that first breath underwater is odd, and then you notice that you sound like Darth Vader, but once the initial strangeness passes it becomes unforgettable: schools of tropical fish were all around and the coral formations were straight out of a National Geographic program. We also performed some basic drills that day including learning how to stay suspended underwater; removing the mouthpiece, dropping it and refinding it; removing the face mask from the head, waiting for about a minute, then putting it back on and using air bubbles to remove the water from around the eyes. All useful skills for...

Day three, which consisted of theory and two separate dives totaling over an hour where we swam in amongst the coral reefs and spotted various strange and colorful inhabitants. Sadly no sharks but all the drama was left for...

Day four, the final day on the SCUBA open water course. We had two dives to do in the morning, followed by some more theory, finishing with an exam in late afternoon. The first dive went like clockwork and after waiting for about an hour we went on the second dive down to a depth of about 40 feet. After about ten minutes into the dive, we were all forming a circle around one of the local residents, a "Nemo" fish from the movie with the same name. However, just as we were taking up positions, I heard a "whump" noise followed by a continuous "whooshing" sound. A part of the scuba assembly connected to my air cylinder(the rubber hose connecting the first stage to the regulator, for those of you who have scuba experience) had blown, meaning no air for breathing for yours truly. Fortunately we had practiced just such a possibility several times during the previous dives and so I followed the guidelines and ended up using the dive instructors secondary air supply. We had to abort the dive, but it was exciting stuff for a few moments!

That afternoon we went back out to redo the aborted dive and we all got through it this time aok. The exam, a short while later, needed an 80% result to pass, but we all passed and are now qualified divers. The partying we on late into the night and we polished off many buckets (the local tradition: they use (clean!) sand castle buckets instead of the usual jugs when serving large quantities of cocktails) and was at the In Touch club in Koh Tao (picture a night club with no walls, perched on a narrow beach, next to the calm ocean. They also release orange balloons with glowing candles every so often which slowly float up to a cloudless starry night... awwww.... :).

I did my SCUBA course with Big Blue Diving in Koh Tao. This conveniently located dive centre is located next to shops, bars and restaurants. I found the staff to be very helpful, the rates to be excellent (less than a third of what it costs back home AND they include the accomodation in the price: the total including tuition, rental, accomodation, certification, etc. came to 192 euro) and the dive sites to be fascinating. Interestingly, many of the dives centres on the nearby bigger island of Koh Samui travel to the waters around Koh Tao for the better dive sites.

Koh Tao, overall, is unmissable. It has something for everybody: sandy beaches, warm tropical water, plenty of restaurants and bars, lots of interesting people to meet, low crime rate (I never saw or heard of any trouble) and good value for money. Still, after living in the 35C windless heat of this paradise island for nearly a week now, there is only thing I am looking forward to in my next stop (Singapore): AIR CONDITIONING!

Koh Samui

March 4th, 2006:

My next main stop will be Koh Tao (an island off the coast, over 1000 km from Bangkok apparently) however I ran into an unexpected hitch in the travel plans... I had intended on catching an overnight train to the nearest mainland town (Chumpton) and had read before leaving Ireland that it was just a matter of turning up at the train station and buying a ticket as you are starting your train journey. This is NOT the case!!! Buy your ticket at least a week in advance as the train frequently sells out, as it did with with me... The only alternative was flying to a nearby island and catching a ferry from there.
So, that’s what I had to do: I had to fly to the nearby idyllic paradise island of Koh Samui. Darn the bad luck ;)

The flight was half a day earlier than the train so packing and booking a hotel was a rushed job. Incidentally, trying to bring a pen knife aboard a Bangkok Airways domestic flight by accident is not the end of the world(!): it was picked up by the baggage scanner and with what felt like the whole world watching I removed the knife. However, instead of giving me an inquisition, they gave me a paper stub with which I could reclaim the knife with once I arrived at my destination. Handy: a leatherman multi-tool is not cheap and I'll be sure to check where it is next time.

So, how's Koh Samui? Wow. You'll see from the pictures on my website what my accommodation looks like. I had been a bit dubious when the booking girl on the phone described it as a hut, but now that I'm here, well, millionaire's play pad may be more accurate! When you move in they give you a tropical fruit drink in a tropical fruit, then you see that your accommodation is within a stones throw of the sandy beach and then you notice how plush the room is: even the floor (solid teak with ever so slight hills and valleys in the wood for a massaging effect) screams expensive. And it is: I met a guy yesterday who wasn't happy until his accommodation cost less the 5 Euro a night; this is 100 Euro a night... If I had more time I would have looked for something cheaper, but you know what, its nice to live it up every once in a while! My accommodation over the coming five nights will be 4 Euro a night, so that will reduce my feelings of guilt(!)

Last day in Bangkok

March 3rd, 2006:

Today was my last day in Bangkok. Three nights is too short: I'd aim for five if doing it again. I did get to see the infamous Koh San Road (backpacker mecca) but missed out on sights such as the Floating Market and the Grand Palace.
Speaking of the Grand Palace, if you go to see it, watch out for the Tuk-Tuk scam. One of the girls I met yesterday had heard about it but due to the smoothness of the conmen she and her friends still managed to get caught out by it(!) Basically, you go to Grand Palace and as you are entering the gates an official looking guy comes up to you and gives you the bad news that it is partially closed for a couple of hours at this time of the day and only Thais' are allowed to enter (that is a lie). Handily enough, though, there are some other touristy things you can do while you're waiting. He then calls over a Tuk-Tuk (think mini taxi which has been crossed with a motor bike (they're very popular in Bangkok)) and off ye go. The Tuk-Tuk driver is knowledgable about the area and helpfully knows some local tailors and jewlers where you can make a good deal and drives you to them. At this point the girls knew all was not right and wanted no more of it but got caught off guard when the driver started talking about Roy Keane! (a well known footballer from Cork) After another bit they demanded to be brought back but then had to haggle with the driver to reduce the bill for his services.
Apart from the Tuk-Tuk drivers be prepared to fend off suggestions about getting a suit (4 times it happened to me during my stay. I'm trying not to take it personally) and also if you mention that you’re travelling to somewhere outside of the city you will get suggestions from people who know people who work at hotels where you can get a great deal. These suggestions will even come from people in official jobs (airport staff, hotel staff, etc),. So, keep your wits about you!

The hotel I had stayed in was the Asia Hotel. I would definitely stay there again and it only cost 117 euro total, breakfast included, for the three nights per room (i.e., three people could have stayed there for three nights and only have spent about 40 euro each).

Last Bangkok tip: apart from avoiding the Lady Boys ( :) ), avoid also the traffic where possible 'cause the traffic can be brutal. If driving by taxi, take the inner city expressway where possible or go with the BTS (light rail system).

Overall, Bangkok was great. Some places you’d do once, but I definitely intend to return here.

The Bridge over the River Kwai

March 3rd, 2006:

So you travel over 10,000 kilometers to the other side of the world, and guess who sits down next to you on a bus? Yesterday it was a girl who, it turned out, works 5 minutes from where I live in Douglas (Cork, Ireland), a friend of hers who is also from Douglas and a girl from near Midleton (just outside my home town)! It was completely random: there were only 5 of us on the tour and 4 of us were from the same area in Ireland. Mad!

What tour were we doing? The Bridge over the River Kwai. It is situated about 2 hours outside of Bangkok and is definitely worth the trip. Our first stop was at a war cemetery where are thousands of British and Dutch graves It was quite sobering seeing the headstones and reading the heartfelt messages engraved on each. We spent some time looking for Irish soldiers but didn't find any.
Next up was the Museum which was a mere 80 cents to enter. Due to the tight schedule we could only give it half an hour when in reality you could spend an entire day exploring the machinery, guns, photos, and there was even a covered box with the remains of 142 POWs. The sprawling complex was fascinating and if you're in the area don't miss it.
And so, onto the bridge itself. Now, the original wooden bridge that the POWs built was built by them so as not to last very long, and it didn't. So, later a steel bridge was built to replace it and that bridge is still there today. Trains still use it and it is also VERY popular with tourists. Walking across it is not for the faint hearted as at times it will feel like you're walking a tightrope. This is due to the gaps on either sides of the narrow gauge tracks and the masses walking in the opposite direction to you forcing you to the edges of the tracks: if you fall its a long way down to the river...!

After lunch in a restaurant on a river we had a go at bamboo boat rafting, took a look at a waterfall (while trying not to stare at Russian models doing a photoshoot ;) and finished off with an elephant trek through a jungle (quick tip when being carried by an elephant: hang on tight!)
Overall, the tour (organized by River Sun Cruise of Bangkok), was a bit too rushed for the River Kwai section and I could have given the rest of it a miss without being too upset so if you are doing a tour in this area try to devote an entire day purely to the bridge.

Ayuthaya

March 2nd, 2006:

Before I left I mentioned it to people that I would be traveling by myself. The reactions were either "won't you be bored traveling by yourself?" or "that's great: you'll meet more people that way". So, which reaction is proving to be closer to the mark? The second one: after one day I already have a half a dozen phone numbers and email addresses from people who want me to look them up if I pass through their country. So, if you too are thinking of travelling by yourself but are worried about not chatting with anyone: don't be! Its real easy to meet interesting new people.

March 4th's activity involved a guided tour of a number of temples, a palace and a ruined city. The tour was given by an interesting chap who revealed details about the path every Thai guy has to follow. It turns out that after school they have to do two years of military service after which they have to become a Buddhist monk for a period of time(a month I think). The Buddhist monk involves doing the whole nine yards: shave the head, wear only orange robes, have only one meal per day, etc. Apparently it leads to a calmer society, however I notice that this is not reflected in the driving skills of the populous which is at times like watching barely controlled chaos(!) The upside to driving in Bangkok, though, is that petrol is a lot cheaper than in Ireland: it was 1.09 Euro a litre when Ii left Ireland and what is it in Bangkok? A mere 56 cents a litre...
Another point to note is that the language skills of my fellow non-native-English travelers puts most native-Engish speakers to shame: everyone could hold a conversation in English (though the Japanese school girls were a bit hard to follow with the incessant giggling!), many had three or more languages and the maitre'd of the local restaurant had no problem when I tried to slip him up by talking in French instead of English.

So, our first stop of the day was the Bang Pa Palace. This is well worth a visit to see its traditional palatial buildings and traditional Thai gardens.
Next stop was Ayuthaya, originally the capital city of Thailand but which was destroyed in fighting with Burma hundreds of years ago. Only the ruins remain and provide a most interesting sight.
We then stopped in at a number of Buddhist temples and were given an introduction to Buddha statues. We also saw the third biggest Buddha statue around: 42 meters in length.
Finally, lunch was served on a river boat and we leisurely made our way back to Bangkok on the local river.
Overall, the tour is well worth doing and was organized by the River Sun Cruise tour operator in Bangkok.

Bangkok

March 1st, 2006:

Well, in case there was any doubt Bangkok is HOT! According to the local American(?!) radio station it feels like 45C today in downtown Bangkok... so, pleasantly warm, and just a bit warmer than Ireland's 8C, so I ain't complaining.

The flight over was... interesting. It started off well: I had watched many, many episodes of Air Crash Investigations and fully expected the improbably large 747 to explode as soon as he started the engines, but somehow we managed to take off. It was packed with people in their 20s and 30s, except for the 5 year old directly behind me who shall forever more be known as The Plague-Ridden Demon Child (TPRDC for short).
The first sign of trouble was when I and my neighboring passengers heard what sounded like somebody eviscerating himself(!): a loud "Urrrgggg!" sound followed by a wet splashing sound.... Hmmmm.... And then came the smell: quite unique. So, at least once an hour the quiet tranquility on the plane was shattered by the cry from TPRDC: "I need a sick bag!" and the rest of us groaning.
Still, after about eight hours of that he managed to recover sufficiently to be able to repeatedly kick the back of my seat. Ahh yes, good times!
On a brighter note, British Airways is no Ryanair: they poured on the food and drink, each seat had its own TV and when they made a little culinary error (they forgot the knives and forks for breakfast) the captain kept coming on the intercom sounding very contrite and apologizing and wanted us all to lodge customer service complaints with BA: Ryanair, on the other hand, would probably have tried to charge us extra for the privilege of getting that authentic Far-Eastern no-knife-or-fork experience!

As for Bangkok, well I've good news: the King is alive and he's crooning in my hotel, although he's gained a strange Thai look to him. The city itself is VAST: it stretches to the horizon in every direction and there are skyscrapers everywhere. Its strange to see roadside billboards in no less than three languages (Thai, English and French) and quite a few people here wear filters over their mouth to help with breathing in the city streets. Other oddities are that the shower head only gets up (my) chest height and the dinner portions are smaller than you'd find in the poshist restaurant in France.

So, would I want to be anywhere else? Not a chance.

P.S. If you're in the area, try the local "Singha" beer: at 6% proof it shure hitsh de schpot!