Day 179 : Melaka to Kuala Lumpur

Nice breakfast in the Voyage cafe near the hostel. Travelled to KL via local bus (took forever) –> bus –> train –> train; got there in the end! Staying in Red Palm hostel near Bukit Bintang – v friendly place and right in the middle of town. Explored the local area by foot – endless shopping malls and street stalls. Christmas decorations almost as good as Singapore! Watched Mission Impossible 4 at the cinema in the evening (with a very enthusiastic Malaysian audience!).

Day 178 : Melaka

Wandered around Melaka. Went in the maratime museum inside a replica Portuguese trade ship. Walked up the hill to the beautiful ruins of St Pauls (1521). Walked around the shopping mall then back to our dorm in China town. Melaka is a lovely place with a mish mash of Portuguese, Dutch and Asian influence.

Night market along Jonker Walk was cool, there was a random bans singing Elvis, Malaysian style.

Day 177 : Singapore to Melaka

• Both felt rough after too much wine – not so good in the heat and humidity!
• Got on a huge coach (only 2 other passengers) got off at immigration to leave Singapore then a bit further down the road have to get off the bus again to enter Malaysia!
• Checked into our hostel seems nice dorm room ok – nice and cheap
• Melaka is cool. I had a lovely dish in a restaurant with coconut rice and fried egg and nuts and spinach was £1 yum!
• The architecture is a lovely mix, it is quite a touristy place full of I’m assumming Malyasian and Singaporian tourists but has cool shops and markets and amazing disco trishaws!

Day 176 : Pretend Christmas

• Wandered some more around Singapore – Little India then back to the water front to see the amazing space age buildings. Visited the bubble tea shop again for bubble coffee.
• Made pass the parcel for Harvey and Alice for the Christmas dinner.
• Picked up the visas yey! But Claire got called later that evening to say that they had forgotten to sign our visas so we have to go back tomorrow!
• Enjoyed watching a tropical storm – being in the house with air con and lovely Christmas decorations it feels festive.
• Had an amazing Christmas dinner – turkey and all the trimmings (as the family are going away at Christmas so the kids opened some presents etc) it felt really festive, it was great fun!

Day 175 : Chinatown and Marina Bay

• This morning went to Thai embassy to get visas. After standing in the line for an hour we then had to leave and run around to find an internet cafe in order to book some bus tickets then get back in line. Despite having a flight booked out of Thailand which is in less than 60 days from now, we had to buy a ticket into Thailand to prove we would be there for less than 60 days!
• Walked around Chinatown, had lunch in the market food court – very cheap.
• Still can’t get over the amazing Christmas decorations around the shopping malls and streets they are incredible!
• Met Tony a Singaporean friend of Adams. He very kindly took us out for drinks (Singapore sling at Raffles) and for dinner at a Peranakan restaurant. Walked around the amazing water side development. Had some bubble tea – all the rage here, its tea (hundreds of flavours and colours!) with balls of starchy jelly stuff of different flavours. Much nicer than it sounds. 

Day 174 : Perth to Singapore

• Had a nice flight to Singapore watched some good films. Managed to through more stuff away in Perth so our backpacks are getting lighter and smaller (although we do need some new clothes).
• Arrived at Claire (Helen’s sister) Matt, Alice and Harvey’s house in Singapore. A lovely place, quite central to town. They have a real Christmas tree and lovely decorations up, feels much more festive than Perth.
• Went to a food court in Holland village. It’s funny to see Harvey and Alice ordering excotic food. Had a lovely dinner and some beers.
• Saw the beautiful Christmas lights on Orchard road – amazing!

Day 172 : Freo and Symphony in the City

• Took the train to Fremantle – walked around the old town. Took a really nice tour of the Little Creatures brewery.
• The sailing world championships happened to be on so we grabbed some fish and chips and watched some of the ladies windsurfing and men’s laser (Ben Ainslie was out there somewhere).
• In the evening watched the Western Australia Symphony Orchestra and chorus perform a free, “last night of the proms” style concert on the waterfront. Impressive 1812 overture with the bell tower and the army providing the cannons.
• Back at the hostel, watched a full lunar eclipse.