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South East Asia

December 2013 - January 2014
A 15-day adventure by Billy Oaks Read more
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  • Billy OaksSouth East Asia
    Day 1

    Arriving in Singapore

    December 28, 2013 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Here we go again another trip, this time 7.5 hrs trip from Brisbane to Singapore, the flight was ok plenty of people in the plane. First taste of Singapore the modern Changi airport, really well organized and took us just 15 minutes to get out of the airport, really good.

    The taxi fare to the hotel was $18, really cheap. The hotel (Carlton) location is excellent, across the road from a mall, walking distance to Marina Sands Bay. We had dinner in the mall's food court, just $14 for the 3 of us!!!

    Despite weather forecast, we didn't see much rain.

    Tomorrow we will be going around town using the hop on hop off bus. Time to have a rest now    Read more

  • Billy OaksSouth East Asia
    Day 2

    Hopping on and off in Singapore

    December 29, 2013 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Today we used the hop on & hop off bus to go around attractions. First place we visited was the Singapore flyer, at 165m the world's tallest observation wheel. It was actually pretty good offering nice views of Singapore's skyline.

    [PHOTO_ID_L=view-from-flyer.jpg] We then move across Marina Bay to the Fullerton hotel and the Merlion, excellent views of Marina Sandy Bays hotel quite a landmark in Singapore, sort of like Petrones twin towers in KL. We had some photos with the Merlion, bought some souvenirs and walked across Fullerton rd bridge to the river front, Cavenaugh bridge, pass the Asian civilzation museum and Sir Raffles statue.

    We then jumped on the hoho bus again, went to Chinatown and then back to the Esplanade to have some lunch, to our surprise we found a Peruvian restaurant!!!!!

    After lunch we strolled along the huge and futuristic Gardens by the bay, just behind Marina Bay Sands, the place is really impressive.

    Finally we did a whole loop around the city using the hoho bus finishing at Raffles city mall for some well deserved dinner. We we really exhausted. It was interesting to see Orchard rd lined with modern malls offering international brands, not necesarilly the cheapest prices but really crowded.

    Anyway, as I am typing these lines I am also planning tomorrow's visit to Sentosa island.....let the fun begin    Read more

  • Billy OaksSouth East Asia
    Day 3

    Sentosa island

    December 30, 2013 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    We explored Sentosa today, lots of fun, lots of people.

    I got the train mixed up so we ended up taking the 60 minutes ride on the great circle line rather than the North East. When we finally reached the Harbour front station, we rushed for the cable car terminal, of course we were prepared to pay the $26 for this ride.

    The line to get tickets for the cable car was kilometric and moved really slow but finally we got in the car. The views as we approached Sentosa were remarkable, Universal Studios on one side, Siloso beach in the background, etc, etc.

    Not many people when we arrived, around 10am and we went straight for the Luge, we did it a few years ago in Queenstown and was great fun. Of course it didn't disappoint us. We did it 3 times!!!!

    After the Luge we went for the massive Merlion and the plaza and then to Universal Studios. Unfortunately the twin roller coaster is still closed, so we just passed this time.

    Having lunch at Malay food village was a real challenge. Almost impossible to get a table, waiting time 30 minutes, even walking was really hard. The wait was worthy, the clay pot chicken rice was just superb.

    After lunch we went to the Merlion and then to Beach station, where we had to decide between Ifly or Gogreen, we finally decided for Gogreen because of my wife. It turned out to be really good fun.

    Time to explore Siloso beach, where a big party is planned for tomorrow's new years eve, and my wife started to feel bad, tonsilitis or she caught some virus, something normal with so may people around. Unfortunately we missed the megazip and went back to the hotel, we really needed at least two days to explore Sentosa.

    We had some takeaway for dinner and then have to nurse her.    Read more

  • Billy OaksSouth East Asia
    Day 4

    Singapore zoo & Fireworks

    December 31, 2013 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Yovanna was feeling really sick now I took Ximena to Singapore zoo rather than Legoland. In all honestly we avoided the hustle and bustle of crossing the border to Malaysia just to get to Legoland where the rides are for young kids, Ximena likes thrill rides.

    The return ticket train + bus was around $12 for myself and Ximena, still is a long trip, 6 train stations to Ang Mo Kio station and then 35 minutes on a jumpack full bus to the zoo.

    [PHOTO_ID_L=at-singapore-zoo.jpg] The line to get tickets was longer than the great wall but moved quickly. We chose the 2 park admission including the "Zoo" and " River Safari"

    What can I say about the Zoo? It was good but nothing out of the ordinary. I mean we have visted so many zoos including San Diego and Werribee that this one was just another zoo, still worth visting.

    A great surprise was the River Safari. This is a themed zoo based on a number of great rivers including the Mississipi, Yangtze, Mekong, Nile and of course the mighty Amazon. The fauna was diverse and the exhibits were well presented.

    A highlight could have been the giant panda exhibit but the lazy bear did not move at all.

    The trip back to the hotel was painful just because we were so tired, still some energies left to go to the midnight fireworks at Marina Bay so after having a rest we went to Raffles city to get some dinner and then to Marina bay, we made it at Round 9:30pm. As expected there were already millions of locals on the best spots, I guess locals because I can't imagine a tourist spending all day there instead of going somewhere else.

    Everybody was targeting a photo with the impressive Marina sandy bay towers however the countdown was on the facade of a building in the CBD. The fireworks lasted 8 minutes but seemed like eternity. Still they could be better, the place is amazing just not smartly used IMO.[PHOTO_ID_R=countdown-at-this-building.png]

    Going back to the hotel was terrible, it took us one hour what normally takes 15 minutes, just because police installed barriers and didn't let people walk, in some instances we waited 15 minutes just to get across the road. Yovanna is feeling a bit better, good news.

    Our stay in Singapore is nearly over, tomorrow afternoon we will be flying into another Asia's great cities Kuala Lumpur.    Read more

  • Billy OaksSouth East Asia
    Day 5

    Arriving in Kuala Lumpur

    January 1, 2014 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    This day went so quick. We got up at 8am after the fireworks, finished packing up the bags and headed straight to Changi airport.

    The flight between Sibgapord and KL was supposed to be 35 minutes but due to traffic at the airport it took close to an hour. After clearing immigration and geting our bags we pre-booked a taxi and then got something to eat.

    The taxi costed us some A$80, no bad considering that the airport is 80km from the city and it was a Mercedez Benz with the driver in suit!!!! He stopped a couple of times so we had some photos and was really helpful.

    Arriving at the hotel and the service was the best, really friendly people and the views of the Twin Towers just superb.

    My wife still a bit sick so we went to the KLCC mall using the hotel buggy, just to get something to eat and get something of the chemist.

    Back to the hotel and I starting to feel crook too, all my body aches and may have some temperature, crap.    Read more

  • Billy OaksSouth East Asia
    Day 6

    We are sick in Kuala Lumpur

    January 2, 2014 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    AM - Terrible night, couldn't sleep well with temperature, had work related nightmares all night When I woke up I realize my daughter was also sick. Fortunately my wife was feeling better so she got some panadol for kids from the chemist, still we are going to the doctor at 10am.

    PM - Back from the doctor it turned out that my wife caught some bug in Singapore and then she passed it to us, we will be ok in a couple of days. Hopefully we can go for a stroll around to see the city.

    The people from the Traders Hotel have been remarkably helpful. Took us to the doctor, paid for the taxi, gave us fruit, sent me a card hoping we get well and are always ringing to see how we go, we really feel like being spoiled at home.    Read more

  • Billy OaksSouth East Asia
    Day 8

    Kuala Lumpur city tour

    January 4, 2014 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    We were much much better today so we got out of the hotel for the first time since Wednesday.

    As we only had one day to explore this fascinating city we booked a tour at the hotel and to speed up the trip we booked a car for the 3 of us only that way we didn't have to wait for other people.

    The driver / guide was a Chinese man, who was really knowledgeable and did the extra to show us the city his English was pretty good.

    First "stop" although we didn't really stop was Chinatown, then Merdeka square where we stop for 50 minutes to check the KL city gallery, the flag, Sultan Abdul building and other colonial buildings.

    We then pass the National mosque to finally arrive to the impressive King's palace, all of these places offering great photo opportunities.

    Next stop were the famous Batu Caves and its 250 steps, we were supposed to stop here for 1 hour to go to the top but we gave it a miss as it started to rain and we were still a bit weak after two days in bed.

    The final stop was Royal Selangor visitor centre, the place was surprisingly entertaining, especially for Ximena. We also found the big chop of beer.

    We wanted to go to Menara tower but due to the rain we missed it, a pity. Instead the driver dropped us at KLCC mall where we spent the rest of the afternoon.

    We started with our dosis of anthi-malarya pills, I read about some really bad side effects, lets hope we go alright.

    Tomorrow we leave Malaysia and enter Cambodia to visit the Khmer legacy.....Angkor Wat    Read more

  • Billy OaksSouth East Asia
    Day 9

    Arriving in Siem Reap

    January 5, 2014 in Cambodia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Warm farewell from the guys at Traders Hotel, they wanted to know if we were feeling ok and the duty manager came to say goodbye, really friendly service.

    After the hour trip to the airport we got on our Malaysian airline flight to Siem Reap. The 2 hour flight went relatively smooth.

    The contrast arriving in Siem Reap was huge, really poor houses and schools next to luxurious hotels, I hope what we spend here helps kids have better education.

    We took it easy in the afternoon, we went to the night market, got some souvenirs and visited pub street, lots of tourist in the street. We then had dinner at the hotel ($7 for a main meal) and book buffet dinner with Apsara dance tomorrow night.

    We will have a good rest as we will do plenty of walking tomorrow at Angkor temples    Read more

  • Billy OaksSouth East Asia
    Day 10

    Angkor wat

    January 6, 2014 in Cambodia ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    He headed early in the morning to check sunrise at Angkor Wat and then spent two hours exploring the temple. How marvelous it is, such an incredible skill the Khmer had to place all the stones in place, including the exceptional carving, the place is just astonishing. Our local guide Sun Same was smart enough to start the walk from the back so we had much of the temple just for us. When we got back to the main gate the crowds were starting to arrive.

    We then move to Bayon, again we skipped the famous South Gate and went straight to the temple, the carvings weren't as good as Angkor Wat but the best attractions were the huge faces that adorned the temple.

    We then continue to Ta Phron, made famous by Angelina Jolie in Tomb raider, by this time there was people every where. This was my prefered temple. It was impresive to see how the jungle is slowly devouring the temple adding some dramatic mistery to the place.

    Too tired to continue visiting temples we went back to the hotel at 1pm and agreed with Same to re-start again at 3pm and have a well deserved rest.

    In the afternoon we went to Tonle Sap, a huge fresh water lake that reminded me of the Titikaka in Peru. We visited the floating villages that again lookrd quite similar to villages in the Amazon back in Peru

    We finished the day with a buffet dinner with classic Khmer dance.    Read more

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