Hannah's birthday, Hong Kong, Sydney, Malaysia

So it's been a while since our last update and we've done quite abit. I'll give a brief run through but the pictures will hopefully help!

So my sister turned up as a surprise for three weeks in September. Gary and Josie, the schemers, arranged it all and it was the best birthday surprise! We headed over to Hong Kong where we shopped and partied all week. More surprises came when friends threw a birthday meal in Singapore at our local bar. Then Josie and I went on to Bintan and spent a week tanning ourselves and generally being stupid...


After Josie left Gary and I headed over to Sydney for a week. It was great timing as it was pretty warm and we took a boat out to go whale watching about 10 miles off the coast. Although slightly skeptic, the crew proved us wrong and we saw whales breaching around the boat, it was absolutely amazing and one of the best things I have ever seen. On the Saturday we took a trip up to the Blue Mountains to Katoomba and the Three Sisters. We finished it all off at in true aussie style at a friends house for a 'few shrimps on the barbie'...

This weekend Austin and James came over bearing gifts (see the twirl mountain!). We headed up to the Malaysian rainforest in Taman Negara and nearly ended up there for some time after we got stranded when the river rose. Anyway the jungle floor was not overly appealing so we managed to take a hairy ride back down the rapids to home. The whole trip ended with a blowout in the taxi on the way to catch the only train home to Singapore.....

I think thats it for now, hope you enjoy the photos!

Pulau Bintan Sept 07

What is happening with the rain!?!

We spent this weekend on Pulau Bintan, an Indonesian island which is part of the Riau archipelago.

The whole weekend turned into a bit of an adventure, with no accommodation booked, the island full and torrential rain and storms, Gary and I thought we were going to have to spend a night at the ferry terminal. As luck would have it, some friends had a spare bungalow booked for their weekend of 'burning man', which as you can guess is the kinda campfire thing you can see going on in our photos. It's a take on the Burning Man which apparently happens every year in the Nevada desert. We had a great laugh...

The weekend proceeded to get more fun - our restaurant got hit by lightning when we were sitting in it and a bat flew into our bus on the way back to the ferry terminal - much screaming and the bus driver attempting to catch it with his bare hands!

Despite all this, the island is beautiful and very relaxing. I feel like I was away for weeks not days. The food was great, accommodation basic but sufficient and the people really friendly, what more could you ask..oh and it was very cheap!!

Palau Ubin, Sunday 19 August 2007

So here are our pics of Palau Ubin, an island between Singapore and Malaysia (10 minutes by bumboat). Great day cycling around, although I didn't realise you actually had to cross the shipping path to get there....few hairy moments when the boat driver thought he'd play chicken with a huge freightliner...

We (well Gary) had hoped the cycling would be a little more off road, but it was pretty tame and takes about an hour or so to get round the whole island (so tiny). The island itself is gorgeous though, with traditional stilt huts and lots of tropical palms. Certainly relaxing compared with Orchard road.

Anyway check out the rain, just got back from our cycle, sat down with beer and food and the heavens opened. It was perfect timing and a great way to spend the rest of the afternoon!

Gwen Stefani

Hannah and I went to see her perform at the indoor arena in Singapore last night.....quite good actually ;)

Gary

Singapore 2 months in...

So we've been in Singapore 2 months now and are getting quite settled in.

We have an apartment and work and studying is going well. Hannah has been ultra efficient at fitting out our unfurnished flat and never a day goes by when she hasn't managed to find another bargain :)

The weather is consistently hot and humid although not too difficult to get used to with air conditioning.

There is so much to see in the area and we're now starting to plan trips away; our focus until now has been getting our home sorted. Last Thursday was Singapore National Day and we went off trekking in the nearby rain forest which was pretty amazing. Looking forward to doing a bit more of that in future. For those of you planning to travel this way, bring your walking boots and sunscreen!

Gary

Leaving Party

Hi all,

Thanks to everyone that came to our leaving party in London. We had a great time and hope you all did as well.

It seems like a while ago now but hopefully the photos are a great reminder.

Gary and Hannah