Day 18, 19 and 20 - Three Days, Three sets of wildlife.

Okay, so I;'m cutting a corner by sum,ming up 3 days in one post, but I need to get this finished. I am going to sum up the last days of Singapore in this post, and then Sydney in another. On day 18 I visited the Nght safari, which is right next to the zoo. I would have done both in one day, but I got up late, and by the time I got to the park it wouldn't have been worthwhile. I got into the park and took the tram tour aound. It was quite strange staring through the gloom at all of the nocturnal animals, with the lack of visible bars making it seem like the animals were roaming wild. Some of the more tame animals actually were roaming wild, coming up really close to the Tram. I then took a walk around the park on foot and saw all of the other animalw in the park. I also found out an interesting fact - did you know that girrafes only sleep for 3 hours of the day? On day 19 I got up a bit earlier and headed back out to the zoo. I took a tram around the zoo, and then I took a walk around the park. I saw some very interesting animals, such as the Lars Gibbon, which looked a bit like MJ. (It was black furred with a white face and hands). I then took a boat cruise around the lake to the other side of the zoo. Okay, so I know this blog is a bit dry, but the pics are pretty good to make up. I then headed to the sea life show and stood at the back while this sealion was doing it's thing. Then the guy asked for a volunteer. Here's a bit of advice - NEVER volunteer! I made the mistake of doing so and was asked to do one simple thing - Throw a frisbee for the sealion to catch. That should be easy. (Or so I thought). I took aim, got ready and - right into the big pole which was holding up the roof. Ok, try again - and right into the post again. Ok, one more go - guess where it went? Yep, right into the pole. So then the guy, who was in his element with a guy making himself look like a right idiot, and him being able to rib me senseless. So he led me right to the side of the tank. Right, one more go. Bingo. Sealion executes a perfect catch. Glad that's over. Or not. After the crowd had started to clear, the guy led all the vbolunteers up to the side of the tank. (Me, a Woman, and two kids), and we got to meet the sealion. I got a very whiskery kiss, which was documented on a picture on the camera of the zoo, meaning I had to then go and pay for it go get a copy. Oh well, it was worth it. After the show, I took an elephant ride.it was quite fun, sitting on the back of such a large beast, if not slightly unnerving due to the side to side motion of it gait. I then looked at more animals, of which there were too many to list. I was ther until closing time, and I'm still not sure if I saw them all. Day 20 was another trip to a wildlife park, this time the Jurong Bird Park. This was slightly  different, with the opportuniy to feed Lorys and Other birds whose names I can't remember, but which were very beutiful (you should see the pictures, which i will try to upload as soon as i reach a computer which will let me). I also took a ride on the monorail, which encircled the park. The other highlight of the day was seeing the feeding of the pelicans, the only opportunity to see them feed underwater in the world. It was really something to see. Okay, so that was pretty much Singapore. It was a wonderful city, much cleaner than Hong Kong, and less humid. I would definitely recommend this over Hong Kong, even if some of the laws do seem a bit imposing. The three top attractions for Singapore would definitely be: Sentosa, Zoos and the Singapore Flyer. Okay, so on the next post I'm gonna skip the flight (It was uneventful and so uninteresting) and go straight to a summary of Sydney. Sorry about the lateness of the postings, but I am gonna finally get up to date.

Day 13 - A Return Visit to Sentosa

On day 13 I awoke at 12pm, again, and I decided to abandon my initial plan of a trip to the 'Army Open House', which In had heard about on the radio, instead deciding on a return visit to Sentosa island. I headed out first to the airport to change money before taking the train to Harbour Front. On reaching Harbour Font, I decided to take the Sentosa Express monorail instead of the cable car. I was pleased when I reached the station, tucked away on the top floor of a shopping mall, as the tickets only cost S$3. The ride to Sentosa was short, but informative, and took me to my first intended port of call, the eco tours hut. I asked to book the eco adventure tour, and I was told that I could, but the next available tour was at 5pm. I told her that it would be no problem, and booked the package of Eco Adventure + Fun Ride, taking the Fun Ride immediately. After my short ride, I took the beach tram from the Monorail station down to the other end of the beach. and on arrival saw a group of monkeys sitting on a ledge. I reached for my camera, but when I went to take the picture, they had disbanded. Typical. I walked up to the snack stands instead, to get some food. I purchased a chicken burger and chips, and sat down in the picnic table seating area, only to find that I was not alone in my meal, being joined by too friendly (and hungry) peacocks, who had no trouble in helping me eat my lunch. I sensed a photo opportunity, and placed a chip on the opposite side of the table, only to have the peacock leap onto the bench and grab the chip. Several chips later I had quite a few pictures, which will be uploaded as soon as I am able to find a capable computer. I then headed to the underwater world ticket desk, and upon seeing the prices, swiftly headed away from the underwater world ticket desk. Well, I'm not made of money. I then strolled back along the beach and had (just one) ride on the Luge. After this, it was almost time for my ride, so I headed to the 7 eleven and purchased a giant slurpee and sat down to enjoy, and after that it was time. The Eco Adventure was even more fun than the Fun Ride, due to both and extended length of trip and the opportunity to mess about on a beach with a Segway, resulting in one of the other riders, a kid from China, falling off several times. If my camera had been recording, I could have been 250 pounds richer, but sadly it wasn't. Following the fun ride I decided to head into town for some food and, after a wander round the VivoCity mall at Harbour Front, found a cheap restaurant to have some food. I then headed back to the hostel, intending to head out again, but instead deciding to update my blog, and eventually I fell victim to tiredness and decided not to bother going out again. Eventually my room mates returned, and they told me they were checking out the following morning. We swapped contact details, and then I went to bed.

Day 7 - Aimless wanderings...

On day 7, the fist thing I intended to do was head to Lok Fu, but even the best laid plans go to waste, and instead, after finding George, I spent most of the morning 'helping' him to pack (i.e. standing chatting), as he planned to leave his hostel, or, as he put it 'escape'. He was either going to find a new hostel, or head to China to meet his (Russian) girlfriend, Tanya. I caught the bus (discovered day 6) from outside Chungking, and relaxed and enjoyed the trip through the urban sprawl, arriving at Lok Fu after about an hour. I then consulted the Bible (i.e. guidebook), and spent a good 10 or 15 minutes looking to find some bearings, before giving up and deciding to ask one of the security guards at the mall. He gave the nod and head shake which said, quite clearly, "I don't speak English". He then headed off, in pursuit of an anglophone, and eventually found a teller in the bank who spoke English enough to tell me that she didn't have a scooby. Useful, very useful. So I decided to admit defeat and head somewhere else, although that didn't cause me to lose faith in the Bible, after all, it's not the Bible's fault that Hong Kong has a lack of street signs pointing to the walled city. I headed into the MTR at Lok Fu, and decided to indulge my curiosity and head out to see what was at a station called, ambiguously, "LOHAS park". On the way out of the MTR station, I went into the 7 eleven and bought a lunch, intending to eat it in the park. That would have been lovely, apart from the fact that LOHAS stands for 'Lifestyle Of Health And Sustainbility', which is Hong Kong beauracracy's way of saying 'High Rise'. And they had't even finished building it, so there wasn't even much to see, or seat at which to have lunch. I decided to yet again admit defeat, and head instead for Hong Kong island, where I managed to end up on the (aptly named) 'Island Line' of the MTR, which travels along the north coast of Hong Kong island. I decided to get off at Shau Kei Wan, as I remembered (also from day 6) that it was one of the tram termini (I know, posh words today, eh?). When I got out of the MTR, i found a bus depot, but the thought of any transport was sidelined, as I saw a small park to one side with, wait for it, PICNIC TABLES!!! I sat down at one, and, started to tuck into my lunch amid coughing from the fumes from the buses going past every nanosecond. This, however, was bearable, as I was joined for lunch my several small and fearless birds (finches, I believe) who decided to gather round to pick up anything I should drop (or decide to feed them). I chose the latter, and  both the birds and I dined on turkey and shrimp paste sandwiches (actually quite nice) and crisps. I then headed off to find the trams, and upon another consultation with the great (yet lonely) god of planet I discovered that I could take the longest possible journey on the tram system by catching a tram to Western Market, and then onward to Kennedy town. It was a while down the line to Western Market that the tiredness hit me, and I decided to yet again relent and head back to the hostel, where I sat for a while before heading out for some traditional fayre (which was elusive, so I  gave up and went to Mickey's). I then decided on a nice, quiet night in (after a quick visit ti the internet cafe, where I discovered that George had left me a message telling me that he was still in Hong Kong). Then it was off to bed, with a vodka limonata (left over from day 3) and I slept.

Day 6 - Burgers, Buses and 10,000 Buddhas

To round off day five, I went back to the hostel via the juice bar and had a strawberry and advocado smoothie (it's actually quite nice). I slept very well that night, and I awoke at 4am, turned over, and slept till after 10. Brilliant! When I awoke, I had a quick shower and headed out to breakfast, which was a coconut cream bun and a chicken teriyaki sandwich, with soybean milk. I then went to see if George was up, which he was, and I helped his sort out his laundry before he packed (he's moving hostel). We then headed out to grab a quick smoothie from the bar, and then we split, with me heading back to Chungking to try to find a laundrette, which I did, and it was closed on Sundays, so laundry will have to wait until tomorrow (at least I tried, mum!). My next port of call was the shopping arcade next door to chungking, to try to get my bracelet (from day 5) adjusted, as it was too tight. There I discovered a small shop called the shellfish shop, run a a little old chinese lady, who adjusted the bracelet for me and only charged me HK$20. She did such a good job that I gave her 25. I then decided to head out to visit Sai Kung, as recommended by Jenny the air hostess (see day 1). I caught the MRT to Choi Hung, and then the minibus 1A to Sai Kung. When I got there, I was surprised at the contrast from Tsim Sha Tsui. Here, there was a contrast between the quiet, village like feel of the main promenade, overlooking a small but busy harbour full of little fishing vessels, and the bustling motorway further inland. The street was full of seafood restaurants, but I was put off by the way in which live seafood was sitting in tanks next to the diners, to be picked. I therefore wandered further down the street to a little restaurant called the camden town, which was offering a Burger and soft drink for $30. That did nicely, and was followed by some fries. One of the people at the restaurant working was a little girl, about 10, who was obviously helping out with her mum, and helped by bringing out drinks and ketchup. I was suckered in, and ended up giving her a $5 tip (I know, but she was 10 and working, surely that shows initiative). I then headed off to the bus stop to get a bus to Sha Tin station. The bus I got onto said Sha Tin town centre, not Sha Tin station, so I was keeping lookout to see where to get off, when the bus flew past a sign for the MRT network. Panicking, I pushed the button and watched as the bus moved further and further down a dual carriageway away from the station. When it finally stopped, I got off the bus only to discover that it had been another MTR station, not Sha Tina, and that I would have to wait for another bus. When I got to Sha Tin, I headed for the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery. To get there, I ahd to wind my way throught backstreets and around the gridlock until I finally reached teh path leading up to the monastery. The path consisted of over 400 steps, thought with the haet at that time of day, it might well have been 10'000. At one point I decided to pause for a moment, and grabbed hold of the shiny, red handrail. Not a good idea. With a sinking feeling, I removed my hand quickly from the railing, ad looked around for a sign, and found one, written completely in Chinese, which said "油漆未乾". I knew instantly what it meant, as i looked down at the palm of my hand, which was now bright red. The sign obviously said "wet paint". I headed up the remaining steps as quickly as I could, hoping that if I ever reached the top there would be a toilet, and somwhere to get water. I did reach the top, some while later, and stagered into the small restaurant and, panting heavily, asked for some water. The lady charged (a reasonable) $10 for the bottle of water, and directed me to a small toilet, and after several minutes of frantic scrubbing te red was gone. Thank Buddha for that. I then headed out to the temple, and saw the 12'800 (approx) small statues of Buddha which adorned the walls. Yet again I was surprised at how peaceful it was, after passing through the gridlock in the city below. I spent a while wandering, and taking photos befor heading back down the hillside, and I found the walk downward much easier than the walk up, especially as I had bought another bottle of water for the purpose. As I walked, one of the people walking up the hill paused for a moment, and guess what he leaned hi back onto? Yes, he had a bright red line right along the back of his top. I didn't have the heart to tell him, so I jst had to keep in the laughter until he was out of earshot. When I had returned to Sha Tin, I caught the KCR to Kowloon Ting, and then the MTR to Lok Fu. There I had intended to go to the Kowloon walled city, but discovered that there was no bus, and after to trip to the monastery, my feet wouldn't have coped with the walk, so insted I caught a bus to Star Ferry, and enjoyed the ride through the streets of Kowloon, even passing by Chungking Mansions. When I arrived at the terminal, I hopped on the ferry across to Hong Kong before walking over to my newly discovered favourite Japanese restaurant, Yoshinoya. After a Sumo Beef bowl, with miso soup, jelly and a fruit punch (I avoided eatng the Kimchi (spicy cabbage from day 5)), I headed back onto the streets of Hong Kong to look for a tram stop. I found one, an boarded the first tram, which was headed for Western Market. For the first part of that journey, I had to stand due to a lack of avilable seating, and, after banging my head several times off the roof, I found the best spot for standing, halfway up the staircase. When the tram eventually emptied, I grabbed the nearest available seat and sat down, looking out the window. The ride was quite enjoyable, but a little bit juddery (I put it down to the age of the tram and the busy roads). When we reached Western Market (I presumed it was, since everyone got off), I disembarked to find myself in the middle of generis Hong Kong shopping and so, not quite in the mood for shopping, I hopped onto a tram headed for Happy Valley. With a name like that, it had to be good, right? I was pleased to find the upstairs front seat available, and sat down and got out my camera to get some pictures of the journey. We rattled through the streets of Hong Kong, quite literally, and many of the pictures I took (on  Facebook) turned out quite blurry. When we reached happy valley, there was no major discernable difference from western market, and so I decided to call time on the visiting of new places for the day, and got a tram back towards Central, where I caught a train back to Tsim Sha Tsui, and so to the internet Cafe. Stay Tuned, folks!

Day Three - Wetlands, Trams and an Aussie called George

Okay, so when we left the story I had wokenup at 12 midnight. First port of call? McDonalds of course, for some good quality nutrition, with all the important food groups of Big Mac, Fries and Fizzy pop. This was then followed by several hours of movies and, at about 8.30, I set off.I walked down to East Tsim Sha Tsui station, and caught the KCr west rail train to Tin Shui Wai, followed by the Light Rail to Wetland Park. The wetland park was quite astonishing. There, just a stones throw away from a huge cluster of housing blocks (think Gorbals x 2), was a strip of pure, untouched wetland, complete with sound effects (crickets). Surprisingly, however, there were very few animals. I only managed to get a pic of a small, yet pretty bird, and a bright red dragonfly, though in one of the bird hides I did manage to see what I believe was an Egret. I walked all around the park, although by this time I was starting to feel a bit tired (again) and so I headed back to the Hostel, for a couple of hours nap, and I overslept (slightly), because the phone didn't go off and so I woke up at five instead of 3. I then headed off to find a noodle bar, and I had chicken and duck noodles, which were nice, apart from the drink I ordered. When I saw lemon iced tea on the menu, I expected lemon flavoured ice tea (think liptons). What I actually got was a very cold cup of (stewed) tea with a slice of lemon. Not the nicest (I drank as much as I could). Mind you, the whole meal was less than 2 pound, so not too bad. Later, having showered and changed, I headed out to find a bar, and when I found one I ordered a malibu and lemonade. The drink was nice, but when the bill came back as $70 (7 pound) I decided to move on and not have another. I headed out and caught a bus to the star ferry terminal, Followed by the star ferry across to hong kong island. The view from the ferry was amazing, with all of the lights of the buildings, especially the HSBC tower shining beautifully in the night, and reflecting in the waters of the harbour. Shame I didn't have my camera. When I arrived I found an open top bus headed for the peak tram, and ready to depart. I hopped aboard and was dazzled by the ground view of some of the buildings, including the HSBC tower. It was such a moment that made me realise how wonderful this city really is. The paek tram was also a brilliant ride. When I reached the top, several escalators took me up to the viewing platform, with a 360 degree view of the city. I will have to go back for a picture, I just have to. I also picked up some postcards, and I found a nice bar at the top of the peak, ordered a Mai Tai and started to fill them out. I then caught the return peak tram, followed by the bus and subway, back to Tsim Sha Tsui. I then decided to head to an internet cafe, and I checked my email and found that my NZ Visa had come through. By the time I had finished at the internet cafe (It was now 2am, so technically day 4 but I'm continuing anyway), There were three folk in the Internet Cafe, which closed at 2. I then got talking to the other two guys in the cafe, and one of them was George, an Australian who hasn't been in Australia for at least 4 years, having lived in Russia and China, as well as Turkey. We headed out, and went to McDonalds for some food. Then we decided to go and get a drink, and we headed to the nearest 7 eleven. I had a vodka and energy drink, and a lemon vodka alcopop. George also had a vodka and enrgy drink, and a beer. We wandered about Tsim Sha Tsui for a short while, and then George decided we should go to the toilet (at Mc Donalds). We wandered in, used the loo and then sat down and, without buying any food, sat for over an hour just drinking and chatting. The satff didn't care, so we just sat. We then headed for another Internet Cafe, a 24 hour one, and we sat up on the PCs, me writing the previous blog and phoning people. The rest is yet to come, so stay tuned for another episode of "Diaries f the Flying Scotsman".