In Singapore

- Its extremely humid in Singapore, more so than in Hermanus SA. I think it's 80% humidity here. But even though the temperature is a bit higher here at an average of +31c it seems hotter in SA. Maybe it's the smog in Singapore, blocking the sun a bit.

- Public transport here is awesome. I took the MRT (like the tube) from the airport into town and it was so clean, fast, easy and has AC. Cost less than 2 dollars from the airport to my inn. It always announces the stop in 3 different languages.

- Singapore is a very western, Asian country. Lots of people can understand English.

- I had to move out of my private room to a dorm room because I only booked for one night and my room has been reserved my others.

- I didn't sleep well in dorm room because of the music from the club next door that played till 4am. I switched to another dorm room the next day and used my ear plugs. So I slept alot better.

- I really liked the communal area at the inn. Talked to loads of people. I did more talking and met more people in the last few days than in the last few months.



- I walked around in Chinatown. As you can see, it was crazy. So many people!!! No personal at all.

- I got a foot and back massage done in a nearly mall. The next day, I felt like someone stomped all over my back. That's normal, my muscle was healing.

- I ate at alot of street stalls. Nice cheap food, but seating was outside with no AC. I brought my food back to the inn a few times cos the environment was much better to eat in.

- OMG!!! Singapore has the best airport. This is my favourate airport. I found the entertainment area that had a movie theatre, music sofas, online gaming, xbox360 and playstation3 and everything was free. I only had a few minutes to explore so there's probably more cool stuff that I haven't found yet. If you ever need to do a stop over in Asia, do it in Singapore.

First day in Singapore

The flight was an overnight flight but I ended up getting no sleep and watched about 5 movies instead. I landed in Singapore at 5:30 am.

As for the flight itself, I was impressed. The flight attendents came out at least once an hour with water and orange juice. The blanket was made of thick fleece and the pillow was nice and fluffy. The knives, spoons and forks were metal. The air was nice and cool and not stuffy. Which meant they flush the air often so we got lots of fresh air. I would recommend SAA.

Since I arrived so early, I've decided to hang out in the airport for a few hours. I used the free massage chairs and free Internet access. But I didn't find the reclining chairs that Tim and Joanne recommended.

At around 9 am I started to make my way to the hostal. I'm staying at the Inn Crowd, recommended by Tim as well. For my first night, I decided to get the private room to help me get over jetleg.

The room was quite basic with a bunk bed and shared shower and toilets.

There were many international people in the hostel and I talked to many of them. They were all very friendly and easy to talk to.

I was quite tired so I didn't venture off very far. I walked around Little India and most of the time I'm walking on the road because there wasn't really a area for pedestrians. I felt awkward at first and a bit dangerous but I got used to it pretty quick.

I ate at two places for dinner today. The first place served Indian food and I got the waiter to recommend something that wasn't spicy. But my palate disagreed with it. So I had to go to another place that served oriential food. I had chicken and rice. Fast and tasty.

SA Stuff

Driving in SA requires more concentration. The shoulder lanes are used by peole walking, cyclists and cars constantly use them to yield to faster cars. So you must look out for fast cars wanting to overtake and move over to the shoulder lane while looking out for people and cyclists. You also need to look out for on coming traffic in your lane making a pass on another car and give room if needed.



I love the braai. We used it to cook our crayfish, chicken wings, and a whole yellow tail. I love the smokey flavour.



Majority of the black people live in these shacks. They even have some businesses running out of shacks selling all kinds of stuff. I heard the government was trying to reduce the number of shacks so provided housing for some of the black people. But instead of living in the government house, they rent out the house and build a shack in the yard to live in themselves.



Smoking Danish smoked cheese on the braai. Andre's mom made the cheese using a recipe that is over 100 years old.



We had wine and cheese in the wine cellar. The Danish Smoked cheese is the main attraction and everyone loved it.

I managed to finially get my teeth cleaned. A task that I was not able to complete before leaving on this trip. My teeth feels sparkling clean now.

South Africa, what a different place. There are so many poor people living in shacks. Yet they look happy. People born in the 1st world country are very fortunate, even if some don't believe that they are.

Cape Town

Tuesday Jan 26. Today is my penultimate day in SA. Soon i will be truely travelling on my own. A very daunting feeling, so I'll try not think about it.

We took the coastal route into Cape Town from Hermanus. I was given the front seat to soak in the gorgeous view.




This was taken on the layby on the scenic route into Cape Town. The roads were very bendy because we were driving around mountains. I almost got motion sickness.




We went up Table Mountain by cable car. We were initially going to hike it but we were pressed for time. It would have taken 3 hrs for the hike.

We were lucky that it was open today and the temperature was very pleasent and I didn't even need my fleece which was good cos I forgot it in the car anyway.

Then we checked out the market and eventually went for a late sushi lunch followed by a walk in the water front. Meanwhile, I still needed to find a place to sleep for the night because the airport hotel messed up my booking and by the time I found out, they were already fully booked. Long story short, I needed to find a place quick. I couldn't find the Internet cafe but found the iStore instead so used their computers to find a hostel. We went there and as soon as I inspected the room, I was ready to leave.

Evenually I went back to the place that we found earlier and I checked in there. Andre and co was off to Stellenbosch so we all hugged and said our goodbyes quickly. I was feeling a bit sad and had to leave quickly before I get all emotional.

My first night alone in a strange town. I havent been alone in a while. OMG, what have I gotten myself into?!?

Last day in SA

Wednesday, Jan 27. Today I'm flying out of Cape Town. The flight's going to be 11.5hrs long. I've been dreading it for a while. Now I must go and find my motion sickness pills.

Cape Agulhas

Monday Jan 25. Went or another road trip. This is Cape Agulhas, the most southerly point in Africa. This is where the Indian ocean meets the Atlantic ocean. I was expecting to see the two ocean's water crashing into each other, but that didn't happen. I guess it's just the line drawn on the map.

On our way back, we stopped at the harbour and walked on the beach. We also saw several large stingrays swimming around. There was a girl feeding it fish. They seem like friendly creatures. One of them swam around the girl and was eating the fish from her hand.

We also drove by Raka, another winery and decided to stop for a tasting. I did the full tasting with 3 white and 3 red wines. After all that, I've still not found something I like. I know one thing though, I like the white wine better than the red. But given a choice, I'd rather go for sparkling water.

Penguins, lots of penguins

Sunday Jan 24. Went to Betty's Bay to see South African penguins. I didn't know that they exist in SA. I guess they don't just live in cold places. There are hundreds of them here. They look really funny when they're waddling along.

Crayfish anyone?

Saturday Jan 23. I filled up my water bottle, grabbed my sunscreen, hat and sunglasses... i'm ready to go. As we drove to the harbour, I smothered myself with SPF 40, as it was another hot and sunny day. Today we went to catch us some crayfish! We got there at 11am and found a hole to lower our net. As bait, we have a giant fish head dangling above the net. The idea is for the crayfish to nibble on the head and while they're feasting on the head, we tug on the rope that's attached to the net. This should hopefully cause them to fall into the net. According to the locals, 10 minutes after lowering the net is the best time do the 'pull'. I should have brought a book. Alot of the time was spent just waiting to do the next 'pull'. However, 'pull' time was exciting... though after 2 hrs and 10+ pulls of empty net, the excitement faded a bit.

On the last 'pull' that we declared, we caught our very first crayfish. Feeling some encouragement from our declared last pull, we decided to stay a bit longer. An hour later, and still no crayfish, we declared our last 'pull' again. This time, I did the 'pull'. I could see that the net was empty but I was excited to find a large fish attached to the head. Unfortunately we didn't have anything to catch it with. So as soon as it stopped being greedy and let go of our bait, it fell back into the water.

Four people x three hours = 12 man hours and we caught 1 crayfish... Its the experience that counts! ^_^

Can you say pho?

Thursday Jan 21. Pho is Vietnamese noodle soup and is pronounced like 'fah'. Today I'm feeling almost 100% and starving. I've not been able to eat much in the past 2 days. I think I've lost 5lbs in those days... I must start eating or there's going to be nothing left of me! I will start with a nice bowl of beef pho. I got this pho recipe from MC and started making the broth the day before. This was so that we could skim the fat off easier after it cooled down, and has congealed.

The pho was a hit at the dinner table and everyone loved it! The taste is very authentic because we were able to find all the ingredients down here. This is rare because the selection of Oriental ingredients are very limited, and for good reason. I haven't seen any Asians walking around town except for us.

Lucky for you, you can try to recreate the same authentic taste of pho at your own home. Sandi has kindly noted and typed out the recipe for all to follow:

Ingredients:

Soup:
* Oxtails, at least 3 (but add in more depending on your size of pot & mouths to feed)
* 2 white onions, whole
* a handful of whole cloves
* 1 knob of peeled ginger
* A couple cinnamon stick pieces
* Two whole star anise (or more)
* Fish sauce

To serve:
* A package of long wide rice noodles, similar to ones used for pad thai
* 250 g (or more) beef tenderloin
* Coriander
* Spring Onions
* Basil
* Beansprouts
* Lemon/Lime
* Red onion
* wine/cider vinegar
* sugar
* hoisin sauce
* siracha sauce / sambal olek
* red bird chilies

1. The day before, you need to prepare the soup. First of all, stud the onions with cloves - using a knife, cut slits in the onion and push the whole cloves in. Then, add the onions, oxtail, ginger, cinnamon and star anise to a large pot of boiling water. Bring to a boil, then simmer for at least 3 hours or longer; a longer boiling time equates to more flavor. Remember to watch the simmering and add more water as necessary.

2. Once the soup is done, season with fish sauce to taste and put the entire pot into a fridge overnight. This is to congeal the fat at the top of the soup for easy removal. The next day, remove all the white stuff on top - this is the fat.

3. Place the beef tenderloin in the freezer for an hour so it is mostly frozen but not entirely. Once mostly frozen, slice very thinly, as if you were making carpaccio.

4. Soak the rice noodles in hot water until desired softness is reached, then drain.

5. Prepare the pickled red onions. Slice one onion (red onion has a sweeter taste) very thinly. Mix with wine or cider vinegar, diluted with water (about 1/2 of each), and add a bit of sugar to the mix. Adjust mix to taste.

6. Cut up the spring onions and also cut limes into 8 wedges to serve.

7. To serve, spoon some noodles into a large bowl, top with raw meat, spring onions, coriander, then ladle soup on top. Then add bean sprouts, basil, lime juice and 1 bird chili; add sambal olek and hoisin to taste.

Bean sprouts, basil, lime juice and bird chilies are optional. Also, if you do not have basil you can substitute in mint instead. If you are eating this as leftovers the next day, and have no raw tenderloin left use the meat off the oxtails instead.

Arg, ugh, owwww...

Tuesday Jan 19. Excruciating, incredible, unbearable pain! So much pain! I wonder if going into labour is as painful as this! I think I got hit with stomach flu or it could be food poisoning. I don't think it's the biltong because I've been eating those since the first day I arrived. I tried to rest in bed but couldn't because of the pain. I tried to re hydrate my body but couldn't because of the pain. As soon as a single drop of water enter my stomach, I felt immense pain. So I was severely dehydrated. I decided against taking Imodium because I wanted a good cleanse and I wasn't stuck on a bus. By early evening, I was starting to feel a bit better and was able to keep a few drops of water down. I was on the road to recovery.

Another hot day...

Monday Jan 18th. Today is also a very hot day so we decided to start our day early. We all met up for breakfast at 8am and left for the Botanical Garden before 9am. It took us only 5 minutes to walk there from our B&B. We spent less than an hour there, and the temperature was rising by the minute.

We checked out of the B&B shortly after and took a drive out of town to Sugarbird Manor Vineyard. This is the start of the 4.3 km vineyard hike, which should take us pass 2 more wineries. On a hot day like today, we should all have brought a water bottle, but since we thought that we'd get hydrated in each of the wineries, we didn't bring any. Unfortunately, wine tasting in those wineries (Stone Hill and Meinert) are by appointment only because there's normally only one person looking after everything. So we had to do the entire hike without water.

The scenery is very nice. We tried some of the grapes on the vine. Some were nice but others not so much (good if you like them sour) Although 4.3 km sounds short, it was more difficult then it sounded because there were many hills to climb... and where there's up, there's down. The ground has lots of loose rocks and it made hiking down a bit slow going. I was fine with my hikers but poor Sandi wore a pair of flat trainers, so she was struggling a bit, trying to not slide. Lucky for her, she decided to change out of her flip flop / thongs before the hike. If you plan on doing the wine tasting on route, remember to book ahead. Don't forget to purchase your permit for the hike in Sugarbird Manor for R30pp.

We finished the hike in less than 2 hrs. Thank god for whoever that invented the cooler. We had nice cool drinks waiting for us in the car. After our re hydration, we took a short 2 minute drive to JC la Roux where everyone participated in the sparkling wine tasting. Well, almost everyone... I don't react well to those bubbles so I passed. Besides, I had to save myself for the next wine tasting.

After JC la Roux, we drove to a town call Paarl for our last wine tasting of the day in KWV Wine Emporium. We made it in time for the wine tour as well. KWV exports their wine and brandy to a number of locations, including Canada and UK. This winery is massive. It's capable of exporting millions of millions of litres of alcohol. It also has one of the largest storage oak barrels that's still in use today, which they bought used from Portugal in 1946. It was dismantled then reassembled in KWV. It took over 2 years to put all the pieces back together. Each one can hold over 200,000 litres and there are 5 in the room. So they're able to store oer 1 million litres in this single room.

Apparently, all of the brandy makers in SA uses the brandy from KWV in their mix. What's the difference between brandy and Cognac? Nothing except for the name. What's the difference between sparkling wine and champagne? If you said no difference except for the name, then you are correct. Give yourself a pat on the back. According to our guide, the method they used to make brandy and sparkling wine are the same as Cognac and champagne. What about the massive difference in price? It's all in the brand name. Next time you pay a massive premium for champagne or Cognac, they the sparkling wine or brandy and see if you can taste the difference.

Weekend away

Sunday Jan 17th. We drove for about 1.5hrs and stopped in a little town called Frenschhoek. Today was one of the hottest days of the week. It was +37c and not a cloud in sight. It felt like the temperature was rising by the minute. I thought I was going to die of heat stroke out there. We went into alot of little craft shops and galleries. I wasn't going in buying anything though because I'll go over my 5kg bag limit. But I enjoyed the shop's AC. When we were walking outside, I was constantly seeking out the shade. I think I'm still not used to all this heat. I hope my body can cope with it soon, because I think Thailand and Australia could be hotter than this!

We went for lunch at Monte Rochelle, a nearby winery. We were sat outside, in a nicely shaded area and the view was gorgeous. I've been told that SA beef was comparable to Alberta's AAA beef, so I went on to order a medium rare rib eye steak. I was really hungry so it's amazing how fast I devoured that piece of meat. Lunch was excellent, but I think Alberta's AAA steak is still better. I'm not saying that just because I'm Calgarian.

After lunch, we drove to Boschendal where Sandre did another wine tasting. It was too hot for me to consume any alcohol so I passed. Otherwise, I might be sing in the car.

We drove to Stellenbosch decided that it was time to find our abode for the night. We checked out a few B&B places and quite a few didn't have the room for all of us and another place was quite over priced. Then we came across Fynbos, and at R400 pp, we decided to look no further and bunk down there. I decided to shower then watch a bit of telly before meeting up with everyone for dinner. American Idol was on. It was showing the 62 year old general singing "Pants on the ground"! I thought it was the funniest thing ever. If you haven't seen it yet, you tube it. DO IT!

I met up with Sandre a few minutes later and apparently she caught the same clip too. The both of us suddenly starting sing in unison: "Pants on the ground, pants on the ground, you look like a fool with your pants on the ground"... Poor Andre didn't know what's gotten into us, because he was in the shower and missed the clip. So if you haven't seen it yet, watch it on you tube. DO IT, DO IT, DO IT!

We went to find Andre's parents then decided to go for Thai food. We walked about what felt like 10-15 blocks to the restaurant. It was a nice walk though because the temperature is now pleasant at this time of the day. Stellenbosch is a university town so it was safe to walk around in the evenings.

A nice view

Just before arriving to Frenschhoek, we had to drive up and down a few mountainous areas. This was taken on a layby just before going down the mountain. We were also stuck behind an extremely slow going lorrie doing about 10 - 25 m/h. Must be a new guy. Overtaking was an option but finding the right (safe) moment could keep you waiting for a while.

Random thoughts...

• I saw a few new houses being built here, and the workers use pickaxes instead of diggers and bricks are thrown up one at a time instead of using the pulley system (or an elevator)


• I bought a bottle of sunscreen SPF 40 and have used over half in less than 2 weeks. I'm not looking for a tan but after a while, I think i'll get one anyway even if I constantly grease myself up with SPF 40.


• Garlic, garlic, garlic. Everyone loves garlic just as much as me, so no one notices my garlic breath since everyone has one.


• The ceilings here are very high. Imagine being the in WC doing a number 2...


• I'm not doing very well with my daily swimming practice, but I can now tread water for up to one minute! My personal best.

Birkenhead Brewery

We went to Birkenhead brewery for lunch and also did the brewery tour. The guide was very knowledgeable and was able to answer all the questions thrown at her. We all did the wine tasting with 4 different types of wine except for Andre that did the beer and cider tasting with 5 different types of beer and 1 type of cider. The tour and tasting was R30 and there was enough alcohol in the tasting to get me completely smashed... that is, if I drank all the liquid in the glasses. But I still came out a bit red faced with just sipping each wine and tried some of Andre's beers and cider.

We each got a complementary bottle of premium beer from the brewery. The labels on these bottles are put on by hand. Manual labour is cheap down here... cheaper than buying a machine to do the sticking!

Sushi on the harbour

We had sushi in the Gecko bar on the harbour for dinner the other day. I was surprised that sushi was availabe on SA. It was alright, but i think the one I made in Paris was better.

Visiting Hermanus, and going in the pool...

This is Hermanus, the closest town. There's whale watching here but it's the wrong time of the year so no whales to see for me.















It's nice here, and maybe a little to hot for me. I think it takes a little bit of time to get used to the heat. It's hard work, but i'll try my best.


















There's a pool here. Yippy!

I'm practicing how to move my arms so that I can tread in water. Just need to get those arm movements down, then i'll be alright. I think i'm doing quite well.

Oh wait, now I need to do the leg part...

So i'm kicking frantically and moving my arms in the water. I can stay up for a few seconds, then I'm huffing and puffing. I thought I was more fit that this!

Suggestions anyone?

Jan 9th. Not wicked sick, just plain sick...

Heat stroke, dehydration and motion sickness hit all at once. I need to remember to drink more and eat more. I was feeling very poorly at the restaurant after a ride in the car and couldn't touch any of my main meal. I was only able to nibble on salad, so I went on to eat everyone's side salad. I had the AC blasting in my face the entire journey home and managed to get back without puking. I passed out in bed almost immediately (good thing). For me, sleeping in these situations usually resets my body.

Today's Entertainment

About the entertainment...

Chilling on deck

It's quite hot here. I'm using SPF 40 so that I don't get burnt. How's everyone in Canada and the UK doing?

Jan 8th. Relaxing Day

• Temperature was hot, I think it was +23c


• Spent the whole day sitting around in and out of the sun


• I was practicing treading water in the outdoor pool where the water temperature was +27c


• I've spent the last few days in flip flops... why did I pack socks?


• No telly here, but I don't miss it very much (so far...) Sandre are interesting enough


• Drove pass the 'black' area yesterday. They live in shacks with tin roofs. People born in the west are very privilaged whether they believe it or not


• Walked around the gated community and the surrounding area. There are 2 restaurants, 1 gas station, a wine shop and a club house where there's a full size pool
  

Jan 7th. Slept like a rock

• Drove into the nearest town called Hermanus and checked out the local market.
• Saw lots of paintings and craft on display. No prices are listed so will need to barter if one was to buy something.
• Effects of the motion sickness pills has completely worn off now. But then we went to a bar by the sea and I got myself wasted from a Strawberry Dakari (I had an empty stomach)
• I got motion sickness from the journey back, so I went for a siesta immediately. What a hard life eh?
• Biltong was everywhere. I tried game and chicken biltong and had some ostretch sticks too. Very good
• Today the 'kids' made cha siu and prawn pasta, and fried courgettes

Jan 5, 2010. First flight out...

Jan 5th, woke up at 8am and spent the next few hours packing and repacking my bag. I wanted to travel light so I’ve decided to go with just a carry on size backpack. I had to leave behind my beloved Swiss army knife, pout!

After making some sacrifices, I managed to fit everything into my pack and it weighs in at around 5-6 kg. My pack contains the following items: 1 T-shirt, 2 collared shirts, 1 pair of Capri shorts, 1 pair of basketball shorts, 7 pairs of underwear, 5 pairs of socks, 1 fleece jacket, 1 windbreaker, 1 hat, 1 balaclava, 1 pair of flip flops, 1 pair of sunglasses, 1 regular size towel, 1 face towel, 1 sleeping bag liner, 1 camera, 1 foldable bowl, 1 spork, 1 ziplock bag of first aid, 1 ziplock bag of bathroom items, 1 ziplock bag of electronic cables and 1 ziplock bag of lady stuff (tampons...)

I was really stressed out because i kept thinking that there was something that I forgot to do, then I was annoyed at myself for being stressed out. Then I felt emotional when I realized that I’ll be travelling solo for the next few months.

The flight out of Heathrow was over 11 hrs. I couldn’t sleep very well on this overnight flight, even after taking the motion sickness pills. Those usually act like sleeping pills for me. The seats on Virgin Atlantic were really cramped, even for someone my size. I was able to dose off 30 mins to an hour at a time but not able to fall asleep for any longer. I had a stopover at Jo’burg and I didn’t know how I got through security because I was severely impaired by the motion sickness pills.

My stopover was only 1.5 hrs (it was scheduled to be 3 hrs but my flight in was delayed by 1.5 hrs) however passing through customs and getting the boarding pass to Cape Town took less than 30 mins. I had time to go to subway and found that my credit card failed to work. So I stuffed myself with sour cream and onion Pringles instead.

The 2hr flight to Cape Town via South African airlines was much more comfortable. The seats were wider, it had more leg room and I had two seats to myself. Alas, after 16 hrs, i’ve arrived in Cape Town and was greeted by Sandre (Sandi and Andre). Then we drove back to their abode in Hemel en Aard (it’s about 1.5hr from Cape Town)

For the next few hours, I was like a zombie. It took a while for effects the motion sickness pills to wear off. I got a tour of the massive house and the garden. My room is roomy and the bed is very comfortable. I tested it almost immediately and was out instantly. I awoke to the smell of steak. Andre’s parents (the grown ups) made us peppered steak with stir fried vegi and roast potatoes. It was delish. We will take turns on cooking dinners, so tomorrow, the ‘kids’ will prepare the evening meal. The weather was lovely so we ate outside.