Bali, not the goldcoast as i was lead to believe
sorry if its come through several times
Well Im leaving Singapore tomorrow and on to Bali, time to sum up the place I guess.
Singapore as far as living would probably be the next place after Melbourne Im want to live, nice weather, clean streets, safe, beautiful city, tons of place to buy stuff.
Then there is the downside, no freedom of speech, those who oppress the government are basically crushed, massive media censorship, high cost of living, only the wealthy live in actual houses....and Ive seen 2 pet dogs in almost a week, not really the place if you want to bring fido.
The shopping centers to me kind of remind me of crown casino, without the pokies, only you need to extend them across the entire Melbourne cbd (and your still only a fraction of the way there), and add the most elaborate designs involving staircases, under and overpasses, as well as underground shopping malls.
Really very different from Chadstone or the US malls in that its not a giant block・that stands out from the rest of the buildings..... There simply are no other buildings, its all shopping centres.
Booze is uber expensive, but you can buy it in 7-11, though for almost $90 for a bottle of jack Daniels.... you’d have to be gagging for it pretty badly.
No drugs at all, well they do exist but nearly impossible to get, if that’s your thing, then this place isn’t for you, its amazing how the threat of death can turn away people,
As Ive already mentioned, best public transport system I’ve ever encountered, fast, efficient, clean and punctual.
So I’ve spent the last days being shallow and just 壮hopping・or at the very least looking for things to buy, my big investments for the trip are a palm pilot (so I can give myself the false sense of actually being organized), and a camera....which is a very small toy・so I can document・my adventures.... photos pending.
Interesting thing I discovered about Singapore, was apparently the government is guying up allot of the apartments/ land, with the aim of basically owning it all! What they do is offer a hugely inflated price on real-estate, and people generally take it, so for the post part people purchase ・9 year・leases, so its possible to buy houses for an extremely small amount of money, of the remaining lease is short.... however when the government asks to buy your property.... you really want to sell, the consequences can be pretty nasty.
Still all that aside, I could definitely see myself living here, beautiful place, definitely worth a visit
Anyway that night, I discovered a small flaw on my palm pilot (dead pixel for anyone who cares), next morning involved a last minute dash back to little India(where I made my purchase), to get it sorted…and I tell you ne thing, the Indians are damn good to deal with, the problem was identified, there was a little arguing in Indian…(actual name something else), the situation was fixed, (replaced, and all were happy….,…..they also give a great rate of exchange on currency...its meant to be the dodgy area of town, but frankly I’ve seen worse (king st anyone).
Well, after a last minutes rush to Singapore airport, which resulted in my friend being horribly late, and just getting his flight, I had a few hours to kill, so after a bit of duty free shopping…booze and smokes of course, then ext task was to find a bar.
10 minutes and a couple of Bacardi and coke doubles later, I was starting to regret my move, it occurred to me at this point I really hadn’t eaten all day, and I almost fell up a set of stairs….twice.
Flight was short and uneventful, I got stuck between the families with small children, but they were quiet and everything was good and happy.
So Bali, arrived at night time, staying in the hills away from everything…to those who feel that bali just a tourist destination, much like the gold coast (and frankly I did)…you haven’t stayed in the hills, away from it all.
The place was a large house, with 2 wings, a couple of housekeepers, and a guard (who was always asleep), the rooms were large, and the noise from the insects was incredible.
Across from our room, probably 20 feet away, were rice fields, and lots and lots of them… stretching almost as far as the eye can see… the place is serene like nowhere else I’ve ever been, a large stone temple across from the rice fields made a picturesque view….even in the dark.
The sound of the wildlife, while interesting at first became excessive later on…. You learn to sleep with ear plugs in, which is very, very uncool.
Frogs, dogs and roosters… its almost like they are on some sort of fucked up roster to ensure there is noise 24/7.
Substantially less enchanting when woken up @ 7am the next morning by them.
The spiders are massive….. including legs they are probably the size of an average woman’s hand… and the wasps are the size of small cigarette lighters…. Just f*cking huge.
Oh and of course no hot water….character building…my arse.
Next morning I’m sitting there trying to learn Japanese, for my impending trip…. Not having much luck as hardly the cunning linguist, and despite the incredibly logical and simple numbering of 1 to 10, its just not sinking in (though I seem to have remembered 1-10 in Cantonese…something I never got b4).
Anyway that day we walked down to “ubud”, the main town, about a 30 minute walk along, steep winding roads, all the while dodging crazy mofo drivers riding motorbikes (everyone has them)….
So the town is kind of dirty, and a typical tourist trap, standard bali crap I’m sure we’ve all received from people as presents in the past….
Nothing worth mentioning, though lots of great restaurants….
The currency is for lack of a better word a major c**t… 6,000 rupees to the dollar, which s a pain in the arse to convert in your head, and walking round with wads of cash, hardly worth the paper they are printed on is very irritating.
All up the town didn’t float my boat, though the general scenery around where we are staying is a sight to behold, pictures simply do not do it justice, though ill upload a few when I get my act together.
Off to Japan on Monday, and I’m horribly unprepared… its going to be crazy for better or worse….
Also everyone send me their date of birth, so I can put it into my new toy, and not forget.
Later all
Gidz
Well Im leaving Singapore tomorrow and on to Bali, time to sum up the place I guess.
Singapore as far as living would probably be the next place after Melbourne Im want to live, nice weather, clean streets, safe, beautiful city, tons of place to buy stuff.
Then there is the downside, no freedom of speech, those who oppress the government are basically crushed, massive media censorship, high cost of living, only the wealthy live in actual houses....and Ive seen 2 pet dogs in almost a week, not really the place if you want to bring fido.
The shopping centers to me kind of remind me of crown casino, without the pokies, only you need to extend them across the entire Melbourne cbd (and your still only a fraction of the way there), and add the most elaborate designs involving staircases, under and overpasses, as well as underground shopping malls.
Really very different from Chadstone or the US malls in that its not a giant block・that stands out from the rest of the buildings..... There simply are no other buildings, its all shopping centres.
Booze is uber expensive, but you can buy it in 7-11, though for almost $90 for a bottle of jack Daniels.... you’d have to be gagging for it pretty badly.
No drugs at all, well they do exist but nearly impossible to get, if that’s your thing, then this place isn’t for you, its amazing how the threat of death can turn away people,
As Ive already mentioned, best public transport system I’ve ever encountered, fast, efficient, clean and punctual.
So I’ve spent the last days being shallow and just 壮hopping・or at the very least looking for things to buy, my big investments for the trip are a palm pilot (so I can give myself the false sense of actually being organized), and a camera....which is a very small toy・so I can document・my adventures.... photos pending.
Interesting thing I discovered about Singapore, was apparently the government is guying up allot of the apartments/ land, with the aim of basically owning it all! What they do is offer a hugely inflated price on real-estate, and people generally take it, so for the post part people purchase ・9 year・leases, so its possible to buy houses for an extremely small amount of money, of the remaining lease is short.... however when the government asks to buy your property.... you really want to sell, the consequences can be pretty nasty.
Still all that aside, I could definitely see myself living here, beautiful place, definitely worth a visit
Anyway that night, I discovered a small flaw on my palm pilot (dead pixel for anyone who cares), next morning involved a last minute dash back to little India(where I made my purchase), to get it sorted…and I tell you ne thing, the Indians are damn good to deal with, the problem was identified, there was a little arguing in Indian…(actual name something else), the situation was fixed, (replaced, and all were happy….,…..they also give a great rate of exchange on currency...its meant to be the dodgy area of town, but frankly I’ve seen worse (king st anyone).
Well, after a last minutes rush to Singapore airport, which resulted in my friend being horribly late, and just getting his flight, I had a few hours to kill, so after a bit of duty free shopping…booze and smokes of course, then ext task was to find a bar.
10 minutes and a couple of Bacardi and coke doubles later, I was starting to regret my move, it occurred to me at this point I really hadn’t eaten all day, and I almost fell up a set of stairs….twice.
Flight was short and uneventful, I got stuck between the families with small children, but they were quiet and everything was good and happy.
So Bali, arrived at night time, staying in the hills away from everything…to those who feel that bali just a tourist destination, much like the gold coast (and frankly I did)…you haven’t stayed in the hills, away from it all.
The place was a large house, with 2 wings, a couple of housekeepers, and a guard (who was always asleep), the rooms were large, and the noise from the insects was incredible.
Across from our room, probably 20 feet away, were rice fields, and lots and lots of them… stretching almost as far as the eye can see… the place is serene like nowhere else I’ve ever been, a large stone temple across from the rice fields made a picturesque view….even in the dark.
The sound of the wildlife, while interesting at first became excessive later on…. You learn to sleep with ear plugs in, which is very, very uncool.
Frogs, dogs and roosters… its almost like they are on some sort of fucked up roster to ensure there is noise 24/7.
Substantially less enchanting when woken up @ 7am the next morning by them.
The spiders are massive….. including legs they are probably the size of an average woman’s hand… and the wasps are the size of small cigarette lighters…. Just f*cking huge.
Oh and of course no hot water….character building…my arse.
Next morning I’m sitting there trying to learn Japanese, for my impending trip…. Not having much luck as hardly the cunning linguist, and despite the incredibly logical and simple numbering of 1 to 10, its just not sinking in (though I seem to have remembered 1-10 in Cantonese…something I never got b4).
Anyway that day we walked down to “ubud”, the main town, about a 30 minute walk along, steep winding roads, all the while dodging crazy mofo drivers riding motorbikes (everyone has them)….
So the town is kind of dirty, and a typical tourist trap, standard bali crap I’m sure we’ve all received from people as presents in the past….
Nothing worth mentioning, though lots of great restaurants….
The currency is for lack of a better word a major c**t… 6,000 rupees to the dollar, which s a pain in the arse to convert in your head, and walking round with wads of cash, hardly worth the paper they are printed on is very irritating.
All up the town didn’t float my boat, though the general scenery around where we are staying is a sight to behold, pictures simply do not do it justice, though ill upload a few when I get my act together.
Off to Japan on Monday, and I’m horribly unprepared… its going to be crazy for better or worse….
Also everyone send me their date of birth, so I can put it into my new toy, and not forget.
Later all
Gidz
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