Singapore and the Netherlands
(Picture: Canal at Dusk, Amsterdam)

My last few days in Singapore were really nice, I saw some of the city centre and the area along the river. It reminds me a lot of Darling Harbour in Sydney. The weather in the evenings is just perfect, and there are always people out having a good time.
However, the time had come to move on, and on Wednesday night I flew out to Heathrow, which has to be the worst airport I've ever been to (for it's size). Maybe I was just in a terrible mood after sitting on a plane for 3 hours while they fixed the air con before we took off, and thus missing my connecting flight to Amsterdam, but it really was a depressing place. But eventually I did make my way to Amsterdam, where I was met by Tim (my cousin Jayde's husband) and their son Peppin, who is about to turn 1.
On Friday morning I caught a train through the flat green countryside to Amsterdam, about 45min away. It was just like in the postcards: canals, windmills and cows, and people on bicycles! I arrived in Amsterdam around 9am and headed to the tourist info, where I was aghast to discover that I had to PAY for map! It was €2, about $3, but still... it's the principle... The map was very good though.
I walked all the way from Amsterdam Centraal (train station) to Anne Frank’s House. It was a nice walk, I saw many pretty canals and old houses that. Anne Frank's house was interesting, but not great, because they have taken out all the original furnishings and just have a few glass cabinet displays and quotes from the diary written on the walls. The best part was climbing up the actual staircase that was hidden behind a bookcase when the Franks were there.
I then walked all the way to Museum Plein, which is where all the big museums are, including the national museum (Rijksmuseum). I only went to the van Gogh museum. It was really good, I really like van Gogh’s work and the gallery was laid out well. I saw some of his most famous works, including the one with sunflowers. I also looked at the other exhibitions, which included a huge collection of Japanese art from the Meiji period.
I walked all the way to the Royal Palace (trying to save money by not catching trams! Besides, you get a better feel for a city on foot) to meet my friend Wouter, who is a Dutch guy I met at Melbourne Uni who is now living in the Hague (a city on the west coast). We decided to take a cruise of the canals, which is a very touristy thing to do but still very interesting. There was a commentary, so at least I knew what I was looking at! Saw lots of lovely old buildings and bridges. There are a lot of small boats anchored along the sides of the canals, which people take out along the canals in the late afternoon. There are even some house boats. Wouter and I then wandered around an area of Amsterdam called Jordaan, which is a residential area (only the very rich can afford to live in the central district). It was nice to see how actual residents of Amsterdam lived, the streets are pretty and narrow with tall buildings. There are lots of flowering pots of geraniums, petunias etc. We then walked to Rembrandtsplein (‘plein’ means ‘square’). This year is the 400th anniversary of Rembrandt’s birth, and so on display in the plein there is a big group of statues depicting his most famous painting, the Nightwatch. There is a small grass lawn surrounded by trees where the statues are, and all around this there are bars and restaurants with outdoor tables - it's great. I really like Amsterdam and will definitely be coming back for the Dutch ''Queen's day'' celebrations at the end of April!
There are bicycles EVERYWHERE. I almost got hit by one about 5 times in Amsterdam, because I didn’t know which were bike paths and which were pedestrian paths (they are normally the same), and I would instinctively step in FRONT of the bike instead of away from it (because of the whole riding-on-the-other-side-of-the-road thing).
On Saturday morning I caught a train to the Hague, which is the centre of government for the Netherlands (even though Amsterdam is the capital), it is also home to the International Court of Justice. There are many old government buildings, it is quite pretty. I had some of the famous ‘fries with mayonnaise’ that you can get everywhere in the Netherlands. It was nice but also very rich! We then caught a tram to the seaside suburb of Scheningven (that is an approximate spelling...) around 5pm. It is a very popular beach, especially amongst tourists. There is a long promenade, and hundreds of beach bars/restaurants with lots of outdoor tables. I guess it's a pretty good beach by Dutch standards... but doesn't really measure up to Clifton (South Africa) or some of the Australian beaches! We sat at one of the beach bars to have a drink (well I just had a Coke because I was feeling very poor by this time!), which was lovely and relaxing.
Today (Sunday) Jayde and Tim took me out to see some Dutch countryside. We drove out to a pretty town called Zaandijk, where they showed me some of the tranquil residential streets. There are small narrow canals between some of the houses, which are all about 100 years old. We then went to an area just on the edge of the town, where there are some working windmills and other things, including a clog-making workshop and a cheese factory. It was really geared towards tourists, but still very pretty.
Tomorrow afternoon I am flying out to ROME, which will be great I am sure! I'll probably have pretty limited internet access for the next month, so won't be able to put up many updates... but I'll try!

Singapore and Bangkok
Well things did work out, even though after much frantic repacking my luggage was still 8kg overweight. Thankfully the nice man at Qantas allowed me another 5kg, so I only had to pay for 3kg extra…The flight to Singapore was great: good service, good food (mostly), and awesome in-flight entertainment. Those of you back in Melbourne will be pleased to know that I finally caught up on some classic Australian movies: I watched Lantana and the Castle, both of which were great. I also watched Somersault, which was a bit disappointing.
Anyway, so I arrived in Singapore late Wednesday night and was met at the airport by my friend Boris, who I am staying with here.
Thursday morning I set out to explore the Arab district of Singapore, as well as Little India. Both interesting places. Singapore itself is a lovely city, despite the heat and oppressive humidity, it is spacious, clean and has a lot of trees to provide shade. After wandering around and getting lost several times, I realised that the great Singapore city-wide sale was ending on Sunday, and that I had better get a move on because Boris had organised to go away for the weekend. So I traipsed off to Orchard Rd (shopping district), along with every other tourist in Singapore. Have to admit that I wasn’t really in the mood for shopping, and I didn’t buy a single thing!
On Thursday evening Boris and I flew out to BANGKOK for three days. Friday morning we took full advantage of the hotel’s buffet breakfast, before heading to the city’s most famous tourist attractions: the Grand Palace and Wát Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha). I took lots of photos, hopefully they do it justice. A wát is a temple monastery, a huge complex full of amazing temples covered in mosaic tiles. The detail and colour is just spectacular. The dress code for these areas is very strict: have to have legs and shoulders covered, and wear closed shoes. I nearly died ! It was very hot in Bangkok, but not quite as humid as Singapore.
After that went to Wát Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha), which is the oldest wát in Bangkok. It houses this HUGE figure of a reclining Buddha (46m long, 15m high). Thai Buddhists are very fond of gold leaf, so it is all quite opulent and overwhelming.
Bangkok has about 8 million inhabitants. I’m sure at least half have a motorbike. The traffic is horrendous – despite the construction of an overhead ‘Sky Train’ and a metro system underground. There are a lot of taxis, it’s all we used because they are so cheap – just a few dollars each time. And air-conditioned! Once we caught a tuk-tuk, which was slightly hair-raising, but fun. The pavements are very crowded, made worse by the ubiquitous street vendors selling all sorts of food. There are few pedestrian crossings, so walking anywhere in Bangkok is quite an experience. Thankfully the traffic is as adept as dodging pedestrians as pedestrians are at walking straight in front of oncoming cars.
The Thais are generally a friendly people. However, being a Westerner makes you an instant target for all sorts of cons. The taxi drivers in particular will always try and convince you to go to this tailor/shop/jewellery store. The trick is to say that you have been in Bangkok for at least a week, so they won’t try and rip you off.
We visited many other temples and markets, and decided on Saturday night to hit the town. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out quite as planned… A friend of Boris who lived in Bangkok for 6 months recommended that we go to QBar, a nice laid-back bar down a small side-street. So after much walking, we found QBar – only to be told that it was closed. As were the majority of bars and clubs in Bangkok. Why? Because elections were being held the next day, and the government had banned the sale of alcohol for the whole weekend!
Anyway, I had a great time in Bangkok and now I’m back in Singapore, relaxing at the apartment before heading to the Chinese Gardens. Next stop: Amsterdam!
PS I'll post some photos soon, it's taking too long right now...

First Post
Well this is it, the first posting… this blog is still a work in progress! Although I am fairly html-illiterate, so this is possibly as good as it will get…
And what is this blog all about? I am embarking on the trip of a lifetime – a year abroad studying at the Institute of Political Studies in Paris, with a bit of travel before and after. You can expect to see many interesting pictures from Singapore, the Netherlands, Italy, Greece… and that’s just the first 6 weeks!
There are a few pictures up from my farewell dinner on 13th July and drinks on the 15th– thanks again to everyone who came along! Both nights were fantastic and a wonderful way to say goodbye.Well, that is it for my short intro, stay tuned for the next post which will probably be in Singapore or the Netherlands… I have to go and PACK because I am leaving on Wednesday and feeling slightly disorganised! But I have great faith in things working out in the end!