Singapore 2 - Sore feet

We have trekked all over Singapore now, and my feet are extremely sore.

Being in little India, we had to sample the local Indian food, there are so many restaurants, but I decided to test a theory that seems to work pretty well in Melbourne. I have noticed that in Melbourne, the restaurants on the main street are pretty average, but if you go down some of the back streets and alley ways, you tend to find some really fantastic ones. We took a slight detour off the main road were there were plenty of restaurants, and found a place that was full of Indian people eating. The only problem was that they weren't using any cutlery. Fingers seemed to be the preferred method of placing food into the correct orifice, and it looked very messy. Niki was worried about this at first, but consoled herself with the realisation that the waiter obviously realised we were tourists and would bring us cutlery. He did, but what Niki didn't count on was that the Indian woman next to us would be so amused by the sight of cutlery that her laughter would be enough to shame both of us into trying it the traditional way. This said, we both made a mess but had a ball, and the food was absolutely fantastic, and pretty cheap too, at just $4 (Singapore dollars) for each meal.

Today was spent navigating the train network, and I must say, Singapore has the best train system I have seen so far (true, I have only Melbourne, Sydney Buenos Aires and New York that I can really compare it to), but it was so easy to find our way around, and the ticketing system is excellent.

Anyway, I'm dribbling, must go and find somewhere for dinner, we leave for Cyprus at 4:00 am in the morning.

Singapore

We have just arrived in Singapore, we landed at 4:00am Singapore time, the temperature outside was 27 degrees Celsius, and it was raining.
It is now 1:30pm, the temperature feels like 37 degrees Celsius...... and it is raining.
We are enjoying all the sites and sounds of little India, and we have already put in a good 4 hours of shopping.
We had a very pleasant surprise waiting for us at Sydney airport, when we checked in they told us that there was a problem with our tickets..... and that they would have to upgrade us to business class. This was my first ever upgrade (although Niki's a bit of a veteran when it comes to upgrades), and we made the most of it, although most of it was spent sleeping, we did enjoy the extra leg room.

Holiday

Niki and I are off to Cyprus tomorrow. I don't know how frequently I'll be able to update this blog, but we're hoping to post photos and generally keep everyone who is interested up to date with everything that's going on, so keep an eye on this blog.

Graduation

My partner has just graduated, and although she'll miss the graduation ceremony, we decided to get a few photos for family and friends.

The emperors new clothes

As I have recently resigned my job and am now thinking of either contracting, or looking for a new job in the IT industry, I decided I'd best buy myself a suit. So here is the final result after spending AU $550.
All I can say is I hope it's worth it.

This is in fact the very first new suit I have ever owned, and the guy at the mens wear store told me that it's made from a very special material and only really intelligent people can see it's true value and would pay AU $550 for it.

Public transport Articles in the Age

Today there are 2 articles in the age about the problem of congested roads and the possibility of public transport easing these issues.
There is no doubt that getting people out of their cars and into public transport is the answer, and will have many other benefits besides un-clogging our cities freeways, but this just won't happen until public transport is improved to a point where it is overwhelmingly cheaper and more convenient to use than a personal car.
We have a culture that (for better or worse) value personal control and the freedom to be spontaneous. People are NOT going to sell their cars, (although I did) as this is a serious restriction on the personal freedoms the car provides, but they may be convinced to use public transport to commute to work (or even for some weekend day trips) if the following conditions are met.
1. Travel on public transport is substantially cheaper than using the car.
2. The trip by public transport is quicker than the same trip by car.
3. They are reasonably close (walking distance) to a regular, reliable form of public transport that gives them the ability to get where they need to go. (Granted sometimes connections are necessary, but they need to be kept to a minimum, and they need to actually connect with very small waiting times). And
4. The public transport service doesn't cease before they want to come home. I know of people who would love to catch public transport to and from work, but because the only bus service that can get them home stops not long after 6:00 pm, they are forced to drive to work in case they are required to work back.

Some of our public transport system is reasonably good, I was able to sell my car, because I live in North Carlton, and work in Hawthorn, both of which a relatively well serviced by trams and trains. Other parts of Melbourne are not so lucky, and it is often impossible to work in around the public transport system to get to and from the places they need to be.

in his statement transport minister Peter Bachelor states "There is a difference between our plans and what the budget capacity is able to achieve". This is just ridiculous considering the amount of money slated for new freeways which will only make the traffic congestion problem worse. The solution is obvious, No more freeways, and re-direct that money into improving public transport.

Gorgeous Woman

Thought I'd start placing some personal pictures on my blog.
This is a great picture of my partner Niki.