The alarm clock might as well have been thrown at my head, 7:30 am was far to early for a man who had guzzled down as much wine as I had, I’m not really a hangover kind of chap but wine has always been my downfall and team that with a silly o clock start… Wha-La – Hangover! But there wasn’t time to dwell on it, Georgie was on top form and we had to pack our bags and get upstairs ASAP to make the most of the breakfast buffet.

The buffet at the B Hotel was fit for a king and since it was indeed my first European breakfast outside of the UK, I made sure I enjoyed both chocolate filled pastries and meat all on one plate. There was no time for seconds though, we had to get our crap out of our room, check out and hop on a minibus to Plaça de Sant Jaume, a large square near Les Rambles – Barcelona’s main walking street. The itinerary for the day was simple:

1. Buy the ingredients at La Boqueria Market.
2. Cook them at Cook & Taste.

The minibus dropped us at Plaça de Sant Jaume where we met Teresa from Cook & Taste, the place where we would later be learning to cook Catalan style. But first – The ingredients and where better to shop for fresh ingredients than at Barcelona’s most famous market La Boqueria Market. We strolled through the narrow streets towards Les Rambles which were buzzing with early morning activity, for me and Georgie at least, this was our first real glimpse of Barcelona. The buildings dripped character and the shop windows oozed style, the smell of fresh pastries and coffee found it’s way out of the many cafe’s and straight up my hooter… Even the graffiti had a certain flair. it was a freakishly cold morning (freakish for Barcelona so I’m told) and the shady alleys weren’t helping much, as we emerged onto the wide open Les Rambles all the bloggers made a dash for the sunshine that would envy any Olympic sprinter.

Teresa gave us the low down on the market and what we’d be buying and then let us loose, the first few stalls at the entrance were vegetables, meats and sweets, all vibrant and colourful – a superb photo opportunity that everyone got stuck into… A mad few minutes followed while everyone’s excitement took over and those stalls at the front were drowned in a blanket of camera flashes – like a tourist thunderstorm sweeping through. La Boqueria Market is luscious in every sense, I’ve been to plenty of wet markets in my time but none have ever made me wish that I actually lived nearby just so I could shop at them all the time, with so much achingly fresh produce it gave me the impression that if I shopped there all the time I’d be so healthy that I’d live to 150. We followed Teresa through the various sections of the market collecting the things we’d need, at each place she stopped she would give us a little info and sometimes a sample to chew on but to be honest nothing was sinking in. The market was so colourful, so lively, so authentic and indeed smelly (in a good way) that I had no spare senses to concentrate with, we really were experiencing Catalonia!
La Boqueria Market is rather cleverly set out and divided into various sections like meat, fish and vegetables but the fish one is where it’s at. Stacks of prawns and lobsters wriggle about, the smell of the sea is everywhere and the sound of big cleavers hacking through lumps of fresh fish fill the air. The market was busy with shoppers, tourists and traders alike and with such a large group, wherever we stopped we managed to cause an obstruction for someone.

We plodded on through the market and something struck me about the Catalonian people, I’d noticed that they carry themselves with in a certain way, they had a quiet confidence that I’d almost mistook for some sort of arrogance – maybe because we were a bunch of tourists or something? NO… that wasn’t it, it was pride… Barcelona is a beautiful city with a beautiful way of life weaved throughout, we’d hardly seen it really but it was clear already that the Catalans enjoy a certain way of life and the city is built around that… Not the other way round…

Just to be VERY clear, this was indeed a paid for press trip sponsored by the Department of Tourism for Catalonia and if you want to know more about the HAPPYTIMEBLOG disclosure policy and how we handle free stuff then have a peek at our new Disclosure page.

The alarm clock might as well have been thrown at my head, 7:30 am was far to early for a man who had guzzled down as much wine as I had, I’m not really a hangover kind of chap but wine has always been my downfall and team that with a silly o clock start… Wha-La – Hangover! But there wasn’t time to dwell on it, Georgie was on top form and we had to pack our bags and get upstairs ASAP to make the most of the breakfast buffet.

The buffet at the B Hotel was fit for a king and since it was indeed my first European breakfast outside of the UK, I made sure I enjoyed both chocolate filled pastries and meat all on one plate. There was no time for seconds though, we had to get our crap out of our room, check out and hop on a minibus to Plaça de Sant Jaume, a large square near Les Rambles – Barcelona’s main walking street. The itinerary for the day was simple:

1. Buy the ingredients at La Boqueria Market.
2. Cook them at Cook & Taste.

The minibus dropped us at Plaça de Sant Jaume where we met Teresa from Cook & Taste, the place where we would later be learning to cook Catalan style. But first – The ingredients and where better to shop for fresh ingredients than at Barcelona’s most famous market La Boqueria Market. We strolled through the narrow streets towards Les Rambles which were buzzing with early morning activity, for me and Georgie at least, this was our first real glimpse of Barcelona. The buildings dripped character and the shop windows oozed style, the smell of fresh pastries and coffee found it’s way out of the many cafe’s and straight up my hooter… Even the graffiti had a certain flair. it was a freakishly cold morning (freakish for Barcelona so I’m told) and the shady alleys weren’t helping much, as we emerged onto the wide open Les Rambles all the bloggers made a dash for the sunshine that would envy any Olympic sprinter.

Teresa gave us the low down on the market and what we’d be buying and then let us loose, the first few stalls at the entrance were vegetables, meats and sweets, all vibrant and colourful – a superb photo opportunity that everyone got stuck into… A mad few minutes followed while everyone’s excitement took over and those stalls at the front were drowned in a blanket of camera flashes – like a tourist thunderstorm sweeping through. La Boqueria Market is luscious in every sense, I’ve been to plenty of wet markets in my time but none have ever made me wish that I actually lived nearby just so I could shop at them all the time, with so much achingly fresh produce it gave me the impression that if I shopped there all the time I’d be so healthy that I’d live to 150. We followed Teresa through the various sections of the market collecting the things we’d need, at each place she stopped she would give us a little info and sometimes a sample to chew on but to be honest nothing was sinking in. The market was so colourful, so lively, so authentic and indeed smelly (in a good way) that I had no spare senses to concentrate with, we really were experiencing Catalonia!
La Boqueria Market is rather cleverly set out and divided into various sections like meat, fish and vegetables but the fish one is where it’s at. Stacks of prawns and lobsters wriggle about, the smell of the sea is everywhere and the sound of big cleavers hacking through lumps of fresh fish fill the air. The market was busy with shoppers, tourists and traders alike and with such a large group, wherever we stopped we managed to cause an obstruction for someone.

We plodded on through the market and something struck me about the Catalonian people, I’d noticed that they carry themselves with in a certain way, they had a quiet confidence that I’d almost mistook for some sort of arrogance – maybe because we were a bunch of tourists or something? NO… that wasn’t it, it was pride… Barcelona is a beautiful city with a beautiful way of life weaved throughout, we’d hardly seen it really but it was clear already that the Catalans enjoy a certain way of life and the city is built around that… Not the other way round…

Just to be VERY clear, this was indeed a paid for press trip sponsored by the Department of Tourism for Catalonia and if you want to know more about the HAPPYTIMEBLOG disclosure policy and how we handle free stuff then have a peek at our new Disclosure page.

As the wheels hit the tarmac in Barcelona we were already struggling with my usual time difference incompetence. Somehow id managed to underestimate the flight time and take the hour off, instead of add it on… Some things will never change.
We blundered through the doors and into the lobby at the B Hotel only twenty minutes late and by the looks of things the other bloggers had hardly noticed, they were all chatting away had a drink in hand. While Georgie checked in I popped over and introduced myself, to be honest it was a really bizarre experience. I’m used to seeing most of these people as a picture the size of a postage stamp but here they all were, life size and sipping drinks.

Me and G rushed upstairs to drop our bags off and quickly freshen up but our flashy room managed to distract us for yet another ten minutes. The B Hotel is a sleek, modern affair with rich dark wood, big sheets of glass and metal all over the shop (you know the sort) and as anyone who knows Georgie knows- luxury is like her catnip! (See Europe A La Carte For a proper review of the B Hotel, Also B Hotel is running their B389 offer until the end of January…)

Back downstairs we all sat in a circle and done an awkward little “get to know you” exercise where we all talk about our on-line identities and endeavours… Not my bag at all. personally, I keep all that geeky stuff under my hat… Like Batman and Bruce Wayne, I keep my on-line life secret to protect those around me… From falling asleep! It was however slightly liberating to be able to natter freely about such things with people who knew what I was on about, unfortunately Georgie hadn’t boned up on the technical side of blogging and was literally baffled.
We were herded through to the dining room where a large table had been carefully set out, grabbed a seat and the wine began to flow. The table chit chat soon turned to our still absent itinerary but Leticia and Amaia (the two organisers of the Catalonia Experience) weren’t giving anything away, it wasn’t a problem though because the food had started to appear and it looked proper tasty!
Being a Euro-virgin I somewhat naively assumed the grub would be pretty much the same as the UK, perhaps of better quality and finer ingredients… But what I wasn’t prepared for was the sheer size of the portions. The “starter” salad landed on the table in front of me and I instantly regretted eating two bread rolls… Honestly, I’ve seen less fresh produce in entire allotments! The wine poured and drank well, the food kept coming and I very quickly realised I was going to need a new hole in my belt for this trip.

Georgie and I stuffed ourselves stupid and I slipped outside for a sensation of the smoky kind, not long after Georgie also found her way outside. Although all the food and wine had loosened the conversation, the main topic was still blogging and a few people had asked Georgie a few questions which were well above her station… She made a quick exit under the cloak of also being a smoker to come out and probe me for a quick blogging lesson… I smoked and Georgie crammed.

I should probably use this opportunity to explain, to those who don’t know, Georgie’s position in regards to the blog and how it wouldn’t work without her… What normally happens is thus: Georgie wakes up with an idea in her head, one of those ideas that most people never ever have, she presents the idea “at” me,
“Aaron! Lets go to Bac Ha market. I will be all hill-tribey and stuff and we can buy some hill tribe clothes and drink some Vietnamese coffee…”
What I do is hone the idea into something possible and work out how it can be done, which normally involves mucho mucho effort, guessing and plenty of luck. But in the end we find ourselves in places and with people that others just don’t see, this is when phase two of Georgie takes over – she busts out the video camera and that’s when the magic happens. So I suppose Georgie’s official Happytimeblog title would be “Director of Creative ideas and  moving pictures” (you can read more about both of us and what we do on our about page).

Cramming and smoking session over we retreated back to the dining room for the grand unveiling of the itinerary. We were all handed small briefcase like bags containing handfuls of leaflets and literature about various places around Barcelona before Leticia Got started on the good stuff:
Day 2:
-Shopping for ingredients at La Bouqueria Market, Barcelona.
-Cooking up the ingredients in traditional Catalan style at Cook & Taste.
-Bus ride to El Montanyà Spa Resort, Seva.
-Relax and enjoy the Spa.

Day 3:
-Hike in the Bergueda Mountains.
-Lunch at Els Roures, Castellar del Riu, Berga.
-Quad bike excursion.
-Back to B Hotel, Barcelona.
-Dinner at La Vinoteca Torres

Day 4:
-Segway tour of Barcelona’s Gothic quarter.
So with that dinner was cleared away and a select few made a  beeline for the bar. Despite the early rise the following morning Nellie (from Wild Junket) was hell bent on hitting the town so the last few sensible people made their excuses and went off to bed while we rapped up warm and wandered up Grand Vie. A few steps outside the hotel we realised Nellie had also thought better of it and slipped off to bed too… Undeterred Georgie, Rich (Brilliant Trips), Keith (Velvet Escapes) and I found a nice little cafe with some smoked meats hanging on the walls and went in for a beer. Somewhere around 1am the place started to fill with locals who were only just sitting down to eat but the beer had started to hang heavy on the Catalonia Experience Crew so we strutted back to the hotel to pack our bags ready for day numero two…

Just to be VERY clear, this was indeed a paid for press trip sponsored by the Department of Tourism for Catalonia and if you want to know more about the HAPPYTIMEBLOG disclosure policy and how we handle free stuff then have a peek at our new Disclosure page.

As the wheels hit the tarmac in Barcelona we were already struggling with my usual time difference incompetence. Somehow id managed to underestimate the flight time and take the hour off, instead of add it on… Some things will never change.
We blundered through the doors and into the lobby at the B Hotel only twenty minutes late and by the looks of things the other bloggers had hardly noticed, they were all chatting away had a drink in hand. While Georgie checked in I popped over and introduced myself, to be honest it was a really bizarre experience. I’m used to seeing most of these people as a picture the size of a postage stamp but here they all were, life size and sipping drinks.

Me and G rushed upstairs to drop our bags off and quickly freshen up but our flashy room managed to distract us for yet another ten minutes. The B Hotel is a sleek, modern affair with rich dark wood, big sheets of glass and metal all over the shop (you know the sort) and as anyone who knows Georgie knows- luxury is like her catnip! (See Europe A La Carte For a proper review of the B Hotel, Also B Hotel is running their B389 offer until the end of January…)

Back downstairs we all sat in a circle and done an awkward little “get to know you” exercise where we all talk about our on-line identities and endeavours… Not my bag at all. personally, I keep all that geeky stuff under my hat… Like Batman and Bruce Wayne, I keep my on-line life secret to protect those around me… From falling asleep! It was however slightly liberating to be able to natter freely about such things with people who knew what I was on about, unfortunately Georgie hadn’t boned up on the technical side of blogging and was literally baffled.
We were herded through to the dining room where a large table had been carefully set out, grabbed a seat and the wine began to flow. The table chit chat soon turned to our still absent itinerary but Leticia and Amaia (the two organisers of the Catalonia Experience) weren’t giving anything away, it wasn’t a problem though because the food had started to appear and it looked proper tasty!
Being a Euro-virgin I somewhat naively assumed the grub would be pretty much the same as the UK, perhaps of better quality and finer ingredients… But what I wasn’t prepared for was the sheer size of the portions. The “starter” salad landed on the table in front of me and I instantly regretted eating two bread rolls… Honestly, I’ve seen less fresh produce in entire allotments! The wine poured and drank well, the food kept coming and I very quickly realised I was going to need a new hole in my belt for this trip.

Georgie and I stuffed ourselves stupid and I slipped outside for a sensation of the smoky kind, not long after Georgie also found her way outside. Although all the food and wine had loosened the conversation, the main topic was still blogging and a few people had asked Georgie a few questions which were well above her station… She made a quick exit under the cloak of also being a smoker to come out and probe me for a quick blogging lesson… I smoked and Georgie crammed.

I should probably use this opportunity to explain, to those who don’t know, Georgie’s position in regards to the blog and how it wouldn’t work without her… What normally happens is thus: Georgie wakes up with an idea in her head, one of those ideas that most people never ever have, she presents the idea “at” me,
“Aaron! Lets go to Bac Ha market. I will be all hill-tribey and stuff and we can buy some hill tribe clothes and drink some Vietnamese coffee…”
What I do is hone the idea into something possible and work out how it can be done, which normally involves mucho mucho effort, guessing and plenty of luck. But in the end we find ourselves in places and with people that others just don’t see, this is when phase two of Georgie takes over – she busts out the video camera and that’s when the magic happens. So I suppose Georgie’s official Happytimeblog title would be “Director of Creative ideas and  moving pictures” (you can read more about both of us and what we do on our about page).

Cramming and smoking session over we retreated back to the dining room for the grand unveiling of the itinerary. We were all handed small briefcase like bags containing handfuls of leaflets and literature about various places around Barcelona before Leticia Got started on the good stuff:
Day 2:
-Shopping for ingredients at La Bouqueria Market, Barcelona.
-Cooking up the ingredients in traditional Catalan style at Cook & Taste.
-Bus ride to El Montanyà Spa Resort, Seva.
-Relax and enjoy the Spa.

Day 3:
-Hike in the Bergueda Mountains.
-Lunch at Els Roures, Castellar del Riu, Berga.
-Quad bike excursion.
-Back to B Hotel, Barcelona.
-Dinner at La Vinoteca Torres

Day 4:
-Segway tour of Barcelona’s Gothic quarter.
So with that dinner was cleared away and a select few made a  beeline for the bar. Despite the early rise the following morning Nellie (from Wild Junket) was hell bent on hitting the town so the last few sensible people made their excuses and went off to bed while we rapped up warm and wandered up Grand Vie. A few steps outside the hotel we realised Nellie had also thought better of it and slipped off to bed too… Undeterred Georgie, Rich (Brilliant Trips), Keith (Velvet Escapes) and I found a nice little cafe with some smoked meats hanging on the walls and went in for a beer. Somewhere around 1am the place started to fill with locals who were only just sitting down to eat but the beer had started to hang heavy on the Catalonia Experience Crew so we strutted back to the hotel to pack our bags ready for day numero two…

Just to be VERY clear, this was indeed a paid for press trip sponsored by the Department of Tourism for Catalonia and if you want to know more about the HAPPYTIMEBLOG disclosure policy and how we handle free stuff then have a peek at our new Disclosure page.

Get this, our 5 star holiday from holiday didn’t end with the super generous extra night Jo and Mandy laid on for us at all, yesterday I woke up having had a terrible nights sleep due to feeling like a pile of shit and left checking out until the very last minute. After a little confusion with one of the concierge’s about when we were leaving he came back to us at the club and said he had arranged complimentary late check-out until 5pm… Result! With that we ate what we could manage at the club and then headed back to our freshly cleaned room so I could catch up on some sleep and try to kick whatever was wrong with me.

We took a taxi down to the MRT station because although I was feeling better I didn’t want to push it but still wanted to keep things in good standing with our budget… Which by the way is going about as good as I felt yesterday. Somehow having a week in 5 star opulent luxury has managed to hammer home how much we need to start watching the pennies, even though we didn’t pay for anything.

The walk from Little India MRT to Little India itself isn’t too far but with a backpack and the flu it feels far enough and determined not to let it get me down we made the ten minute walk without much fuss at all.

The hostel we stayed in before was full and so were most places nearby, with the evening drawing in I had started to feel rough again so we found a new, clean well looked after hotel for not much money which served perfectly as a halfway house between the Ritz Carlton and our usual diggs. I hadn’t really managed to eat anything all day except a few Extra Joss’s (energy drink of epic proportion) and the club buffet had started to wear off of Georgie so we went out for a spot of curry (of course, when in Rome…) but then quickly returned to our room so I could get some sleep.

Neither of us slept well last night, maybe it had something to do with new surroundings after a week in the same place or maybe because we’d got used to our mattress being two foot thick, whatever this mornings wake up call was definitely not music to our ears. Tired still feeling a bit rough and a fairly long day ahead of us we dragged our tired arse’s down to the MRT station and made tracks for Changi airport to catch our 11:10 flight back to Indonesia.

By the time we were in the sky I was feeling loads better and the flight was short and sweet, I think I made some comment before about Bali’s airport being not much more than a shack but Yogjakarta’s airport is even smaller and even more ramshackle… Not that I’m complaining, it feels good to be back in the rough where I can light a cigarette wherever I want and immigration is more about practicing English than actually getting you through whatever “security” checks are supposed to happen, I honestly don’t think anyone saw or wanted to see my passport!

We sat on the step outside the airport as usual sucking in a cigarette letting the most eager travelers and most “eager” taxi drivers meet first then jumped in one that was left and headed for the Sosrowijayan area apparently bursting with cheap places to stay. I’m feeling much better now and Georgie did a great job of playing nurse for me but we have plenty of time here and I don’t really want to push it for a few days so we found a place to stay and the closest place with Bintang, cracked a few and chilled out.

Well we left you at Raffles on Tuesday night I think and since then we haven’t really stopped.

Wednesday was another pool day, the sun was shining and after the night we had a pool day was just what everybody needed. Obviously Jo sat in the sun until he gave himself a good scorching, it wouldn’t be a holiday if he didn’t! Georgie and I hit the gym – not as keenly this time but we had a go nonetheless!

We had to pop back to Orchard road for one last time to pick up Jo’s suits in the evening (which he was very happy with) and then we whisked the “rents”off to little India for a slap up curry. None of us were remotely hungry because when there is food available all day at the club it’s too hard not to graze, but we couldn’t pass up a little spot of curry.

Little India is very lively at night and had a really vibrant buzz about it, I think Jo and Mandy enjoyed walking about through the hustle and bustle especially after the peaceful week we’ve been having.

Thursday morning came around and so did our last day with the Olds, they checked out of their room and dumped their bags in ours, Jo had a business meeting so we hung about at the club (of course) scoffing the freebies and getting started on the vino until he finished we then took a stroll down to the marina to see the symbol of Singapore… The mighty water spurting MerLion!!!

I wasn’t sure if it was because of all the air-con we have been in but I started to feel a little run down, we ogled the MerLion and Georgie made a few videos for her La La Land then we retreated for the heat to the Fullerton hotel again for yet more drinkipoo’s.

Not wanting to go back to our hotel and stew on the inevitable (having to say goodbye in a few hours) we decided we would hop on the hop on – hop off sightseeing bus to kill an hour, it’s an open top affair and the wind in my hair and whiskey in my belly seemed to be helping me perk up. The bus we got on was the Heritage tour, it took us around the CBD, little India, China town and the river front amongst others. We got off near the giant wheel that is the Singapore flyer and had a Popeye’s before heading back to sink a few at the club and prepare Jo and Mandy for the off.

We sat in our room watching the clock and getting the shit hugged out of us by Mandy until it was time, the tears started to roll and we went with them down to the lobby put them in a taxi and said goodbye… Georgie bless her was sobbing and Mandy looked like she wasn’t far behind, we waved until we couldn’t see them any more then turned and went back to the club, I was feeling proper shit and Georgie needed a stiff drink so we sat until closing and drank them dry.

It has been an amazing week and we have had so much fun, it’s always so good to see Jo and Mandy and always so hard to say goodbye but I suppose that’s the price you pay for being a traveller… Still doesn’t make it any easier though.

Amazingly the olds sorted us out with another night at super swank central Ritz Carlton so today we are going to enjoy the facilities until the very last moment before we have to get back in the cheap digs down at little India and tomorrow we leave Singapore too, back to Indonesia… This time to Java.

Thanks a million Jo and Mandy we miss you already and you really didn’t have to be so amazingly generous, we really appreciated it all but mostly we were just so happy to see you and be with you… Mandy don’t worry I don’t have swine flu I had a rough night but the club bourbon helped a lot and today I’m feeling loads better, have a good time in Dubai but most of all have fun!

Today is looking like its going to be a day of not very much but it doesn’t matter because the last three days have been very busy… I’ll start with Sunday.

It was a quiet sort of day spent by the pool at the Ritz Carlton, Jo and Mandy laid out on the loungers while Georgie and I took full advantage of the hotels other superb facilities… The club lounge and the gym. With no beach to jog down we settled for the super swanky gym and I even managed 5km, the furthest I have ever ran without the police behind me!..

A storm blew in by midday and we were stuck at the hotel for most of it, not that it was a problem, we just enjoyed a presentation or two and a cocktail or three at the club. The rain lashed down on the marina and from the 32nd floor we could see lightning striking buildings all over the city, just across the marina a massive building project is underway where they are building a huge casino called Marina Bay Sands I think, sat on top of the three towers are tall construction cranes and as we sat swigging our drinks a huge bolt of lightning hit one of the cranes… No damage but the thunder was so loud it shook the windows!

As night fell over Singapore the storm passed and we got ourselves together for a trip to the famous Singapore Night Safari. It boasts all manner of creatures and animals acting naturally under the cover of darkness, we hopped aboard the natty zebra striped train thing that ferries people around and prepared ourselves for excitement.

We had a laugh as the train drove past sleeping piles of animals under spotlights that looked suspiciously like they were sleeping… Every time I have ever visited a normal day time zoo certain animals that you want to see frolicking about are often asleep and we are told it’s because they’re nocturnal… Bollocks! They are all just lazy because at the night safari the truth comes out… All the fun animals like lions and tigers can actually sleep up to 20 hours a day.

The rest of the night safari followed the same pattern… Spend five minutes trying to spot the little bleeder and when you finally manage to you realise it’s fast asleep! Except for the bats they were very much awake and by far the best thing there, they flapped about around our heads swooping only a couple of inches from us and I got a couple leaves and scared the winkles out of Georgie.

All in it was a good day, relaxation, achievement and sleeping animals… What more can anyone want from a day. Honestly though, zoo’s are a day time affair and had it have been just Georgie and me I would have felt pretty cheated but we had as much fun watching Jo and Mandy squinting into the shadows.

We had a spot of food down by the marina at a lovely clean little hawker centre before calling it a day and turning in.

Monday was the exact opposite of the great night safari swindle, we popped along to Sentosa Island, Singapore’s prime beach destination. We took a cable car from up on mount favour over the docks and the sea down to the Island, somehow we managed to book onto some sort of tour group but it wasn’t too bad at least we didn’t have to walk.

The sights we were expertly guided around were the aquarium, very cool – got to touch some stingrays and see some crabs that span a good 4 ft, and a slightly weird cinema/simulator thing where we all got strapped into booths and flung around to a big screen showing a log ride. The ride kept breaking down halfway through and it just added to it’s weirdness but eventually it managed to finish and a good time was had by all.

Next up was the luge – a sort of big skateboard with handlebars, Mandy wasn’t too keen but once she was strapped in it was clear she was gunning for pole position…

It was really fun as it goes, if it was a little longer it would be possible to achieve some serious speed and when your arse is only an inch off the floor it feels like your going a lot quicker!

The luge brought us nicely to the beach and more importantly a beach bar, I was down to my shorts in seconds and we quickly got amongst the beers as if we had never left the sand.

The drinking continued into Monday night as we spent it necking Singapore slings and boogie-ing the night away to a funky band down at the classically beautiful Raffles hotel.

Yesterday we went to Changi museum in the morning to get to grips with Singapore’s POW history which was sobering but like any other museum of war somehow necessary. In the afternoon we took a stroll around china town and in the evening we went to the Hard rock cafe for some hard rocking grub and live music… Georgie and I managed to sneak a bottle of booze back to our room and with it we drank ourselves to sleep…

As I’m sure you can imagine the last few days in Singapore have been divine.

We have enjoyed living in the lap of luxury thanks to Jo and Mandy (Mum and Dad) and who doesn’t enjoy that!

Georgie and I were up good and early as usual nowadays but Jo and Mandy had asked not to be disturbed until after 9am at the earliest so we just spent the first morning in our luxurious dressing gowns swaying about in our luxurious room enjoying all manner of luxurious luxuries.

When the rents finally woke up we all headed to the Ritz Carlton club no less for a very delicious breakfast with an even more delicious view, I would like to say it’s a hard transition to make between budget beach chic and 5 star luxury but I would definitely be a liar! Although if made to choose I would pick the grubby beach bum life any day it really is a treat and amazingly generous of Jo and Mandy to put us up  like this, and we couldn’t be more grateful!

At the club on the 32nd floor they serve up food all day, they call each different one a presentation and that is really the best word to describe the table of super tasty morsels, also all day cocktails and champagne are of course included and abused!

With breakfast sitting well we headed down to ground level and off to Orchard road, Jo was in the market for a tailored suit and Georgie was in the market for a good old window shop.

Before we left the hotel we were all pretty tired from a long days travelling and a long days shopping just added to it, so once the tape measure had been cast around Jo we wandered back to the hotel for whatever refreshments and presentations they happened to be serving up.

Our rooms both enjoy stunning views out across Singapore and the view from the bathtub is particularly good so with a few hours to kill until dinner we took full advantage of it and had our first soak since being away again…

In the evening we once again ventured away from the allure of the club lounge for a stroll down the river to Clarke Quay and it’s many lively bars and restaurants, had some grub at Hooters and a drink in the very regal Fullerton hotel. It seemed like the place to be and had a real hustle and bustle about it but of course a very clean hustle and bustle as is the Singapore way!

Tired and weary it was time to head back to our hotel for a nightcap and our extremely plump beds…

It is so good to see Jo and Mandy again and Singapore is proving the perfect place to relax and enjoy their wonderful company, with not too much to do and see so we don’t feel like we should be doing we can get on with just being with them for a week… Perfect!

As I’m typing this we are cruising at 30000 feet 45 minutes away from Singapore, off to meet up with the rents (Jo and Mandy). YAY… We cant wait!

We managed to get ourselves in ship shape with our last day in Bali, Georgie spent an entire day at the spa having all sorts scrubbed and waxed and painted and I did whatever any self respecting bloke would do faced with a day alone on Kuta beach Bali… I enjoyed the beach, I enjoyed the Bintang’s and I enjoyed the sunshine!

Georgie managed to fit me into her complex beauty regime some time around sunset so we of course popped along to the beach and met up with our favourite gang of hawkers for a not so cheeky beer or two and sat and watched another melting sun disappear lazily below the horizon. We decided on our last night in Indonesia for a while we should celebrate, our friend and surf board merchant JoJo invited us to a quite, little known reggae bar hidden deep within one of Kuta’s quiet back streets where we enjoyed some pretty dodgy cocktails made of Arak (a local rice wine) and some pukka live music… Unsurprisingly in the form of Reggae.

We were up bright and early but definitely not breezy after all that Arak but we still managed to drag our arses along the beach in a kind of shuffle that nearly resembled a jog, had breakfast and packed by 10am. Having a couple of hours to kill before our flight to Jakarta we swanned down to the beach to say our goodbyes and Georgie had her lone dread-lock tidied up a little.

The flights have been short and sweet and any flight thats less than 2 hours always manages to seem more convenient than anything, a little confusion with terminals at Jakarta and a mad rush across Singapore’s airport found us in the nick of time outside Jo and Mandy’s arrival gate as they walked out. It was really good to see them again and despite the fact we had all been traveling all day there was much jumping and hugging… I didn’t mind really.

A short taxi ride found us at the ever so plush Ritz Carlton hotel and our stunning rooms, we dropped our bags and went straight to a bar to finish catching up and have a nightcap.

Although we plan to head straight back into Indonesia after Jo and Mandy head off home again we were sad to leave, quite frankly we loved it! And we have only just scratched the surface.

It has been by far the most challenging country we have travelled through yet but not necessarily the most rewarding… It’s always been quite hard work but what we got at the end of every journey was always worth the effort and I think if you work hard for something you always seem to appreciate it that much more…