Planet Holiday Hotel Batam

Today with my new mate Gabrielle from Germany we went for a meal in Chinatown at midday. We must have been insane to go out today because it was pouring hard with rain. Chinatown is another part of Singapore, highlighting the ethnic diversity of the city. I had some chicken feet and yam cake to eat, both were interesting, but didn't tickle my taste buds. I also tried some of Gabrielle's frogs legs and other food. We then continued to explore the streets of Chinatown ...

... of the next table and joking on the spicy sauce with the waitress:<br><br><br><br>To resume, that was a good day, we did enjoy having a city-break and are looking forward to go to visit some more places in Singapore (Chinatown and hopefully the skyline) and then go to Indonesia for the real cultural clash!!!

... as the Quays which were also beautiful by night. The next day, for a much deserved relaxing treat, we went to Sentosa island, known as the playground of Singapore, and visited a big aquarium, swam in one of the most artificial beaches you can imagine and saw a pink dolphin show... how touristy!!! but very cool!!! <br><br>To continue our commercial and touristic ventures, we stopped off at ...

... and decided the kindest thing to do would be to cough unproductively, and as loud as possible next to her. As she did this, the woman was almost about to faint with shock when thankfully for her, her stop was next and quickly alighted. Probably to douse herself in antiseptic but who knows. Ignorance is just as bad as rudeness.<br><br>Chinatown itself has some quirky little old-style buildings but it's highly touristy. There are stalls primarily aimed at tourists with food vendors charging ...

... 9 quid! Half a pint for about 8 quid! needless to say we didnt stay for long! We had planned to go to Singapore zoo today but the weather was horrible and was throwing it down and considering all of Singapores attractions are outdoors we did something totally out of the ordinary and headed for the mall! After a bit more shopping we went to watch 'Confessions of a shopahollic' then headed home to pack for our flight to Sydney!

... ourselves in a BuddistTemple, a Hindu Temple and a Mosque.All very interesting with different stories to tell. The shops and shopping malls are something else. we don't spend much time in them because everything is expensive and we don't have room to carry enything extra.We are however very grateful for the cool air. On our last night we visit Clarke Quay which is definitely the place to be with restaurants and clubs. We bypass all of this for the ...

... Arrivo a Batam, ufficio immigrazione. "Quanto costa il visto?" (dita incrociate), "45 dollari di Singapore" (imprecazione). Sull'orlo del pianto frugo nelle tasche ed accade il miracolo: tre monetine, valore altrettanti dollari, spuntano come per magia. Le nostre preghiere sono state ascoltate dagli dei del viaggio. Metto la nostra colletta sul bancone dell'ufficio assieme al passaporto, l'ufficiale ci guarda sorridendo (e chiedendosi chi sono 'sti tre deficienti) e mette ...

... some live music. Around 1:20am I came back to the hotel and went to bed.<br><br>This is the start of my money running out.<br><br>Sunday Nov 14 2007<br>Woke up at 7am, lounged around until 8:30am and headed to Marina Square for some breakfast. I then grabbed a taxi to the Botanic Gardens. The gardens were okay, but the Orchid garden was really good. I even used my old student ID to get a discounted ticket that cost a dollar! One hundred pictures later I ...

... Then we went to a grocery store so I could buy supplies for the trip over. This would prove to be a very smart move. I said goodbye to Sarah and Desmond drove me to the ferry terminal. But let's not forget I'm in Singapore. The ferry terminal was part of a shopping mall. I bought my ticket and then Desmond and I wandered around the mall, waiting for Christie and Andre to show up to see me off. Luckily they made it in time. I found it insanely difficult to walk ...

... of local 'travel agents' / taxi drivers all wanting to know our next destination and literally fighting for our business. Very scary and intimidating. We had already chosen the company (BMW 2000) who we wanted to use but could not find any of their representatives. Instead we went with a rep who said that he would take us to the BMW 2000 office and when we got there they tried to rip us off.... it wasn't BMW 2000 at all ! We sussed the scam and let them know we weren't going to stand for ...