Straits View Hotel Johor Bahru

... traveled on to Harbourfront which is where the cruises leave from and also the Cable Car to Sentosa Island. The MRT station is underneath another monstrous shopping precinct - this one is Vivo City - and the place was packed with people. Most Singaporeans only get one day off a week and Sundays must the big day out because everywhere we went the shops and malls were full - no sign of the recession here!
We saw the Virgo ...

Today, my classmates made a lot of noise when it is during the art lesson. Mr Ho, our art teacher bellowed at us and said, " Why are you all so noisy! Every time I came in, there were noise~!" When I heard that, I became very sad and decided to ask Mr Ho that can I write the names of pupils who were talking. To my astonishment ...

... but were quite disappointed to find the whole place had been privately hired for the afternoon, so we went for a trip to the beach and stayed awhile. Then it was time to return to Dawn’s hotel for a nice swim, with us all having fun on the rock slide. We actually stayed there until after dark, which was pretty impressive, as the pool is on a roof terrace half way up the hotel, so the views all around were really impressive!

After getting changed, we all ...

... the hill in the hope of finding a better viewpoint further up. I then bumped into the group of schoolgirls that I had the screaming contest with. They were taking it in turns to timidly throw rocks into the quarry lake whilst making a wish - being kept well away from the 50 foot sheer drop by their adult guide - who invited me to sit with her on the cliff edge. We had a strange conversation (strange in the fact that stones were flying over our heads as we spoke) and it turned ...

... First impressions boded well and the staff at the front desk were great. They upgraded us to a room with view and threw Lara in an extra bed, everyone got breaky included except Lara but they did not charge much (they clearly have not seen what she can eat!). The place is great. The rooms are adjoining and huge, room for a desk and couch, large bathroom and little kitchen area just with jug and fridge. There is a really great pool and then a few palms and a beautiful ...

... is spent to what is going on else. Karaoke is part of the ceremony, with really splendid singers, but also with others who are not. For the groom and bride, this day actually was a very busy one: they change clothes several times during the day, are available for several photo sessions and always have to have a smile on their face. Amazingly, many of Elin's friends from couchsurfing came to Singapore just for the wedding which resulted in a strong community picture and ...

... to Jules but he also started on one of the Norweigians for no reason and apparently he'd been carrying a knife and was a bit of a gangster. I tried taking a couple of pictures of the club but the hookers dancing on the bar weren't so keen on that. It had to finish early eventually at about half 4 as apparently there was some fight outside, but we got stopped by some Malay guy - probably the owner of the club in retrospect - who was holding a bottle of ...

... found the apartment and by this time it was throwing it down. Picture this, it is raining very hard and the apartments are surrounded by those slippy when wet tiles. I take my time as what's a bit of rain when it's so warm and I don't fancy falling, but Steve on the other hand pegs it to the door wearing flip flops. He has no chance - he ends up wiping out and falls on the ************* his coccyx - OW! He is in a lot of pain and he's ...

... Malaysia. When we arrive at the causeway we have to depart the bus (luggage in hand) and go through Singapore immigration, after that we get back on the bus to traverse the causeway. The next stop is Malaysian immigration and here we depart the bus for good. Immediately it is obvious we have left modern and sanitized Singapore... on the Malaysian side nothing works, everything is dirty, the lines are long and our welcome wagon consists of ...

... only place we have visited in Malaysia that had stuff which showed off the wealth that the country has had. There were hunting trophies galore (tigers, elephants, crocs, etc), colourful throne room, glorious 4 poster beds, tonnes of china, opulent rooms, lovely jewellery and the highlight..... a set of crystal furniture which they actually use. This palace had entertained all sorts of VIPS through the years - especially the Brit royalty under their rule. We ...