The Eastern Heritage Guesthouse 4quid a night for a double room with balcony. Marvellous!
My time in Singapore was spent mostly in a state of constant technogasm; wandering around marvelling at the huge range of technological gadgets and gizmos on offer. I actually encountered a grandmother of perhaps 90 years on the subway, simultaneously talking on her cellphone, listening to an MP3 player, and playing a puzzle game on a PSP; I was most impressed. Of course it's quite possible that she was a bit senile and thought she was still at home, wondering why the telly was showing nothing but stuff about the subway.
Malaysia was the exact opposite of Singapore, and it's also spelled quite differently. I spent most of my time in a town called Malacca / Melaka, attempting to master the Malay language. Most of my attempts were met with the sort of looks usually reserved for somebody that had just jammed a set of chopsticks in the other persons nose, and drop-kicked their last rice-ball into the roadside gutter. So, in the end, I gave up and resorted to being the ignorant tourist; which seemed to please the locals much more than my mangling of the local dialect.
The Australian immigration department has seen fit to grant me an additional six months in Australia, which should be plenty of time to complete the grand loop-and-a-bit. Unfortunately I'm no longer allowed to do any work; I say unfortunately because my petrol fund currently contains a grand total of $3 and 27cents. This alarming lack of substance has mainly been caused by the last round of repairs, and of course my unscheduled trip abroad. Think I'll adopt the attitude of the ostrich to solve this problem, and bury my head in the sand. If I can't see it, it can't be happening.
Fuel woes aside, I am about as eager as a small child with a puppy and an espresso, to get back on the road, and more importantly away from Darwin. I'm sure that if nothing had gone wrong during my stay here, I would have formed a different opinion of the place. Unfortunately, lots of things went pear-shaped, and thus the place, and the grumpy ass majority of those that reside within it's boundaries, can go and swivel for all I care. Of course not everyone was a sad-sack, and I'm sure other people would get a different impression of the town; but the best view I will have, is of the town disappearing in my rear-view mirrors.
Vying for a job with the local tourist board I am not.
A tree frog attempting to make off with Gosling One
Hi Chris, it’s me, your Swiss cousin from Bournemouth. I see you are having an excellent time out there. You wonder how I get to your page? Yes, Dee and Den were so kind to give me your contact details. They told us, all about your trip, doggy stuff! Well, well, keep the good stuff going. Next we can climb the Alps together :-)
ReplyDeleteI’ll pop by every so often and see how you’re getting on.
Stefan
Hey Buddy,
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday,
If you're reading this today, I know its early, if you're reading this tomorrow, then its spot on, and if not its late ;o)
Anyway, glad to hear you've survived SEA and that Gosling 1 hadn't decided to ditch you in your absence.
Now get on with it so you can send us more cool stories and pics.
Catch ya soon
Nick
Hello dear boy! Hope you enjoyed your birthday. Lovely to chat on the phone and hope you are well on your way again.
ReplyDeleteI see Stefan has caught up with you; it was great to go South and call by. :0)
Take good care of yourself (avoid bug-ridden fellow travellers!)
I look forward to hearing what the pointy bit at the top of the country is like to ride through; those rivers....ooh er!
X
Sorry about the wankers in Malacca... they probably didn't understand Malay either. We're much more friendly than that. ;)
ReplyDelete