Time Warp

LT

11 June, Singapore Changi Airport, 11pm

It’s been 48 hours and no blog….I’m feeling the pressure!  Sunday was our last day in Cambodia, and with a busy week at ABCs behind us, followed by a day walking around the temples of Angkor, we were all a bit tired and a quiet day seemed like just the ticket.  After tidying our room and packing bags, we sorted out a skype connection and had a long catchup with Mum and Dad which was really nice.  Then we wandered down the road to find some lunch which, in the interests of using up our spare change, was actually from a local street vendor. We hadn’t been brave enough to try one earlier, though it had been on the to-do list, and this one was selling some kind of fried bread.  We decided it was worth the risk and after some very complex sign language, and no idea if we paid too much or too little (he spoke no English at all), we were the proud owners of two kinds of fried bread.  I quite liked one of them, the others were happy with both, and for a massive US$2.50 we’d found our last lunch in Cambodia.  We visited the local pagoda on the way back to Globalteer but it is so so hot in the middle of the day we basically ended up just dragging our hot selves home. 

It was sad to say farewell to our friends the tuk-tuk drivers who “tuk” us to the airport. At Siem Reap airport you can’t even go inside the airport if you don’t have a ticket, so we waved at the door and headed through.  We had arrived in plenty of time but as it turned out it didn’t matter because our flight was delayed by 2 hours (if there’s one thing you can count on Jetstar for, it’s that!).  So we had to quickly add up all the cash we had left and eke (sp?) it out to cover an airport dinner and two extra hours before arriving somewhere we could drink the water.  We flew out via Phnom Penh, which looks from the air to be quite a massive and modern city.  We did the airport shuffle at Phnom Penh, hopping off the plane, round some slow queues through bag screening (not sure what exactly we could have picked up since the last bag screening) and back on the plane for the Singapore leg.  So we arrived in at Singapore very late once more, rode the travelators, sat on the same seats looking bleary-eyed and rather worse for wear waiting for the taxi, and took another exciting taxi ride back to the same backpackers as last week.

Today was basically another quiet day. We all slept in, only just making it up in time for the free toast breakfast at the backpackers. We decided not to try to fit in any major action like zoos or theme parks, as we were still feeling a bit jaded and although Singapore was down to a cool 29deg or so, it still felt pretty warm. We wandered down to the local mall, checked out the retail opportunities, then decided to try out the MRT system and headed to Chinatown.  A couple of hours, a few dollars, and masses of kitsch souvenirs later (Jennifer we saw lots of potential anti-present opportunities here!) we made our way back to the mall and then the backpackers to collect our cases.  Having succeeded so superbly on the MRT, we made the adventurous decision to take the MRT out to the airport, and save a massive $50 on taxi bills.  Cue hysterical laughter.  Leaving plenty of time for dinner on the way, we launched out of the backpackers with 5 suitcases, 5 cabin bags and a carseat in tow, and marched to the mall in single file, managing super-skinny footpaths and high curbs with ease and style.  Having once again counted our coins and worked out the finances, we found a bargain dinner, then headed down to the ticket machines.  Unfortunately by this time, something that we had eaten was beginning to affect members of the party, and we proceeded, over the next, oh maybe 2 hours, to dance on and off trains (only 4 changes required), visiting any number of toilets on the way (you have to go up escalators and out of the tube system via a conversation with the security person so you don’t lose your ticket).  We did arrive in time, and had a quick change of clothes and repack of bags before checking in.  It probably was worth $50, but would I recommend it… hmmm not sure J

Now sitting waiting to board flight to London (there goes the dinger), so better get this up and online. Promise pics of the temple visits to be up tomorrow.