Global Traveller: March 2011

Greetings from Bali in Indonesia!

The past 4 weeks have been a bit crazy as we have blasted our way from Bangkok to Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and now Bali.

We left Bangkok for Hong Kong and it was pretty sad saying goodbye to Thailand after being there for so long. We had only booked 4 nights in Hong Kong, which only gave us 3 full days. Bangkok is so cheap that we decided to spend just a few days in these cities so we didn't end up bankrupting ourselves! Hong Kong was a bit of a shock when we arrived because it was cold! It was about 15 degrees which I know doesn't seem that bad when compared to the UK, but after 6 months of 30 degrees and higher, it was a shock to the system.

Cable Car in Hong Kong

The journey from the airport to the city was effortless; Hong Kong has an amazingly efficient transport network that isn't very expensive. There was even a free coach transfer service from the station to your hotel! Our room was pretty small, but anyone that has been to Hong Kong will know that it is a very tightly packed city. Day one was spent heading for the Cable Car at Tung Chung which takes you to Big Buddha, a huge bronze Buddha statue in the hills. The cable car was ridiculously high, climbing a huge hill before taking you over a valley, the journey lasting 25 minutes. The Buddha statue was great to see, but there was a newly built shopping complex at the foot of it with Starbucks, McDonald's and the usual western brands which spoilt the experience slightly for me. Still, the cable car is a trip well worth taking.

The second day was spent walking around Victoria Harbour and we took a trip on the Victoria Peak tram. The queue for the tram was huge, so to avoid queuing we could buy tickets to Madame Tussaud's as well as the tram. We ended up spending an extra £15 so to avoid queuing an extra 15 minutes! Anyway, when went in Madame Tussaud's most of the wax works were Chinese people so we didn't really know who anyone was, apart from Madonna, Hitler and Sadam Hussein.

Hong Kong from Victoria Peak

The skyline in Hong Kong is simply amazing and exactly how I imagined it to be. I could have just stood and looked at the buildings all day. As darkness fell, the Symphony of Lights show is an attraction that we wanted to see. The show is set to music and has lasers and spotlights on the skyscrapers shining in rhythm to the music playing. As we waited, the sea breeze and cloudy weather meant it was like standing on Blackpool sea front in winter, and all I had on was a T-shirt! I was FREEZING! The light show was very disappointing. It only lasts 10 minutes, and it took me about 5 minutes to realise that the show had even started! The skyline at night is spectacular enough so there really was no need for the light show.

Our friends on our 80's night!

For evening entertainment, we decided to head over to Hong Kong Island with some rough directions of where to head from a friend who lived there. We wandered around every dark alley and back street trying to find the nightlife and could not find anyone or anything! Just as we were about to call it a night, we found escalator street which is full or bars and cafe's and yes, it has escalators running all the way to the top! We got speaking to some guys who were all dressed in 80's gear and were living in Hong Kong from the UK. After a few pints they asked if we wanted to go with them to the party and we ended up gate crashing this 80's private birthday party on the 4th floor of some tower block in the centre of Hong Kong. The birthday girl immediately spotted me and Dave and I was asked what I had come dressed as. I was wearing my Reebok Classics and said that they must surely pass for 80's! Or was that 90's? We paid £40 to the bar and we could drink as much of anything as we wanted... Champagne! We were downing the stuff like there was no tomorrow, and to top it off there were free nibbles to chose from. We fell out of there at about 4am after getting our moneys worth and ended up back at the hotel a short while later, rolling around on the pavement while the crowd at the Irish bar opposite looked on and probably wondered what the hell had happened to us! It was a completely random night and Hong Kong proved to be a place I loved and will certainly go back to.

The KL Tower

We left Hong Kong after a full packed 3 days and headed for Kuala Lumpur. I had no expectations for KL so I didn't know what to expect. We bagged a 5 star hotel while in KL, it is the cheapest place in the world to stay in 5 star so we had to take advantage of this, less than £50 a night! The hotel was in the heart of the city and had an amazing pool on the roof which at night turned into a swanky bar called Luna. After sunbathing on the roof all day, we headed to Luna bar in the evening and Dave decided there and then it was somewhere he wanted to DJ. That night Dave handed the bar staff a demo CD with his contact details on and we left it at that, not expecting to hear anything further.

Right opposite the hotel was the KL Tower, apparently the second tallest freestanding tower in the world. We went over the road to go up the tower and the ticket price was about £10 and with this you got a pony ride and a trip to the top. Well the Pony ride was across a scabby concrete car park on the smallest ponies I had ever seen, so given my height, and not wanting to look like a twat riding one, I gave it a miss. All in all not really worth the money they charged! We also went to see the Petrona's Towers and they are probably the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen and they have lit them up so brilliantly at night time.

The Petronas Towers

The storms in KL were impressive with a lightning storm almost every day that we were there. After being cold in Hong Kong it was nice to be back in the humid heat again. We took a trip to the Batu caves on the outskirts of the city and took the metro train. Well the train took 40 minutes to arrive at the station and it was dirty, old, grotty and slow. It took over an hour to travel 10 miles! The caves were in the hillside and you had to walk up hundreds of steps to get to the top. Inside the caves were stalls selling souvenirs and a few small shrines for people to pray at. There wasn't much else to see so we went in a reptile house inside one of the caves and it was pretty bad to see huge snakes in tiny fish tanks and some even had live chicks in the tanks, ready for the snakes to eat when they woke up!

Dave DJing at Luna Bar

On the last day in KL, we received a message that the assistance manager for Luna bar wanted to see Dave as he loved the demo CD he was given. Dave was given a slot that night to play between 10pm and 12pm. The night was a brilliant success and one of the highlights of our time in KL. The venue is amazing, the views across the city and of the petronas towers was incredible, a perfect venue for a party. The booze was free so needless to say we got pretty drunk, even though we had to be up very early to fly to Singapore the next day.

The Batu Caves

As predicted, we woke with major hangovers and headed for Singapore. I was told by everyone that I would love Singapore so I was feeling good about it, although the price of accommodation was massively expensive so we booked 3 nights there. First impressions of the 'world class' airport were not very good, I don't think I have ever been on so many escalators! That can be a chore when you have all your bags in tow and you have to keep unpacking your trolley and trying to find a new one at every escalator! The transport system is easy to use, but when we arrived at the station, trying to find a taxi was impossible. I don think they are allowed to stop in the street unless at a designated place, so we had to run around, with our bags in the middle of the traffic jam trying to get a taxi to open their door. One even let an old man get in their cab after I had flagged them first! I was raging by the time I reached the hotel! Therefore my first impressions were not the best.

Marina Bay Sands Hotel

We took a walk down to Marina Bay and most of the journey there was underground! I was amazed by just how many tunnels and underground shopping malls there were. Marina Bay is quite bland and uninteresting and is just full of tall skyscrapers and new buildings. We tried to head up Marina Sands Sky Park that is on top of the new hotel for free (because it cost about £20!) we managed to get to the top but were quickly turned away by security because we didn't have a ticket! Ah well at least I have been to the top, even if I didn't see anything.

Our last day was spent in Universal Studios and it was a really good day out. The park was quiet so we managed to get on everything without really queuing, which is always a bonus at theme parks. The attractions and rides were pretty good, so I can only imagine how good the one in the US must be.

I think 3 days in Singapore was enough. For me the city is a too modern with no real character or charm. On top of that, it is so massively expensive, even more so than London and I just think it is a over rated. There are far better cities on Asia to visit and at a much cheaper price.

Bali dancers!

We are now in Bali, and we are in the rainy season! It has rained pretty much every day with sunny intervals but it's still hot. We are staying in Seminyak and it seems to be the gay capital of the island! There are loads of gay bars all in a row and are full every night. Every 5 minutes there are tranny's miming and dancing to pop songs and male dancers in skimpy pants dancing on the bar. We have had some messy nights out on the lash and me and Dave seem to attract the attention of the tranny's a bit too much as they are always trying to drag us on the stage when they are performing.

Me, a tranny and Chloe

We have a lot more places to see in Bali while we are here, however Dave has had a cold for the last week so we haven't got round to doing anything other than drinking yet! We have applied for our Australian visa's and have had to get X-ray's done, fill out endless forms and run all over the place to finalise our applications.

So the next stop is Australia!

Bye for now.