Our 4 nights in Singapore hit the spot with the right mix of Asia's hustle & bustle (thanks mainly to Chinatown) and some relaxation. Our flight home doesn't leave until 11.30pm so we paid half room rate for a late check out of 6pm ($120 so shows how good the Amex reward points were that paid for the 4 nights) and we head to Sentosa for the morning (photos in previous post). Great way to finish.
Back at the hotel we play suitcase equilibrium to try and get 3 x 23kg to check and 3 x 7kg to carry on (90kg total). To put that in perspective when we left England with the generous 30kg Emirates allowance our weights were something like 25, 23, 18 (66kg) & 8.8, 8.7, 7.7 (25.2kg) for a total of 91.2kg meaning we would have to lose a kg and spread it perfectly across the 6 pieces of luggage to keep Qantas happy. Factor in we bought stuff in Singapore and left England wearing winter clothes in a snow storm and we are flying out of Changi Airport in summer clothes. Just throw heavy stuff in the hand luggage I hear you say. Well that used to work but this year we have had our hand luggage weighed and certified with a tag at every check in. Emirates did turn a blind eye to us being over the 7kg (she wrote 7kg on each piece) but commented we might get weighed again at the gates! And one more example of how strict they are, Qantas made us take a jumper out of 1 suitcase and put it in another on the way out of Brisbane! And for those gasping that we were over limit leaving Brisbane, we went out with only 2 checked suitcases with the 3rd being my large backpack empty inside one of the others and 2 carry ons (3 but one was brand new and empty bought at the airport for Ben).
So we chucked out any non essentials and somehow managed to hit the jackpot aforementioned suitcase equilibrium.
The Singapore Brisbane leg is 2 x 5 hour flights with 3 hours in Perth. Given we leave near midnight Ben goes straight to sleep which is great. He's tired and a bit unwell. Perth flight is no dramas. However Brisbane is another story when it comes time to land. 90km/h winds and torrential rain. Jebus. The pilot is a bit of a comedian (well we hope he's joking) when he says I should be able to get it down but we circle a couple of times while he gets up the courage. As we are just about to touch down the plane rolls violently side to side to the point I can't believe one of the wings don't touch the runway. Touchdown is an almighty double jolt as the wheels make contact separately. The pilot comes on and apologises quipping that was definitely not one of my better landings but at least we made it down! We find out lots of other flights were diverted to Sydney.
Anyway we're home. Hopefully there were one or two people out there reading along and found it mildly interesting :)
Monday, January 28, 2013
That Was Not One Of My Better Landings
Posted by norven munky at 4:34 AM 3 comments
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Sentosa Island
Sentosa Island is a 2 stop trip from Chinatown on the MTR and then you either catch the monorail or walk across a covered walkway with travellators.
After a walk along the beach and a ride on the free beachside tram we adjourned to a beachside bar (3rd photo) for Piña Coladas
Posted by norven munky at 11:20 PM 0 comments
No Fat Chicks
We use credit card points to book a nice hotel in Chinatown (hypocritical after my Asian culture comments I guess but we also want some chill out time by the pool and to be a bit rested and relaxed before getting home). And the location is perfect just metres from the hustle and bustle.
And the blog title? Not a single overweight person herein Singapore (apart from the tourists lol!). It's just a play on words using the wording from a brogan bumper sticker, so chill out ladies.
Posted by norven munky at 8:44 AM 0 comments
Lamb Lover
Arrived safe n sound in Singapore after 2 x 6 hour flights with Emirates.
Good
- New airbus 380 for 2nd leg with heaps of spare seats to stretch out and sleep.
- They gave Ben birthday cake when they noticed his birthdate when I booked (although flight was week early).
- Carole & Ben loved the live camera feed as we flew into Singapore, lots of idyllic looking islands and interesting container ships in the harbour etc. I said guys it all here out the window!
Bad
- tired old 747 on Dubai leg and a wet patch on my seat that soaked into my jeans (hope it was spilt drink rather than the alternative!). They did give me exit row seat with nothing in front after I told them so got to stretch out my bad (and good) leg but politely declined my "any room in business class?"
Funny
- the exit row they moved me too was one row in front and I was in between two guys of sub continent appearance who demanded mini spirit bottles like there was no tomorrow (insert bad taste suicide bomber joke here). Thought they were trying to set some sort of Rod Marsh, David Boon record. Every time a stewardess walked past they wanted 2 each and were very abrupt about it. And the guy on the left, let's call him Lamb Lover, went ape shit when there was only chicken tikka left and no lamb medallions. No no no! I want Lamb. Sorry sir but it is all gone. No no no. Find me some lamb. Go and get the person in charge (I wanted to lean over and say I think he's busy in the cockpit but thought it best not to). They left him sit without a meal for about half an hour and everyone else was finished before the boss turned up and was very placatory (he needed a slap, not apologies) What can I do to make it better? He finally accepted the chicken (and here's where it gets really funny), just after he finished it, the original steward turned up and said he found a lamb, Solid gold!
Posted by norven munky at 8:13 AM 0 comments
Friday, January 25, 2013
The Hoops
Posted by norven munky at 10:24 AM 0 comments
Snow snow glorious snow!
In the morning we thank the Palmer's again for making us feel so welcome as always. We have seen less of them this year due to the way the West Ham fixtures fell but enjoy their company a lot. Stop by Carole's Auntie Eileen's to say goodbye and she loads us up with butties Nd snacks for thectrip to London. Have to be in London in time for 3pm kick off and it's a 3.5 hour trip in good weather but fortunately there are no traffic issues although the far right lane was sometimes out of commission due to the snow. Check into our Travel Lodge at East India Docks in Docklands and catch the DLR (light rail) to the ground just in time.
Posted by norven munky at 10:06 AM 0 comments
Monday, January 21, 2013
The Entertainment Factor
Comparing the 4 home games this trip, Everton, Norwich, Man United & QPR (1 win 2 draws 1 loss) with the 4 home games we went to last season, Barnsley, Notts Forest, Coventry, Millwall (4 wins) and there is no doubt this season's games have been more entertaining. By a country mile. And that's not just down to the opponents either. Last season was dire eke out a win boredom. This season it's been cracking..red card controversies, last minute heartbreak, bombarding the QPR goal.
Let's not talk about the away games too much. This trip 1 draw 2 losses. Last trip 1 draw 3 losses in a record season for away results.
The trip to Old Trafford was awesome though because of the constant singing and great banter.
Posted by norven munky at 7:52 PM 0 comments
What a difference 12 months makes
The first photo of each pair was taken on our previous trip 12 months ago. The 2nd photo of each pair was taken today.
Posted by norven munky at 2:06 AM 0 comments
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Theatre of Dreams
The 2 photos highlight just how quickly the ground fills up. The first is taken 25 mins before kick off and the other seconds before kick off.
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The game was at 8pm and I wanted to get there before dark so rolled in around 4pm parked and walked the short distance to Salford Keys and spent some more time in the War Museum. Was dark after I got out so I played around with Carole's Christmas present taking night pics which you can see a few of in the previous post.
I had emailed Gary from the Northern Hammers earlier and he phoned and we arranged to meet up for a feed of fish & chips and a pint at the Harry Ramsden's 'restaurant' near Old Trafford. Gary is a really nice bloke who would do anything for you (and regularly does for travelling hammers - you should hear some of his tales about the Norwegian Hammers who go berserk on the cheap beer in England compared to what they pay at home). Gary also does a lot for charity. One example, in November to coincide with Remembrance Day all of the premier league clubs played in special poppy shirts and the British Legion auctioned them off. Gary bought Carlton Cole's signed jersey for £503 and promptly donated it to the former West Ham club chaplain who is involved with an African Ghanaian children's charity so that he could auction it again to raise money. I heard about this and since Carlton Cole is Carole's favourite player, I asked her if she would like the jersey on the off chance I could get it for a reasonable price. We bid £201 thinking we would just be bidding it up a bit but we ended up getting it for £165. I later managed to get Carlton to sign the match program from the poppy match to go with it and I will get them framed together. Anyway as I say Gary's a nice bloke and it was great to catch up again.
The match was a replay following the awesome and dreadfully unlucky 2-2 draw in London where Man United scored a wonder goal in injury time to force the replay :( and since then we had been beset with injuries so tonight is going to be tough going against the Mancs on their own patch. We have only one fit & eligible striker and we also played 3 'kids' preferring to rest some players on the bench for the important game against Queens Park Rangers the following Saturday. We played very well although lacked any real quality in the final 3rd (meaning we couldn't score to save our lives - we had some great chances but fluffed them all). The Mancs scored early but were generally ordinary failing to deal with a depleted and young West Ham team. We had a clear penalty turned down by the ref and the ball went up the other end where virtually the identical thing happened and the ref pointed to the spot! We all pissed ourselves laughing when Rooney blasted over the bar. This was one of the best atmosphere's of any game I had been to, no thanks to the home fans who were mostly silent (we sang at them "is this a library?"). No this was all down to the sparkling wit and sense of humour of the traveling West Ham fans who sang virtually non stop. You're only here for the West Ham. 1-0 and you still don't sing. He's just a Dutch Jimmy Saville (directed at Robin Van Persie who was accused of rape in 2005). You let your brother down (dircted at Ryan Giggs who slept with his brother's wife in secret for 8 years) and all the regular songs. We were unlucky not to force extra time with an equaliser and were knocked out of this season's FA Cup but the night was a great experience and very enjoyable.
Was nearly 1.30am when I got back to Cumbria.
Posted by norven munky at 10:01 AM 0 comments
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Manchester Night Photos
Posted by norven munky at 9:56 AM 0 comments
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Lake District @ Center Parcs
We are booked in for lots of other activities over the next few days and it is easy to see why the resorts are so popular with families.
Posted by norven munky at 12:52 PM 0 comments
Monday, January 14, 2013
Salford Keys
The next day we travel into Salford Keys in Manchester to look around the excellent Imperial War Museum, Media City the new home of the BBC and the Lowery Centre which is an art gallery. We also walk over to nearby Old Trafford to purchase a car parking space for the cup final replay on Wed night. (I'll right about the original match that we all attended last Saturday when I catch up a bit -remember to check below for catch up posts). That Salford Keys area is very impressive complete with a walking bridge that raises and lowers to allow boats through. Not that unusual except for the fact the entire bridge raises up very high in the air via permanent gantriesat each end. We come away from Louis & Dorries feeling very relaxed. Nice people living in a beautiful part of the world and it was great to see them again.
Posted by norven munky at 9:43 PM 0 comments
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Happy Lad with Louis & Dorrie at the Thomas Egerton Pub in the Village
Posted by norven munky at 9:29 PM 0 comments
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Friday, January 11, 2013
Darwen Moors in Lancashire
Drove up to spend some time with friends Louis and Dorrie at their cottage in Dimple/Egerton which is near Bolton & Blackburn. We all love going up there...Ben loves the birds and being fussed over by Dorrie and Carole really enjoys spending time outdoors in the countryside and there are some great spots nearby. This time we went for a walk on the Darwen Moors up to Darwen Tower after having lunch at the Country Cafe where there is a table with a one way window with bird feeders on the other side. Clever.
There is lots of heather on the moors that would be purple in the spring and when Dorrie tells me that, I hang back and play the 3 songs on my phone that always make me think of my Mum, Rod Stewart's Purple Heather, Sting's Fields of Gold and John Denver's Annie's Song. Puts a smile on my face and I felt very peaceful walking back down.
Posted by norven munky at 10:04 AM 0 comments
Tuesday, January 08, 2013
Chicken Pops
Ben developed some spots on his torso that we took to be some sort of bites until they increased in number. Otto. Booked him to a doctor's clinic in Nantwich as we were heading back that day and sure enough it is Chicken Pox! He could have had them in the previous couple of weeks while we have been travelling on our own but no, they have to occur the week we are visiting friends and relatives! Doh. Unfortunately both Carole's Auntie Eileen and cousin Trev are in one of the categories of people we need to stay away from as they each have low immune system issues and cousin Joanne is a nurse working in a busy hospital so also best not to risk that as well. It's very cute that Ben thinks they are called Chicken Pops! Not so cute how upset he is when he looks at himself in the mirror at bath time. Poor little fella. He'll be over the contagious stage by the weekend and our friends Louis & Dorrie say it's ok to head up to see them as planned (Dorrie has had them and while Louis isn't sure he says only one way to find out) so we head further north for some time in the country side.
Posted by norven munky at 9:21 PM 0 comments