Vancouver, Hong Kong, Singapore...Oz!

On July 4th, we started out once again for Australia. We decided to go the route Greg had done last year in November, when he went solo; instead of Hawaii - Sydney, we did the 14 hrs straight to Hong Kong! Thankfully we had a chance to visit with Kathryn and Meghan in Vancouver, and see their new digs on West 16th Ave., and eat some fantastic burritos - a Meghan specialty! They were still awaiting Kathryn's furniture from Montreal, but we had all the essentials; what else is needed but a stocked kitchen and a table to eat around and a bed to sleep in?! On the 5th, we were ready for the big flight. Thankfully we lucked out and got to use upgrade certificates and sat in the luxury of executive class the whole way (which meant I watched more movies than can really be good for anyone...)

There wasn't much to photograph of Hong Kong but the airport, and the hotel which was attached to the airport. We mostly just slept in the hotel, sat in the airport, and were bombarded by all the adverts in the world... At this stage, we were in the same time zone as Perth, so all our catching up started here.

The flight to Singapore was a shorter 3hr flight (thank goodness!), where we caught a taxi to our hotel that we'd booked on "the internets" from Ottawa. Singapore is known as the Lion City, and there are a million hotels to choose from; after some debate, we decided NOT to stay at the famous Raffles Hotel, but I think we did pretty well otherwise! Our hotel was right on Orchard road, essentially the shopping strip of the city, pretty close to most things, but what isn't in this tiny city-state. We were still pooched from the day before, and the weather was so humid we thought maybe we needed goggles and swim trunks, but we made the most of it. One thing I wanted to for sure see was the Singapore zoo, mainly because I'd heard so much about it from the folks in Perth, and also I'd seen a show on toilets of the world, in which those at the zoo were featured. (Yeah, a bit crazy, but...just look at the pic! It goes straight outside! The next best thing to poo'ing in the woods!)

Zoo's are interesting places; it's so fascinating to see these creatures that we'd never otherwise get so close to, yet they are so far from their natural environment that it's really sad. And many zoo's argue that they are the only safe haven for these animals anymore, as the environment is eaten up by humans, and that is even more sad. I think Steve Irwin had it right when he decided that the best thing to do is to buy up the land for reserve, and leave it for the creatures, as habitat loss is the biggest problem. Hopefully his family and organizations will keep that up. If I had a million dollars...

At least a zoo also gives the opportunity to see some of the flora in its natural state. Greg walking next to this enormous stand of bamboo was so cool. Despite having aircon shacks to cool off in, we were roasted, and took the bus back downtown for some respite in our hotel room...
The shops are all blasting with AC as well, even little kiosks on the street, which seems rather wasteful, but perhaps it helps to attract customers.

There were many parts of the city that we didn't get a chance to see, but we were only there for 2 nights, so we did what we could. Would be neat to go again for a bit longer and maybe get out of the city a bit more...another time.

Eating a big bowl of noodle soup.

Walking the quieter morning sidewalk of Orchard Rd. So tropical! So clean! (Chewing gum is no longer illegal here, but don't spit it out onto the street, whatever you do!)

On the 9th of July, we finally arrived in Perth, and drove the usual route to our apartment in Scarborough. Greg is already an expert at driving on the wrong side of the road, so we have no worries with that! (I have driven a bit, but mostly I walk everywhere; but that's just what I do, no matter where I am). July and August are the winter months here on the other side of the world, so once again we arrived to shorter days, and cooler weather with lots of rain and wind off the ocean. But I'll take that any day over a Manitoba or Ontario winter, for sure! It's good to be back in Perth. Greg's been here 4 times now in the last 12 months, and I've been here 3, so it's starting to feel a bit like home already.