Boys and their Toys

A quiet Sunday in Miri, grey skies and some rain around. We were feeling a little flat after the gilrs left last night so Yvons suggestion of a little bit of off road with the jeeps sounded like a very nice distraction. We drove south along the coast road but turned inland to the back of Lambir Hills onto some old logging roads. We bounced along nicely with a couple of stops to guide each other over some washed out sections of road.






However Yvon was heading for one particular spot where he had been thwarted previously by a washed out bridge and an impassable section of river. He was sure that if he went to the right of the bridge there was a part he could cross with the jeep. He'd walked it the previous week and it looked ok. He started up the engine and set off slowly through the thick undergrowth until he came to the rivers edge....and found a bigger drop than he had anticipated!


He was completely stuck and we thought we might be leaving a car behind today. We tried towing him out, but with the engine weight holding the truck downwards it was impossible. What to do?

Well Yvon has an amazing winch on the front of the jeep, which has a very long wire. With the help of 3 tow ropes joined together, the winch wire and Kevin up amongst the undergrowth attaching it all to a sturdy tree it was possible for Yvon to winch the jeep up, across and out of the deep ditch he had drivien into.

So now he was out of the river/ditch - but on the wrong side! In order to get back home he had to cross back over to our side of the divide. After much consideration it was decided that the only place he could get back over was the very section we had rejected at the beginning! First he had to get into position.....


...then the winch pulled him out.

Singapore

Katy and I have just had a 2 night/ 3 day visit to Singapore. We stayed in The Royal Plaza, close to Orchard Road but actually hardly saw very little of the hotet as there was so much to do outside. Here is the hotel foyer display, made mostly of wax! Plus some very nice roof lights..There was a pool but we never had time to use it.


Day 1: pm. Our first stop was China Town for a bit of shopping in the many stalls. We also stopped at the fresh juice guy with his amazing concoctions - I had aloe vera (that odd piece of cactus he is holding up) and green apple !

After a wander around the Chinese shop houses we came acorrss the Tea House, a very traditional tea house, funnjily enough, where we were taught the tea ceremony. This was a ery compicated porcess of heating the cups and the tea pots and the jug, then brewing the tea for a ver short time - maximun 30 seconds and NOT with boiling water. Once the tea is poured into the fair cup (the cup for smelling hte tea!) you then pur it into the srinking cup. Meanwhile you smell the empty hot cup, and then the empty cold cup. Each time you smell a different smell! Finally you taste the tea, but you do that in 2 different ways as well. Once in teh fornt of your mouth and then more normally.....!

We also visited one of several Hindu temples and finally ate at a noodle restaurant where the noodles were made fresh for us by hand - very entertaining.

Day 1 : evening. From Chinatown we took the MTR and a bus to the Night Safari, to be greeted by these very enthusiastic fire eaters. The Night Safari comprises 3 sections - a guided tram tour, walks through the dark jungle and a Creatures of the Night Show. In the park itself the animals are cleverly lit so you can see them while they are most active. We were also able to get up close and personal with some bats - fruit bats and flying foxes. They have some of the larger animals - girafe, rhinos, hippos, etc, all the big wild cats and some very engaging smaller ones - otters, mouse deer, porcupines etc. We didn't take any pictures as we were discouraged by the park rangers because of possible damage to the animals' night vision.

Day 2 am : We went on a guided walk around Little India taken by tour guide Geraldine. There is an organised walk every weekday plus Saturday. If they are all like this one they are a definate must. We were shown flowers for the temples, henna art (Katy's hand), introduction to Indian candy, a walk around another Hindu temple, and shown how to put on a sari.

"Look up" said Geraldine, to see the most recent Singapore jungle...Washing on bamboo poles out the apartment windows..

We then had a very nice lunch at a new Banana Leaf Apollo in the Little India Arcade, accompanied by a friend we had made on the tour, Silke.

Day 2 pm : Bus tour to see WW2 Battlefield sites:
Mount Faber to see where Faber Fire command was situated and to enjoy the view of the city, and the Singapore Lion

Then to Labrador Hill to see some gun emplacements

and then to the north of the island to visit the War Cemetery.

Day 2 : evening. A bit of light relief in the New Asia Bar on the 70th floor of the Stamford Tower, with its spectacular views, and very nice cocktails.

And finally a last cocktail at Raffles..


Plus a walk around the city at night, dinner at Clarke Quay and some shopping on Orchard Road.