Singapore then home

Well this will be the last post.

We spent another day in Phnom Pehn and had a great time at the Central and Russian markets with Steve and Maria, hunting down bargins, and cheap golf balls. There are no golf balls in Phnom Pehn!!!! After lunch at the Jars of Clay cafe we finished the day at a lovely restaurant just down from the hotel.

After leaving Phnom Pehn we travelled onto Singapore for three nights. it really is such a different place compared to Phnom Pehn. So clean, tidy, orderly. The traffic has structure, the shops are clean and dust free. Singapore is consumer driven. Mall after mall, under and over ground. As we found out you can walk for miles underground.

Although not a christian nation, Singapore has totally embraced "Christmas". The simple reason is because it encourages them to spend more. And it's not that cheap either. Most of the products we saw you could get at home for alot cheaper, especially the confectionery. I don't think I could ever justify spending $6.30 Singapore (similar to Australian dollar) on a bag of Natural confectionery company snakes, or $33.00 for a large bag of M&Ms.

My experience in Singapore wasn't helped by the fact that I got a bad batch of Chicken Masala on the first night we spent there. Needless to say, I did not move far from the loo for the first 36 hours.

We did venture out to the Zoo and the Jurong Bird park though. They were great, although I really think our Auckland Zoo has alot to be proud of.

Steve and Maria finally got their flights sorted and they spent the day with us as well in Singapore. We walked and walked and walked. It was raining outside, but as I mentioned earlier, you don't really even need to come above ground. Every thing you need is accessable below street level, although I must admit Singapore really is very hot and humid.

We boarded out flight to NZ at 9pm on Monday 8th December and arrived back to a balmy 23 degrees in Auckland at 11.45am on the 9th. Both tired but glad to be home.