Noosa, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Byron Bay

(Written 26/11 12.50)

Noosa was a little town that pretty much seemed to be just a convenient stop-off point rather than a significant East Coast site. We had a nice dinner, checked out the mountain/coast national park and chilled on the beach.

On the way to Gold Coast (the "Miami" of Australia), we stopped off for three hours in Brisbane. Brisbane was nicely laid out, but from the view on the bridge it didn't look too dissimilar to London on the Thames! We were hanging out at their South Bank, chilling in the lagoon under the "Brisbane-eye" and soaking in the sun. Dope. 

The Gold Coast (a.k.a. Surfer's Paradise) centre mainly consists of bars and restaurants about a five minute walk from the beach. School is out and all the "schoolies" were running wild! Surprisingly the beach there was actually not as nice as the others we have seen down the East Coast. That being said towards the suburbs it is much nicer, and Jackie Chan even has a house there! The night 4WD excursion through the mountains and rainforest exploration was a pretty unique experience, but the rainforests along the East Coast do seem rather tame! 

Next we hit Byron Bay, and that actually felt like it should have the name Surfer's Paradise! Most of the buildings were basically shacks and there was a really nice hippy vibe to the place. That's another lifestyle I think would be a lot of fun! We did a long sea-kayak through very rough waters, and this turned out to be a pretty fun and intense workout! There were meant to be dolphins. There weren't. Unfortunate. The wildlife has been much more scarce than expected, but luckily we spent time at the awesome Currumbin wildlife sanctuary on the way to Byron. Chilling with kangaroos, koalas, emus and other cool creatures was sweet!  

Fraser Island

I have just arrived at Noosa after a night and day on the world's largest sand island (170,000 hectares), Fraser Island. Yesterday we got a ferry over to the island from Hervey Bay just in time to catch sunset on the beach, which unsurprisingly did not disappoint. Making some ghetto peanut butter and jam sandwiches on the beach was highly satisfying! That night's Toga Party included Goon, chin-ups, broken sandals and all the usual entertaining features! 

Today was filled with an incredible 4-Wheel Drive (4WD) excursion around the island. The size of the island was reflected in the variety of terrains and environments that we covered on the trip. The first stop of the bumpy 4WD trip was Lake Mackenzie. It was a serene and clean lake with an adjacent sand bed. The Aboriginals say it has healing powers, and while this is unlikely to be true, the water did actually feel very nice! After lunch we ploughed on to the "rainforest". No humidity, no mosquitoes = no rainforest! That being said, it was a lush green aesthically pleasing forest and made for a relaxing exploration walk. A lot of photos were taken. Selfies feel like a thing of the past, as I now have people around to take the photos! The final stop-off was at rainbow beach - named so on account of the 70-odd shades of resident sand. This was another highly picturesque spot and made for a good game of "smack ball". Smack ball is basically where you smack a bouncy ball to each other - tres fun. The truth. The journey to Noosa continued with a bouncy ride in the 4WD along aptly named "Seventy-five mile beach". The drive on the beach felt like army trucks in the desert. Twas very cool!

Brahman Beef?

After another fairly long but relaxing coach ride, we settled at The Old Station cattle farm for the night. This was a part of the trip that the group did not believe in at first, but with open minds it turned out to be a great setting for the evening. The ranch was 26,000 hectares in area, and despite it effectively being a slaughterhouse, I found the operation highly impressive! The cattle seemed to be very well looked after and I began to understand the appeal of farm life. The species was called Brahman cattle! I didn't get around to asking them about this, but that felt a little ironic to me given the purpose they were serving. The evening's entertainment included whip-cracking and karaoke. 

For me:

As we pass through Australia, I am trying to absorb as much as possible about the business behind the various industries prolific in the country. 

- Australian farmers get no subsidies for during low production times, which is why this particular farm has diversified to tourism. 

- Australia is the third largest producer of sugarcane in the world. 

- Not Australian, but I spoke in depth with a Project Manager at Apple, and their ideas about producing in-house PM techniques rather than following the standard seem pretty backwards. Similar to keeping a unique charger, this type of arrogance could hold them back in the future. Let's see.

Sailing to Heaven

(Written Wednesday 20th Nov. 11.50)

From Cairns, we took a 9-hour coach journey plus a ferry trip over to Daydream Island (one of the 74 Whitsunday Islands). The journey went surprisingly quickly because of the sleeping, the lunch-stop in Townsville, and the tour group growing on me! The island had just one resort on it and the rest was fairly untamed with a rainforest and rugged beaches. The resort was rather interesting too, with some big aqua-life in a marine park (huge sting rays, manterays and a big bad lemon shark!), which we got the opportunity to feed and pet. We also had a go at carrying a small shark, and it had a very strange texture indeed! Unrelated, the buffet dinner was exceedingly well received and our buffet technique was quite the masterclass! 

We spent the day sailing around the Whitsunday Islands, and I have realised that sitting on a boat in the sun never gets old! The highlight of the Whitsundays was undeniably the Whitehaven Beach. It is one of the top five beaches in the world, and with ridiculously fine white sand, perfectly blue water and absolutely no infrastructure, I can understand why! It certainly is something special. The sail on the way back was rough and wet, so we particularly appreciated the heavenly sun on Whitehaven Beach! 

Cairns and Diving

(Written Saturday 16th Nov. 16.52)

I am sitting at the Esplanade lagoon in Cairns as I write this, and it is up there with the best places to chill. There is a huge outdoor swimming pool, a live band playing in the distance and people just doing their thing under the blazing sun. It feels a lot like California (but less fake) from what I remember and expect based on tv shows. The Esplanade street at night lights up and has cool restaurants and shops. 

Yesterday I had my final three dives for qualification and I did one snorkel swim. Again Fish Bowl on Brigg's Reef delivered with two sharks chilling out under the boat and a MASSIVE Moray eel that seemed like it should only exist in a story. It was like seeing a Gyarados! The final site, the Coral Garden lived up to its name. The colours were much more vibrant since the coral was quite near the surface. The variety of textures and the way the coral moves with the waves makes for a very pretty picture. 

Last night I had dinner and a couple of drinks with my tour group and I am slightly apprehensive about the tour now! I guess I have to make it what I want. Outside of the group I met up with some strange and interesting people from Vancouver, and we ended up going to this lively hostel club called Gilligan's. Before going out, we drank somethig called Goon (Aussie boxed wine that tasted like grape juice) while sitting in a tree - the authentic experience I guess! 

Scooby Doo and Sharks

(Written 14th November, 22.15)

Woahhhh! I have just finished my first day of diving. The whole day has been awesome, but the highlight certainly was the night dive! Exploring the Great Barrier Reef in the black of the night with only a torch? That was unique! I felt like I was James Bond! While at the beginning of the day I thought we would run away crying if we saw sharks, it turned out that we actually went looking for sharks! The night dive sightings included five reef sharks and a massive sea turtle sleeping in a cave. Earlier on I saw a strange octopus in a hole, a Moray eel, and a bearded cuttlefish (amongst of course a bunch of Nemos and other colourful fish)! The bearded cuttlefish flicked into a different colour when we got near it, which was very cool to see. A day in the life of a diver seems very appealing: eat, dive, eat, dive, eat, dive, have banter and then sleep! While you're not in the water, you're catching some rays under a beautiful blue sky. 

I also seem to be meeting some very cool people along the way now. My instructor, Ned, is a crazy stereotypical Aussie. I have been hanging with a couple from Texas (where the 22-year-old guy plays proffesional baseball for the Minnesota Twins) and another couple (one Mancunian and one Parisian) who are just roaming the world indefinitely! The Texas couple seemed to think that British people are all about crumpets, tea and red buses - pretty accurate! I returned with "Is Texas all about shooting Mexicans crossing the border?" Apparently that does actually go down in the deep south! Bedtime on the boat now and another three dives tomorrow. The Australia travels have started with a bang for sure.

Sydney Beans and On

(Written Wednesday 13th Nov. 07.30)

As I wait for my connecting flight to Cairns, it is occurring to me that I am realising my one dream holiday destination since childhood. AUSTRALIA! The clouds of Singapore are a memory - the sun is up and my excitement for this chapter of the trip is starting to build. Each time I hear someone speaking I immediately think they are commentating on cricket!

(Written same day 21.30)

I have been here for less than half a day and I can already understand the attraction people have towards "working holidays" for extended periods of time in Australia. So far people have been very friendly and there is just a strong holiday feel in the air! The hostelling world is cool, with "hostel meals" available at various restaurants (well, one so far) and it almost feels like restarting university! Like Singapore, the Cairns Esplanade seems like the place to lepak. It is a lagoon near a small beach with a lively California-style street running alongside it. That seems like the ideal place to hang out for Spring Break! 

On Wheels in Pulau Ubin

(Written Monday 11th Nov. 18.00)

I am on the bus back after an unbelievable day on Pulau Ubin (a Singaporean island just off its east coast). I spent the whole day with the cast of Starlight Express! I got to the Changi Village jetty and heard British accents, so I thought I would follow them for the procedure to get to the island and hiring bikes - I didn't realise they were the touring cast of a famous musical from my childhood! 

Given the rain over the last few days and its remote nature, I had been slightly apprehensive about visiting the island and mountain-biking around it. This set up for an important day to find and join people. The island was effectively a rainforest with some very picturesque openings and a few obscure feats of nature, particularly a "land-fish with arms"! The biking itself added another dynamic to the exploration, and the cast members were very cool and friendly people. Mountain-biking with the Starlight Express cast through a rainforest island - this was one special day indeed!

(Written later)

I am now back at Shoban's flat, and it seems surreal that the mall-after-mall comprised Singapore is just forty minutes from a serious rainforest! We have been playing a little one-hand one-bounce cricket in the block court to build up an appetite for dinner! That it has done, that it has done. 

Jalan Parlimen and Lepak

After wondering what was left in Kuala Lumpur, I started wandering what was left in Kuala Lumpur. I headed towards the Lake Gardens in attempt of a relaxed day with some nice scenery. This led me down Jalan Parlimen (Parliament Street), which looked more like an American Boulevard than just another street in KL! The greenery was trimmed to perfection, the road was very smooth, and there were Malaysian flags at regular and short intervals! Coincidentally (or not) the Malaysian flag looks very similar to the US flag. The road also accommodated the National Monument (a memorial for the victory over Communsim) and the ASEAN sculpture gardens. After much roaming around Lake Gardens, I did find the illusive, but worthwhile, Orchid Garden.

In the evening I returned to KLCC park under the Petronas Twin Towers, which has rapidly been established as my favourite place to lepak (Malay for 'chill') in KL. In hindsight, three days to explore the capital seemed perfect - good that I messed up my flight booking and returned a day earlier than intended!      

Material World: Caves to Skyscrapers

(The next paragraph was originally meant for the end of the post, but it is now a precursor to the two overly-long paragraphs below. One may not be interested in "Descriptions by Prashant"!)

I seem to have gone fairly overboard with these descriptions, especially as I am reading about renouncing sense gratification! This material world certainly does have some magical natural and man-made features (including people) - big love for the Higgs' Field - but I guess the key is not to depend on them for happiness since they only provide temporally-finite happiness.

Today included two of the major icons of Kuala Lumpur and even Malaysia as a whole. Both lived up to expectations! First to get to Batu Caves I braved the KL monorail, which behaves roughly like a slow rollercoaster! It works well and costs almost nothing so no complaints. On arrival at the Batu Caves you are struck by a massive and impressive Hanuman statue. Alongside the caves are a couple of intricate and colourful temples including a Ganesh temple. Then a 43-metre Lord Murugan (a.k.a. Subramanium) commits theft on your attention for quite some time. This stands against the vast set of steps leading into Temple Cave. This must be the most interesting location of a temple I have seen, and it does feel like a very spiritual place. Whilst in the cave the heavens opened up and a huge monsoon downpour made the setting even more epic. (All this being said, I currently don't understand where the rituals that are widely seen as synonymous with Hinduism fit in with the spiritualism.)

I got home to set back out for my appointment with the Petronas Twin Towers. People are obsessed with taking photos there! Write-ups of the towers even talk about the best way to capture the towers! I went in hard and took about a million photos. At first, "yes quite impressive." But whilst in the building, darkness appeared, the towers lit and that was when they really showed their decorative side. Spectacular! The external glass and steel panelling does make the Petronas Twin Towers a special set of buildings.The view from the 370-metre high observation deck in the towers does not compare to that from the Empire State Building however. New York, New York. At the base of the towers lies KLCC park. Now you look from a distance, and you think "oh right, a fountain." But then the water show starts and this is no ordinary fountain! Apparently it can make 150 different movements, and between this, the lighting and the music, it does make for a pretty nice show. 

Write less next time.

Ok.

Oompah Kuala Lumpur

After touching down in Malaysia bright and early this morning, a good day of exploring has left me finding KL very interesting thus far. It seems to have a great variety of happenings from the bustling Petaling Street Market to the tranquil Jamek Mosque surrounded by coconut trees at the intersection between the Klang and Gombak rivers. There was also some history in the day such as visiting a majestic Mughal building, which sits near to the flag where independence from the British Rule was announced on 1953.

My exploration of KL today has also made me appreciate how impressive it is that Singapore is so ridiculously sophisticated despite only being a 35 minute flight away. Singapore appears to be growing on me like algae in a tropical fish tank. Weird.

Fun reaslisation: I am the devil when it comes to haggling with street vendors! So many broken hearts, so little time. Sad face slash happy face.

Monday evening with a Singapore Sling

(Written Monday 4th Nov, 19.00)

I'm sitting at Esplanade Outdoor Theatre on The Bay and it feels like the perfect picture of a city at night. I wrote about this in the first blog, but it doesn't seem to get old! The Singapore Flyer, the Marina Bay Sands Hotel (which holds the swimming pool in the sky) and the towering financial district comprise the view.

I spent most of the day at Sentosa Resort World. It is a small island off the harbour, which houses a huge number of activities including Universal Studios. It was quite a magical place, and walking around the sweetshop, Candylicious, felt particularly like Christmas! 

(Written Tuesday 5th Nov, 10.00)

Last night we went to Raffle's hotel (named after Stamford Raffle who effectively founded Singapore) to have a Singapore Sling cocktail. Apparently it was invented at that hotel! The drink tasted good (primarily juice), the bar had an old-school American pub feel and the hotel was very classy! We also managed to fit in a nice concert at Esplanade theatre. It was in East meets West style, and included interesting renditions of Jennifer Lopez and Jay Sean tracks!

Pride, party and monsoon

(Written Monday 4th November, 13.00)

Fitting for the complete newbie that I am, I just got caught nicely in the God's cross-fire (the monsoon)! As I felt the first few drops, I looked up and though "nah, this isn't going to come down hard". Right.

With its bright lights and frenzied ravers, Singapore's club area Clarke Quay is very similar to "The Strip" found on all club-holidays (Faliraki, Algarve, etc.), but with added sophistication. Getting a bottle of Belvedere inside the club seems like the norm! Hanging out with Shoban's friends, "The Irish" and a few locals, made for a good night out. 

Following the late night and a late wake-up, I decided today was the day for a trek at McRitchie Nature Reserve. After a 5km walk through the jungle, keeping my eyes on the prize, the HSBC tree top bridge was closed because it was gone 5pm! Oh dear. Luckily I found a couple of French people at the top who managed to persude the bridge-keeper to let us check it out and take some photos. Decent. 

So far it seems that each time someone advises "this is not a walkable, take the bus" I take it as a challenge and walk! Better stop this foolishness before I reach Australia where the distances will be legitimately unwalkable.

Exploration @Singapore

(Written Saturday 2nd November, 19.00)

I have just returned after a long day of world exploration. I saw India (Little India), I saw China (Chinatown), and I saw New York (Brooklyn Bridge?). It seems that Singapore is an amalgamation of several cultures, leaving a Singaporean culture a bit of a misnomer in my eyes. Little India closely resembled a generic unattractive part of India, and Chinatown looked a lot like London's Chinatown. Of course I had to bag myself some Ma Po Tofu (when in Rome... eat tofu?)! Not one hundred percent sure, but about halfway through I started feeling like the sauce was meat-based, so my mouth said leave it. I don't think Singaporeans believe in vegetarians!

By taking an excessively long walk from Bugis to Chinatown I seemed to cover a lot of the towns. This part of the day was not very exciting. Singapore seems like possibly a good set-up to work and live, but not built for tourism. I did return to Marina Bay in the afternoon though, and so far I think it's all about that place! It's a really cool place to explore and chill, and it seems to be home to everything: the financial centre, an unbelievable hotel (with an incredible swimming pool in the sky!), a really flashy shopping mall and some decorative flower gardens - quite like Canary Wharf.

Now to see how these guys party... Shoban's 2nd birthday celebration!

Round 2 begins: Singa...rich?

Welcome back folks.

The trip began in similar fashion to Prashant vs. World Part 1 with a nice panic about catching the flight. That being said this panic was far more severe, arriving at Heathrow just one hour before departure time! Maybe that means this trip will generally be a more intense version of Part 1? Hopefully. I still had the nerve to record myself telling an apparently poorly constructed joke. Better luck next time.

From Dubai to Singapore our first plane failed with a ruptured wall. We landed on a rescue island and then boarded the backup plane. This "safety plane", however, ended in an emergency water landing making use of the inflatable slides! I must say vivid dreams of plane crashes whilst sleeping on the plane are not ideal.

Since catching Heron-science-enemy (a.k.a. Mr Shoban Rahulapaskaran or buddy old pal) at the airport, I have attended three people's birthday celebrations (all of which were highly successful surprises), been awoken by the loudest thunder I have ever heard ("welcome to day one of monsoon season"), and seen some pretty spectacular city sites at night around the marina. The "heart of Singapore" so far seems like a smaller but more spaced out version of London, with some architectural influences from Sydney (based on third-person viewing of the Opera House). Big day of exploration tomorrow for first impressions to be validated or diminished.

(Please refer to Facebook for a photo of Shoban and I fashioning our best photo-smiles in front of Marina Bay if interested.)