Sea to Singapore

So we've finally arrived in Singapore. Looking at the calendar, it's only been a couple of weeks, but it seems like an age already. As some of the initial headspin spin settles, Beatrice has started working and I've been looking for a flat, which is pretty much a full time job. As well as looking for a full time job. So we haven't had that much time to really explore etc.



Once the flat was all packed up, it looked very odd, like something was missing, but you couldn't quite put your finger on it. The other galling thing was that prior to letting it, I finally got round to all the DIY and upgrading chores I hadn't done in 5 years, and it looked quite amazing!



We had the packers in a week ahead of our departure, which was fine for Beatrice who was off to France for the week, but I ended up surviving on sandwiches and things that you could cut up with plastic cutlery as everything had gone into the container. It all fitted easily into the container, which is odd because the flat always felt quite full. I guess the answer is to just rent a container to live in.

(Saying goodbye to the flat and the park)

The container is currently somewhere on a ship between the UK and Singapore, and then it gets impounded whilst customs search it for alcohol and porn. We had an allowance to send some possessions via airfreight, so we just got our clothes. We packed these so that they would arrive a couple of days after we did, but due to 'local inefficiencies' they only just turned up. As we'd only packed enough for just over a week this meant that we've been washing and drying nearly every night. When the clothes did arrive, it was like getting back from the worlds biggest shopping expedition and suddenly having millions of 'new' things to wear! Very exciting. Although the 4 season sleeping bag and fleeces are a tad superfluous to requirements.

For me one of the hardest things was having to give away my world famous alcohol collection, literally tens of bottles of premium spirits collected over time. Singapore duty on alcohol is very expensive and you can only bring 1 litre each. Note that all guests will be required to bring a bottle with them so we can replenish stocks. In a way, saying goodbye to the spirits was like saying goodbye to fond memories, as each one had a special experience associated with it. The two I chose to keep? The Ardbeg 19 year old and the Hendricks gin (website well worth browsing) survived the cull.

Many thanks to all of you who showed up and making it to our final leaving party (pics link). I totally lost my voice afterwards from all the talking. You are all invited to stay if we have a guest room. Everyone who promised to come and then piked, you can all come too, but you have to sleep on the floor...

We're hoping to make it back for Glastonbury 2007 (assuming we can get tickets) so if you want to see us next year, either start looking for flights or buy your wellies now while they're cheap.