Monday 11 July, 2016
We had packed a lot into our few days in Paris and London but had really only scratched the surface of these two wonderful cities. Our bodies and minds were starting to feel weary and we were feeling ready to come home. I wonder if this is a subconscious thing that happens when you know you only have a few days of an adventure left.
On our last morning in London, we went out for breakfast, did some last minute shopping and then caught the train to Luton airport for our EasyJet flight back to Basel. By late afternoon, we were back at Anja’s apartment.
Tuesday was shopping day with Anja. She wanted to get a few things from IKEA for her new apartment and had booked a rental car for us to use. To keep the rental price down, Anja had asked Mark if he could be the driver, which was no problem. When picking up the car we (aka Mark) were pleased to find out that they had upgraded us to a Mercedes Benz station wagon.
So off we headed to IKEA and promptly got lost on the bloody motorway, for the third time. Basel is a nightmare to drive around. It’s so much easier on foot, by bike or on public transport.
We got there eventually and Anja made the most of having a large station wagon (with fold down seats) at her disposal. We even made a second trip later and Stephanie bought a couple of cool lampshades that she had had her eye on for ages.
After dropping the car back we walked to Marktplatz for Flammkuchen, a kind of German pizza which you cut with large scissors) at the Brasserie Baselstab Restaurant. Yum.
The rest of the evening was spent assembling flat pack furniture and packing our suitcases.
Wednesday 13 July
Our flight to Singapore left quite early on Thursday morning, so we had booked a hotel in Kloten, 15 minutes by train from Zurich and only a short bus ride from the airport, for our last night in Europe. We decided to leave Basel earlyish on Wednesday to give us some time to see the city of Zurich.
Stephanie woke with a very sore throat, which didn’t bode well for the long trip home. We finished packing, just managing to squeeze in the IKEA lampshades, made a quick trip to the supermarket to buy chocolate (you can’t return from Switzerland without Swiss chocolate!), and said our goodbyes to Anja and Salvador, the plant that had travelled with us all around Europe in the camper van. We wheeled our luggage to the tram stop, caught the tram to the Basel Bahnhof and then the train to Kloten – pros now at getting our luggage on and off!
It was noticeably cooler than in Basel and drizzling. We checked into the Welcome Inn Hotel. Despite the cold and wet, we decided to head into Zurich for dinner and a look around. From the Zurich Bahnhof, we walked down Bahnhofstrasse, one of the most expensive shopping streets in the world, past high-end designer stores and down to the lake, then back along the river Limmat and through the cobblestone streets of the old town and back to the train station.
Thursday 14 July
The next morning Stephanie was feeling worse. When we went to check out and catch the 8.00am free shuttle to the airport, the receptionist quickly checked our flight to Singapore and found out that it was delayed by four hours. She booked us on a later shuttle and then arranged for us to stay in the hotel room until midday, which allowed Stephanie to get some more much-needed sleep and Mark to watch some Tour de France highlights. We were very grateful not to have to hang around an extra four hours at the airport. At the airport, Singapore Airlines gave us generous meal vouchers because of the delay and then a box of chocolates each on boarding our plane; a nice touch.
And so after nearly 12 wonderful weeks it was time to say goodbye to Europe and head home. But we still had a few days in Singapore to break the journey and catch our breaths.
Friday, 15 July, Singapore
After a long 12-hour flight, we landed in Singapore at 9.30am local time. We had an easy transition through customs and hung around for a while in the lovely cool air-conditioned airport. When we finally walked outside to catch a taxi to our hotel, it was like walking into a wall of heat!
We were booked into the Hotel Nostalgia, a small hotel in the suburb of Tiong Bahru. Tiong Bahru is home to the oldest housing estate in Singapore, the low-rise apartment buildings all built in art-deco style. It is also home to the Tiong Bahru Market – an indoor food market famous for its street-hawker food stalls.
It was too early to check into our room, so we left our luggage in the lobby and went back out into the heat to explore the immediate environs. Within a few minutes we were overcome by the heat and humidity and retreated to an air-conditioned bar for a cold drink.
On checking into our room a hour or so later, we showered and then fell asleep. We didn’t wake until 9pm! We hadn’t eaten, so went out again in search of food, expecting it to be cooler. Well, it was just as hot and humid! It’s quite bizarre to feel sweat trickling down your back at midnight! And the humidity does terrible things to your hair. We both definitely needed haircuts!
Our body clocks were totally screwed and we didn’t get to sleep until 3am, then slept until 10 the next morning.
Saturday
We walked up to the Tiong Bahru Market for breakfast. It was packed with locals all doing the same thing. The choice of food was overwhelming and most of the stalls didn’t advertise their wares in English. We walked around for ages, checking out the stalls with the longest queues and seeing what the locals were eating. We decided to give the pig organ soup and chicken feet a miss and in the end struck up conversation with a lovely local couple and asked them what they recommended. We bought a couple of dishes and some delicious traditional sticky sweet treats.
Later, we walked down to the Singapore River. We stopped at an Australian sports bar where there was a Crusaders’ rugby game playing on the TV.
We then continued along the river bank, enjoying a bit of a breeze, to Clarke Quay and then Clifford Pier, from where we had views across to the amazing Marina Bay Sands complex. This resort complex, which opened in 2010, comprises three 55-storey hotel towers (with a total of 2,500 rooms) topped by the Sky Park, a huge boat-shaped terrace with restaurants, night clubs and an infinity swimming pool. The resort also boasts a convention centre, shopping malls, ten celebrity chef restaurants, a casino, theatres and the stunning Art and Science Museum shaped like a lotus flower – although I thought it looked like a baseball glove!
Back at the hotel, we had a swim in the rooftop pool and dinner at the restaurant before we were picked up for a night tour we had booked the day before. Having gone for three months without doing any organised tours, we thought we’d try one! After doing the rounds of several hotels to pick up other tour members, we drove to Gardens by the Bay for a light and sound show.
Then it was back in the bus and off to the Marina Bay Sands complex. We caught a lift up to the 56th floor and emerged onto the Sky Garden terrace. The views over the whole of Singapore were amazing, but then we had to wait in a queue for 45 minutes to catch the lift back down.
Once down on the ground floor again, we were herded through the shopping mall, a jaw-dropping display of wealth and opulence, and then down to the river for a boat trip to Clarke Quay. Clarke Quay is the centre of Singapore’s night life and its bars and restaurants were packed with young people enjoying a Saturday night out. We decided to ditch the tour bus and walk back to our hotel.
Sunday
Our flight back to Christchurch didn’t leave until the evening, so we had most of the day to kill. After sleeping in until 10 again, repacking and checking out at midday, we walked to Chinatown. Chinatown dates back to the 1820s and has quite a different vibe to modern Singapore. We explored the markets, stopped for some street food, and visited the red and gold Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, which supposedly has one of Buddha’s teeth.
Soon it was time to head back to the Hotel Nostalgia, pick up our luggage and take a taxi to Changi Airport. We had enjoyed our stay in Singapore and we only had a 9-hour flight home to Christchurch.
The Travelling Wildberries 
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