Lagoons, Floating Villages and Giant Fish!

I did promise that the voyage became more exciting. Well, the next few days passed in a blur, with each  day blending into the next, as afternoon naps muddled everyones sleeping patterns perfectly. We sunbathed in the shade of the sail, lazily moving to make another drink or dip our feet over the side to feel the gentle splash as we cut through the waves. 

We visited places that are only accessible to the bravest of adventures, prepared to travel far and wide to the remotest of locations. On a fishing village we stopped to fill up on supplies and wonder around the floating houses, only swaying slightly on our sea-legs. I did my best to absorb the sights, sounds and fishy smells of the floating island as children ran barefoot along the creak floorboards and caged birds sang overhead. A local lady was frying up a feast in the baking mid-day sun whilst another savvy salesmen did his best to ply us with Thai gnome hats. 

On our voyage we occasionally spotted a passing boat in the distance, sometime a friendly fisherman selling the freshest of giant prawns. On another occasion we spotted a group of jellyfish farmers who were expertly scooping up giant jellies from the sea with one clean swish of their nets. 

All this time at sea finally paid off as we (well, our trusty skipper) made a giant catch! Truly the biggest fish I have ever seen, Ali reeled it expertly in and bopped it quickly on the head. A and the boys sliced up the fishy and popped him safely away for frying up on the BBQ later that evening. That is, after they had taken a few photos. 

I am pleased to say we became well adjusted to island life as we adopted swimmers as our main form of clothing, let our hair go unbrushed and enjoyed the sun kissed heat in our skin. 

We also became very accustomed to our daily swim in a hidden lagoon one day, a deserted white beach with sand soft as powder and a small monkey-filled beach the next. Some days we were contented to just drop anchor and dive straight into the see-through water, our skin wrinkling as we spend hours snorkelling and finding Nemo. 

Truly a wonderful few days aboard the wonderful Jimmy-Blue, with many more surprises to come! 

Mood - at peace 

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Singapore - Part 1, Temples, Skyscrapers and Safari

I had been looking forward to a holiday since last summer! Particularly as this holiday not only meant seeing my family and my brother, but spending some time with AN. HT has been pretending to be a cowboy in Australia for the last two years so it was especially good to pin him down and have a good old catch-up. 

We hopped on a very early flight, via Qatar, and luckily made our connection by about 2 minutes! We were very relieved to land safe and sound in the sunny land of Singapore! After a quick nap and swim we headed out to explore the city. 

As both AN and I had been to Singapore before, we didn't feel the need to do the most touristy activities and mainly just enjoyed walking around and soaking it all in. 

We started our day with a visit to both the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and the Hindu temple hidden away in Chinatown. Both temples are so very different and yet both display colourful, artistic and intricate decor. In the Hindu temple cameras were not permitted and we had to rely on committing the sights, sounds and even smells to memory. 

The Buddhist temple has a wonderfully serene and calm orchid garden on the roof, far away from the hubbub of chinatown and the business of the wandering tourists and jabbering shopkeepers. 

In complete contrast, the afternoon was spent at the River Safari, one of Singapore's zoos that focusses on river creatures from around the world and few others thrown in for good measure. I can also really recommend the Night Safari and the Zoo. I love that Singapore's zoos have largely open enclosures and have several walk-through experiences that allow you to get up close an personal with lots of animals, without compromising their natural freedoms. 

We both made lots of new friends! 

I was completely smitten with what looked like the cuddliest of pandas. Such a rare treat. 

A quick pit-stop later and we had slipped into something a little fancier in preparation for a dinner at le Comptoir and a few roof-top cocktails at Altitude bar. Altitude is a bar based on the 63rd floor at 1 Raffles Place and offers unrivalled views across the Singapore skyline. The bar is open air, which, at 63 floors up, is only mildly terrifying! 

Day 3 was unique in a completely different way! Sentosa is a little island just across a boardwalk from the coast of the city and has become Singapore's dedicated State of Fun. A slightly bizarre cross between sugar-sweet theme-parks and beautiful beaches, home to some buzzing beach-side bars and cafes. 

The island also houses the original fort used by the armed forces to defend Singapore against the Japanese invasion and just happened to be our first stop for the day. AN was not so impressed by the cannons on display and we found the heat of the day a little overwhelming to really enjoy our visit. 

Next stop was a walk along the beach, a quick paddle in the sea and a milkshake in a near-by surfing cafe. 

Needless to say we managed to experience the amazing variety of life and experiences that Singapore has to offer. For such a young country (50 this year!) Singapore has such an established culture that thrives and bubbles through the busy city, making it a truly exciting and interesting place to visit. 

Mood - hungry for more!

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