Farewell to Singapore

Hello from Thailand. It's been a couple of days since my last post - it's too easy to get lazy with the computer when you're out and about enjoying the surroundings. I'm currently sitting in Ubon Ratchathani, which is to the east of Bangkok and close to the border with Laos. Tomorrow (hopefully) we'll make it across the border. The level of English understood by the people here at the hotel is pretty low, so it may take a decent attempt with the phrasebook and sign language to make to the bus station to get to Pakse in Laos.

Since the last blog, I've enjoyed the little things about Singapore. Little India. Little Arabia. Chinatown (unusual since most of Singapore is Chinese). We hit Little India on New Years Day, which I assume is a public holiday in Singapore since the place was packed. It had a lot of atmosphere - particularly in comparison to the Arab quarter, which seemed geared towards tourists. We went into one of the local markets, which stank due to the fish and meat on display. So powerful were the fumes that it gave me a blood nose, so I had to fork out 10 cents to get into the bathroom for some toilet paper. There are two improvements that I think the western world has made in comparison to the Asian world. The first one is adding prongs to chopsticks to make forks. The second one is decided that toilet bowls should be lifted from the ground so that people can sit on them, rather than hovering over the top in a squatting fashion. Fortunately, it was my nose that needed wiping and not my arse, so I didn't have to go through with it...

Before heading out, we visited the Changi Memorial for the prisoners of war from World War Two. It was quite a good exhibit, but perhaps the most moving aspect of it is where the descendents of survivors and victims of Changi and the Burma Railway leave messages for their loved ones. It was also interesting because it also highlighted how bad life was for the people of Singapore, and how they suffered at the hands of the Japanese along with the Allied troops.

No photos today. I can't upload anything on this computer, so will add more later.