Our blog for our trip to the far east. Taking in Singapore, Thailand, Laos and home before and after we leave

Monday, April 10, 2006

10th April Lassaiz Faire Cafe, Singapore

We've reached Singapore for the final few days of our trip. Internet access was a bit difficult to come by. One cafe on Phi Phi I could access the blog site, but the icons weren't visible so I couldn't figure out how to navigate to add a new post (probably as much to do with my techno-ability as the computer I was using). We got bored with Phi Phi after a couple of days, once the novelty of the stunning scenery wore off. At the moment the place is in a state of rebuilding post-tsunami, and currently resembles a shanty town, but for the benefit of backpackers. Imagine a slum of somewhere like Sao Paulo, but filled with pretentious middle-class teenagers looking to see the world on as little money as possible. OK, it's not that squalid, but you get the picture. Also, horror of horror, my Swiss Army knife was nicked from our room one night. We had thought I'd left it on the beach one day, or it had slipped out of our backpack we were using that day, but then I remembered that we'd used it when we got back to the chalet. This left a nasty taste in my mouth. We did manage to block the toilet in our chalet before we left (accidentally I might add), so I hope the staff member who pinched it manages to find a toilet unblocking tool on the knife, though I don't recall seeing one.

We left Phi Phi and got a boat to Phuket (steady now, it's pronounced "pooh-ket"). The place we stayed here was incredible with the most amazing pool and grounds, and it made a nice change from our pan of water-flush toilet (or pan of water fill toilet by the time we left), oscillating fan and mosquitoes for air conditioned comfort, western standard sanitation and insecticide-treated gardens. They also had internet access in the lobby, but you could barely get near it, so no luck ading an update there.

The area we stayed in, Kata, was pretty touristy, but seemed quiet when we arrived as it is on the cusp of the end of the peak season. Still there was no shortage of souvenir stalls, T-shirt shops, restaurants, bars and enthusiastic tout-fronted tailors. I was sorely tempted to ask one of then if they could print me a T-shirt saying "No, I don't want a f***ing suit". Alas we only had two nights here, and we had to be up and away before breakfast on the second morning to catch our 8-00 flight to SIN.Our firtst night was a little subdued since I had acquired a parting gift from Phi Phi in the shape of a small dose of diarrhoea, so we didn't eat anything too fancy. Later that night after a couple of singapore Slings, I was feeling better however (the healing power of gin) The second night we ate at a truly stunning restaurant which looked like a palace called Sawasdee Village. The food was as good as the surroundings, and the cocktails were pretty good as well. This was one of our most expensive meals as you migt expect, but what the Hell, you're not on holiday often, so we managed to scrape together the 15 pounds it cost!

This morning was when we missed breakfast, for our Tiger Airways flight to the Lion City. We arrived a few hours ago, and we are staying in another fancy hotel. I was flabbergasted when I asked them about internet access. Their business centre wanted S$10 for 10 minutes, so working out at about 20 quid an hour. Mind you, the mini bar charges $5-50 for a can of Coke, so it's not too surprising. Anyway, we headed to Little India where we found this delightful internet cafe where not only is access S$3 an hour, but they also serve Tiger. Cheers!

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