Leaving Singapore and arriving in Jakarta on the island of Java, Indonesia

I woke a little later than I had planned and so by the time I was packed and ready to go I had missed the free breakfast in the hostel and also had no chance to visit anywhere else in the city as I had to check out by 10am and this would then mean carrying around my rucksack with me, not the best idea in the world.

Luckily the MRT station is close by and only a few stops away from Changi Airport, so the journey was very quick. So quick in fact that I arrived shortly before the checkin desk was open for my flight and thus I had a little time to spare to eat breakfast and utilise the free wifi in the airport. As I rechecked my tickets I had a heart wrenching moment when I saw that the time for my flight was originally posted at 11am and not 1:35pm and unable to find an email to say why the chance it was a nervous hour that went by before I was able to head on over to the check in desk and thankfully I had not missed it and was one of the first to check in and so I chose a window seat.

The rest of my stop is Changi Airport was relaxed as I had time enough to change over money, have breakfast and do a bit of internet surfing. The Indonesian Rupiah is one of those currencies that I hate, as it has far too many zero's for common sense, making quick and accurate currency conversions in my head a nightmare. For instance a bar or chocolate costs 25,000, a taxi fare cost between 15,000 and 150,000 depending on if its a few miuntes of almost an hour, but what is a good price and how much should a person haggle.

The actual conversion rate, at todays value, is £1 = IDR 16,466.29 so for an extremely rough guide I was thinking to myself that a IDR 50,000 note is approximately £5 ( I know, its actually a lot closer to £3 ) and it also meant that if I tipped anyone a with a IDR 1,000 note it really isn't giving them all that much.

I almost thought that I was going to board the plane without my hand luggage being screen checked but then I noticed that the scanners were right inside the gate departure lounge entrances, which is better I guess. There was no huge sign or tanoy announcement for the inital boarding of my flight and so I assumed that there must have been some minor delay and continued surfing the web til I heard my name called out as one of the final chances to board the flight and realised my error.

On the one hand it was nice to hear my name called out at an airport but then it also meant that I was being a pain and delaying the pre-flight check procedure so I don't plan on making it a habit.

Flying over we were given out imigration and visa cards to fill in, but I had heard form D' that I would probably have to pay for a visa too, which luckily you can buy at the airport at the same price as you can at the embassy, US $25 for a 30 day visa or US $10 for up to 7 days. I was planning to stay for around 10 days so I had to plump for the full 30 days, but then its not all that much money really.

Arriving to the island of Java I could not help but see how much of the land by the shoreline was flooded and as it was so much I thought that it must be organised somehow, as in like the rice paddies and such.

Just before you reach the immigration desk in the aiport off to my left side was an office kiosk where you had to go to one booth to pay for your entry visa and then at another to have it authorised, mindless time consuming in my opinion but there you go.

I am not sure if it is a government law, like paying taxes, or a natural law, like gravity, but the aiport shuttle coaches leaving do not seem to be allowed to leave until they are full. The cost was a mere 20,000 IDR so it is not expensive, but the fact that the coach would only move about 20 yards before stopping and waiting for more passengers was enough to get me pissed off, especially as it took over half an hour just to leave the terminal complex. I could have taken a taxi I guess but that would have been more like 150,000 and judging for the look of them it would not have been any more safe or confortable.

When we finally were able to leave the airport terminal we drove towards the downtown area and I could not help but notice how poor and broken down the place looked. It was like a flooded version of some of the desert towns of South America. Field upon field was flooded by the ocea waters, deep enough for it to be unsafe for people to walk safely and yet by the edges on raised mud banks I saw countless locals fishing with rods or casting nets, yet I am not entirely sure if I would want to eat anything they caught in those waters.

With floods and stagnant waters would also mean that there must be plenty of mosquitos around too, not my favourite of insects and I wonder if Dangay fever was becoming an epidemic here like it is threatening to break out in parts of Australia or Singapore. Signs like "If they Breed you will Bleed"got the message over pretty loud and clear.

Fare from being surprised or uspet the locals seemed to take it all in their stride and I wonder if parts of the town are deliberately allowed to flood in order to save other parts of the city and of course also to help the locals to feed themselves.

After what seemed like ages we finally managed to reach the coach station where my instructions were to then get a taxi to the hostel cottage and I was only hoping that when I reached there it was not one of the properties floating or on stilts like I had seen along the motorway.

My internet booking also told me that the fare should be around 20,000 to 25,000 for the taxi fare at the other end, but when I asked a taxi driver he quoted me 45,000 and I am not really sure that he even knew where I was going. I decided to play him at his own game and waving my hostel booking prinout around loudly I argued that it should be no more than 15,000, desite that being the outdated price for a tuk-tuk and not a modern taxi. He didnt exactly fall for it, but on the end we settled on a 4,000 tax receipt and a minimum fare of 20,000 which was still 5,000 more than the meter showed when we finally reache our destination though I have no doubts in my mind that if I had just told him to put the meter on he would have taken me all around the houses and clocked up at least 35,000 if not more.

The sad thing is that even if it had reached 50,000 that would still have been only about £3 for me, but its the haggling and not letting them get away with overcharing and ripping off tourists that was why I was making my stand, not for the sake of saving £1 ... I am not that hard up, yet.

The taxi driver did finally manage to find the hostel only he had no change from my 50,000 note and so he waited for me to go into the hostel and hopefully they could help me out. Only thing was, no one was hone or answering the phone and so not only could I not given him his change, but I could also not check in. There was a bank across the road but they were closed to the public, despite being only about 4pm, so in the end I had to go to the stationers next door and finally get change to give the taxi driver.

By this time I was nervous about the flooding, the mosquitos, the money, the sky that was threatening to rain down yet again and now being unable to check in thus I was in effect stranded in a foreign country where they do not speak much Engilsh and I was rapidly losing the good mood that I had started the day off with.

Not having the phone number of my friend here in Jakarta, I decided to just find the nearest hotel and checkin and then try to contact her via email and see if she could meet me that night and pretty soon I found a hotel called the Acacia which looked like a nice but inexpensive 3 or 4 star, possibly even a very cheap 5 star who knows. The price was around US $66 for a night and this seemed reasonable considering how big it was and how desperate I was feeling, so I agreed and checked in for 2 nights, unsure what I would do fo the third til I had got to speak to my friend.

Much like Brazil, I soon realised that Jakarta was a place that really needs a lot of time to explore properly and also a traveller would do well to research it before, as being the worlds 11th largest metropolis in the world it can be very daunting, overpowering and of course large enough to have it very good and very bad parts in equal measure.

The hotel did not have much in the way of tourist informatoin on offer, but perhaps if I spoke Indonesian I could get some more information or find out if there was a tourist office nearby.

To continue treating myself and unwind I chose to have a basking hot bath and was amused and happily soaked myself while through the in hotel radio system someone played a piano melody of the immortal classic "singing in the rain", which pretty much summed up my mood at that moment, in fact I even managed to drag up most of the lyrics from memory.

After a movie, a room service meal of fish and chips ( hopefully not 'freshly' caught from the flooded fields less than five minutes away ) and a shave I felt good enough to try the hotel karioke lounge, only to find that it had five pretty singers all sitting around the bar bored and no actual singing going on. Apparently you could emply one or more of the girls for free to sing with you, if you hired out one of the private rooms and of course paid for their drinks as well as your own while you were up there.

With not hearing from my friend all day, I sat and chatted to the singers for a bit before heading on back to my room and treating myself to a relaxing inroom massage for the princely price of IDR 145,000 or £9 ... unbelievable.

Tomorrow is a new day, and although the predicted rain and lack of tourist information will mean that I doubt I will get up to too much tomorrow, but for these prices I could almost hire a taxi driver for the day and have him act as my guide for the day and still spend less than I would have if I took a organised tour in another country.

Last full day in Singapore

I woke up at a sensible time and with the sun shining in the sky I already had a good plan for the day which was to see both China Town as well as stroll around Orchard road before I once again met up with my friends D' and T'.

My earlier roommates had all packed up and left early, so I asumed that I would be having more when I returned, so I left the room as tidy as I could and headed on out to the MRT which is not only cheap but goes to almost all parts of the city, albeit with only three lines so sometimes you might need to travel for ages on one line just to switch and then travel ages again along another.

I decided that I would have breakfast in Chinatown this morning, so I headed on right over ot the MRT station and did not stop to eat in the nearby food court, which was a shame as had I done that I would have heard the drummers of the Chinese Dragon dancers prepare for a practice dance and would have been very close at hand to taking some great photos.

The MRT was not very packed as it was not that early in the morning, so although I did not have a seat the standing room only was spacious and the changeover equally so.

I was not sure what to expect when I arrived at China Town but the mass of market stalls, flags, banners and chinese red lanterns hit me like a wave and also brought back a few memories of my last visit here many years ago.

When I travelled then I was much younger and my camera was a standard cheap film camera, so now it was good to retake the shots I remembered and still have, only now in much greater detail and more of them as of course I am no longer limited to only 24 or 36 shots.

The entrance of the MRT station opens out onto a narrow street where every shop is either a massage parlour, a restaurant or a souveneir shop, with each stall having a hooded marquet area out front to shelter their customers, and their goods, from the occasional rain flury at this time of year.

With my walking guide in hand I stopped at a corner restaurant and ordered a basic noodle curry while I soaked up the sights and sounds of the area. Of the four main cultural influences in the city China Town may be the most authentic Chinese of experiences but there is no doubt that there are still plenty of Indian and Malay's walking about dressed in their flowing and colourful skirts.

Despite it being Chinatown one of the cities most impressive Hindu Temples is just around the corner from the MRT station entry and I midly curse myself for not having enough time to visit Little India and seing if the opposite is true.

After breakfast I take to the guide one more time as I walk around and I find myself at a large newly constructed temple called the Buddha's Tooth temple, a impressively tall and ornate building where monks can be seen tending offering blessings to tourists while the walls are filled with donation statues, marked and engraved with names of benefactrs who for a few thousand SIN $ can become a part of the glory and magnificents that is the inside.

Gold leaf and red paint is very much a theme in Chinese decorations and here no expense was spared on either as the entire place from ceiling to floor was just a sight to behold and I only held off from taking many photos at the start out of respect. The upper floors had signs saying that you must not use a camera so I asked a guard who said that photos were permitted on the lower levels, which was good news for me on the way back down.

I am not sure of the significance of why they built a whole temple to honor a tooth, but it seemed to be very imporant to them judging by the amount of donations it had received and by the number of tourists and locals walking though it even now.

Outside once more I heard the familiar sound of drums and following my ears I headed over to see a crowd around another dragon dancing troupe, this time inside a shop store, blessing it and eating a cabbage tied to the doorframe, most impressive and it is only a shame that they were in the confined of a shop as it meant I could not find a spare to get close enough for a good look.

I took a few shots but none that are too clear and then continued on my way to see what other mysteries China Town offered. Besides the food and massage parlours it also houses a few quiet spots where you can sit and drink surrounded in an oasis of green, sheltered away from the rest of the busy city.

As it was just a few days after new year there are still plenty of decorations and night time street performances, if you can find them and be there at the right time, and also is evidence of their tradition to give satsumas as gifts to friends and loved ones. A huge balloon float of a giant satsuma tree was inflated and on proud display along on of the cities busiest roads.

Short on time I decided that I had spend enough time here and headed on back to the MRT station to go to Orchard Street, the centre for commerce. On the way back to the station I spotted the Indian temple again and as it was so close I took a look and spotted that just around the corner you could get much better views of the inside complex that from the front, something I did not notice my first time here.

I also spotted the Chinatown Heritage Centre, which my friend D' had told me about and so I went in to take a look but all I could see was it roped off and a sign saying that a guided tour would be almost SIN $60, far too much for a brief tour of a museum when I had little time to enjoy it.

Sadly I skipped past it and headed on over to Orchard Street which was more modern and metropolitan that the authentic style of Chinatown. Huge multi storied tower blocks stretched up high into the sky in all directions and expensive and chic stores like Gucci were all around. There were still a few smaller shops on the basement and ground floor levels of the huge tower blocks but what captures your eye and ears is definetly the big brand names and hotel complexes.

As I strolled along I suddenly spotted a huge flat plasma screen on the front of a building, high up on maybe the third or forth story, advertising things from current movies to universities. I stood there and waited for the film clip to come by before I decided that I had to see a great modern chinese war movie here, in Singapore, and see what reaction the audience had.

Opposite was a multi storied cinema complex, with 9 levels of cinemas, and so I went in and booked a ticket for the next showing of the film, luckily it was only in half an hours time on the 9th floor. The film had been out for almost a month but still every seat was taken and not only by men, but by families, pair of girls, women and even the elderly, all turned out to see thei favourite stars in a modern recreation of China's bloody but magnificent history.

The film was great, a classic in the making and the audience were polite and quiet not only through the entire film but also on their way out again. Myself, I was one of the first out the door as I was already running late to meet my friends and I still had a twenty minute MRT ride to take.

Much of Singapore is tall apartment blocks, stylish, clean and well managed, able to fit in hundred of families into an area that is short of space and yet graffiti and litter is neither a problem nor a nuisance. My friends met me at the MRT station and we headed on over to their apartement where I met D's brother and together we all sat down, shared dinner and talking for hours.

Much later I had to return to my hostel as they all had work and I had to prepare myself and be out in the morning for my flight to Jakarta, Indonesia.

First full day in Singapore

After a long nights sleep I was happy to wake up around 7am, grab myself a shower and get ready for the day ahead. I had already received a text from my friends D' & T' so I knew that I would be seing them in a few hours, but that still gave me almost half a day to go for a walk round the hostel and see what I could find. This wasn't my first trip to Singapore, so I was not so completely surrounded by the unknown, but like any large metropolis not only can one area be vastly different from another but also it is almost impossible to see it all, so there were still fresh experiences to discover just around the corner.

One of the best things about Asia is that you are never too far away from a temple, they are almost always very ornately decorated and coloured and they add a calming influence and a balance to whatever area they are located.

Being a Saturday morning I expected things to be open around 9am, but apart from the occasional corner restaurant that opened up for the early morning trade most of the shops were shut til around 10:30am. After the trouble finding something resembling a breakfast for under AUD $12 in Australia it was refreshing and heart warmng to get a bowl full of rice and pork plus a drink for a mere SIN $4.30, and even here I had to remind myself that Singapore was one of the more expensive places in Asia.

True it was not a contiental breakfast and neither was it a flashy unmarket downtown restaurant, but then that just added to its appeal and certanly the customer service was more prompt and smiling, even if the English spoken was thickly accented.

After breakfast I walked around more and came across a massage place, so I decided that this was as good as place as any to get unstiffer, so I went in and for SIN $50 I was able to get an hours massage. The place was cleaning and tidyer on the inside than it appeared on the outside, and the place had both mini lockers for valuables, larger lockers for clothes and several shower cubicles as well as plenty of reclining chairs for you to wait on til a space became free upstairs.

Like most asian massage places I have visited they give you some baggy pants and a shirt to wear, instead of your own tight and thick clothes, so that they can work your budy and muscles without fear of ruining anything and also to get better access to the body if using oil.

The actual massage took place upstairs, on a floor with around thirty flat mattresses on which they fill up from one end to the other, so I guess the masseuses can talk to each other while working. I actually prefer a more private massage room than an open hall style like this, but then perhaps that was why the price was cheaper than I had expected.

The massage was fine, nothing out of the ordinary except she did like to try and strangle me and even managed to crack my neck twice, which even now I am not sure is a good or bad thing. Thankfully after the painful pressure pinches, came the relaxation after and I was almost fully asleep when I felt a draft down one leg and I chanced to open my eyes long enough to see that the massage lady was displaying my body to the other masseuses nearby.

Slighly angered that I should be treated thus, I gave her a very dark look, which she quickly apologised for, but it had totally ruined my mood and the whole experience and so I just woke myself up, excused myself and left to get changed. I was considering complaining, but then what exactly could I say to the management and what would it have achieved, so I just promised myself never to come back here again and to keep my eyes open next time. Its a good job that I am not body shy or else the whole thing could have really upset my mood and put me off massages for along time, whereas now I will just be against going to places where you are not massaged behind closed doors.

Getting dressed I left and returned to my hostel where I would be meeting my friends in less than an hour, which gave me time to check a few things and prepare for an afternoon out. I was not sure where we would go, but I brought along my camera and was in a "yes" mood, meaning that almost any of their suggestions I would say yes to, as having already met them in the past I knew I could rely and trust them.

When we met up it was great to see them again, and quickly we decided to go to Sentosa, which is where much of the tourist stuff for Singapore is located, included the Tiger Tower ( SIN $12 ), a recreation of the Merlion that you can walk inside and climb up, pleasure beaches plus the Images of Singapore ( SIN $10 ) which is where we all wanted to visit.

The Images of Singapore is a cross between a movie theater, a museum and a was works combined with plenty of lifesize scenes displaying the history of the city from its origins, with strong influences of the Malay, Indian, Chinese and European cultures.

It was great to see things like the shadow puppet theatre and the dragon dance costumes as having just missed the Chinese new year, it was unlikely that there would be other festivals here in Singapore than I could go to see these live.

We also took a trip up the Tiger Tower which is Singapores highest view point and is a tall thin tower with a revolving glass disc that travels up and down the central colomn slow enough to get a good view of all around but if you want to take a good picture then you have to follow your target or else it will be slighly blurred, as I learned to my cost.

Around 6pm it started to get a little dark so we grabbed a bite to eat and then I said goodnight to them as I had plans to make for tomorrow and they too had only just arrived back today in Singapore and I did not want them to get home too exhausted.

The MRT is a very cheap and efficient way of getting around the city and I got back to my hostel in good time although sadly missing sunset. I collected my laundry from the hostel owner, thanked her and then went to my room where I was sharing it was a couple of just graduated girls from NY, who had just flown up from Australia and were on their way to Tibet to work there for three weeks. As they were tired and had to be up at 6pm the next day, I decided to skip writing my blog for tonight to let them get some uninterrupted rest, want for a walk and then crashed.