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I've been in Aus 4 days now. Perth was so like England it's unreal, but I've headed to the countryside today which is great. here's a detailed lowdown of my trip.
On Tuesday morning I caught the plane to Singapore. Having finally selected what I was taking and what was staying in Taiwan, weighed my bags several times, I’d finally got my things stuffed into 6 bags. I have a bum-bag with books in. slung round my neck was my Buddhist bag containing my laptop, passport, wallet - all the essential things for the flight. Next, on my back was the massive hiking bag, about a meter high and I’d filled it mostly with clothes. Then my normal sized rucksack, stuffed with my blow-up bed and more clothes is slung on my front. That left me with two free hands, one to carry my rolly suitcase full of bits and bobs from Taiwan, and then my hand-held suitcase with shoes and more clothes in.
“Dressed” like that I gave many a passer-by a surprise. I somehow managed to get the lot through the airport, and arriving in Singapore, after a few handy switches to put the heavy stuff in the rolly suitcase, I navigated their underground.
Singapore people were much more varied in race than Taiwan - Indian Chinese, Malay - some wearing a headscarf, all shared the train, seemingly in similar proportions. Westerners were pretty rare though. The variety of language also fascinated me, with English, Mandarin and even some Taiwanese (they call it Hokien). Some spoke a language I couldn't understand, which I presume to be Malay. I was glad to find the people just as friendly and helpful as Taiwanese, and plenty of people were happy to help me find my way around.
Eventually I got to the people I was staying at, and I'll let you know more about them and what I did in Singapore in my next installment
On Tuesday morning I caught the plane to Singapore. Having finally selected what I was taking and what was staying in Taiwan, weighed my bags several times, I’d finally got my things stuffed into 6 bags. I have a bum-bag with books in. slung round my neck was my Buddhist bag containing my laptop, passport, wallet - all the essential things for the flight. Next, on my back was the massive hiking bag, about a meter high and I’d filled it mostly with clothes. Then my normal sized rucksack, stuffed with my blow-up bed and more clothes is slung on my front. That left me with two free hands, one to carry my rolly suitcase full of bits and bobs from Taiwan, and then my hand-held suitcase with shoes and more clothes in.
“Dressed” like that I gave many a passer-by a surprise. I somehow managed to get the lot through the airport, and arriving in Singapore, after a few handy switches to put the heavy stuff in the rolly suitcase, I navigated their underground.
Singapore people were much more varied in race than Taiwan - Indian Chinese, Malay - some wearing a headscarf, all shared the train, seemingly in similar proportions. Westerners were pretty rare though. The variety of language also fascinated me, with English, Mandarin and even some Taiwanese (they call it Hokien). Some spoke a language I couldn't understand, which I presume to be Malay. I was glad to find the people just as friendly and helpful as Taiwanese, and plenty of people were happy to help me find my way around.
Eventually I got to the people I was staying at, and I'll let you know more about them and what I did in Singapore in my next installment