Sentosa Island

Quick flashback... We went to Sentosa yesterday, which is an island just outside Singapore city centre. It's basically Jurassic Park minus the dinosaurs. Lots of fun but here is a boring picture of one of the beaches there until we post the video of me doing the luge through the Jungle Trail.

And here it is, sooner than expected. There's really more video of my right trainer than me overtaking hundreds of small Indonesian children, but it was kind of difficult to steer whilst pointing the camera in the right direction.

Nicolas Cage still has it according to Mont Blanc

Seriously, do the guys in marketing at Mont Blanc think using this scary picture of Nicolas Cage is a good way to sell pens? Either nuts or comedy gold. Still undecided.

Farewell Singapore, Hello Australia

We're currently sitting by the hotel pool, in a very comfortable 28 degrees, before catching a taxi to the airport tonight.

Also, you may be interested to note that the last time Bruce went to Australia, he brought record rainfall with him. This time it appears he has brought a cyclone... North of Mission Beach thankfully. Here is Cyclone Zane courtesy of news.com.au 10 hours ago...

Night markets and night safaris

On our first night in Singapore we headed to Lavender food market following a tip-off from Wallace's dad. There we found lots of interesting things involving fish heads, pig organs and lamb intestines. In the end we played it safe and went for home favourites like Min Chiang Kueh and Bak Chang... No idea either.

Last night we went to the Night Safari at the zoo which was really cool because: 1) They have a tram which takes you round the entire park so you can see all the animals (mostly lions, tigers, elephants and deer... lots of deer) without having to walk, 2) The whole experience lasts about an hour so you have plenty of time to explore the gift shop and take comedy photos of each other wearing animal costumes, and 3) At the end of the night they have some random guys performing fire breathing tricks. This actually verged on self-immolation at various points and between sections of their entirely-made-up-as-they-went-along routine they liked to entertain the crowd by pointing a blowpipe containing a poison arrow dart at people. Fun times.

Rainy day in Singapore

So the first thing to note about Singapore is it's really neat and tidy. A little bit of building work going on here and there but at night you don't really notice all that. The taxi driver who took us from the airport to our hotel was half Singaporean half Chinese, and he told us he named his son Wallace because his favourite film is Braveheart. I actually think this was true rather than just a ruse to get a bigger tip.

The Marina Bay Sands hotel looking like an alien spaceship from Independence Day...

 The merlion...

The mermaid... the bedraggled look is because it was seriously rainy... as in it rained constantly and we had no umbrellas and we decided we wouldn't bother buying any because we had this theory that hot rain would dry off quickly, which it would have done if it had stopped raining...

 The Marina Bay Sands hotel at night...

Dubai

There's not a lot to really write about Dubai. All I will remember is a feeling of extreme tiredness from lack of sleep. That and my ankle was so swollen it looked like I had club foot, which was okay in the end because the Emirates stewardess got me a seat with extra leg room on the connection to Singapore. Megan also took the opportunity to take over camera duties.

Take off

Here we are at Heathrow Terminal 3 waiting for take off en route to Melbourne. And here is our first video post featuring the star of our blog trying to decide whether it's too late to change our minds or not...

The top five things I will miss about London

1. Parliament Hill lido. This is definitely one of the coolest places in London, but not just figuratively speaking. This unheated outdoor pool was built in 1938 on the south side of Hampstead Heath but in 2005 they installed a stainless steel liner which gives the pool a beautiful metallic appearance. Doing forty laps in there yesterday in the sunshine was amazing, even if it was only 16°C and freezing! It's also where I met Charles Dance and almost died of hypothermic shock in November 2011.

2. Cafe Pacifico. Best bar in London bar none. Ask for chips and dip and a pitcher of margaritas and let the fun unfold from there. http://www.cafepacifico-laperla.com/cpl.html

3. Crussh on Cornhill. Where I went for lunch almost every working day for the last year. I probably accounted for about half their revenues in that time and will be single-handedly responsible for their stock market flotation. The only place that does summer porridge and the girls that work there are cute. I hope they liked the Mr Kipling cakes I gave them as a leaving present. http://www.crussh.com/menu/porridge-and-breakfast

4. Regent's Park, Greenwich Park and Blackheath. Before I broke my ankle I would run around one of these parks at least once a day most days of the week. I will miss the ducks in Regent's Park especially... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veM5tszB_KQ

5. Queen of Sheba. Ethiopian restaurant in Kentish Town named after the monarch of an ancient kingdom who was supposedly bedded by King Solomon. Having mines helped you pull in those days. The food here tastes amazing and they don't give you cutlery so you have to eat with your hands, which brings back fond memories of childhood.

Sad times...

We spent Thursday night saying goodbye to our favourite London bar... I've lost count of the number of hours we spent perched on those rickety stools getting merry on jugs of frozen margarita (the freshly squeezed pomegranate ones are amazing). It wasn't quite the same having a virgin one this last time though!

Mission Beach has about 5 to 10 bars which we're looking forward to exploring!

And did we mention...

This little one is coming with us! The estimated time of arrival is the 22nd of October.

We're packed!

The boxes (all 24 tea chests) were picked up yesterday afternoon...we are officially living out of suitcases until we fly out on Friday the 26th of April!

Things that we are looking forward to

Mission Beach is a small town along the Coral Sea in Queensland, Australia.

It is also home to cassowaries, crocodiles, palm trees, white sandy beaches, and one of the finest caravan parks around!

Things that we will not miss

According to a well known connoisseur of fava beans and chianti, we covet that which we see every day. Well, I don't think this applies to getting the tube every morning.