Day 7: London

All but a few lines of the Tube were off thanks to a strike, so it took some careful planning and lots of walking to get to the Natural History Museum. It was very fun, of course, all animal parts and skeletons and such. The case of various bird's feet was oddly amusing. Too many children to really enjoy the dinosaurs. One precocious four year-old accurately noted that "this looks like an ankylosaur."
Afterwards, we went to Harrod's. Most of the shop is just obscenely expensive and poncey, but in the foodhalls that becomes a wonderful thing. $150 for a kilo of venison, anyone? I should've bought a single prawn cocktail for 99p, just because. It's all a bit silly, really.
Walked through Hyde Park - with squirrels! - and Soho before having dinner at Covent Garden. London is unbelieveably huge and complicated. It's like the world's biggest onion, with layer after layer. And yes, I did steal the onion analogy from Shrek.

Day 6: London

Started at the Houses of Parliament - didn't actually go in - then begrudgingly shelled out 10 quid for Westminster Abbey. Was hoping to not have to pay for any sightseeing in London. Was glad I did. Westminster is gobsmackingly huge and ornate, full of smaller tombs and chapels and the like. Exploring each room, it feels as if a pinnacle of elaborateness and beauty is reached, only to be exceeded in the next room. Saw the tombs of Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots and lots of IIIs, IVs, Vs etc I can't remember. There's a Poet's Corner, including a bust of Adam Lindsay Gordon, which was pretty awesome. Also the memorials to Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace side by side - it's all just flabbergasting.
Walked along the Thames to the Tate Modern, which is gloriously weird. There's a program where various trendy bands are asked to choose an artwork and write a song inspired by it, which is then played on a listening post alongside said artwork. Would make a great CD, but alas, it has not been done.
Wandered back over the Millennium Bridge, through a curious park with lots of tombstones of people who died in acts of heroism, the remains of London's Roman wall, and finally to the massive Gherkin. Whatever the hell that thing is.

Day 5: London

First, went to the Camden market, which is equal parts trendies, hippies, punks and tourists. Wonderfully rambling, and more permanent than one expects a "market" to be. Pricey, but the Moroccan tajine I had for lunch was fabulous.
Next, the British Museum, which is as remarkable, astounding and whatever else as one could expect. Completely bloody amazing, the stuff they have in there. Alas, it's much too big to see in one go, and we missed a lot of Europe, Asia and the Americas, and all of Africa. Had a Thai dinner, bookended by tasty wheat beers in tiny pubs. Remarkably, London may actually have more pubs than Adelaide. Shocking, I know.

Day 4: London

LONDON!! was so wondrous and full of brilliance that I didn't have time to write about it at the time. There's certainly more to it than any other city besides possibly New York and Paris, I reckon. It's brilliant.
I had a couple of hours to spend upon arrival before meeting Chris, so I had a good wander about. Crossing the Jubilee Bridge, seeing Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament and the Eye on the other, I couldn't help grinning to myself like an idiot.
Met Chris, wandered through St James Park, Buckingham Palace (kinda grey and underwhelming), Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, St Paul's, Tower Bridge, and along the South Bank.
Went back to Chris's in Seven Kings, which is a very diverse neighbourhood. I think white folks are in the minority there.
Also, the Tube is great and has comfy seats, everything is bloody expensive and big mobs of tourists suck.

Day 3: Singapore

There's a really crazy-intense public safety video shown on the Singapore MRT about terrorist bomb threats. It begins with graphic footage of the bombings in Madrid, London and Mumbai. Really, the last thing the humble commuter wants to see is pictures of bloodied corpses followed by the message that "we could be next!"
But anyway. Today I circled a stack of things on my map and Death Marched around the river and Chinatown. In short: Raffles statue, Merlion, Chinese temple #1, Chinese temple #2, pretty street #1, Sri Mariamman Temple, pretty streets #2 and #3, hawker centre lunch, bloody-spectacular-yet-not-on-the-map Chinese temple, market streets, boring mall #1 and #2, pretty street #4, and the Asian Civilizations museum. Phew.
I think there's three kind of streets in Singapore: modern and anonymous; colourful yet bland residential; and ethnically-aligned with old colourful shopfronts. I like the last one best.
Sri Mariamman Temple was beautiful, and there was some kind of prayer going on that involved pouring lots of milk on a statue of a god (couldn't tell which one) and some spectacular pipe / tabla music.
Hawker centres still rock.
I like Singapore a lot. On the downside, it has pretty oppressive public conduct laws, and it's still technically illegal to be gay, but on the plus side, it's beautiful, lush, successfully multicultural, exciting, safe, and full of Cool Stuff.

Day 2: Singapore

Singaporeans are more fashionable than the Japanese. They think about what they wear, and there's none of the crazy over-the-topness.
The Sultan Mosque is still beautiful.
Went to the bird park, but it wasn't quite as amazing as last time. Saw almost nothing but starlings and doves in the waterfall aviary, and the Southeast Asia aviary was closed. Still, I saw a red bird-of-paradise, so yay.
Went to Little India, which is colourful, loud, and smelly - especially the covered food market, which reeks, and that's sort of why I love it. Walked in search of iced coffee, and ended up all the way back in Bugis, near the hostel, before I found one.
Went to Suntec City, and its associated Fountain of Wealth, which is exceedingly silly and very impressive. The fountain - world's biggest, apparently - is a bit of a monstrosity, indeed.
Stumbled across Raffles on the way to Suntec - sadly couldn't afford a Singapore Sling.After Suntec, walked to the river past lots of grand colonial buildings, much like the Victoriana in Australian cities.
Walked to Clarke Quay, which is very pleasant and very trendy, but suffers from a glut of loud Americans.
Walked miles and miles today, and am bloody tired, but saw lots of Stuff, so all is well.

Day 1: Singapore

Singapore was the first place I ever went to outside Australia, so it's somehow appropriate that I start this journey here.
I'm staying on probably the nicest street in Singapore - a pedestrian plaza of colourful shopfronts leading to the Sultan Mosque. I look at one of the minarets whilst brushing my teeth. Lovely.
Went to the zoo today, which is every bit as good as everyone says it is. Best landscaping and enclosures I've ever seen. First-time animals: babirusa, saki, manatee, giant squirrel, and three kinds of mouse deer!
Took a long MRT ride around to Orchard Road, and found that all Singaporeans really do live in giant housing estates, but at least they're colourful, look different from each other, and have bits of forest in between them.
Not much to say about Orchard Road - it's one giant mall after another, and lots of gaijin. Bugis Street market was more interesting - absolutely nothing I'd want to buy, but noisy, jam-packed and heaven for trendy Singaporean teenagers.
Hawker centres are brilliant - had a filling vego dinner for S$2 and fresh pineapple juice for S$1. Yum.