Travel
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@booboo glad you've had a good trip. Me and Neps have been waiting for you to reach out to catch up, but assume you're saving us for next time.
Chur
Yeah not quite sure how to explain to Mrs Boo that i want to meet these random blokes I "know" on the Internet ...
Unless you're around tomorrow (Thursday evening) up the northern end of the CBD?
We have nothing planned ...
If you ever go to Cairns and hang out with @mariner4life and his friends, be prepared to be called the "Penpal".
I've been called worse.
@mariner4life pretended to go to the Gold Coast to avoid me ...
Dude, you were here 4 days before you let us know. We probably walked past each other daily.
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@booboo glad you've had a good trip. Me and Neps have been waiting for you to reach out to catch up, but assume you're saving us for next time.
Chur
Yeah not quite sure how to explain to Mrs Boo that i want to meet these random blokes I "know" on the Internet ...
Unless you're around tomorrow (Thursday evening) up the northern end of the CBD?
We have nothing planned ...
If you ever go to Cairns and hang out with @mariner4life and his friends, be prepared to be called the "Penpal".
I've been called worse.
@mariner4life pretended to go to the Gold Coast to avoid me ...
Dude, you were here 4 days before you let us know. We probably walked past each other daily.
Oh. You were that guy?
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@MajorRage said in Travel:
Haru
Good to know they're still chugging along.
Always packed when I go back, bookings essential!
For more dodgier but very authentic cuisine , Beijing Hotpot is also awesome
Don't think I ever booked there, when I was living in hell.
I tend to avoid hotpots as there's so many of them in Sydney these days.
I do not understand hot pot / steamboat. My wife absolutely fucking loves it. I think it's basically taking a whole bunch of average Asian ingredients and then boiling it in some random flavoured soup.
Or, getting the chili option, and boiling it in some random flavoured soup with a chili oil slick on top of it.
My mates and I have regular pot lucks, we had a hotpot version most recently (quite a few of the group are chinese), and it was actually really good as we made our own sauces (in our bowls) etc in our bowls and everyone brought a range of foods.
Unlike when you go out to them and they're crazy expensive with as you say chilli soup. A lot of the new ones that are open here don't even have any signage in English, which I find weird, as they're just ruling out a large subset of potential customers.
They don't need you mate, it's not for you.....
Considering a couple of them have gone under recently I think they probably needed to.
They probably don't or barely speak english
I'm sure it's not that hard to hire an English speaking staff member, I don't think there' any Chinese restaurant I've been to in Chinatown that doesn't have someone with basic english skills. The two nearest me are closed, but next time I see one without any English signage I might go and ask them.
TBH, I think the majority if Chinese here would speak English. My old boss had terrible English though, and she's been here since 1986 and her husband is fluent.
In Auckland there are lots of little Chinese places in areas like Balmoral/ Mount Roskill that either speak little English or pretend not to
There's a good dumpling place in Balmoral I usually eat at when visiting mates in Auckland, but I can't remember the name of it.
Barilla? Balmoral is so vibrant now. On weekends it's like walking down the street in Hong Kong
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@booboo glad you've had a good trip. Me and Neps have been waiting for you to reach out to catch up, but assume you're saving us for next time.
Chur
Yeah not quite sure how to explain to Mrs Boo that i want to meet these random blokes I "know" on the Internet ...
Unless you're around tomorrow (Thursday evening) up the northern end of the CBD?
We have nothing planned ...
If you ever go to Cairns and hang out with @mariner4life and his friends, be prepared to be called the "Penpal".
I've been called worse.
@mariner4life pretended to go to the Gold Coast to avoid me ...
That hurts man
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@booboo I thought Kuranda was massively over-hyped.
Do agree about the Tablelands and Daintree though. Cape Trib is awesome
Do not under any circumstances think a day trip to Undarra lava tubes from Port Douglas is a good idea. In particular do not leave at dawn, drive for bloody hours only to arrive and find out there are only two tours a day, you've missed the first one by 15 minutes and the next one isn't for another 5 hours.
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@booboo I thought Kuranda was massively over-hyped.
Do agree about the Tablelands and Daintree though. Cape Trib is awesome
Do not under any circumstances think a day trip to Undarra lava tubes from Port Douglas is a good idea. In particular do not leave at dawn, drive for bloody hours only to arrive and find out there are only two tours a day, you've missed the first one by 15 minutes and the next one isn't for another 5 hours.
The town itself was a waste, as was the Butterfly house, but the train trip up was good, as was @mariner4life 's Rainforestation and the gondola back down.
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Hey fackers - thinking about Singapore with the family in January. Recommendations?
Love Singapore. Lots of different areas you can stay. Down at the Marina is expensive, Orchard Road has nice access to the shops. Santosa island has universal Studios and other stuff that might be too young for your kids. I really enjoyed the night zoo, which I did without kids so it's an attraction for everyone. Great food all over the place, I love me a good hawker market. Go for a meal at Lau Pa Sat, the food hall itself is pretty blah, a little too sanitised for me. But go out the back and sit on plastic tables in the car park amidst the satay stalls. Smokey, chargrilled goodness, cold beer, lots of great food brought to your table. If you love Asian, Indian food, it is a wonderland
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@NTA How long you thinking of going for?
Singapore is very sanitised but it is very clean, safe with plenty of good shopping and sights to see.
My brother lives there so I have been a few times. Although I get free accomodation I find it an incredibly expensive place to visit, but that's because he lives on the river and the bars and restaurants he wants to hit are uber expensive.
As the others have said it doesn't have to be that way.
If you do have a big budget it is an incredible stopover (for adults).
Kids wise - The Gardens by the Bay area is good. There are actually quite a few areas of wildlife that most tourists don't realise are so accessible. Snakes, crocs, birdlife - although might all be a bit passe for you.
It is hot and humid which many find draining. Personally I find 3-4 days enough but that's becauseI know it well. You can also easily do a day trip to Indonesia or Malaysia.
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Cheers gents - thinking is 7 nights in mid-January, accepting that we lose basically a day travel either side from Sydney.
We've looked at staying on Sentosa, Marina Bay, and Orchard Road. Pros and cons to each.
Wife is interested in the shopping part of things (natch) and we're both into the history. Kids won't care as long as decent wifi exists and they get to laze around the hotel room / pool for a couple of hours a day.
I am led to understand the public transport is pretty good but set it up on your phone beforehand or something.
I'm definitely keen to see any of the WW2 stuff like Changi prison memorials etc.
Is there plenty of available public wifi or should we pick up a SIM card or something?
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The MRT (metro) covers most places and is cheap and so regular you just front up knowing a train will pull up in a couple of minutes. I have a link card but you can get unlimited bus and MRT travel passes for <$10/day.
Taxi's are cheap. If you can stand the heat walking is an option as a lot of sites are close together in downtown. There's also the river, but that isn't as cheap.
Download the Wireless@SG app and you'll have free service pretty much everywhere.
Also forgot to mention how safe the place is. You can leave your phone and wallet on your table as a placemaker while you go for a piss and know it'll be there when you get back.
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There was uber type app last time I was there, as uber had just exited the space. I agree that taxis are very cheap, and it saves you the killer walk from the MRT station to the next air conditioned building
lowest temperature ever recorded in Singapore: just before sunrise, coldest night of winter ever: 18 degrees.
It's crazy hot. Partner and I checked a destination; was only a couple of km. Thought a cruisy stroll was the shot ... broke down with heat and had to get an ice cream part way through. It's insane... but you do acclimatise after a while (or so I am told)
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@nzzp I like the heat and the humidity. My partner does not
Once you get to know the place you can do a lot of walking underground or through buildings. They do air-condition major streets too like Orchard Road.
It is important to hydrate though. At every opportunity
Hence whuy I find the place expensive.
My brother does a 70km cycle ride every Saturday morning. That's not fun - especially after Friday night's hydration session.
