we arrived at singapore in the early evening on friday, the 21st of december. fortunately, we were able to send our luggage from linz til manado, so we didn’t need to care about it and were a lot faster to get to our hotel. we stayed for one night in the grand plaza park hotel city hall which was really nice and comfortable. the ten-story atrium hotel is strategically located in a vibrant quarter of singapore’s city centre, just a step away from singapore’s business hub, shopping haven and nightlife.

     
we didn’t rest long in our rooms because we wanted to go to a food market and were bursting with curiosity! a cab driver brought us to an old big chinese market where we ate too much but extremely good food. satay, shrimps sweet sour, dumpling, … anything that you like and can imagine – or not. we also saw some strange dishes there! i just found a “tutorial” for such a food market in singapore:

1. first, find yourself a table. sharing tables is common, especially at peak periods, so don’t be shy to ask about unoccupied seats.
2. next, it’s time to assemble your meal! for safety’s sake, don’t leave your belongings unattended. It’s easiest if someone stays behind to reserve – or as we say, ‘chope’ – the table.
3. remember to tell the hawkers your table number so they can deliver your food. at self-service stalls, wait until your order is ready so you can cart it off yourself.
4. explore the stalls to see what is being offered. most display photos of their specialties, and you can watch them being prepared. ask the hawker or other customers if you want to know more – they’ll be pleased by your interest. stalls with long and persistent queues are usually worth the wait!
5. follow the locals and share a wide variety of dishes, for maximum pleasure!
6. do remember to keep plates and utensils from muslim and chinese stalls separate, in order to respect religious restrictions concerning food preparation.

for as little as sgd 5, you would be able to enjoy a full meal at the food court or hawker centre. however, if you are ordering barbecued seafood, do check the price with the hawker before confirming your order, as seafood is charged by weight, and the market rate per kilogram fluctuates.

after our dinner we took a cab ‘home’ to our hotel because we wanted to do some shopping before the shops would close. well, many had already closed at the time we arrived but one next to our hotel was still open – unfortunately for me! i bought some equipement for my canon 350d but i think that i made a prettygood deal. everything was really much more cheaper than in europe and actually i wanted to have these things for a long time.
very tired but very happy we went back to our hotel to have a last drink at a bar (with supersexy karaoke songs) but then we went to bed early. jetlag is a bitch! :)

we will start with an overview and post special entries for each week:

• one day in singapore
• one week at the north sulawesi aggressor liveaboard
• one week at the gangga island resort
• one week at the sorido bay resort in west papua

our departure required to advance our family christmas party this year. our grandmum, our friend chrisi and we celebrated one week before christmas day. no snow, only a small tree but very good food and presents! next day we left in the evening from linz. our flights:

• linz – frankfurt with lufthansa
• frankfurt – singapore with singapore airlines (very recommendable!)
• singapore – manado with silk air
• manado – sorong with merpati airlines

we had to stay one night in singapore on our outward journey but our luggage was checked trough manado which was really a great deal! and, actually nobody of us four had a problem with our overnight stay in singapore! ;)

we now have a photos-page here on our blog. i’m not 100% satisfied with it because it seems that loading needs ages, but in the meantime it’s okay.
the other new thing is the about us-section. you can find there a bit more information about us now!

so what else is going on? we came home safe this tuesday but had to find out that ilse has the flu and couldn’t go to work. sabrina & me  still have some ear problems and above all it’s a bit difficult to bear this weather here after these shiny & warm weeks in indonesia. but at least we have our pictures to remember – i will upload them in the next days, so stay tuned!

gerhard, bini & me are at the singapore airport again (ilse had to leave a week earlier) and have to wait for our flight to frankfurt. after nearly 3 weeks of diving (or actually non-diving due to diverse illnesses) we finally have to go home. well, all holidays have an end, don’t they? we will tell you a lot more of each destination we’ve been when we’re in austria again. this time we didn’t take as many (underwater-)pictures as usual but gerhard filmed for the first time with his brandnew hd-camera and can’t wait to edit a suge film. i will post a few trailers!

hope you guys all had a great xmas and new year’s eve!

now, we are waiting for our flight to manado and sassi is very very happy about the free internet access. :)

well, we just spent one night here and we only went to the old market to crap some satey sticks and squirrels and and and. however, unfortunately it was a bit spicey. not so my taste.

later we went to an electronic-store and sarah was shopping like a mad women for her canon camera.

anyhow, it is boarding now!