Too many thoughts were scrambling through my head while sitting in the plane on the way to Singapore. I felt raw, like a brand new traveller off of the home boat ready to be disembarked in a new world. My nerves were rattled as I read the the immigration and customs sheets. The rules of the Country floating around in my brain trying to catch onto anything, something, am I even making sense?

“You don’t have any gum on you eh?” Mike chuckles. “Um No, the ounces wouldn’t have made it onto the plane.” I smile trying to rid the tension that I have in my body.

Our baggage was severely limited to 35 kilos each. Our bikes and gear just made it. We were each wearing our bike shoes and enough clothes to survive a night in Antarctica.

Chewing Gum - fine $700

J-Walking - fine $800

Spitting - fine $500

Littering - fine $500

Importing drugs - Death Penalty; No Exceptions (Now, I don’t do any drugs but just the thought that someone could have slipped some pot in my pack is enough to make any one nervous as hell to enter this Country.

    I have never been to Asia before and though Singapore may be a huge exception to what the rest of Asia is like, I love it!! Kobie

picked us up at the airport with his friend Guy. We were able to put our bike boxes in the back of his van which was great! Kobie and I met at my shop The Wilderness Supply Co. just before Mike and I left on this trip. He bought a kayak, then began at the end of Ferry road Winnipeg and paddled to the Gulf of Mexico.   Kobie has been living for the past 5 years in Singapore and he welcomed us into his condo. 

The last week has felt similar to being back in School. Many days were filled up with research and the studying of video cameras. In other words shopping. I think Singapore is one of the only places that you can do this and still feel like you are doing a proper tourist outing. We toured dozens of different malls that have many floors that are only filled with electronics. I can not believe the selection! All of these malls are busy too. An item goes from $1450 to $730 depending on the shop and the bargaining.  My head was spinning. I have as much patience for shopping as I do for School so after day two, the boys started dropping me off at book stores, coffee shops or yoga and collecting me afterwards. The two of them in the mean time found a kinship for shopping and researching items to death. In the end we bought a beautiful new video camera, lens and hard drive. 

    Kobie has been irreplaceable, he has spent countless of hours with us teaching me how to make a new website, server and a way of uploading to the net so I can spend way less time on doing this. We called Josh in Winnipeg many times to link together with my website host and hopefully if you are reading this then it is all sorted! Thank you guys!

    Apart from all that “boring stuff” we have been hiking on Singapore’s biggest hill and challenging our taste buds to many new textures, both delightful and disgusting. The most horrible one for me is called Durian, an awful smelling thing that Kobie made me eat and I burped it up all night long. Mike’s portion made it to his lips and then he threw it out. My goals of never wasting food have temporarily been thrown out the wayside.  We have eaten a strange ice cream with glutenace rice wrapped around it in colourful little balls. One was yam flavoured. I carried around some deserts that Kobie’s mate Mike bought us. It was so sweet of him but it took me 2 days to work up the courage to try them. For the most part we love the food. One of my favourite is bubble tea. A drink made from tea, milk and sugar and little pearls of Saigo in the bottom that get sucked up through your straw. Surely people have choked on these before but is it ever yummy.  Mike has been fantasizing over all of the rice, noodles and chicken dishes and he is very happy. He has eaten so many new things for him. Eggs, beens, liver, things I have no clue what the name is or what exactly just went down his esophagus. 

    We went to many markets, our favourite so far was little India who’s area made a mockery out of all of the Singaporean rules. Kobie is hilarious and we have really enjoyed our time with him. His friends call him the cultural ambassador and it is so funny to watch him trying to prove a point by putting his tray away after we eat when no one else does, or standing clear of the train doors to let people out before barging your way in. It is just so funny.

    Kobie and Guy were heading to Malaysia for the weekend and invited us along with them, so that is where we are now. I asked Kobie “so, do you want to talk more about electronics or about sex and relationships?” In the end Mike got in Guy’s van and I am driving with Kobie.

Malaysia! What an instant difference!

To see photos of Singapore

click here