Singapore Sling...the Dingaling

So for two weeks in July I was asked to go to our Singapore office to cover for a co-worker who was performing his military duty for Singapore for the month of July. I must say that it was perfect timing as I was in the heart of winter in Melbourne and looking to have some nice weather. Although if I was back home I hear I wouldn't have been enjoying much of a summer anyways. I digress.

Singapore was hot. I am told that since it's so close to the equator it doesn't really matter what time of year you travel here you are going to have a some dry and at times uncomfortably hot weather. Which was exactly what I got right off the bat. I landed on Monday the 13th of July and before I left the Jetway sure enough I had beads of sweat building on my forehead and some case of swass on the verge. AWESOME!

So I hopped in cab and headed off to the Hotel Ibis. The hotel was okay. It had a great brunch every morning but lacked a pool or gym which would have been nice. Although, I cannot complain since it left me 10 minutes to work and in a good part of town to walk around and see some of the many sights Singapore has to offer.

Singapore is a fantastic place to visit and I know you have probably heard about all the rules (no chewing gum, no spitting, no jaywalking,etc etc) but to be honest I didn't see any issues in the 2 weeks that I was there. Seems that if you keep to yourself don't cause a scene you should be alright.






So some highlights of Singapore for anyone thinking of traveling would be Orchard Rd., Sentosa Island, Clarke Quay and Boat Quay. The Quays are both basically food and bar havens for locals and offer quite the array from Thai, Indian, Korean, Italian, Japanese, Chinese basically you name you can find it. The great thing about this area is its waterfront location which helps to keep it slightly cooler. The one down side was Boat Quay and the staff of the restaurants trying to flag you down to eat at their place. Offering drink deals or half price appetizers basically anything to get a little extra business. It's not so bad the first day or two but when it happens everyday it really gets tiresome.

Now not only do Singaporeans love to eat, but they feel a need for every other building to host some sort of shopping venue. There are malls about every 30 feet, and I am not even exaggerating that fact. There are department stores, furniture shops, bars, or restaurants around every corner. To be honest I am not sure where so many people can live with the tight concentration of shopping centers in Singapore.

The best stores in town are found on Orchard Rd., an upscale road of shops, restaurants, and clubs that is like walking into a Patriot's game about 10 minutes before kick off on Sundays.

Part of the shopping culture thats famous to Asian cultures is the Tailoring business. I'm sure you've had a suit tailor made before or had some adjustments made to pants, but this is a whole new level or at least it was for me. Each mall features about 6 or 7 differnet tailors where you can go in and barter prices and get hand-stitched shirts and pants for about half the price you'd pay in Australia or America. Needless to say I treated myself to some new threads.
Orchard Rd. is also famous for its towers. 4 floors of clubs and bars with basically a legal brothel and hotel rooms with hourly rates upstairs. I didn't make it inside during my travels down past there but don't worry the fun spills out onto the street where the negotiations were taking place all around. Pretty classy.

The last place worth visiting in Singapore was Sentosa. It's a real breeze to get there and probably the most tourist oriented place with a Universal Studios, casino, hotel, and Sea World all planned for 2010. Sentosa was a great day trip with beach front bars, bike rentals, swimming and volleyball. Its a great way to spend a Sunday Funday. It was here that I experienced my first Singapore Sling. Its a good drink sorta fruity, ocean front material no doubt and pretty well concentrated with booze. I will say though that my one gripe with Sentosa and not really within their control is the waterfront where you looked out over the water was filled with ocean rigs and tankers all a few hundred meters off shore. With the recession many boats haven't had business, but with cheap fuel prices and a centralized location to many of their distribution centers nearly 1000 boats are parked waiting for the economy to turn in hopes of setting off from Singapore to more propsperous times.

Well that sums up Singapore in a nutshell. Its very hot, people like to shop, and legal brothels. BOOM.

On a sidenote I extended my trip through the second weekend in Singapore and made a little day trip to Batam Indonesia seen in the shots above and below. I basically forgot to wear a hat and burned the top of my head my chest and my forearms while playing the most beauitful golf course. All in all it was worth it. Great day with some random folks that were from all over the world who knew a few of my co workers. Been to Indonesia another thing off the bucket list.

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Sydney

So there is no way you can come to Australia and miss Sydney. Not only is it a great city with plenty to do but the views and the Harbor are really just awesome. I started in Darling Harbor which is about a 30 min walk or 10 min ferry from Sydney Harbor. This area is very nice full of water front bars and restaurants, an animal sanctuary, shops and the Casino. I walked around for an hour or so since I took a red eye and nothing really opened until 9 or 10, but as things started to open and people started to head off to work I realized what a fantastic and exciting city Sydney was.

I started my sightseeing at the aquarium. It is a prety good one I was told it was better then Melbourne's and I can't say first hand but the array of fish, the sharks, and the reef tank were pretty cool. I will say that I was thrown off by the displays that you can see in some of my pictures as they have recently decorated the aquarium with Spongebob characters all over the place so there were cut outs in all the tanks or stuck to the outside glass. Apparently that is there lure to bring in kids during the vacations that were quickly approaching. So I will say the aquarium is worth a stop its a little pricey but its got a great diversity of creatures, feedings, and some interactive stuff (that didn't start at 10 am when the first person, aka me, walked through).

With my aquarium trip completed I was off to the Taronga Zoo. The Zoo was across the harbor so I took a water taxi from the Aquarium and Harbourside mall around to Circular Quay in Sydney Harbor, home of the famous Sydney Harbor Bridge and the Opera House. We dropped off a few people picked up a few and were off to the zoo. I got a great day of weather and really was very lucky to have had such nice weather in the beginning of winter.

The Zoo is by far the coolest one I've ever been to. A decent amount of the animals I had seen before but I just loved the layout of the Zoo and ease of getting around. The Zoo is set on a hillside with 2 options to explore you can start at the bottom where the ferry drops you off or take a gondola ride from the bottom up to the very top of he zoo. This allows you to get some bird-eye views of the different enclosures see out over the Harbor to the Bridge and Opera House across the water and basically the best way to see the zoo. From the top you basically get to ease your way down through an assortment of different exhibits from Australian creatures, reptiles, African animals, bird sanctuaries, seals, pandas, elephants and really just about anything you could imagine. All the while you are working your way down the hill with scenic views of the bay, and Sydney Harbor. I will say that the Zoo is a very worthwhile pitstop in Sydney and that it was one of the most enjoyable parts of my trip.

Following the zoo I was off to meet up with Megan. Meg and I had met through her brother Tommy, who was in my fraternity in college, and by chance she found me on facebook and stayed with me for a weekend trip to Melbourne. So that being the case she was willing to put me up for the weekend I was in Sydney. Which was fantastic save a few bucks and have some connections and people to experience the night life with. We went out with some of her Co-workers from the Sydney Film Festival, which she has volunteered at, and then out for Tapas for one of her friends birthdays. All you can eat, and drink house sangria and beer. YIKES! Well that night was a wash and our group did our best to make sure they ran out of every last drop of sangria.

Saturday, as a direct correlation to Friday night involved sleeping until about noon and not leaving the house til about 3:30 pm. Not how I intended my Saturday in Sydney but I was able to get out to the Rocks, try some of Sydney's best pizza and go to a German bar with huge Steins of beer which was pretty awesome. For the night we went and saw a cover band at a bar in the Rocks. Got involved in a mini scuffle because Australians have this strange need to challenge anyone that they think looks at them wrong, but overall it was great night and a good montage to MJ as this was in June and the weekend after his tragic demise.

Sunday I forced myself to get up and get rocking earlier in the day and went to Bondi Beach. It was a gorgeous day, sun shining, surfers tearing some waves brah and luckily enough whales were migrating through the harbor while we were there. I then headed off on my own and took a scenic bus ride to down town. Walked through the Botanical Gardens, saw the Parliamentary House and took a boat ride around to some of the different Quays.

Sydney is really a great city. I had a great long weekend there. I do hope that I can back there before my travels here are done but we will see where the wind blows me next. Well I suppose since this is two months late it blows me to Singapore and Hawaii next.

Tasmanian Highlights

Cataract Gorge

Tazz

My personal Favorite the Cascade Brewery

View From Norm's Lookout at Ralph Falls


The Carved row of trees between Launceston and St. Helen's

Tasmania Continued

Alright so I was a little lazy last night and didn't feel like muttering on in run-on sentences anymore so I figured I'd get a fresh head and finsih the trip to Tasmania today.

I should also mention here since I neglected to last night, that we had made a new friend, Gabby, in Swansea she was from Canberra and had been touring Tazzy for a few weeks so she had gave us some pointers on how to get around and what to see with our last two days. She also was going to Hobart on Sunday so she happened to tag along for the brewery tour and our trip that night to Port Arthur. She was pretty cool a nice little addition to our crew for a day trip.

So following the brewery tour the four of us set out for a Tasmanian Devil/Animal Sanctuary where we saw a few different local Australian Birds as well as a Devil feeding. Devil's do not move like Tazz did in Looney Tunes unfortunately but they eat almost identically. Devil's a re fierce little carnivours that will eat anything and everything bones and all. Saw that first hand.

The sancutary was nice a little over priced but worth a stop to see some of the local animals some of which are only found in Tasmania.

The Sanctuary was on out way to Port Arthur which is a historic Jail site for Great Britain. Convicts and outcasts were sent there as a punishment and forced to work hard manual labor jobs, and experienced excrutiating torture techniques which were quickly banned.

Now it is said to be haunted and its used for tourist events during the days and haunted Ghosts walks at night which the 4 of us went on as we got their rather late in the day.

The ghost was fun. The guide Courtney, put on a a good presentation, he told believable and haunting stories that made some of our group jump from time to time so it was well worth the trip. It is supposed to be a very nice sight to check out during the day time so I would recommend anyone going there to plan for a day trip over the night trip but like I said we were just flying by the seat of our pants so it was what it was.

The final day of our trip we climbed to the top of Mount Wellington. There are a few pics of the view from almost the top of the mountain as the peak was covered with a thick layer of fog on Monday morning. You could see for miles in every direction and the city down below was quite a sight.

After our kodak moments had run out from the top of the mountain we headed north for Launceston where we were set to fly back home. We stopped in Lanny as they call it for a quick peak into Cataract Gorge which I will include some pictures of after this so keep an eye out.

So all in all Tasmania is a must-do if you find yourself down under and looking for a good 3 or 4 day escape to a little hidden gem. I am pretty sure that we hardly scratched the surface of everything that Tasmania has to offer, but what we did see was amazing. From waterfalls to historic ghost towns, breweries to devils there is something for any traveler in Tasmania.

Alright I have a few more updates I will post within a few days as for now...Davsy over and out

Tasmania

Hey everyone,

Sorry my bloggings are a little delayed from the beginning but now that I've settled in more I lose track of my updates. Anyways Tasmania is amazing what a fantastic and laid back place. It is very green with beautiful beaches, waterfalls and mountain trails to no end. I would highly recommend that you make a trip to Tazzy if you ever happen to have the opportunity. Not only are the people really laid back, entertaining to hang out with but the whole atmosphere around Tasmania is just great. Its definitely a hidden gem amongst locations in Australia and I am glad that I experienced it.

I made the trip to Tasmania with my buddy Gaurav and his roommate PK. We took a cruise liner "The Spirit of Tasmania" which was my substitute for the Carnival Valor this year and then rented a car to traverse the mighty island. Our first stop landed us at a Rasberry farm for breakfast. Turns out they had a full menu with everything from breakfast to desserts all with jams, jellies, fillings of raspberries which were insanely good. So that was a great start to the trip.

(above is the Sideling Lookout on the hills on our way to Swansea)

So after setting off from breakfast we planned to drive for the day to a town called Swansea where we were going to stay for the night and go to Wineglass Bay the following morning. The trip from the boat took us basically along one small highway winding and twisting and turning for some 500k. We drove through Launceston due east to St. Helens (a popular surfing and fishing town). Along the way we found a few things on our maps and on road signs to stop off and check out. We came across some prety sweet stuff that we weren't expecting from a row of carved trees (seen below) and a very nice waterfall (Ralph Falls also below) over looking a valley. This was the great thing about our trip we basically had a few set things to do but then allowed most of the trip to be random excursions and basically taking chances when we saw things that took our fancy.

Ralph Falls...

Also, on our trip to Swansea we stopped at a winery tried some Tasmanian wine which was good. Which then led into Swansea. At our hostel we met some of the locals and went out to the only bar in town met more locals and drank the bar closed and stumbled over to the hostel for a little night cap. The bar also doubled as a liquor store, restaurant, bakery and I think the visitor's center go figure.

So a little background on Swansea is that in the summer it explodes with activity and basically triples in size for surfing, fishing and vacationers but in the winter has about 500 ppl living there so drinking and tomfoolery at the one bar in town on this random Friday in winter was about all there was going on and pretty entertaining. The locals in Swansea I would compare to likes of Joe Dirt just to give you an idea of how interesting the night was.

So following our night in Swansea included a drive to Wineglass Bay, seen above, which is one of the top ten beaches in the world. It is a beautiful place but DO NOT drink yourself silly the night before and think that the walk to where that picture is taken is going to be easy or fun or even the slightest bit interesting. You will quickly find out that it is steep, you will get the spins and you will have to take several breaks, but I digress.

There are several other bays, light houses, and trails in the park around Wineglass Bay and I really wish I could have been there in the summer because locals said that it is amazing.

So this took us through our full day Saturday between walking trails and driving to Hobart. Once we reached the capital we settled into a grungy little hostel that I suppose we didn't do our research on but got the job done as far as providing us with a place to sleep and stationing us near pubs and attractions that we had intended to see on Sunday.

Sunday brought us to the Cascade Brewery. Australia's oldest brewery at that if you want any other bits of useless knowledge feel free to ask. They had a nice hour long tour which was a nice walk through the brewing process and through the bottling room followed by a tasting which allowed you to try any of the beers they had on tap. If you ever come across Cascade beer I recommend the Cascade Pale Ale or the Cascade Blonde (not a low carb as you might assume but actually probably one of the best the offer).

TBC....

Yarra Valley Part 3

Hey Everyone,

Been a while since my last update but let me start off by saying that the wine valley outside Melbourne is amazing not only nice views and great wines but the people are amazing.

My journey began last Saturday as on a whim (I was planning to go to the wine valley and had a buddy or two from work planned to come along and they bailed so last second I decided to go solo) I rented a car and headed off to the Yarra Valley well known for its wines and a few breweries settled nicely in an amazing expanse of valleys, hills and vineyards couple hours outside Melbourne. I went to four wineries (Boat O'Craigo, Yering Station, Innocent Bystander and Long Gully) and caught 2 breweries as well (White Rabbit Brewery and Coldstream Brewery) that are spread throughout the pictures that I have on here.


I must say that my knowledge of wine outside of downing jugs of Carlo Rossi in college was quite limited entering this trip. That being said the opportunity to sit down with some wine makers do some wine tasting pick their brains a bit and see the vineyards was a pretty cool experience. I picked up a lot of knowledge on how the whole process works when they pick the grapes, how they extract the flavors and juices from them the differences between reds and whites as well as how to taste the full flavour of the wine. Just random tidbits that were all new to me and pretty great to learn about. I will say that the solo mission was a great way to experience this since you never were in a crowd and never being pushed out the door in tour to the next stop. So I didn't get to try all the wines and get chauffered around all day and drink my fill during the driving part of my trip. But it did lead me to a 25 dollar hotel that was positioned ever so cleverly above a bar which I will return to later.

So between the four wineries I found a couple breweries one was the Coldstream Brewery (http://www.coldstreambrewery.com.au/product.html) where I sat down for a nice lunch of stuffed rabbit and did a taste test of the four brews they had. It was a very small Microbrewery with restaurant that was in the middle of nowhere really but they did make some delicious brews. The four on tap were a Bitter, Cider, Pilsener and Autumn Seasonal that was a nice spicy beer similar to Octoberfest. Really something magical.

For dinner that day I decided on the second brewery to stop at. The White Rabbit Brewery located in Healesville was walking distance from the hotel I found and quite an anomaly. The mystique behind the White Rabbit was that the brewery was a new establishment and still hadn't chosen a beer to brew. They are in the process of testing beers currently. They make one at a time and let the brewers and any beer savants come in for a try and once they feel they have found the perfect brew they will bottle it. So I know not if I will come across the White Rabbit beer unless I find myself in Healesville,VIC again or if I do if it will be the same beer which I simply know as Test #2 which was phenomenal.

So after all running around and driving through the valley it was time for me to the bar and hang with some locals. What a night it turned out to be. Within a few minutes I met a few girls doing the Wine Valley runaround as well 2 were Kiwis (New Zealanders)and one was from Sydney. They were really cool involved in some form of Tv production and out for a long weekend. They were fascinated with the American Accent and asking questions about Boston and different things about the States so it was fun to go back and forth and split a few rounds of beers and some shots with some randoms.

A few other great things about the Grand Hotel, which was the name of the bar, was that it was the only bar open late in Healesville so all the finest townies were out in full effect and they hosted Karaoke on Saturday night. I sang Piano Man but they wouldnt let me drink during the harmonica (devastating!) but it still was a hit and afterwards I was simply known as the American. It was like they hadn't had an American come through in years so people were taking shots with me buying beers asking me to sing songs with them it was pretty full on.

Sunday was much tamer as I slowly emerged from Healsville to conintue on my journey I decided to skip the steam train ride through the mountains due to inclement weather, and instead found myself driving to the top of Mt. Dandenong where I got some good pics overlooking Melbourne and walked through some mountain passes severely underdressed and thinking that I was the next scene of Unsolved Mysteries as no one else was anywhere near me as far as I could tell not mention not a single soul in the world knew where I was. I digress, the day cleared some so the views were mixed between overcast and some bits of sun but definitely worth the drive through mountain towns and spectacular views all the way through.

I must say that this was definitely the best weekend I've had down here so far. But I look forward to the further antics that await me as I have a few new trips ahead (Singapore, Hawaii, and Tasmania to name a few) that should provide with entertainment as well as some great scenery as my journey down under continues.

Peace and love,

Davsy

Long Gully Estate Vineyards

Innocent Bystander Winery



Long Gully Estate Cellar Door