Singapore stopover

We have arrived in Singapore this evening to a balmy 28 degrees. We're here for one night before flying to Bali tomorrow to meet up with Phil's dad and stepmother, Cornelia. I think we'll beat them there by 2 hours! We're staying in the same Singapore hotel we had on our first two days of the trip because it's super easy to get to from the airport and there's a 24-7 food court downstairs, which is handy for an early start in the morning.

All this means that the European adventure is over. It's incredible, when we were planning the trip, the Europe part seemed soooo far away, and now it's passed.

Our last few days in Munich were lovely. We did have a last group dinner at Kloister Andechs on Sunday night - a monestary and brewery which has been operating for hundreds of years. In the dining hall, they have a cabinet with spaces for steins (the one litre beer cups) which you can permanently keep there (locked up, sadly). Apparently, they are so coveted, the spaces are willed from father to son!! It was fun note on which to end our travels with Nick and Jo, who headed back home via London.

Phil and I headed into town, dropping Nick and Jo at the airport train, on Monday morning and I had plans for some more shopping, but flagged early and headed back for a lazy day. On Tuesday, Chris took Phil skiing / snowboarding in Austria for the day. Having never tried skiing, I opted out, not wanting to hold them up from getting some proper time on the mountain. Thankfully, they had an awesome day with no injuries and I pottered about drinking coffees and reading. We had a last dinner with both Chris and Niko and said all the farewells. And come Wednesday, it was time to go!

I think the most common question you get when returning from an overseas trip is, 'what were the highlights?'. I can tell that after six more weeks in Bali, I won't be saying anything more insightful than, 'not too cold, beer was good'.

So while it's fresh in my mind, I thought I'd jot down the highlights (and lowlights, if I can think of any) of our European leg. I'll do half now, half later. We do have to get up at 6.30am to fly to Bali tomorrow... Ouch.

London Highlights:
- Shopping in Brick Lane markets for an £11 tweed coat (so warm it felt like being hugged by two polar bear simultaneously), cute teapot earrings (sadly lost on the way) and handknitted Xmas decorations.
- Taking bus to my dad's old neighbourhood in east London, on which a group of rough primary school aged girls yelled to each other "is he a pedo?" at Phil when he was taking photos out of the window. Also on the same day, trying the famed pie, mash and liquor of my dad's childhood. Ugh. Seriously.
- Ocean colour scene - A good band performing a great album with an enthused British crowd
- Southbank Xmas markets (especially the life sized snow globe that you could climb into and have your photo taken with sheaths of white plastic blown in the air)
- Finally trying out some amazing Windian food at the mango room in Camden

Brussels Highlights:
- The beer, the beer, the beer
- Phil's vending machine experience in the pub - trying to buy a can of nuts, getting 50 cents stuck in the wrong spot, a very unamused bartenderess and a lot of helpful locals armed with pocketknives
- Live sheep in the nativity scene in the centre of town - picture a life sized nativity scene with sculptures for all the characters and animals... Except throw in a few huge, sleeping sheep
- Europe's worst light show in the main square - basically flashlights on long poles to the sound of opera. There was a better lighting setup at the cash converters!!

Amsterdam Highlights:
-Cocktails on the 26th floor of the Okura hotel with city wide view to celebrate Nick and Jo's engagement!!
- Chilling out with all in our gorgeous apartment
- Visiting Utrecht for the first time in ten years and finding that nothing had changed

Berlin Highlights:
- Alexanderplatz carnival - especially a ride on a giant ferris wheel (the largest ravelling ferris wheel in Europe)
- Feeling very sophisticated, drinking vintage champers at the Veuve Cliquot bar
- Jo's excitement at finding maccas vegie burger and veggie hot dog in the midst of a sausage-heavy Germany
- Potsdamer platz toboggan ride - imagine a man made icy slope, large inflated rings to sit in, and Jo and I sliding down at crazy fast speed, me screaming the whole way down. I think Nick took video - I'll be keeping that one under wraps.

Okay, that's it for now. We're still all good, gearing up for the last six weeks in Bali!

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