Vendredi 4 novembre : Bali-Singapour

Bien arrivés à Singapour mais le temps est plus frais qu'à Bali : 25° au lieu de 30° ! Nous prenons le MRT pour rejoindre le City Hall au centre de la ville puis on prend un taxi pour le VIP Hotel. Plutôt pas mal du tout ! La plupart des hôtels bon marché de Singapour ont des petites chambres, ce n'est pas le cas ici, nous avons en plus une grande salle de bains avec baignoire, frigo, clim, TV et même une piscine à l'hôtel ! Bref, le luxe après l'Indonésie ! Première sortie autour de Newton pour manger au food center pour pas cher (4$S soit 2 €), canard, nouilles chinoises et soupe. Il pleut légèrement et on préfère rentrer pour se relaxer. La ville me semble assez impersonnelle mais propre. Ici tout le monde joue ou envoie des SMS avec des petites tablettes, ce qui nuit aux contacts humains !

Samedi 5 novembre : Singapour

On prend le MRT pour Chinatown mais il n'y a pas grand chose d'ouvert à 9h30. Nous visitons le temple hindou Sri Mariammam situé au cœur de Chinatown puis le Bouddha Tooth Relic Temple. Très intéressant temple et gratuit en plus. Au 4^<ème étage, il y a la fameuse dent de Bouddha entourée de mini temples et de statues en or mais il est interdit de prendre des photos. On revient dans les rues commerçantes de Chinatown qui commencent à s'animer. C'est tout de même mieux que le quartier chinois de Kuala Lumpur. En outre, ici tout est fait pour les handicapés, tout est propre, personne ne fume dans la rue. Ensuite direction Little India car à Singapour tout est multiculturel, chinois, hindoux, malais, occidentaux et aucun problème de cohabitation, aucun papier par terre, tout le monde respecte tout le monde ! Il faut dire qu'il y a des caméras un peu partout mais on ne voit pas la Police. On trouve un autre food center où on mange toujours aussi bien pour 4 $S ou moins. On s'arrête dans un magasin high tech pour acheter un casque avec micro et on ressort avec le casque micro + un adaptateur grand angle + une tablette PC !! Mais à 286 € avec les accessoires, on n'a pas pu résister. John est aussi un très bon vendeur ! Ensuite Bugis Street où il y a foule : les singapouriens sont absolument fous de shopping ! Les temples chinois et hindoux se côtoient encore ici. Puis direction Arab Street, le quartier musulman puis bus pour le Singapore flyer, la plus haute grande roue du monde, tellement haute que Glynis restera en bas. Cette roue ne s'arrête pas sauf pour les fauteuils roulants. En haut, on voit bien que la ville est en perpétuel travaux et on tente de gagner des espaces sur la mer. Taxi  pour voir Chinatown de nuit. On mange à Foot Street mais on paye plus cher pour être à Chinatown ! Retour au VIP Hotel en MRT après cette journée bien chargée !

Dimanche 6 novembre : Singapour

On commence par le colonial District, Clark Quay, Marina Bay et Fort Canning. Pas très intéressant à mon goût. On se rend alors à la très fameuse Orchard road mais on n'y reste pas, que des centres commerciaux avec des boutiques de luxe. On n'aime pas du tout le luxe mais les gens d'ici semblent apprécier. On retourne à Chinatown, beaucoup plus humain pour se régaler dans un food center avec des petits plats thaïs 9$S pour deux ! Retour à l'hôtel pour tenter le wifi mais la tablette achetée la veille ne marche pas. Il nous faut donc revenir voir John à Little India qui, heureusement travaille le dimanche ! Le système Androïd n'accepte pas l'USB, On reste près de 3 h avec John pour trouver une solution et finalement on ressortira avec un Galaxy Tab de Samsung pour le même prix alors qu'il vaut 449 € en France ! Le quartier est noir de monde car les musulmans fêtent l'Aïd al Adha. Finalement, il est un peu tard pour aller à l'autre bout de la ville faire un night safari, on rentre donc à Newton pour un dernier food center et on rentre à l'hôtel fêter la vin des vacances avec une bouteille de vin italien achetée 13 $S.

Lundi 7 novembre : Singapour-Kuala Lumpur

C'est le jour du grand retour. On prépare les valises pour l'avion en n'oubliant pas de sortir des vêtements chauds... On n'aime pas trop le Singapour moderne alors on retourne à Chinatown pour les derniers achats. Fondue thaï pour moi, super ! Retour au VIP et taxi pour le City Centre et train pour l'aéroport de Changi. On récupère encore 40 $S pour l'achat de notre matériel électronique ! Changi Airport, c'est le top! Il y a des ordinateurs gratuits partout avec wifi, des salons pour se reposer, de l'eau gratuite, des fauteuils confortables. 35 minutes plus tard, c'est Kuala Lumpur, où nous avons la correspondance Air Asia avec Orly. 14H30 de vol pour retrouver la grisaille parisienne...

Mardi 8 novembre : Paris-Crevant

Bienvenue en France ! Pas d'escalator au RER C, impossible de payer son billet au distributeur qui refuse mes cartes bancaires, grève de la SNCF en prime ! Alors que nous sommes arrivés à 8 h à Austerlitz, il faudra attendre 13h pour avoir un train avec un wifi payant et valable uniquement avec Orange et SFR ! J'ai la désagréable impression d'être revenu dans un pays sous-développé... La France est soi-disant le pays le plus touristique au monde mais sa capitale ne pense pas aux étrangers ! Pas d'informations, plus de personnels, j'ai parfois honte de mon pays !

Friday 4th november : Bali-Singapore

There was a lot of turbulence en-route, we landed at 12.15 pm. Changed some dollars at the airport and then took the very clean and modern train to the city (6 SD) for 2 tickets. When we arrived it was raining, after searching for a bus we decided to take a taxi to our hotel. It cost us only 6.30 SD including all our baggage, so very reasonable. We are staying at the VIP hotel, it's not far from Newton station so is very well placed. The room is huge with 2 double beds, coffee table, desk, 2 easy chairs, TV, mini fridge with bottled water provided daily, kettle, coffee, tea and a lovely bathroom, it's also quiet! There is a swimming pool, with jacuzzi, I thoroughly recommend this hotel! Had a walk to the food hall, this is a huge room with tables and chairs in the centre and lots of kiosks selling various specialities, it's good, it's cheap and the locals eat there. We had braised duck (4SD each) but so much choice! There is a little supermarket near to the hotel so we bought some food and drink to have in our room later. Having a mini fridge means we can have iced drinks, great with this heat ! An early night after eating, it's been a long day.

Saturday 5th november : Singapore

After a good breakfast we walked to Newton station and took the metro to Chinatown. Started off in the market, lot's to see, it's so colourful and there are loads of bargains to be had, we have to be careful because of our baggage allowance though! We saw a lovely miniature glass teapot for mum, her name was painted on the inside while we waited. Walked all around the district and then caught the metro to Little India. We stopped in a very busy food hall and had a curry. This is a very colourful district and the women are wearing beautiful saris. Went into an electronics shop for some earphones, we saw some 'tablets' there and were given a very good deal on one, it will be so useful for holidays. Walked to the Arab district, the various religions integrate well here! It was now 5 pm and D wanted to visit the Singapore Flyer (the highest wheel in the world) so we caught a bus that stops very close to it. When I saw the height I couldn't go on it, D bought a ticket and went up though! When he eventually came down it was getting dark so we took a taxi to Chinatown which is even more colourful at night. Went to the road with all the restaurants and choose one that had food on skewers. The portions were tiny, the service incredibly slow and they forget some of the food, which they then tried to charge us for ! Will stick with the food halls in future. Took the metro back to Newton and had a refreshing beer in our room. We have done a lot of sightseeing today, and walked a lot too! We can't get the tablet to work so will have to return it to the shop tomorrow!

Sunday 6th november : Singapore

Internet not available until 10 am. Went to Marina Bay where during our walk we saw the old and new parliaments,Victorian theatre and the cricket ground. D wanted to go to Orchard road to see the shopping centre, I wasn't keen as I don't like malls. When we arrived and went in one of the malls, it was several floors of high class retailers, not at all my thing so we came straight out! Went to Chinatown where we had a nice meal of lemon chicken in one of the food halls. Bought some more souvenirs and then went back to the hotel. The manager gave us the code for WiFi, she also tried the tablet as she has one herself, still couldn't get it to work! She 'phoned the shop to see if it was open as today is a public holiday, it closes at 7.30 pm! Arrived at Little India at 5 pm, crowded with men as today is an important festival for them. At the shop the manager John couldn't get the tablet to work either! We waited while he sent to another outlet for a replacement, same problem. He tried another make but it wouldn't accept D's Archos. I asked for my money back as we had been there long enough. He bought out a Samsung Galaxy and that worked fine and was a much superior model, he said give me another 100 SD and it's yours! I said either you give me my money back or the Galaxy at the same price, after much deliberating and 'phoning to his boss he agreed to give us the Galaxy in exchange, a really good deal! By this time it was late so we went back to Newton and ate in the food hall. The manager has agreed we can keep our room until 1 pm tomorrow, so helpful and friendly here.

Monday 7th november : Singapore-Kuala Lumpur

Had breakfast and prepared our bags. Went to Chinatown for lunch and to have a last look around. D saw a clothes shop and chose some things for me, lovely colours and so cheap compared to France. Back to the hotel by 1 pm, took a taxi to the station, he dropped us off at the wrong one but we only had to change once on the metro so not too bad. At the airport I got a tax refund on the Galaxy of 40 SD. I have enjoyed Singapore, shame we didn't have enough time for the night safari, but we did see lots of lovely things. At KL airport we had something to eat, luckily we did as our take off was delayed due to problems over Pakistani air space. After take off we were able to change seats to two empty rows, at least we can lie down and have a rest. It's a long night and there has been some turbulence but we have managed to catnap.

Tuesday 8th november : Paris-Crevant

It's grey, misty and murky here, had to pass through 2 passport controls. A good job D had done some research for buses to Paris so we knew which gate to take, as there was no information anywhere. The ticket machine won't accept paper money so D had to use his credit card to pay 5 €! When we arrived at the train station the machine wouldn't take money or his card, the station guard let us through the gate because a train was coming, as there is a strike it will be another hour before the next one. We just managed to catch it but 2 tourists behind were not so lucky. The train was filthy and there was graffiti everywhere, welcome to France! At Austerlitz there was a train for Châteauroux departing at 10.18, 'phoned Jean-Yves to tell him our arrival time. While we were sitting on the train there was an announcement that it would go direct to Limoges with no stop at Châteauroux! We now have to wait until nearly 1 pm! Managed to contact Jean-Yves with our new arrival time. The train was crowded but one of D's colleagues was on duty so we were given seats in a first class compartment!