And so it begins...

So, my journey to New Zealand began only as can be expected from me - on the edge of catastrophe. Some of my good friends in Cardiff were delighted to see my tremendous display unwellness that I thought might result in me having to cancel my trip across the globe. Fortunately I actually managed to depart from Cardiff, get to my hostel and not die a couple of days ago.

Of course, for the key part of the journey - that is waking up on time for my  flight to Singapore, I very nearly failed miserably. Not only that, but I had not been privy to the fact that a transit visa needs to be obtained before having a layover in Australia. So that was an interesting morning.

After what was the longest (14 hours) and most pleasant flight I have ever taken I arrived in Singapore airport, which is literally heaven on earth. Seriously, if you ever get a chance to fly with Singapore airlines - even if it's to somewhere crap - do it. It's a joy.

That's a mer-lion....

I have never before seen an airport which has a butterfly garden (with a waterfall), gives you free money just for flying on their national airline and offers a tour of the city (again, free of charge).
After taking a whistle-stop tour of the city, I ventured back into the downtown area to see what I could see. Starved and sleep-deprived, I of course found a place that would sell me food for cheap and plentifully. I am unsure exactly how to convey the enormity and variety of food that this exquisite culinary institution offered, so here's a brief video of the 24/7 food market/palace of wonder.

Katsa?

So anyway, despite my digestive system already being on strike, I decided to order some random Singapore food that may have been called a katsa (someone please confirm) which was served up to me in about 30 seconds flat. It contained seafood, noodles and the fires of Hades. I learned several things in this endeavour,

1. I can't eat anything with chopsticks
2. I can't eat noodles without looking like the cookie monster
3. I'm a mess
4. I need an adult

 So my adventure has been off to a raucous start, which is the only way I'd have it. The next leg to Sidney may be calmer. I'll fly on a bigger plane for a shorter time to another primarily english-speaking country, but for now I'm going to hunt for a Singapore sling.

Stuff

A few people (mostly family) have asked me to let them know what I'm doing etc. over the next year as I'm going to be hopping across the planet to New Zealand.  So, here goes my first attempt at blogging.

For those of you who are confused enough about my life already, here's a brief rundown.


To the right, you'll see a map of Oceania, with New Zealand highlighted. This is the lovely country of hobbits and sheep where I'll be frolicking about for a bit and hopefully learning some chemistry. As you can see, it's mostly made up of two islands, aptly named the 'north' and 'south' islands - or if you want, Te Ika-a-Māui and Te Waipounamu, respectively in Te reo Māori. I'm going to be staying in Auckland which is on the north island (but not the thing marked with a star - that's Wellington).

Another thing you may notice is that it is not a part of Australia (the big green thing to the left). I mean, it's even less a part of Australia than Wales is a part of England. Obviously the confusion lies in the fact that they have essentially the same flag and accents that are practically indistinguishable.

I'll throw a couple more maps in the mix just because I like maps.


This is Oklahoma in relation to the United States. It borders places like Texas, Kansas... but it's called Oklahoma. Not Texas, not Ohio or Oregon or Canada. I was born here, and this is where my family live. Oh and it looks like a pan, and they have cowboys and guns and terrifying weather and things of that nature, but also a lot of awesome people and pretty places.




And here's Wales! This is my home where I've lived since I was six. It's also not England. I'm pretty sure that it's at the complete opposite end of the globe from New Zealand - could you make an earth sandwich? Someone else can figure it out for me. Oh yeah, and like New Zealand we have a lot of sheep (insert inappropriate sheep joke here). Nottingham's a place where I am a lot of the time. But it's not in Wales.

In summary, I wasn't born in Texas, my family never moved to England and I'm not moving to Australia.

So yeah, watch this space - I'll try to update it now and then, mostly with HOLY TENTACLES THIS PLACE IS BEAUTIFUL. Oh yeah, and I'm going out there in a week... I am sooooo not ready to be this much of an adult.

Oh, fact of the day - maphill.com is the best thing ever.