New Zealand - Singapore - Home

After 1 unforgettable year / 12 incredible months / 51.5 awesome weeks / 363 life changing days I finally stepped back on to English soil where I was reunited with my family.
After arriving back from Sydney late on the 29th Liam, Andrea and I went for a final brunch at prefab on the Monday. I had a plate piled high with sweet waffles and my last Wellington coffee; how I'll miss these.

That evening a group of us (pictured above) went to Ombra for a final meal out. Ombra is a Spanish tapas restaurant with wonderful food, which we all shared, and my first taste of bellinis to celebrate.
After our gorgeous meal we returned to Waiteata where we met up with a large group of internationals and kiwis (most pictured to the right) for a goodbye party. It was a great fun night but sad to say goodbye to so many people.

On my final day in Wellington I did what I do best... I ate. For lunch, after saying goodbye to my buddy Maria, a group of us went to Ekim Burgers for some gourmet burgers followed by gelato from Kaffee Eis. In the afternoon we met up with a group at Southern Cross; I was far to full to eat anything here. By the evening I had worked up an appetite again so I could go next door for an amazing Mexican night where Justin had made enough food to feed a small army.

It was so sad to say goodbye to everyone but we all promised that some day in the future we will meet again.
Liam, Andrea and Drew got up at 5.15am to say our final goodbyes before I caught the shuttle to the airport. It was very surreal to drive through Wellington, knowing it was the last time. I couldn't have asked for a better city to spend my study abroad in; I will and already do miss its beauty and relaxed yet fun vibe.

My first flight didn't go as smoothly as planned. Air New Zealand had obviously had a miscommunication with Singapore airlines meaning they would only let me have 20kg rather than the 30kg I was entitled to. This led to me having to stuff a load of items into my hand luggage and throw away some things, including my rock collection. It didn't help that my flight was also moved so it left half an hour early.
My second flight, from Auckland to Singapore, was fine. I was sat between a nice, very chatty guy from New Zealand and a woman who slept the majority of the way. 

As usual on planes I didn't go hungry because surprisingly good meals and snacks were wheeled out every couple of hours. I also got to try a Singapore Sling, meaning I wouldn't have to buy one in Singapore.
By the time I arrived in Singapore it was evening, and even later in New Zealand time, so I made my way straight to the hostel and went to bed.

I got up early on Thursday for the breakfast of cereal, toast and Milo at the hostel before heading to the botanic gardens for the morning.
The gardens were wonderfully vibrant with so many plants I'd never seen before. My favourite area was definitely the National Orchid Garden which was full of a huge array or beautiful and rare orchids, which I took far too many photos of.

Around 1pm I took the MRT (underground train) back to the center where I found a the Lau Pa Sat Hawker center for lunch. Hawker centers host a huge range of food stalls, each with a favourite dish, and many tables in the middle which people share. There is a great atmosphere as hundreds of people bustle about with their trays of aromatic food. I chose the sea food laksa which was absolutely delicious but rather tricky to eat so I made a bit of a mess; this seemed to be the norm though. 

To cool down, as it was very humid and about 30C, I then tried an Ice Kachang from another stall. This is a bowl of shredded ice with syrups, fruit, red beans and sweetcorn poured over. It sounds and looked very strange but was wonderfully refreshing.
Once I'd had my fill from the hawker center I made my way to the Fullerton Hotel where I caught the water taxi along the river to see all the main sights on the waterfront. It was great but very hot.

From the ferry I strolled back along the river to Clarke key and through Fort Canning Park where I saw medieval gates, barracks, an archaeological dig and many spices. I made a quick stop off in the national museum before heading to Raffles. Raffles was a little underwhelming as it had almost become a posh shopping arcade but it was nice to see not the less. 
By then I was getting peckish again so walked to China town to find another hawker center for dinner.

This time I tried the Maxwell Food Court which was busier and more basic than Lau Pa Sat but still served a huge range of dishes to tantalize the taste buds.
On Friday I returned to Chinatown to visit some of the temples and wander through the markets which sold anything from silk scarves to dried squid.
The photo to the right is from the Buddha Tooth Temple which contained many ornate statues and offerings. It was interesting to see such a different way of life. I also went for stroll along some of the smaller streets to see the ornate, oriental buildings and some smaller temples.

In the afternoon, after an amazing Chicken rice and sugar cane juice from the hawker center, I took the MRT to Little India which was a massive contrast to where I had been in the morning. There were yet more market stalls but these were selling sarees and lots of spices. There were also some very big department stores; one of which I went to take a look inside and had to have my bag cable tied shut. The temples shown here were from Little India.

Finally, around 7pm, I took the MRT to the airport where I used up my change on a coconut and fruit ice kachang then collected my bags and went through to the very swish departure hall. By 11pm I was on the plane (in an aisle seat this time) and homeward bound. I watched some films and the sunrise and managed to get in a few hours sleep between meals.
Finally, at 5.55am I was back on British soil. Mum, Dad, Tom and Grandma had kindly got up in the small hours of the morning to welcome me home with a big bunch of flowers and a balloon. It was so lovely to see them all again after so long.

I now feel as if New Zealand was all a fantastic dream as I've slotted back in to my English life. I'm so thankful that I got the opportunity to spend a year in such an incredible country and that I was able to meet so many lovely people and go on a variety of life changing adventures.
I hope you've enjoyed reading this blog and that it has shown you a little overview of what  my year with the Kiwis was like.