Singapore - Day 1

First day and it is very humid even early in the morning.

Last time I was in Singapore I went to the Changi Museum. It is a memorial to the Allied troops and local Singapore people who suffered at the hands of the Japanese invasion force during WW2. In 2005, 90% of the museum was closed for refurbishment and only the outdoor chapel and the gift shop were open.

So it was good to revisit the memorial and view the whole exhibit. I went to the memorial by taxi with Richard and Petsy. It is easy to get to as it is just off the freeway which goes out to Changi international Airport. The memorial is next to the site of the original Changi jail, which is now a much larger complex and still serves as Singapore Prison.

The memorial is a fitting tribute to the harsh conditions that captured troops and local people were forced to endure for three years. Through many written recollections, photographs, personal artefacts, copies of the quilts manufactured by the women interned in Changi, artist impressions and a lot of regimental plaques the story of the three years of hardship is perfectly presented for everyone to take in.

The only disappointment was that you were not allowed to take any photos of the inside of the memorial. In fact the only are that you could take a photo was of the Changi Chapel replica. It is a good place to sit and reflect after walking through the memorial.

A photo of the replica Changi Chapel

After leaving the memorial, I was able to catch a bus right outside the memorial to the Train (MRT) station at Tampines. From there it is a 24 minute ride to the City Hall station, where you need to change lines to go to Orchard station which services the main shopping area in Orchard Road.

Singapore’s transport system leaves Sydney’s for dead. You have a swipe card which you use on both the buses and trains, swiping it both on entry and exit of the bus or train station. This card is credited with money which you can top up at any time at any railway station. The buses and train come very frequently are spotlessly clean and fully air-conditioned. Wish we could get something like this in Sydney.

I walked along the shops and was quite happy to enter many of them to get some much needed air conditioning. I headed towards Plaza Singapura, a complex which I knew from last visit contained a large supermarket called Carrefour. I bought my usual supply of current beer and Pringles cans and then started to walk back the way I had come down from the railway station. I continued to walk past the past Orchard MRT and looked for somewhere to get a taxi back to the apartment. I spotted a taxi advertising the Guinness 9 Ball Tour championship which was held in Singapore last weekend.
Soon after this I spotted a sign for Muddy Murphy’s one of a chain of Irish themed pubs in Singapore. This there for had to be investigated. It is located one level below the road level in the Orchard Hotel complex.

Grabbing a soft drink I had a look around and it is the same as any other Irish themed imitation pub in any country. I got the attention of the manager called Jay and gave him one of my Guinness collecting business cards and asked if they had any Guinness memorabilia around. Jay came back with a Guinness half pint glass and a Guinness badge which he gave to me. I asked if they had any shirts with Guinness and the pub’s name on them. He went away and came back about 5 minutes later with a Guinness t-shirt, a Muddy Murphy's waiters apron with Guinness also written on it and a Guinness cap. He told me I would have to pay $ S18 for the cap but the other stuff was free. I very quickly gave him the money and thanked him for the items. It was quite chilly inside the pub with the air-con so I went and sat outside in the beer garden.

A couple of minutes later Jay appears again with some Guinness promotional items used for the Guinness 9 Ball Tour competition which was held in Singapore last weekend. A cap, a set of cuff links and a pen were handed over to me as another freebie and also some Guinness beer coasters. I finished my drink and as i was leaving thanked Jay for the gifts.
Back up at road level I was taking a few photos of the pub and its signage

when Jay comes running down the street with some Heineken coasters with the Muddy Murphy’s name on them for me. What a good bloke, for $ S18 I got quite a haul of collectables.

My new Friend, Jay, who chased me down the street to give me some more beer coasters.

I then found a taxi and headed back to Branka and Oli’s apartment where we have had a quite evening catching up and i have been quizzing both of them and Oli’s parents on Orlando and Las Vegas as they have all been to both places.

Collecting:

I have started a photo album at Flikr, to catalogue the items obtained.

Click here to go to the photos.

I have mentioned most of it already I know but here is some of the days haul.

Pringles Tubes (200g)

Guinness Draught (made in U.K. and imported)

and Guinness Foreign Export (made locally in Singapore)

Imported Fosters & VB cans, Coka Cola with Lime 330ml can, Milo can

Guinness 9 Ball Tour hat

I'm Away...

Finally, three years of planning has come to pass and I am away.

I had arranged to get picked up by a shuttle bus to go to the airport. The bus takes you to the airport and picks you up on your return and drops you back to your front door. It is a good service and at $90 return is about $30 to $40 cheaper than grabbing a taxi each way. I arrived with plenty of time to spare. The airport was full of people from the World Youth Day (WYD) celebrations that were held in Sydney a week ago. They obviously had spent some extra time in Australia and were now heading onto their next destination or heading home.

I went through immigration O.K. but got stopped at the Security check scanner and had to open my carry-on bag.

Before leaving Australia I had asked Stewart & Jeannette who I am staying with in London if they wanted anything bought over from Australia. All Stewart wanted was a large bottle of Vegemite as in London they only sell small bottlesand are quite expensive. When I was packing my case I was right on the 23kg weight limit with a couple of thing still to pack so I took out the TWO bottles I had bought for him and a tube of Vegemite I had bought for myself to use and put them into my hand luggage. BIG MISTAKE.

I had forgotten about the new laws about carrying liquids and gels onto planes in your hand luggage and the two bottles were taken from me. Also taken was the smaller tube as it was over the 100g limit on those items. (It was 145g)

I was then o.k. to proceed through the check point. Imagine my surprise when directly after the duty free bottle shop was a food section selling Vegemite. So I then stocked up again.
I also had to change some money into Singapore dollars as I had got some currency previously but I had neglected to get any Singapore dollars.

I flew for the first time on British Airways and would considerer it equal to the service on Qantas. The plane left on time at 3.30pm and the flight took 8 hours to get to Singapore. I enjoyed the flight, the food was good, 8 movies to choose from although I just read a book I had bought along and listened to the music channels. The plane had many of the WYD people on it who were heading back to Spain and Italy.

I arrived in at 9.30pm local time (11.30pm Sydney). Only about 20 people off the plane actually got off in Singapore as the rest were travelling on to London. By the time I had walked to the luggage carousel my bag was already there so it was a quick exit from the airport.

It took about two paces outside the terminal for the humidity to hit and I quickly had to take off the jacket I was wearing. I was met by my friend Oli in his car. He and Branka live about 25 minutes from the airport. So it was not long till I was at their apartment. They have moved since I was last here in 2005 and this is a nice apartment. Oli’s parents Richard and Petsy are also visiting with them to see their new grandson as Branka has just had a baby boy Kyle, who was a sleep when I arrived so I had to wait till morning to meet him.

Collecting:

Being a big part of the trip, but also not of interest to a lot of people, I have decided that I will add my collecting finds at the bottom of the update so not to bore anyone not interested in it.

I picked up some M&M’s figures in the Duty Free to add to the M&M’s figurine collection.

This Is It

Finally, got everything ready and just about to leave for the airport. The last few weeks have been busy and I thought I would have got more time to sit and write about how I was organising the trip but things just flew by.

With running a display at a hobby show one weekend and a 4 day trip to Ballina for a Can Collectors meeting the following weekend things just never stopped. Late nights watching the bike race did not help but I am glad it finished before I left.

The plane leaves at 3.30 this afternoon and I am looking forward to catching up with family and friends during my travels.

Just sent out an email directing you all to this blog so hopefully I will find some interesting things to write about during my travels. Just got to figure out how to add the photos I take.

Next stop Singapore.

In Memory

Last Saturday was the 3rd anniversary of my father Aub's passing and I took Mum to the cemetary and we had some time with him. RIP.

USA Visa

Early in the process of arranging my trip I was reading about the entry requirements to travel into the USA. I knew from my brothers travels to America that you did not need a visa to enter the USA and are required to get their fingerprints taken on arrival at a customs entry point.

Then someone told me that some people do require visas to enter the USA and thought that I had better check on the US Consulate website. The website confirmed that Australia does have an agreement with the USA and along with 26 other countries can use the US Government 'Visa Waiver Program' to enter the USA without requiring a visa.

However there is a requirement for some people to obtain visas to enter, some of these people are Sportsman, Business Visitors and Au pairs. Also people with criminal convictions are required to obtain a non residents visa. Criminal Convictions include people with drink driving convictions. I fit into that category as in 1991 I was pulled over and breath tested by the police and returned a positive reading. At a later court hearing I was convicted of Drink Driving. After 17 years my stupidity that day has come back to haunt me.

This is from the US Consulate visa FAQ website -

Q I had a drink driving charge. Do I need a visa?
Applicants with any drink-driving charges are advised to apply for a visa and not to use the Visa Waiver Program. Most short term visitors traveling for business or pleasure apply for a B-1/B-2 business/tourist visa.

I then had to read through the website to find out what I needed to do to apply for the visa. This was not an easy process as there are a few different places where the information is located and each one has slightly different wordings.

I even tried to ring the US Consulate but the recorded message said if you want to speak to someone at the consulate that you will be charged $12 for the phone call. Then tried emailing them but only got an automated reply. I eventually found an email address to the consulate that was listed on a separate page in a forum site and on emailing that address I received a email that answered my questions.

Finally after searching I was required to provide the following at an appointment at the U.S. Consulate:

• My Australian Passport.
• Visa application form, DS-156 Form (Nonimmigrant Visa Application) this 3 page form has to be typed online and when completed you print it out and it is printed with an individual barcode printed on the form. This form has to be presented to the Consulate when you appear for the Visa appointment.
• DS-157 Supplemental Application Form - Any male applicants between the ages of 16 and 45 from any country or all applicants who are citizens of Iran, Syria, Cuba, North Korea and Sudan must also submit this form. (I just made the cutoff, in another 4 months I would have been 45 and not needed to fill in the form)
• A photo of myself. (similar to a passport photo although it can be either in colour or black and white) This is to be stapled to the DS-156 form.
• Application Fee (also known as the Machine Readable Visa Fee)
  It has to be paid before you go for the visa interview at any Australia Post Office. It is a non-refundable fee. They do not allow you to pay any other form of payment.
  The current application fee is USD $131. (The AUD equivalent was at that time $150.65)You must ensure you bring the original receipt for this payment with you to the interview as it is the first thing you are asked to show.
• A self-addressed envelope, either a Express Post Platinum envelope, Registered Post envelope or courier satchel for the return of your documents. (I used a registered post envelope and they returned my passport with the completed USA Visa in it)
• A copy of the Court transcript from my drink driving charge. This normally would cost a fee to retrieve the information from the NSW Law Courts office but I rang the court house where I appeared and they found the transcript and copied it for me at no cost. Being from 1991 it was not on any computer and the court attendant had to search though the court archives for it. It did not help that when they asked me the date of the court hearing I gave them the date I was charged at the police station not the court hearing date - 4 months apart.
• Any other documents that may assist the application. I placed the BCCA magazine with all the Canvention information in with my documents and a copy of my travel arrangements.

Frequent Flyers............

Making enquiries for using Frequent Flyer points was actually quite easy. Research on the internet and a phone call to Qantas explained that I can book tickets up to 353 days before the dates I wanted to travel.

I then put together a rough trip plan - Singapore three days, England two weeks, Ireland one week, Orlando ten days, Las Vegas 5 days, Hawaii 4 days.

Working around the Orlando Canvention I did a lot of searching on the Qantas website for the correct connections etc. to make it all happen and when ready contacted Qantas with my plans. You are able to do all this on the internet yourself but for only 2500 points you can use a Qantas Frequent Flyer sales person to help you coordinate flights.

The only tricky part was when I phoned to book my flights I was told I could not book all the tickets for the trip until it was 353 days before the departure day of my last flight - originally to be the leg between Hawaii and Sydney. So I had to wait till the correct amount of days before this flight.

This worked out real well and the lady was very good at pointing out a few flight options I had not thought of and helped me with the problem with the Hawaii stop over section of the trip. I rang at 2pm on the required day and the lady informed me that there were no frequent flyer seats left for Hawaii - Sydney for that day or any days in the week prior. It seems this is the most requested Frequent Flyer sector for Qantas and you have to be very quick off the mark when the seats are released.

So I decided to spend the time driving between Las Vegas and Los Angeles and then get a direct flight home from LA to Sydney.

All this only took about twenty minutes on the phone and saved me a lot of hassles trying to do all the bookings on the computer.

Another point that had to be taken into consideration was that to book a round the world ticket you need to travel on three different airlines that are in the One World alliance with Qantas. This would not be a problem for this trip as Qantas do not fly from England to USA so I would be flying British Airways and the sales lady arranged for my flight Singapore to London to be with Cathay Pacific.

So in the end my flights Sydney - Singapore - London, London - Orlando, and Los Angeles - Sydney were booked that day.

I still needed to book London to Dublin return and Orlando to Las Vegas but they could be done separately online closer to the flying days to ensure that I got any flight deals that may be advertised.

Seven Weeks - Round the World Ticket - 4 Countries

When I first had the idea to go to the Brewery Collectables Club of America (BCCA) Canvention in 2008 I did not know in which city it would be held. All I knew was I was going to go to the meeting.

When I got my new job in 2006 I realised that if I was able to go without holidays for the first two years by the time I wanted to got on the trip I would have up to 8 weeks holidays available to take and with the amount of Frequent Flyer points I had I could do a big tour.

Then I found out the meeting was to be held in Orlando Florida and it was to be held in the last week of August, 2008. So now all I had to do was work out where to go and what to see.

So where to go to make this a trip to remember, in the end I decided on the following.

Singapore - I had been there for a few days in 2005 at the end of my Borneo trip to visit my great friend Branka and her partner Oli. (They have since married and in June became parents with the birth of their son Kyle) There was an invite to come back any time so this was an easy choice.

England - I have been there twice before but the last time was in 1991. I have relatives in England and it would be great to catch up with them all again. I also have a very good friend Stewart, who lives in London. Stewart is also a member of the ABCCA. His is originally from Victoria but for the last 14 years has lived in England where he met and wed his lovely wife Jeanette. He has been telling me to come over for a visit for many years. So with family and friends to visit this became an easy destination to add to the trip.

Ireland - Dublin = Guinness. As a person who specialises in collecting Guinness memorabilia I could not go to England without travelling across to Dublin. Since my last trip to Dublin, Guinness have upgraded their museum by constructing a new six storey building for their museum and visitors centre and I need to see it in person.

Orlando - The reason for making this trip in the first place.

Las Vegas - Everybody needs to go there at least once in their life !

When I was a lot younger I had wanted to get a car and drive across America, in fact I still have an NRMA Open Road magazine article from February 1990 pinned to my noticeboard at home which details things to consider for driving across the USA. This idea had waned a lot over the years to a point that I am not interested in doing the coast to coast trip anymore.

California - When I was a lot younger I had wanted to get a car and drive across America, in fact I still have an NRMA Open Road magazine article from February 1990 pinned to my noticeboard at home which details things to consider for driving across the USA. This idea had waned a lot over the years to a point that I am not interested in doing the coast to coast trip anymore.

A short driving holiday from Las Vegas to Los Angeles would be o.k. so I hit the internet to find a route to drive and come up with Las Vegas - Death Valley - Yosemite National Park - San Francisco - Los Angeles.

* I had originally planned to go to Hawaii - I have always wanted to visit Hawaii, it seems to be a wonderful place from seeing and reading about it. Unfortunately when trying to book this part of the trip there were no Frequent Flyer seats available anywhere near the date I wanted so I had to drop it from the trip.

So there was the plan. Visiting Family & Friends, attending a Beer Collectors meeting in the USA, Vegas and driving California.

Seven Weeks - Round the World Ticket - 4 Countries

Travel + Collecting = Much Needed Holiday

I love to travel. I love to collect.

That's good enough reason to combine the two and get away for a holiday.

I have been collecting now for about 30 years, firstly comics and then beer cans. Along the way I have collected many more items as well but will talk about them as I pick them up whilst travelling.

I am a member of the Australian Beer Can Collectors Association (ABCCA) and am currently the national Vice President of the club which has about 400 members. We trade and swap all types of brewery items and I normally go to a swap day once a month somewhere in my home state of New South Wales. Annually there is a national meeting which is called a Canathon, these meeting are held in rotation by the 6 state divisions in Australia. The Canathon brings together members from all over Australia and also some of our clubs international members.

Meeting with these international members and using the internet for trading has allowed me to contact and meet brewery collectors from many countries and I have joined a few different collecting clubs both in England and USA.

One of the clubs I am a member of is the Brewery Collectables Club of America (BCCA) and have always wanted to attend one of their annual shows in the USA which is called a Canvention .

My good friends from Newcastle, Adam and Shirley have been to seven of them and always return talking about the wonderful time they have had. Other members of our ABCCA have also bought back stories from these meetings. I was planning to go to go to a Canvention in 2001 but at the time was working for myself and could not arrange for the time to make the journey.

In 2005 I decided to save for the trip and set myself a three year target to get to the 2008 Canvention in Orlando Florida. This target became a lot easier when I gained employment with a large company and have in over the last two years been able to accumulate eight weeks holidays.

Whilst working for myself I was able to gain frequent flyer points by using credit cards for business transactions so I knew I had enough points to get a round the world ticket (I actually have enough points left to get another one in the future as well) and decided to visit some family and friends in Singapore and England as well as going to the USA.

About 15 years ago as well as generally collecting brewery items I decided to specialise in collecting Guinness memorabilia. So if I was going to be in England I just had to go to the home of Guinness, Dublin in Ireland as well.

So the plan was set to do 7 weeks of travelling. Singapore, London, Dublin, Orlando, Las Vegas and Hawaii.

Hawaii ended up changing to driving 5 days in California, but I will explain that when I go through the experience of booking the frequent flyer plane tickets.

14 Days And Counting

So after three year preparation it now comes down to 14 days before the plane takes off. After reading many blogs for quite a while I am taking the bait and will attempt to cronicle my trip around the world.

So where am I going.....My trip will last for 45 days and takes in Singapore, England, Ireland and the United States of America.

But First... Just to get the hang of writting a blog, I will use the two weeks before departure to fill you all in on the reasons for my trip and some of the things that had to be organised before flight BA16 takes off from Sydney International Airport at 3.30pm on Monday the 28th of July, 2008.