So...

we arrived in singapore in torrential rain, which is a nice theme for our asia trip basically. Had a short walk to find our guest house which was very homely. and we had a tiny room with a bunk bed in it, i risked the top bunk and came away injury free. the first night we walked to some shops and generally took a nosy round before having some vegetarian food (after all that tandoori chicken!) and went to bed planning on getting up early.

We actually did get up quite early and set off for Kranji War cemetery, where we thought my great grandparents might be buried. In the 20's and 30's they had run the boustead institute which was kind of a meeting place for the merchant seamen of the day to play snooker etc. It's where my grandad became a bit good at snooker and singapore was where my grandparents met and started there 60+ year relationship (mum let me know if i get any of this wrong).

the cemetery itself was lovely and peaceful and beautifully kept on a hill outside of town. at the entrance was a kind of directory of all the service men and women and civilians and who had died during WWII in singapore. After quite a search we located my great grandad's grave which was quite a moment. Most of the rest of the sites relating to their lives had been demolished or we couldn't find, (singapore town is very new and high-rise.)

However, a few yards from the corner where the Boustead Institute used to be was a road named Palmer St and my Grandma's family name was Palmer so i like to think that they have a street named after them now.

We also went to the national archives in town who were very helpful.

The next day we went to a museum in Changi which is where a POW camp was and a chapel. It was another moving experience really, particularly as most of the other visitors were very old and obviously on pilgrimages to visit places their parents or relatives had been during the war, ( as were we.)

That was just about all we had time for in singapore before flying out to Australia to begin leg 2 of our crazy attempt to educate the world, so far stage 1 Asia = up to speed = success...stage 2 a tougher task i reckon...we just hope the food is up to scratch and that there is plenty of it!

To conclude our asia story Jen has kindly put together some handy hints for backpacking around SE Asia for you all:

1) Never be without loo roll, hand wash mossie spray, sun cream, something to protect your hair from the sun( and others from your unwashed hair) and a guitar.

2) Okay... you can just about get by without a guitar, but if you do carry one please bear in mind the following: it's good to play it somethings - this earmarks you as a muscian and not someone whose guitar is just a neat accessory to go with their new dreadlocks. Do NOT insist it takes up an entire seat in your undoubtedly crammed local transport. You will risk someone sitting on it on purpose.

3) If English, learn a new languare or better still, make one up. You'll find that your european companions cunningly revert to their native tongue when they need to discuss private matters. Learn a new languare and have those embarrassing domestics in private.

4) Eat the local food. Night markets are fantastic, it's possible if you get up early enough to fit in breakfast, elevenses, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner, plus snacks. If you see a street vendor selling an exciting new variation on banana ( fried, toasted, deep fried, in a pancake, on a stick, baked in its skin etc... you need to act quickly and buy immediately - you will spend lots of time trying to find said vendor tomorrow and they will have moved....

5) Learn some useful phrases in each language my personal faves are  hello, thank you and " please make that delicious curry without sugar"

6) Learn to haggle - perfect the look that says in one glance "30,000 kip!!!! Your prices offend not only me but my friend and all my family" but have a sense of humour about it, apart from in Vietnam where you need to be a tiger grrrrr and remember it's usually a battle over 50p.

7) Now the serious bit: responsible travel - try to refill water bottle where you can, malaysia is v good for this, otherwise you will leave a trail of plastica bottles if you drink the 5L a day that you're supposed to in the heat.... Don't litter, even if the locals do, there are also lots of local charities that you can support eg eateries run by ex street kids and so on.

8)Thanks Cath Guevara ( nee ward) for the squat loo tip - it is indeed better to face the wall if you are a girl, your fake birkenstocks are less in peril. However, check overhead for sharp objects to crack your head on....

9) There's no getting away from Bob Marley, banana panackes and other backpackers. Embrace them all ( apart from Bob, I have had my fill of reggae) You will make lots of new backpacker friends, special oscar speech thanks to Andrea, Rob, Liz, Betrand, Annika and Lore and Ruth and Ian for making our 3 months so much fun! And to everyone else we met along the way for being lots of fun.

Keep up to date with what we do in Oz....

ps has anyone seen Frank recently?