Travel report

Well I did actually manage to get everything packed up in time although I was literally packing up to the very last minute (nothing new there then eh!?), which I think my poor dad found more stressful than I did. Dad was a great help and I'm so pleased he was around for those last moments in the flat; even psychologically it was good to have someone else around for support,

The British Airways flight from Edinburgh to Frankfurt via Manchester went smoothly despite the fact that the plane was one of the smallest I have ever been on; the aisle I was in only had one row of seats! The only plane I've been on that was smaller than that one was a tiny 10 seater that I flew on with my family when we went to the island of Bara off the west coast of Scotland.

The connection at Frankfurt was really good and I didn't have to wait long before I boarded my flight to Singapore. This plane was MASSIVE in comparison and VERY FUNKY! I had my own little TV screen on which I could watch films or play Tetris or watch comedy shows (that option proved quite embarrassing since I found myself laughing out loud quite a lot, so eventually, after a few disgruntled looks, I decided to stick to Tetris!). Quantas is a really good airline to fly long haul with since they do know how to look after you. The cabin crew handed out little bags with tooth brushes, tooth paste, socks(!), eye masks, head phones, blankets, pillows.......just about everything you could think of! There was so much stuff that in the end I didn’t know where to put it all so I shoved it under the guy’s seat next to mine…he was asleep and none the wiser! The flight was long but I was comfortable (except when one of the airhostesses poured a cup of cold water over me!) however I was really glad to arrive in Singapore 11 hours later.

Upon arrival, Dave Beattie, my old next-door neighbour from Perth, met me at the airport after his work and drove me to his apartment which is rather luxurious and has amazing views over Singapore. I freshened up before having dinner with Dave and Jean and catching up which was great; they obviously really enjoy their life here in Singapore and were keen to tell what life is like here.

Singapore is a benign dictatorship and this is part of the reason why it is uncannily clean and there is so little crime; if you are caught with drugs in this country they hang you! On my first morning I woke up early and Jean took me to the Botanic gardens, which were spectacular; the most beautiful gardens I think I have ever seen. The orchids were awe-inspiring (I used up a whole film taking pictures of them!). Afterwards I had a wee swim in their swimming pool; before going for a nap (the jet lag finally set in). Later on that evening we had a lovely curry that Jean made............ahhh this is the life!

The next day, believe it or not, I went to the Zoo! Singapore has one of the best Zoo's in the world and the reason it is so good is that the animals have got loads of room to roam about in; not like in Edinburgh Zoo. I really wasn't too keen to look around by myself; I fancied some company, you know how it is sometimes; anyway it wasn’t long before that prayer was answered! A situation arose where I and two Korean girls all found ourselves at the wrong bus stop for the Zoo and as a result I acquired two new companions who invited me to go with them to around the Zoo and have lunch; I got the opportunity to share my faith and they seemed very interested.

As those of you who have been will know, Singapore is a very interesting place and it inhabited by people from several different countries, mostly Mayalasians, Chinese Singaporeans, Indians and Euroasians . I visited parts of the City that are occupied by the different nationalities like "Little India" and "China Town" and I also went to the local history museum to learn more about how all these different people manage to get along in what is a relatively small island.

One of the most incredible "divine appointments" was when I went to a small island off the coast of Singapore called Pulau Ubin. I was determined not to speak to anyone and spend some time with the Lord....anyway the Lord had other plans!! I ended up meeting this lovely (happily married, I hasten to add!) guy called Yao Ming who was really interested in talking about spiritual things. I was waiting for the bum boat when he asked me if he could accompany him around the island, I so I tried to explain to him that normally I would have said yes, but today I wanted to spend time in prayer; "Prayer?" He enquired, "What do you mean by prayer?", so I started to explain that I talked to God and that sometimes God would answer me in various ways. Yao found this very entertaining and laughed out loud! He also found it fascinating so I thought I would go with the flow and said that perhaps we could just have a drink before hiring cycles and going our separate ways.

We talked deeply for a good hour and it turned out that Yao's Grandmother had been a committed Christian who used to take him to church and encourage him to read scripture but unfortunately she died 3 years ago and since then he has had little to do with Christianity.

Well after all that talking; I thought we might as well go cycling together! By this time I had forgotten all about spending time with God but Yao was determined not to interfere with my "God time" and kept reminding me to look out for a suitable place to stop and pray. Honestly! We stopped for about 20 minutes and Yao read the book of 1John from my Bible while I connected with my life source.

Anyway, the next day Yao came to church with my friend Dale Loh and I and incredibly a large part of the sermon was on 1John; coincidence? I’ll let you decide. The service was quality and seemed to make a big impression on him. It was great to see Dale, he was an A1 host and really looked after me (thanks again Dale!).

Since I left Singapore I've been getting lovely e-mails from Yao in his broken English describing how different things in his heart feel and how he spends time in the evenings talking to God about his day!! He has also mentioned that he is in touch with Dale every now and then. Amazing!

After Singapore I went to Australia and spent some time in Perth and Sydney where I stayed with 3 different families all of whom were extremely hospitable.

In Perth (which bears little resemblance to it’s Scottish namesake) the weather was very warm. On one of those stiflingly hot days I took a Ferry to Fremantle prison where I learnt heaps about the history of the first convicts to arrive in Australia (fascinating stuff). On the way there as we went sailing along these dolphins sidled up to our ferry and started gallivanting around, jumping in and out of the water; it was quite dream like, a real treat!

Sydney is an exciting city; very cosmopolitan and I enjoyed the buzz there. Throughout my whole trip I was aware of a divine presence; I had some very interesting times discussing the important things in life and getting to know the families I was staying with which was great; travelling with Jesus is certainly dynamic!