My exploration of Melaka started, how else could it be, with a visit to a nearby restaurant. One of the local specialities is Asam Pedas, a soup-like dish that has a remote resemblance of curry. It is slightly sour and hot and usually served with fish. The friendly staff helped overcome the language barrier and I managed to order… something. Not sure about the details, I just said ok and nodded my head.

I spent my day in Singapore mostly with doing some work online and sampling the local Indian food. In the evening I met up with local couchsurfer Czharina. We had been in touch since my last visit to Singapore and had chatted a fair bit about her native country, the Philippines. Consequently we headed to a Philippine restaurant near the marina to give me an idea of what the country’s cuisine is like.

Reliable and efficient public transportation, high-speed internet, it’s nice to be back in the civilised world. I said goodbye to Auckland and my Scottish neighbours over a glass of wine and a nice dinner with cheese crackers and filled chicken. In the morning I took the airbus express to the airport and to be fair, this piece of Auckland’s public transportation works well. Guess you can expect that at $16 for a single ride.

Once again my bags are packed and I am ready to leave. I’ll spend my last night at the hostel and be off to the airport tomorrow morning. NZ and I never got to terms and my time here was a low in two years of travelling. Yet I reckon a few days in the buzzing heat of SEA will be enough to forget the months of disappointment here. New adventures I’m coming!

Just booked a flight to Germany. On the 5th of April Malaysian Airlines will take me from Bangkok to Frankfurt with a short stopover in Kuala Lumpur. Initially I had planned to go with my usual carrier, air berlin, but within a week all offers from BKK were sold out. Fortunately Malaysian Airlines had some special offers going, taking me to Germany for basically the same price. They are not a budget airline so hopefully the 12h 40min from KUL to FRA will be as painless as a long-distance flight can be.

Way sooner than expected, I booked my return flight to Singapore. I will stay in my flat as long as it’s paid for, using the time to plan more travel adventures in SEA. Right after moving out, I’ll be on a plane on the 6th, arriving in Singapore in the early evening. What exactly follows after is not decided yet. An important factor will be at what time my flat in Germany will be available.

Just handed in the notice for my flat. I’m moving out on the 5th of March. The agency I was in touch with didn’t get back to me - despite what they said. For Monday I had an interview with another agency scheduled but they gave me a ring to tell me the interview was cancelled and that they’d do a phone-interview later that day instead. Which they didn’t. Yesterday an agency I interviewed with weeks ago rang me and asked if I was interested in a position they were looking to fill.

Still no news on the job-front, the idea of leaving this country becomes more and more appealing. Doing business with Kiwis has been no fun so far. How different Asia is in that regard, here’s my collected know-how on getting good deals in SEA. Everybody knows that in Asian countries bargaining is common and locals often try to charge foreigners ridiculously high prices. So how do you bargain successfully, how do you get a price you know is not completely hilarious?

So far I haven’t handed in my notice for the flat. The only reason for that is the interview I had last week. The job description sounded very good with interesting projects, recent technology and some international travel (an issue for many but a bonus for me). On top of that an above average pay would make any money worries a memory. The manager who conducted the interview seemed quite happy with me as well.

Having spent two months here, I have picked up some knowledge about Auckland. Something everybody agrees upon is how unique the public transportation system is. Mentioning it makes people chuckle, roll their eyes or start a rant. It is, in blunt words, total and utter crap. Getting to the job interview on Wednesday required me to leave my place at 2pm. The interview was at 4pm. It’s not that far, 20 minutes with the car, but with walking, time spent on the bus and a bit of buffer for delayed buses it becomes two hours.