We have Kalvero Oberg to thank for the term culture shock, Its probably the most widely used travel term out there, With regards to his experiments I'm still very much in the honeymoon stage although I would possibly use G.Bush's favourite expression (after, errrr...) 'shock and awe,' for my view of Singapore. In a way I probably didn't know what to expect, I understood the former British, far east trading post to be cosmopolitan and high rise, but in actual fact its far more than that. On the face of it, it's how someone would imagine the 21st century to be in the 1840's. The underground is by far the best Ive seen anywhere in the World, and I've navigated a few in the last year, It makes London's adhoc system look like a medieval cesspit, moreover its completely litter free, not even a cig butt in sight, even in the districts of Chinatown and little India the streets are relatively well kept. I suppose this is the kind of write up the Singapore government would want to read, although I appreciate all is not hunky dory and many see Singapore as effectively a one party state,the PAP have held power since the 60s. Interestingly Singapore's politicians are some of the highest paid in the world(5x that of B Obama), from my short time there it seems they are earning their corn. All this certainly breeds contempt of my own government but on the other hand walking round old colonial areas of the city and sipping a rather expensive Singapore sling, in Raffles also made me immensely proud, at least in past decades we new how to do it! Some people would argue that British rule undermined the local populous, it with out doubt did, but what remains is a Futuristic, forward moving city which has moved on from its bloody past, and has learned not only from its foreign rulers but from its near neighbours how to live, and more importantly how 'not' to Govern. 
Arriving in Auckland then was always going to be a strange experience, After spending a sleepless night in a CLOSED and freezing Brisbane airport, I arrived dog tired to a city of just over a million people. 'The Big smoke' was wet, windy and grey and not at all inspiring after the bright lights and malls of the Lion city. I grabbed a couple of Tui's and went to bed!

That bottle is as big as it looks!!

 Next morning I explored a bit further and was more impressed with the city of Sails, a city with an area twice the size of London, I quickly realised most of this is water. Several islands make up this fascinating city and is certainly those areas that I would be up for exploring in the coming months. I realise after just two and a half days there I'd not taken one photograph, I suppose in my mind this wasn't the New Zealand I'd come to see, it was, like Brisbane and Singapore, a stopover city In a wider area of travel. Yesterday and this morning was more like it, after catching the bus in Auckland I was treated to an interesting hour of conversation on New Zealand's past from one of the locals, I was informed of why some towns are pronounced with an F sound, such as Whatangei, and what pit falls to avoid! More interestingly she got off at the township known as Waipu and indeed WAI, PU when you can Wee! I awoke this morning after a noisy night in the PIPI patch hostel, to a wonderful day.After sorting laundry and a lovely beach stroll, in the town of Paihia, I treated myself to a fry up and enjoyed the view.