Just a short entry to let everyone know that I’m still alive. Arrived in Singapore after a pain-free 13 hour flight from Heathrow. I managed to sleep for most of the flight, so arrived feeling fairly refreshed. I flew in one of the new BA seats and faced backwards for the entire journey, which was a little weird.

It’s warm and very humid, just what I expected. It feels a little bit like Disneyland – all the characteristics of the rest of Asia are here, but everything is spotlessly clean and orderly. It’s almost a shame – the lack of grit and grime takes some of the character out of the city.

Nevermind. One of my colleagues grew up in Singapore, and took us out for our first night to a Steamboat place – the Singaporean equivalent of shabu shabu. So I got to cook my own food in a place that looks like a one-way street to food poisoning. We’ll discover by tomorrow morning how wise it was to follow her advice.

The view from the hotel room over the Singapore harbour

The view from the hotel room over the Singapore harbour at nightfall

A self-portrait in the hotel room of Singapore harbour at nightfall. Didn’t have much lighting equipment or a tripod with me, so had to make due with what was available in the room!

The Singapore Merlion

Do-it-yourself dinner. This was the locals’ choice, but we’ll see if my stomach is up to it!

A consultant’s life is always about adding value to his clients. It turns out that in Singapore, they’ve automated it. When this machine finally makes it’s way to England, I’m screwed.

Aude at the old harbour in Antalya

Matthew at the old harbour in Antalya

Aude by the light of a lantern’s glow…

Our waiter, hard at work filleting the fish we’d ordered…

Matt relaxes over his dinner…

Matt isn’t the only one who thinks the fish looks good…

Another beautiful day, most of which we spent at the beach. The beaches here are pebble, the waves are strong, and the water gets deep very quickly, so not great for swimming. It was probably our first and last visit to the beach until we get to Cesme, where the beaches are sand and the water is more shallow.

My animal magnetism seems to be working overtime. I’d barely sat down for lunch before one of the ‘hotel’ cats was sitting in my lap. We’ve dubbed him ‘President Cataturk’. And the cats here have obviously worked out that I’m a soft touch as they’re constantly begging at my table (and seemingly not others!)

We had another good dinner overlooking the harbour, Aude managing to charm the waiter so much that we left with flowers. I’m considering buying her a burka.

Matthew at the old harbour in Antalya

Aude at the old harbour in Antalya

The view from our hotel room at the Sheraton Voyager Antalya

Aude ponders the world from atop a bridge at the hotel

Turkish coffee!

Turkish tea!

It’s a beautiful, bright morning in Antalya, Turkey, where we’ve spent the first few days of our honeymoon. After a few hair-raising moments in the rental car, I managed to find the hotel and dodge the worst of the Turkish drivers. The hotel, pool, beaches, and weather (30 degrees and sunny) are all perfect. We were met with champagne, flowers and the general honeymoon treatment.

The only thing raining on the parade is that I’ve managed to pick up a throat infection and have spent the morning at the doctor’s (for those of you who have never visited a doctor’s surgery in Turkey, it’s best to imagine something circa 1950s out of M*A*S*H – lot’s of hand-labelled glass bottles of disinfectant – it’s all a little scary, to be honest).

Aude has developed a pathological fear of the bees out here, which are the size of small birds, and has quickly abandoned her perfume.

Our biggest excitement seems to be the fact that no one believes that either of us live in England. Most assume we’re Turkish (helped, no doubt, by having spent a few weeks in the Mediterranean sun before we arrived), and those who don’t assume we’re Turkish guess Italian, Spanish, or German.

We had a nice meal last night overlooking the old harbour in Antalya – and had our first raki overlooking the port. No doubt we’ll be tired of kebabs by the end of two weeks here. The food has been universally excellent, but there’s a sameness to the cuisine here… We’ll see how we fare now that Ramadan has started – our dining choices may become more limited still.

We’ll be here for the next few days, then we’re off to the Aegean coast for five days there.