Fun with French banks

Our first week in France has only just finished but we have already encountered the famous French bureaucracy. All we wanted to do was open a bank account so we could start paying for stuff. Doesn't sound too hard, eh?
We figured we'd try HSBC as they advertise themselves as being a bank for expats to use in France. So we went to the main branch on Champs Elysées. There was a double door with a security button so we went in the first door and were told that only one person can go throught at a time. Once we got in, we were told that we had to go to the office next door to open an account. So out the double doors and through a new set next door, to find out that no-one was available and we'd have to come back later. When we returned we were greeted by a very pleasant woman who proceeded to tell us that our bank draft would take 6 weeks to clear rather than the 2 days we expected, and then she decided that HSBC couldn't even deal with it because the draft was marked Citibank. We were politely shown the door and told to try Citibank. It turned out, however, that Citibank is an investment bank and don't let you open an account, and we were once again politely shown the door and told to try another bank. By this time we were getting increasingly agitated, but nevertheless tried our luck at another bank down the street. Once again I had to explain in French that we wanted to open an account, only to be told that you can only open an account with a branch if you live nearby! Seeing as we did not currently have an address, this was going to be a bit difficult. We knew which area we intended to move to, though, so decided to try one more time at the HSBC in that area. This time we were told that we had to arrange a meeting with one of the staff the next day, but happily they knew what our bank draft was and confirmed that it would only take 2 days to clear. The meeting the following day took an hour, with several forms to sign and heaps of questions to answer. However, we are now the proud owners of a French account. Easy, eh?

If you like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain...

Sorry about the dodgy title but it captures the essence of our holiday in Singapore and Penang. So here goes...
After several pleasant days catching up with family in Wellington, Christchurch and Hokitika we left for Singapore on 13 April. 10 hours later we were greeted by the Singapore heat and humidity. Thanks goodness for air con!
We had one day in Singapore to kill before heading of to Penang so we decided we'd make the most of it. Unfortunately a lot of the stuff that used to be free on the Stopover package is no longer so, so we had to amuse ourselves.
First up was a trip to Chinatown full of crazy looking shops and people selling 'top quality' silk products. We visited the wet market, which was truly amazing. Everywhere you looked people were selling live turtles, frogs, sea cucumbers, eels and hacking up huge fish to sell. It smelled of the sea and it was very chaotic. And that was just the fish part! Elsewhere there was meat, flowers and fruit, but the fish bit stood out the most.
After that we headed for the air conditioned wonderland that is Orchard Road, where all the main shopping complexes are. However, with 21 kilos each in our backpacks already it was strictly window shopping only. The afternoon was marked by a torrential downpour which made walking anywhere a bit difficult.
Now, everyone knows that you're allowed to be a bit tacky on holiday, so for dinner we went to a touristy seafood restaurant to have chilli crab with a free Singapore Sling. The Singapore Sling wasn't so good but the crab was great, and so much fun to eat as you have to use your hands. Very messy - I think we went through about 15 towelettes. Then we went on a free river cruise to end the day.
The next day we had to get up early to get to Johor Bahru in Malaysia for our flight to Penang. We knew that it was going to be a bit of a mission to get there but it turned out to be ridiculous. We travelled by taxi, underground, then bus to get to the border and then had to get on and off about three buses to clear customs on both sides. Then had another 40 minute bus ride to get to the airport. We hadn't known how long it would all take and had left the hotel quite early, but we only made it to the airport 25 minutes before the flight. Now in NZ that would be fine, but here the check-in counter CLOSED 45 minutes before the flight. We were lucky to strike a nice guy who let us on anyway but it was a bit fraught for a few minutes. But everyone needs to have one of those experiences at least once in their life!


Fishing village just down the beach from the hotel...

Our resort in Penang was great, right beside the sea with a huge pool (cause you can't swim in the sea due to jellyfish) and the sun was shining. We had lunch for a ridiculously cheap price at a tiny 'café' across the road. You took some rice and then had a choice of several different curries, fried fish and vegetables. It looked a bit manky but the food was excellent and we went back there the next day. The afternoon was spent in the pool and lazing on deckchairs, and was only marred by a huge thunder storm that suddenly came up. There was forked lightening and everything, with torrential rain. We had mee goreng for dinner (what else) for the grand total of $1.75 each.
Feeling that we couldn't possibly spend a whole day in the pool, we visited the Penang Butterfly Farm the next morning, which was more interesting than it sounds. It's an enclosure with thousands of butterflies just flying around. There were also scorpions, snakes and the largest stick insects I've ever seen.



The pool was calling us, though, so we just had to spend the afternoon lazing around. And, just cause we could, we drank pina coladas IN the pool, from the in-pool bar. Extremely pleasant. Then a sunset walk along the beach was the perfect end to a perfect day. And of course more mee goreng.



We travelled back to Singapore the next day to catch our flight to Paris, where we're currently hanging out. But that's a whole other story.