West Devon's Heather Fell, Olympic modern pentathlete silver medalist, writes about her life 'on and off' the track.
THIS has been a week of heights and depths!
One evening I was sipping cocktails on the roof top bar 'Altitude', at 262m high in Singapore's impressive Marina Bay. Less than two days later I was several metres under the ocean just off Malaysian island Pulau Dayang. This was my first ever scuba diving experience (that's underwater diving; I'm not planning on challenging Tom Daley yet!).
The feeling of weightlessness, drifting about among the diverse sea life is impossible to describe. Although on one dive I suddenly found myself comparing the steep sea bed with moss covered boulders, to Vixen Tor, just a bit warmer and even wetter.
After the delights of China I've found myself with a love of eating with chopsticks. So I was disappointed when I discovered a spoon and fork is Singapore's equivalent. This you would think would pose no problem - so I thought - as I can eat spaghetti quite proficiently this way, but here you hold them the other way around, not so easy.
Another slight embarrassment I've been encountering is language related. English is the first language here, but I'm really struggling to understand a word of it, I think the Singaporeans wonder where I'm really from. Although I've been reassured though that their version, 'Singlish', is rather unique.
It's time to say a final goodbye to Singapore's jungle of shopping malls and enter the greener version further north, in neighboring Malaysia.