{"id":2405,"date":"2019-08-29T08:00:25","date_gmt":"2019-08-29T00:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/aa-highway.com.sg\/?p=2405"},"modified":"2019-08-30T11:13:01","modified_gmt":"2019-08-30T03:13:01","slug":"london-to-singapore-by-car","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/aa-highway.com.sg\/london-to-singapore-by-car\/","title":{"rendered":"London to Singapore by Car"},"content":{"rendered":"
The 92-day London-to-Singapore drive was flagged off by Singapore\u2019s High Commissioner to the UK, Her Excellency Ms Foo Chi Hsia.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
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Group photo-taking before the flag-off.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On 10 August 2019, Her Excellency Ms Foo Chi Hsia, Singapore\u2019s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, flagged off a convoy of 16 cars lined up at Intercontinental London \u2013 The O2. The 31 participants of the convoy were off on the longest AUTOVENTURETM\u00a0<\/sup>yet: a road trip from London to Singapore that is estimated to last 92 days.<\/p>\n

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Excited participants getting ready for flag-off.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Singapore\u2019s High Commissioner to the UK, Her Excellency Ms Foo Chi Hsia, commencing the flag-off as she waves the Singapore flag.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Singapore\u2019s High Commissioner to the UK, Her Excellency Ms Foo Chi Hsia, commencing the flag-off as she waves the Singapore flag.The day\u2019s programme began at 12 noon, with a lunch at the hotel\u2019s Market Brasserie. The convoy participants were joined by AA Singapore\u2019s President and CEO, Mr Bernard Tay and Mr Lee Wai Mun respectively, as well as distinguished guests, including Guest-of-Honour Her Excellency Ms Foo.<\/p>\n

In Mr Tay\u2019s opening speech, he highlighted the significance of this drive. \u201cThis year is a meaningful one for both Singapore and the UK, as it will be for our participants as well,\u201d he stated. \u201cAs Singapore celebrates her Bicentennial, it also commemorates the beginning of a new era for the UK. The trip will not only be the experience of a lifetime, but also a great opportunity for us to proudly share the accomplishments of Singapore Bicentennial across the world through our participants on their travels.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Her Excellency Ms Foo\u2019s address, in which she wished the participants a safe and memorable adventure, it was time for some photo-taking before the convoy set off for their first stop: Canterbury, England.<\/p>\n

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The participants were all smiles after filling their bellies in the hotel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tackling tough terrain<\/strong><\/p>\n

The drive will be challenging for the convoy as they will be travelling across different terrains and varying climates through 15 countries. The highest altitude they will encounter could go up to 6,345m, when they pass through China. They would also need to adapt to driving on different sides of the road in different countries.<\/p>\n

But this was not stopping the members. \u201cWhen I first heard of the trip, I knew I had to participate in this bucket-list adventure,\u201d AA Member Mr See Lew Hang said excitedly prior to departing for the UK. At 82 years old, Mr See is also the oldest member of the group. \u201cIt is definitely a test of endurance, as 92 days is a substantial amount of time to be on the road. However, I feel much safer travelling under the hands of AA Singapore\u2019s experienced expedition leaders, as they would have carefully curated the itinerary and taken care of all necessary travel arrangements,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

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The convoy en route to Canterbury.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A National Day to remember<\/strong><\/p>\n

The flag-off was scheduled on 10 August, the day after National Day, so that AA Singapore could arrange for participants to celebrate the nation\u2019s birthday while still getting sufficient rest for their long drive, which began the next day.<\/p>\n

AA Singapore thought it was important to give them a morale booster, since they were thousands of miles away from sunny Singapore. As such, the Association hosted a special National Day lunch on 9 August at Rubens at the Palace. Everyone who turned up were dressed in the colours of the Singapore national flag: red and white. Her Excellency Ms Foo also joined the festivities. But what made the event extra special was the live-streaming of the National Day Parade at the lunch venue.<\/p>\n

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Participants having a National Day lunch celebration at Rubens at the Palace.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Watching the live-stream of Singapore\u2019s National Day Parade together.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Later that day, participants attended evensong at Westminster Abbey, together with staff of Singapore\u2019s High Commission to the UK and other UK-based Singaporeans, to pray for Singapore and its people.<\/p>\n

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Convoy participants with staff of Singapore\u2019s High Commission to the UK and other UK-based Singaporeans outside Westminster Abbey.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 92-day London-to-Singapore drive was flagged off by Singapore\u2019s High Commissioner to the UK, Her Excellency Ms Foo Chi Hsia. On 10 August 2019, Her Excellency Ms Foo Chi Hsia, Singapore\u2019s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, flagged off a convoy of 16 cars lined up at Intercontinental London \u2013 The O2. The 31 participants […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":2406,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1219,156,196,1223,1221,1224,1225,429,1220,377,1045,1226,1222],"class_list":{"0":"post-2405","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pressroom","8":"tag-92-day-london-singapore-drive","9":"tag-aa-singapore","10":"tag-autoventure","11":"tag-canterbury","12":"tag-convoy-participants","13":"tag-england","14":"tag-highest-altitude","15":"tag-highway","16":"tag-hotels-market-brasserie","17":"tag-london","18":"tag-national-day","19":"tag-singapore","20":"tag-singapore-bicentennial"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/aa-highway.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/aa-highway.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/aa-highway.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/aa-highway.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/aa-highway.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/aa-highway.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2405\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/aa-highway.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/aa-highway.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/aa-highway.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/aa-highway.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}