Home Day

I've just put the last load of washing on, made myself a cup of coffee, have the air-conditioning turned right up so i can put a jersey on. It's pouring with rain outside and with the tint on our windows, I've managed to convince myself that its cool outside and that being cosily snuggled up on my bed is the best place to be at the moment. Who said you can't create your own reality??

I've been massaging my shins with Deep Heat since yesterday afternoon - we completely exhausted ourselves this weekend and my legs are finally saying that they need a break! The Titanic Exhibition at the Art Science Museum on Friday evening was fantastic - they've created true to size areas of the ship so that you can get a sense of what it was like on board. The famous wooden staircase and the "Leo and Kate" moment on the bow of the ship are the designated 'photo shoot' spots but I decided it's not so much fun posing by yourself...

The artifacts were really impressive with beautifully written personal stories about some of the passengers. On entry you receive a 'boarding pass' with the name of a real passenger and their details. At the end of the exhibition you find out whether you (your designated passenger) survived or not. I found it quite haunting actually, I'm not ashamed to admit that I even shed a tear or two during the 2 hours I spent in that beautiful museum. I met up with Nick and some of his colleagues for a quick drink afterwards. I was very jealous as on of his colleagues was going to see Shakespeare's Richard III with Kevin Spacey playing the lead at Singapore's Repertory Theatre! We however, had the privilege of meeting up with other real live actors at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, namely Alan Lane and the rest of the Slung Low company members. Such a treat to see Alan and sent home with him back to Leeds big kisses to my lovely friend Luce. Alan and Luce will be back in Singapore in May to do some work so we'll get to catch up with them properly then. Very exciting! Ruhann Du Plessis was also in town so we met up with him too.

The view from the top of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel is magnificent! We were spoilt to be sharing the evening with friends but even more so with the magnificently clear night which meant we could see for miles. You can literally see Malaysia and the surrounding islands from up there - its incredible! Unfortunately my little camera doesn't take such great shots but Ruhann had his larny camera and he's promised to send me the pics. We ended the evening with dinner at the food centre across the road from Raffles Quay and managed to get the last bus home.

Nick and I had been toying with the idea of going to Sentosa Island the whole week and we decided that Saturday was the perfect day to go! We got up early, headed to Vivo City where the Express Train to Sentosa leaves from and made our way onto the island. We paid a hefty $69 dollars each for a 'Full Day Pass' and headed onto the train. Little did we know that it costs you only $3 to get onto the island and you can pay for the rides/activities that you want to go on without a 'full day pass'. BUT you live and you learn and we decided to get our money's worth and participate fully! This resulted in some fun 4D simulation movies; hiring bikes and getting drenched in the rain; a trip up to the head of the Merlion, the half lion half fish mythical symbol of Singapore who is said to bestow good luck upon you; a ride of the Tiger Sky Tower which is Singapore's tallest observatory tower which rotates to give you 360 views of the surrounding area; entry into the butterfly and insect park; and a couple of other theme-park highlights for all ages and sizes! Of course, the highlight of our day was the 2 hours we spent at Fort Siloso which is Singapore's only preserved coastal fort that is home to the nation's largest collection of World War II memorabilia. I had forgotten that Singapore was so badly bombed in WWII and Nick and my high school history came flooding back to us as we read about young British soldiers arriving off a ship in Singapore and observing their recreated living quarters and daily activities. Ruhann came to join us at around 4pm and we headed to Siloso Beach for some sand between our toes and a sun downer. The beaches are magnificent and again we felt like we were really on holiday with bikini clad volley-ball players running past us and Ibiza style restaurants and night clubs starting to come alive with the setting sun. We joked about the party we'd be up for if we were 20 rather than 30 and then reminded ourselves that we probably wouldn't be able to afford 'the party' if we were 20. We said our goodbyes to Ruhann and headed home with the bag of droewors and Christmas pudding that Vics had sent with him and he had loyally carried around the whole day in his back-pack.

 

Sunday's are for chilling! Nick's been keen to go and check out this 6 story electronics mall so we decided to head in that direction and left the house at midday after only waking up at around 10am! OH MY GOODNESS! Even as a non-techie I was in awe! I have never seen so many gadgets and gizmo's in my entire life! We spent about 2 hours window shopping and making lists of all the things we intend to buy before we go back to SA. Due to my aching shins, we decided to have a coffee break and indulged in some DELICIOUS treats at an unassuming spot called Coffee Corner. The carrot cake was to die for! It was raining cats and dogs outside when we decided to head home so we dashed in to Raffles City to get a couple of groceries before heading home on the train. A piece of fresh salmon is becoming our favourite Sunday night dinner and I made a nice big salad which was just what the doctor ordered!

Today marks 3 weeks that we have been here - I can't believe it! What are we missing the most about home so far? Our dogs and our cars. Although the public transport is more than impressive and super efficient, when you are tired and want to go home the last thing you want to do is stand on the side of the road, wait for a bus and then get on a train!

What are we most enjoying about Singapore so far? Its' cleanliness, efficiency and the fact that you can come and go without worrying about putting the house alarm on, locking the house and stressing that there might be unwanted visitors on your property when you get home.

"TGIF"

View of Sentosa from Vivo City

So it's Friday morning and Nick doesn't have any work planned over the weekend!! Holding thumbs nothing comes up today so that we can FINALLY have a full weekend together in Singapore. If all goes according to plan we are starting off the weekend with drinks at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel tonight with Alan Lane (who is out from the UK) and Ruhann Du Plessis (who is out from SA). VERY excited to have some peeps around that we know - feels like a normal Friday evening after all! Then the plan is to check out Sentosa Island tomorrow and have a lazy day by the pool on Sunday.

I've been really good this week and have run every day! I don't feel like it today so I won't but the good news is that the kilos are shedding. Nick has lost loads of weight already and we've agreed that at least there are some positives to the stinking heat and not having your own car.



Scatter cushions IKEA

My IKEA discovery last week encouraged me to seek out more shopping establishments in and around this retail City. You cannot believe that it is possible for there to be as many malls as there are. Not only are there a gazillion shopping complexes but each one seems to be linked by what they call a "Link Mall" which are just as impressive. These 'link' malls usually start as you exist the MRT and lead you in which ever direction you want to go. It is truly an underground shopping maze. You can quite literally spend hours underground without ever surfacing for air. I had one of those experiences yesterday. I've begun to feel the need to shed my "tourist" hat and start operating as a resident of this country, all be it temporary resident. I'm sure this has more to do with me needing to feel less "sore thumbish" in the hustle and bustle of the Singapore work week than anything else but it inspired by behaviour yesterday regardless. 

Christmas Shoppe Vivo City



Christmas tree decoration

I decided to blow dry my hair, put some make up on and go shopping at Vivo City, which I was told was a good place to browse for a couple of hours. I found my way there easily on the MRT and 'alighted' only to be confronted by what I think must be one of the biggest malls I have ever seen! It's terrible seeing all these things for the first time on your own. You get all excited and are walking around with a massive grin on your face, camera poised but not quite sure how to capture the  moment.

Then you send a flurry of sms's to your mom and girlfriends who you know would go Banana's at the mere thought of a mall this size and then your breathing starts to get back to normal and you stop behaving like a 

Beautiful flower tree -

complete hill-billy and start actually walking in a straight line again.



Latest purchase - Tangs

  Anyway, the long and short of it was that I spent and entire afternoon in the mall, bought myself 2 pairs of shoes from Tangs, some cute little Christmas decorations from The Christmas Shoppe and had a freezochino and a muffin on my own (which is big for me cause I usually don't sit down in coffee shops and restaurants on my own - but I'm learning. And quite enjoying it actually. It's probably the one thing I was most scared of but I've found it to be quite liberating). The good news is that due to the seamless air conditioned environment, shopping is the one activity in Singapore that will ensure you don't leave frizzy-haired and sweat-sheened.

Bucket of beers - whoops!

Harry's Pub

I had planned to go and see the Titanic Exhibition at the Art Science Museum yesterday afternoon but I ran out of time and decided to join Nick on Raffles Quay for a drink and some dinner after work instead (I'll see the exhibition this evening before we meet Alan and Ruhann). Harry's Pub is strategically located across the road from Nick's office building and we snuck in there at about 6.30pm for a drink as it was pouring with rain and rush hour so commuting at that time would have been a nightmare. We are learning quickly that even if you are seated in an English Pub you still need to point to the menu when ordering. Nick managed to order a bucket of beers (yes, that's 5 beers in a bucket of ice) instead of 1. The ridiculous part is that they had taken all the caps off the beers so we couldn't even send them back! I have never laughed so hard in my life! He emailed the 3 people that he knows in Singapore to come and join us and help drink the beers but unfortunately no one was available. So, we settled in for the long haul, ordered some food and had a fab evening together drinking beer and reflecting over the past 2 and a half weeks.

Monday will be 3 weeks since we go here - I can't believe it! It's gone so quickly and I'm delighted that we are not feeling too homesick. I'm half expecting for the euphoria to wear off at some stage and for the reality that we are here for a further 6 months to set in at some stage but I'm positioning that in my mind as a good thing. My Mum arrives in a month which is too exciting and then I still have Bonnie's visit and M&M's visit to look forward to in March. I've made a new friend in the complex too - her name is Christine and she is also a 'trailer wife' but from Indonesia. We are doing coffee early next week and she says she is keen to learn more about South Africa as she has wanted to visit for a long time but is worried about the crime situation. Not an easy topic to discuss without giving people a history lesson and all the context. One thing is for sure, we take ourselves very seriously in South Africa, especially politically, and it is becoming more and more clear to us that Africa doesn't even register in the minds of those forging ahead in this economy. Again, perhaps its too soon to comment, but I think that South African politicians are pretty light weight when you see what others are achieving else where in the world. Just by way of example, the Singaporean Government wanted to establish their own version of Boston based MIT. Instead of dallying about, they have brought in the MIT management team to establish the Institution and manage its emergence into the market. It's taken a couple of years and the first students are enrolling early next year. Quick, decisive and proactive. It works. The lessons are far too obvious to point out. Far more impressive than quarrelling over "secrecy bills" and un-authorised shopping trips to Europe....

"Midnight Express"

It's just gone midnight and poor Nick is still in the office! He's had a crazy couple of days, in the office all of Saturday and some of Sunday but it seems that whatever is so important will be completed and delivered tonight and then hopefully the rest of his week won't be too bad. I managed to get him home on Friday night by 9pm and we headed down to East Coast Road to go and find a cold beer and some dinner! There are loads of little restaurants and eateries lining the streets in and around our suburb and after 9pm is when people seem to head out on a Friday night. We've decided that we live in a fairly larney suburb judging by the cars that regularly line the streets and basement parking. I've honestly never seen so many Ferrari's, Porch's and zooped up Beamers in my entire life! This place will give Morningside Shopping Centre "there by Tasha's" a run for its money! When you realise the cost of owning a car in Singapore, you are allowed to presume that those driving high end luxury vehicles are stupendously wealthy! New friends of ours, Shane and Antoinette, were telling us that an entry level Hyundai SUV-type vehicle will set you back about $145 000 and that's after you've acquired the license to buy the car, which can range from $1000 to $45 000 depending on the current market demand! INSANE! Anyway, back to Friday night - I managed to get Nick past the Ferrari parked just the other side of a cute spot called "Margarita's" and up to the next couple of restaurants further down EC Rd. We weren't even 5 steps past the front of a spot called "Two Fat Men" and Nick stopped dead in his tracks - Usher - not blaring but enough for Nick to notice, was this spots soundtrack and after the week my hubby had had I knew I was going to struggle to pull him away from the sweet, sweet sounds of those hip hop beats. I managed to convince him to at least walk to the end of the road to see if there were any other spots we fancied as "Two Fat Men" was literally the second place we came across. He agreed but not surprisingly we found our way back by which time Snoop was getting some air time and Nick's smile had begun to grow!  2 Singha's and a green chicken curry later my husband was a happy man. I've got a sneaky suspicion that someone whispered louder than they should have that Nick is an undercover 'wigger' - his user name to get onto the system at work is 'NIGR'! Priceless! Not long now and they'll be calling him 'Mr Grossman'.

 My latest read is a biography on Freddie Mercury by Lesley-Ann Jones. I mention this because this is what I spent the day perusing on Saturday whilst Nick sat at the dining room table and worked. I also manged to get a run in and a Skype chat to Brig all before Nick announced he was done for the day and needed to get out the house! Not before buggering around with the camera and taking a bunch of "self-shots" and posing next to Audrey Hepburn who looks over our TV lounge with her excellent features :)

Chinatown - my favourite discovery last week was where we headed. It truly is a great vibe and I was so excited to see it at night and for Nick to experience it. We were not disappointed - the place was in full swing with it being a Saturday night. We ate some delicious Thai food, admired the surrounding Temples and had ourselves a fabulous evening. We decided to walk home from the train rather than catch a bus which meant by the time we got home we were both convinced a swim was required, which we did and then hit the sack.

Nick Tindale's sister's name is Sue. Sue has a friend here in Singapore called Antoinette. Nick put me in touch with Antoinette which I am exceedingly grateful for as we had the pleasure of meeting her, her husband Shane and their two children on Sunday afternoon. The Tyrell's had invited us over to their house at 3pm. Nick headed into the office early Sunday morning to get some work done, and I met up with him for a coffee at about 11am. We then proceeded to walk the length of the Singapore river (not quite, but it felt like it in the heat!) all the way from Marina Bay to Robertson Quay. It was a stinker of a day and the sun was beating down. The Lobsters are not shy to whip out our umbrella's as sun protection - honestly, you just about fry in direct sunlight. We made our way up to Clarke Quay and then on to Robertson Quay stopping at all the hotels along the way to price their Christmas Day lunch and dinner. By 2pm the heavens had opened and we found a spot for a quick drink before we jumped in a cab and headed to the Tryell's. Needless to say, our 3pm visit saw us leave only 5 hours later. What a treat to find such great South Africans living and working in Singapore. I'm sure that there are many others but as I said to Antoinette, they are in the enviable/unenviable position of being the first Safa's we've met since we've been here. We laughed about the fact that they don't miss Carte Blanche on Sunday evenings and we marvelled at the stark differences between Singapore and home. Shane told us that in order to get onto the presidential candidate listing for election in Singapore you have to have been the CEO of a company with a minimum turn over of $100 million, have a PHD and be a Singapore citizen. Quite steep requirements, however, it explains why Singapore runs more like a Top 500 listed company than a country. Food for thought really....I'll let you know my thoughts on this once I've got more of an opinion

I was missing Mr Price Home today - I did my Monday housework this morning and decided that our apartment needed something. Antoinette had mentioned yesterday that I should check out IKEA if I felt the need for home comforts so I did exactly that! OH MY GOODNESS! It is a home makers paradise! WHY don't we have IKEA in South Africa? It's the most fantastic, fabulous, amazing place EVER! I managed to buy us bedside tables for $12, bed side lamps for $9 and the most fab coloured picture frames and other bits and bobs for next to nothing! You can literally go in there and design and buy an entire interior for a house and the best part is - you assemble it yourself! Everything is flat-boxed and super-duper easy to assemble. What a fantastic store! It was quite interesting getting my 2 side tables, 2 lamps, a clothes horse, a box of picture frames and some other nik-naks home in a taxi. Thank goodness Antoinette had given me a heads up and mentioned that we should call the cab driver "uncle" as a sign of respect. I must have referred to my cabbie as "uncle" a gazillion times on the way home hoping like crazy that he would help me unload my furniture purchases. He was a real sweety and helped me unload everything - thanks Uncle!

"Trailer Wife"

I was informed yesterday that the term used to describe women who follow their husbands around the world but don't work is "trailer wife". Delightful! I suppose it could be worse - at least I'm not referred to as a WAG or a GAG or something just as retchingly painful! I suppose I just need to make sure that I don't slip from the "wife" category to the "trash" category any time soon :)



Sri Mariamman Temple

However, I'm delighted to tell you that I have spent the last 2 days being a true "trailer wife". I managed to sleep until 10am yesterday then proceed to read an entire book! I overcame Sarah's challenge to sit and read for more than an hour by miles when I read exactly half of my 450 page novel in one sitting. Excellent book - 'The Help' by Kathryn Stockett. I even managed to restrain myself from watching the movie on the plane over here so that I could finish the book first. After a tough day of reading and lounging round the apartment I headed to Orchard Road where I met my darling husband, collected some new pants that he had had tailored and then enjoyed 2 portions of prawn and spinach dim sum before heading home to bed! Awful day! I managed to repeat my desperate-housewife behaviour for a second day in a row with 30 mins of lying by the pool this morning, followed by a swim, a shower and then into town to meet Nick for lunch! After a turkey salad sandwich (yes, very Asian) I headed off to Chinatown. On my way into Chinatown down Cross Street from Raffles Quay I found the Sri Mariamman Temple by mistake. Its beautiful and the oldest Hindu Temple in Singapore, built in 1843. I didn't go inside because you had to remove your shoes and I was wearing white pumps (I told you I was being a desperate housewife!). I promise I'll go inside when I take Nick :)

Brightly coloured old Chinese quarter shop houses

Narrow streets in Chinatown

A little further down the road you suddenly feel like you are in China. What an awesome spot! I truly felt like I had walked out of Singapore and onto the set of a Bruce Lee movie! The streets were lined with stalls and the buildings brightly coloured. China City at Bruma Lake has nothing on this place. Brig is going to go bananas when I take here there. The streets are narrow and lined with old shop houses. It was already starting to get busy even though it was only 3pm. However, Singapore rules still apply in Chinatown and people don't bump you, let alone breathe in your direction, which is astounding when you consider how busy the streets can get. There are all sorts of cheap Chinese gizmo's to buy but if you wonder further into the shops you find the good stuff! Beautiful hand carved ornaments, silk lanterns and stunning artwork. But if you prefer, you can get a tattoo next door or facial acupuncture. It really is a quite astounding!

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

After an hour or so of browsing I decided to head in the direction of home. As I turned the corner, there it was right in front of me! Beautiful! Like a postcard right in the middle of all those stalls - the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple. It is magnificent and looks in pristine condition. Which I suppose is not surprising as it was only constructed in 2007. It houses the Buddha Tooth Relic which sits inside a 420kg solid-gold stupa. Again I didn't go inside, this time because I had nothing to cover my shoulders with. I'll make sure that when I go with Nick we get there when the monks hold chamber opening ceremonies. We might also sample the free vegetarian food that they serve in the basement of the temple. Imagine that in South Africa!

I managed to find my way back to Katong via the Chinatown MRT and headed to our local shopping mall to get my data sorted on my black berry. You'll be happy to know that I am now back up and running on bbm - crazy how you can go from Buddha Tooth Relic Temples to Singtel customer service queues in the space of 30 mins. I love Singapore! Nick's working late this evening - some big India deal they are busy with. It seems he might have to do a bit of travelling for work - India and Jakarta have been mentioned at this stage but nothing firmed up yet! I'm not complaining - I'm a 'trailer wife' remember :)

Tuesday 15 November 2011



Thanks to everyone who has read my blog so far - I've been looking forward to updating it but thought I'd keep you all in suspense for a couple of days ;) Actually, we had a very busy weekend followed by a day of housework yesterday! 

Busy Orchard Road

We managed to find our way to Orchard Road on Saturday after Nick's conference ended at around midday. Note to self - stay away from Orchard Road on the weekends - ESPECIALLY when it's raining! it was complete mayhem - people everywhere, dashing across the roads with umbrella's teetering above them which really does not make for easy navigation. Certainly, what they say about Orchard Rd is true - it is a shoppers mecca. And being a shopper myself the frenzied mass of people swiping credit cards left, right and centre really didn't phase me! I was most surprised that it didn't seem to phase Nick either and instead of whinging about leaving he managed to buy himself 2 t-shirts, 3 pairs of slacks and 2 work shirts. Astounding! I think I was a bit overwhelmed by the vast choice on offer and didn't buy anything other than some dim sum for dinner which was delicious!

I decided to seize Nick's "pro-crowd" state of mind and after a quick swim and a shower we headed out on foot to Geylang which is the so called "red light district" not far from where we live. We figured it was Saturday night and the place would be pumping and we'd been slipped a few tips that Geylang is considered by locals to be the long time favourite culinary district in Singapore and were guaranteed a good meal! After walking some 4 km's I finally spotted a restaurant I'd read about in my little travel guide aptly named "No Signage Seafood". After demonstrating some excellent persuasion skills to get Nick into a restaurant that had the word "seafood" in its name, we crossed the road and were ushered to a table. It was utter chaos! We were seated at a big round table with 8 yellow plastic chairs in what seemed to be the driveway. In no time at all a waitress appeared and offered us cold beer, which my husband quickly accepted. Then into the menu. I had read that the black pepper crab was a must at this joint so I eyed out the options. 

Bull Frog on the Menu

Nick decided to go for the safe option - the Champagne Chicken - as the various seafood dishes and bull frog didn't overwhelm him with confidence. I finally settled on the black pepper crab and the waitress came over to take our order. I've discovered that Nick is far better at deciphering the locals version of English than I am, as I quite literally didn't understand a word our waitress said. But somehow, we placed our order and as she left Nick said to me that he thinks I just ordered S$50 worth of crab! I told him it was impossible as it's S$50 per kg and there is no way that one helping is as much as a kg. But he insisted that I go and check with the waitress. 

Bizarre restaurant - but good food!

So I did. I had ordered S$50 worth of crab! I quickly cancelled the order and replaced it with the Thai Chicken.  The meal was excellent and the beer was cold so we sat and enjoyed ourselves in the most bizarre establishment either of us has ever eaten in. The entire service staff communicated by walky-talky using callcentre style headsets with microphones. When the table next to us had finished and were about to leave, instead of clearing the table, two male waiters simply picked up the table top and carried it through to the kitchen! We then noticed that the driveway we were sitting in was the entrance and exit to the "valet" parking situated at the back of the restaurant and we watched as the Touregs and BMW's were collected and dropped off as people came and went. What a mad house! But a fun evening. An American dud sitting across the way from us obviously saw the "first timers" look on our faces and wandered over to offer to take a picture of us. We obliged! 

Ah cute! Us at "No Signboard Seafood"



Nick's day of "crowd control" definitely didn't go unnoticed as we slept until 1pm on Sunday! 12 hours straight! We woke up in a bit of a panic but then decided to celebrate that it's still possible to sleep like that be grateful that the skill hadn't deserted us on leaving Grahamstown. We decided that a relaxing afternoon was in order so we headed out to the Botanical Gardens. It was threatening to rain but we had our umbrellas on us and figured that it would cool things down if it did. As we emerged from the Orchard Road MRT we were confronted by a group of people in yellow and blue t-shirts dishing out yellow gerbera's to passers-by. It was World Kindness Day! How fabulous is that! 

World Kindness Day Campaign

My gerbera was strategically placed in a pocket in my hand bag and came along to the Botanical Gardens with us!

By the time we arrived at the Gardens, my poor husband looked like he had run a half marathon across the desert. He was dripping wet from head to toe and it hadn't started raining yet.  

Orchard Road

We managed to find a cold drink in a vending machine and decided that it would be "cute" if he walked around the gardens with his umbrella up - even though it wasn't raining.

The gardens are spectacular! Like most things in Singapore, they are manicured to perfection and not a piece of litter in sight. There were some crazy Thai women having an all-girls picnic which seemed rather raucous and we spotted a couple of bottles of gin and red wine doing the rounds, but other than that it was peaceful and certainly just what we had expected.  

Singapore Botanical Gardens

The Orchard Gardens are breathtaking and if you don't get too distracted by the clothed poodles on leads you really can zone out and be at one with nature.  

Seriously, as if the poor dog isn't hot enough with just its hair on!!! Animal cruelty i tell you! 



Swan Lake at Bot Gardens





 

Bot Gardens

We grabbed a tuna croissant from a hawkers stall on our way home and manged to catch a bus that took us all the way to our road which was a bargain! We arrived back half frozen thanks to the very effective air-conditioning in the bus but were glad to be home. We had a beautiful piece of salmon in the fridge which I poached in orange juice, accompanied with a salad and a bowl of rice making the perfect Sunday night dinner!

Yesterday was a week exactly since we arrived! I decided to commemorate the day by doing a "Nicola" and scrubbing our apartment down from head to toe. We've decided not to keep the maid as she is completely useless and I'd rather use the S$90 a week to go shopping! 6 hours later, the place was looking shiny and new and I was happy. I popped off to the mall to get a couple of photos printed and I now have images of all my family and friends dotted around the house! Feels more like home! Gemma and Freddy take centre stage on the fridge - my beautiful doggies! I miss them so much.



Wedding photo shoot in Bot Gardens

The wretched courier bag also arrived yesterday which means that I now have a hair dryer! You'll be impressed to know that I haven't blow dried my hair once since I've been here! Are'nt you impressed? The only snag with the bag was that Customs took it upon themselves to remove by entire nail polish collection. Yip! 13 nail polishes 'removed' from the suitcase. Bizarre!



Week 1 in Singapore

Shjoe! What a week! The good news is that we have arrived safely in the beautiful city that is Singapore. It truly is spectacular! Travelling courtesy of Norton Rose has been such a pleasure. We arrived early on Monday morning and caught a cab to our apartment in the East Coast suburb of Katong. Home for the next 7 months is a cute little condo on the 3rd floor overlooking another cute little condo on the 3rd floor! Jokes aside, we have a great place - 2 bedrooms, en suit and guest bathroom, open plan living area!  

View of our condo block from our road

The better news is that there is a 25m lap pool in the complex as well as an air-conditioned gym....which is a good thing if your surname is Grootes! Yip - I'm afraid the Lobsters are "red hot" this time of year in Singapore :) Its not that breathing in hot chinese-food flavoured steam with your oxygen is a problem, its that by the time you get to the end of the road you look like you just got out the swimming pool! Poor Nick had to walk a block to get to his conference this morning and was greeted by gasping colleagues, one of which promptly offered to lend him a dry shirt. Poor guy - everyone keeps telling him he "will acclimatise" - then again, not too sure they've had too many Grootes' in these parts......

Getting around has been the second challenge - well, semi-challenge in that everything works. The buses arrive on time as do the MRT "tubes". Thankfully, getting to and from bus and MRT stations doesn't have to be a complete sweat infused experience due to the fact that there are a billion taxis on the roads. Unlike New York and London, the cabs are cheap and a much cooler option than walking. Unless, however, you intend to walk and get into that "healthy, outdoorsy" lifestyle you've been talking about for months. I've probably walked about 8km's per day since I've been here, except yesterday, when I walked for 3 km's to get to where I wanted to walk and then "walked" for a further 6 km's along the beach at East Coast Park. The park runs all the way along the east coast and you can actually walk (cycle, or roller-blade in your own dedicated lane) all the way to Changi Airport and watch the planes come in to land. I didn't get that far but I did marvel at the hundreds (and I'm not spicing) of container ships docked at sea. There isn't a 2cm gap along the horizon with all the ships waiting to come into the harbour! Makes sense why every thing's so expensive - Singapore imports absolutely every last thing except chickens and eggs! Which does make for an interesting grocery shopping experience. We were directed to "Cold Storage" (very creative naming convention) in a massive mall just around the corner from us by our first taxi driver when we asked where the best place to buy groceries would be. $248 later we had salad items and pieces of fruit from around the world as well as fresh milk from Australia. Spending your first Singaporean dollars on washing powder and sta-soft isn't the most overwhelmingly euphoric experience but a necessary induction.

In search of a pre-paid sim card we headed into the City on the East West (green) line from Eunos station to Raffles Quay on the MRT. We were simply in awe as we walked along Marina Bay Promenade admiring the hundreds of skyscrapers and the manicured streets.  

Marina Bay - beautiful

I think it was at that point that I became aware of the Singapore sound track - wherever you are there is music playing. From Lady Gaga at the trendy Clarke Quay to Michael Buble and Cliff Richard at Marina Bay - "Truman" is there to ensure that the right atmosphere is created. And if the music doesn't do it for you, the mood is enhanced by the occasional blast of bubbles - from who-knows where - but mid chorus they appear to aid the ambiance.  

Ice-cream at Clarke Quay at sunset

To lighten our mood we sat down for a drink at Fishermans' Market along the river at Clarke Quay - the billboard outside advertised Tiger beers during Happy Hour marked down from $11 to $8!  

Happy Hour - Clarke Quay

What a steal! But we did enjoy the evening breeze with Katy Perry serenading us in the background and the hoards of "Bieber-fever" bitten teenagers passing us by.

After doing 3 loads of washing and a quick tidy up of the condo I headed into town this afternoon to meet Nick for a drink at the esteemed Raffles Hotel before he had to head to a work dinner.  

Tomorrow I'm off to Orchard Road and the Botanical Gardens. I've got a feeling I'm going to fall in love with this city.



$26 Singapore Slings at Raffles

 The Hotel is impressive, its Colonial East-India aesthetic very telling of the Singapore of yesteryear. We ordered a time-old Singapore Sling each and drank to the end (almost) of our first work week in South East Asia!  

Nick, much happier with a beer, but in another mans shirt :)



Needless to say, the $26 Sling was too sweet or my husband's liking so he ordered himself a pint of   Tiger which went down a treat after a long day in another mans shirt!