"Lonely Hearts Club Leaves Town"

Pic taken from top of Marina Bay Sands coutesy by RDP

Hooray!! We have a social life again! I'm proud to announce that the 'desperate' housewife is no longer all that desperate as life has begun to normalise, my brain is starting to work again and we have a list of social engagements for the next 2 weeks that leaves me smiling quietly to myself and wondering what I'm going to wear :)

I've been afforded the opportunity to do some work for StratAlign which I'm grateful for and excited about as it's creative and keeps me in the loop and is a nice link to home. On top of that, I've have managed to book a night away this weekend to Nirwana Resort on Bintan Island. The bikinis and boardshorts are rearing to go and we've prepared our response to questions about our true nationality when people start to question us about our untanned skin and claims that we are South African!

Bintan is an island just off the coast of Singapore which you can get to by ferry. We leave at sparrows on Saturday and back late Sunday evening - can't wait for a cocktail on the beach with my man and an island style barbeque on Saturday night. Just what the doctor ordered ;)

It seems after a month (it will be a month on monday! Yikes!) we've cracked a lookin on the social scene and our diaries are starting to fill up. Coffee with a neighbour tomorrow at 'Awfully Chocolate'; dinner with new friends on Tuesday night; a legal quizz night on Thursday (yes, a legal quizz night!); dinner with a SA colleague on Saturday and the Norton Rose Christmas doo the following Thursday! How exciting! I have that feeling of increased significance in the world - you know the kind :)

View across the river from Boat Quay

The "Singapore Soundtrack" this week should have been dedicated to Wet Wet Wet as it hasn't stopped raining. My hour by the pool yesterday, post my sweat-stint on the treadmill,was rudely interupted by an intense thuderstorm which didn't let up for 4 hours! When I made my way into town at about 4ish to pick up our new bank cards, one of my neighbours, drentched from head to toe and ladened with shopping  bags, warned me against leaving the building. But as I've mentioned before, the Lobsters take full advantage of post-rain outings as the air is slightly cooler and you only start sweating 15 mins into your escapade rather than as you step outside :) Nick has now resorted to carrying a wet face cloth in a zip-lock bag in his briefcase to 'freshen up' whilst out and about. I offered him my Dermalogica Antioxidant Hydramist which he disdainfully turned down - silly man.

Christmas lights at Marina Bay

We found the most incredible Indian food last night - little spot on Boat Quay called 'Ba Ba Black Sheep'. Bizarre place, serves Indian food made by local Singaporeans but frequented mostly by execs for post-work drinks. The food was incredible, even rivalling Ghazaal on Peter Place with their butter chicken! I'm determined to learn how to cook proper indian curry whilst I'm here. Mustafa's is the place to buy fresh spices and I have a feeling that I'm going to be spending quite a lot of time there. Have I mentioned Mustafa's? I don't think I have! It is my find of the week! A great big department store close to Little India on Serangoon Road which literally sells everything from pots and pans to knickers to sun screen! The most incredible 5 storey building which is one store. You can literally spend an etire day in there and the travel books tell you that at any given time, half of Singapore will be in there with you! Definitely the best spot to buy non-perishables as they are at half the cost of the supermarkets. Just to give you an idea of its scale, they have an entire level dedicated to stationery! It's quite something and definitely somwhere we'll frequent regularly.

 

Christmas lights in the trees outside Fullerton Hotel

With the onset of Christmas I've been thinking lots about all of our friends, colleagues and family at home in SA. It seems South African's are not all that crazy after all when it comes to fake Christmas trees and spray-on snow adorning our malls and homes over this time of the year. It seems rather ridiculous that with the sweltering heat and humidity here, people still insist on lavishly decorating the City with snow ladened decor and fake holly leaves that would wilt within 2 seconds of exposure to the Tropical outdoors were they real. Still, it has interested me that in almost every home you walk past there is a gigantic Christmas tree bright with lights. This country is such a melting pot of different religeons and cultures but what is really impressive is the way in which people respect and honour each others beliefs and cultural celebrations. There is a Budhist Temple around the corner from our complex and a massive banner still up wishing all their Hindu friends a happy Deepvali. People live in such harmony here. You very rarely see a homogeneous group of friends or even homogeneous couples for that matter. The South African racial clustering that occurs at home is something that does not exist here. Well, at least does not seem to exist. It truly is an integrated society and I think that is a huge factor contributing to its success as a society. The conscious decision to work with each other and not against each other is apparent everywhere, least of all when you see relics of the collonial 

Marina Bay Sands View courtesy RDP

era preserved and acknowledged as a significant part of the country's social history. I'm very interested in this phenomenon and I intend to do a lot more research into the decisions made by this Government to get the country to where it is today. I'll share my findings and thoughts with you for those who are interested. Right now though, I'm off to the library to find a good read for Bintan. I must also mention how delighted we are to hear of the arrival of Milton and Michelle's son Noah. We look forward to meeting you little man.