Singapore Silly Season

Our Christmas decor at home

This year Christmas is definitely taking on a different smell and flavour for us. Singapore is abuzz with shoppers taking advantage of the pre-Christmas sales on offer which is quite different to the post-Christmas sales I'm used to in South Africa. I'm still trying to overcome my shopping anxiety which is resulting in some very strange and unfamiliar "non-shopping" behaviour - something I'm not very used to as I don't often find myself having to be convinced to indulge in some retail therapy. I suspect it has something to do with my newly acquired status as a 'financial dependent'.....bank sms's to your husband every time you swipe your card is something that takes a bit of getting used to. Certainly makes you think twice about punishing the plastic :)

Unfortunately our 'Singapore Silly Season' didn't get off to a very good start with a complete no-show at Nick's work Christmas doo. I had trawled the malls and settled on 'Elvis' for Nick and 'Cleopatra' for me and had even managed to find full costume garb including wigs at a dress-up shop in Far East Plaza. Thankfully I didn't buy the kit as I thought it best to let Nick try on the bell bottom pants beforehand. The plan was that he'd go through, fit the pants and buy them the next day (the day of the doo) which in turn never happened. Instead, he got caught up on a deal and only got home after 9pm, grumpy and tired and in no mood to dress up and head back across town for a night of alter-ego tomfoolery. Instead, we headed across the road to our local 'Two Fat Men' for a burger and a beer. Not the worst thing in the world...

Set up for our braai

With Friday 16th being a public holiday in South Africa I began to feel homesick at the thought of everyone we know marking the beginning of thier annual leave and the delight that is Christmas in Jozi or 'Durbs-by-the-sea'. To allay the homesickness that has been creeping up on me over the past week or so I decided that a braai was in order and invited our Indonesian neighbours, Christina and Agus, to join us for our first 'barbeque' abroad! What a disaster!!! Firstly, we forgot to buy charcoal and firelighters which meant Nick was sent off on a public transport expedition to the shops to find what he could, taking, in total, an hour and a half! Not fun! The games continued when we tried to light a fire in the built-in-braai that was clearly designed my somebody who has never cooked a piece of steak over coals in his life. The bathtub sized braai and its 500cm  high grid resulted in some creative beer can positioning to get the grid closer to the poor quality coals to make sure that we actually had cooked meat. The beautiful veggie bake that I had prepared in a tin foil baking case proved to be nice in theory but was utterly raw by the time we had cooked the meat so it was agreed that we'd leave it to cook and eat it the next day instead. After our midnight feast of salad, chicken kebabs and a slither of steak each, we enjoyed a delicious cold dessert, prepared by Christine, consisting of coconut and condensed milk soup with strips of young coconut meat, avo and another fruit that I can't remember the name of. It was after that delightful treat that I was talked into trying some Durian which is a big ugly looking fruit that stinks to high heavens but has a soft fleshy inner that is very popular with the locals. I had been told that you either love or hate it and being the 'foodie' that I am I decided to give it a go. It was the most bizarre tasting thing I have ever come across. The only way I can describe it is like a stinky cheese infused avo. It has a creamy consistency but is very pungent in odour and in taste. Surprisingly, Nick gave it a taste too but we unanimously decided that it was not going to be a re-occuring treat but thanked Christine and Agus for thier generousity in sharing it with us. At least that's one high fat, high cholestrol item that we won't be indulging in too often whilst here. A must-try-once item ticked off my list.

Cycling in East Coast Park

Nick and I have decided to look around and see if we can buy some secondhand bicylcles for the rest of our time in Singapore. This idea was initiated a couple of weeks ago but was driven home for us on Saturday morning when we met Yu-En and Celine at East Coast Park, hired bikes and spent the morning cycling in the rain! You can get around so much more quickly on a bike than on foot and it's a great way to nip to the shops or to the MRT station rather than having to wait for a bus that can often extend your travelling time by up to 30mins if you get the timing wrong. We need to price them but Scobie, an Australian guy we met through Yu-En and Celine, rekons we can pick one up for about $100 which certainly makes it worth while. I'll keep you posted on our progress with that one....

I've just been interupted by an inspector from the National Enviornmental something-something who asked if he could do a one minute inspection of our apartment to check for mosquitos. I'm telling you, I wouldn't be surprised if there are secret cameras mounted in our apartment to make sure that we take the rubbish out and wash our dishes! This place is incredible! It's one of the most humid spots in the world and I swear I haven't seen a single mosquite - probably due to the 'men-in-black' mosquito hunters that drop in unannounced for random searches!!

Monsoon rain!!

Cloudy, rainy Singapore

It has been raining a lot the last couple of days - monsoon season so I'm told. There have been devastating floods in the Philipines with casualties now over 1000. The flooding in this part of the world is really terrible and you can only imagine what it must be like in a rural area when that rain comes down. Nick and I had to take refuge the other night whilst walking down East Coast Road back from the new 112 Katong shopping centre. It just started coming down in buckets for about an hour! Thankfully Singapore is designed for shelter and in most areas you can get around without getting completely drenched. Unfortunately that wasn't the case for Nick on Friday night when he got off the bus without an umbrella and the heavens opened for the duration of his 10 minute walk home. I greeted him at the door with a towl and a giggle - he was soaked to the bone, leather shoes included. Not fun!

My Mum arrives in 4 days and I'm so excited I don't know what to do with myself. I'm really looking forward to having someone here to spend days with and share all the fabulous spots I've discovered. I have booked a 3 day trip to Penang, Malaysia for the 3 of us over New Year. It's going to be such a treat to have Brig with us and I've planned some really nice 'surprises' for her - I'll share them with you once they're done. Will miss my Dad though as he is not coming with but I'm not sure that the sight-seeing style trip would excite him much anyway. 

Know that we are thinking of all our family and friends over this period and sending so much love to you all. It's not an easy time of the year to be away from home and we miss our Highlands North pozzie more than we ever thought we would. BUT, we are happy and grateful for this experience. It is very scary to think that half way through February we'll be half way through our time here and that makes me think 'Yikes!' - we still have so much to see and do!

I can't promise loads of updates while Brig is here but I'm sure I'll be in touch with most of you via bbm and email over the next couple of weeks! If not, have a wonderful Christmas and New Year. Travel safely, behave and look after yourselves. God bless and lots of love.

xx

City of Angels

I have become aware that keeping this blog might in fact be the most self indulgent thing I've done in years - writing about my daily activities and thought processes and expecting that others will find in interesting and want to read more. My varsity friends would remind me of how I was once quoted saying "focus on me", in what context I don't care to remember. However, I find myself repeating those words over and over again in my head, but this time as a mantra, acknowledging that I have been plover-bombed with a once in a life time opportunity to "focus on me" in a way that I don't think I ever knew possible. It is not an arrogant, self centred focus that I'm talking about. Rather, it's an opportunity to get to know myself again, assess what it is that I've been spending my time and energy on in recent years and deliberate better, more fulfilling ways to celebrate this journey called life. 

View of the Chao Phraya river from our hotel room

It's an opportunity to question and define what it is that I truly believe, without others judgement and question. What a privilege that is! To be handed the equivalent of a 6 month deluxe "soul" spa package - with all the trimmings of course because it takes place in Singapore! A million miles away from everything and everyone that is known to me. Save for my incredible husband, without whom this entire experience would never have taken place.

When you realise that the road ahead has in fact already been determined, and the joys and heartaches are already known, travelling (both literally and figuratively) becomes a much less stressful endeavour and "enjoying the ride" rings true, louder and louder each time. The "order" we put into the "kitchen of life" doesn't always make its way onto your table in the manner you expect it to. This has been the cause of so much of my stress up until now but I'm ecstatic to report that I've found a different way of looking at my map, through eyes I never knew I had.  

It is ironic that I had this revelation in Bangkok of all places, amidst the deafening chaos and polluted air that characterises 'the City of Agels'. Perhaps aided slightly by the sheltered calm that was the Shangri La Hotel, I sat at breakfast on Saturday morning on my own and wrote a poem! For the first since my matric year, I wrote a poem. Not a particularly good one, but one that captured my revelation and made me excited to be where I was...

Knives and forks clutter, the day settles in.

What does it hold? Where to begin?

The river, the sky, the silk and the tea,

Bangkok's inner City is as restless as me.

A flower falls into my lap, it's pretty, pink and small.

'Be present in this moment dear and revel in it all'.

Tuk-Tuk dashing across town

With a changed heart, I embraced the day and headed off to find those angels....unfortunately they were not forthcoming but instead, the buzz of a city that literally DOES NOT sleep engulfed me and I decided to go with the flow. I can't even tell you where I went and in what order I saw things but I managed to find my way onto the SkyTrain and later onto the MRT which took me away from the Chao Phraya river and towards Siam Square. I was surprised to not see too much evidence of the recent flooding that has taken place in Bangkok, save the stacked sand bags and blue rubber tubes that obviously carried water our of the city and into the river. The river was at it's full capacity though and I wondered what it normally looked like when floods hadn't dominated the headlines for weeks on end.

Side ally industry



How you know which one goes where is beyond me!



Although not much litter can be seen on the streets, Bangkok's industrial nature is evidenced by the grime and "blackness" that smudges the buildings and collects in every outdoor corner. At any given time there are at least 20 different activities taking place around you - food cooking in massive pots on the side of the road, fragrancing the clothes that are being sold right next door; tuk-tuk's dashing over payments to avoid red robots; pedestrians trying to cross the grid locked streets; people queueing for buses and the smell of dried fish and durian in the air. It was a sensory assault, resulting in me walking down one street, feeling quite bewildered and deciding that it was too much for me before ducking off into a side ally to breathe and regain my composure.

Giant shopping malls in the distance

I managed to find my way to the 'shopping district', where 5 massive malls stand side by side enticing shoppers and mall-rats alike. They were a welcome haven to the madness outside but to be honest, I wasn't in Bangkok to marvel at designer clothes so after a wee stop and a frozen cappuccino I headed back out onto the streets. I didn't feel like I was in Thailand, probably because everyone who goes to Thailand has Phuket or Pi Pi Island as their destination and those are the stories I have heard. At one point I felt like I could have been in downtown Rissik Street to be honest but I was sure that there was more to this place that I just hadn't discovered yet. After exhausting myself completely and walking round and round in circles for about 2 hours, I decided to head back to the hotel.

Having a drink in a fab gaudy little restaurant

I'm discovering that one of the greatest pleasures of being a 'trailer wife' is that you get to stay in fancy hotels and enjoy the amenities for no good reason at all! I spent an hour or so next to the pool, ordered an insanely overpriced diet coke and read a few chapters of my book. Focus on me, remember :) Nick managed to join me for a swim and a drink before his dinner and I found my way to a massage house just down the road from the hotel. Oh my goodness! The most incredible foot massage I've ever had - 1 hour for Bhat250 AND she gave me a free 20 minute neck and shoulder massage. Ridiculous! At that rate you could have a massage a day!

Writing - I'm addicted!

I had joined Nick and the other conference delegates for dinner the previous night so I opted for a bath and room service this time round. The first bath I've had in 6 weeks which is huge for me as I'm a

'2-baths-a-day' girl in JHB! I enjoyed my 'dinner for one' snuggled up in my starched white dressing gown and slippers and was happy for it.



River ferry that i spent most of Sunday on



After breakfast on Sunday I headed back to my room to brush my teeth, put some sun block on and then head out onto the river. However, on arriving at my room I discovered that the maid was busy and she asked that I come back later. So I wandered round the hotel admiring the chandeliers and then returned to my room but she was STILL busy! I decided that it wouldn't kill me to spend a morning with unbrushed teeth and I could do with some sun so I left. (In retrospect I don't now why I didn't just go into my room and brush my teeth but at the time I clearly wasn't thinking and was being a bit of a moron). I popped a spearmint and headed out to Central Pier where I was told by the concierge that I could get onto a river boat that would take me to all the tourist attractions.

46m long reclining Buddha at Wat Pho

Beautiful mosaic covered buildings at Wat Pho

What a treat! I got on the boat and enjoyed the ride up the river, taking in the Bangkok that I hadn't managed to see the previous day. It is truly Thai with it's thin pointy roof decor and lots of gold and coloured mosaic. I hopped off at Pier 8 as I quite fancied the idea of seeing the reclining Buddha in the Wat Pho Temple. As I entered the temple I saw a great big sign saying that woman needed to cover their shoulders on entering. I was wearing a sleeveless top so I rushed outside and started looking for a street vendor selling pashminas or scarves. Thankfully I found one, draped it around my shoulders and went in to buy my Bhat100 ticket. You leave your shoes at the entrance and step into the cool, high ceilinged chamber that houses the reclining Buddha. He is magnificent - 46m long and gilded with gold leaf. He has mother-of-pearl inlays on the soles of his feet and he literally dwarfs the shelter he lies in. The statue is symbolic of Buddha's death and passage into nirvana and is absolutely breathtaking to see. After trying to get a decent photo of him, I ambled round the rambling grounds of Wat Pho for a good hour admiring the giant granite statues that decorate the courtyard and the incredible mosaic work that adorns the temple buildings.

In and around Wat Pho grounds

I ambled through the food market on my way back to the pier and found a huge bag of cashew nuts for next to nothing so bought those for Nick (they are his favourite) and then headed back down the river. Nick and I had agreed that if I could get us onto a river cruise in the evening, we would do that instead of having dinner at the hotel. I headed towards River City, an upmarket shopping mall where I was told I'd be able to book us onto the Grand Pearl for a river cruise and buffet dinner. Unfortunately they were booked up and the cruise run by the Shangri La was not operating on Sunday nights. So I hit Google and managed to find a deal, departing at 7.30pm from Pier 2 at River City. I was ecstatic. At least Nick would get to do one touristy thing in Bangkok and a night time cruise on the river wasn't a bad option!

 

Little did we know, we were in for a quite an experience as we caught up on our respective day's activities in the pristine gym at the Shangri La. I blow dried my hair and put some lipstick on and we headed our for our dinner on the river.

View of Wat Arun from the river

The boat was huge, probably able to seat 300 people. We managed to find our way to a table on the upper deck and we ordered cocktails and waited for the other 298 people to get on board. Then we were off! There was an instant rush on the buffet dinner - I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it! People were standing 3 rows deep shoving their plates through any gap to try and get at the food. We saw at least 3 plates of food overturned onto deserving passengers and for the first 15 mins we didn't even look at what we were cruising past as the people were far more entertaining. As was to be expected, the food rush subsided and Nick and I managed to help ourselves to some extremely spicy Thai cuisine and decided to order another cocktail rather than get seconds. The river and the temples by night were spectacular, creating a sense of eastern allure and mythological mystique with their golden exteriors glittering in the moonlight. We enjoyed the sights to a very loud and very bad female lounge singer who seemed to be very popular with a particular group of men who danced for the entire duration of the 2 hour cruise.

Back on dry ground, we found a spot for a nightcap and observed the pretty young Thai girls with crusty old Caucasian men. 'City of Angels' they tell me....I don't think so!

Nick had to change our flight to leave earlier on Monday as he had a dinner that he need to get back to Singapore for so we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and headed to the airport at 10.30am. I was quite glad actually to be going 'home' to Singapore - I feel so much more comfortable here and its made me a snob for cleanliness. Bangkok was fun and I'm glad I got to see it but I don't think I'll be rushing back to visit it in a hurry. I think that the beaches or Thailand are far more down my ally so I'll think we'll head in that direction the next time.

I'm still undecided what Nick and I are going dressed as to his Christmas doo on Thursday night...the theme is "You'll go down in history" and I'm struggling to come up with an original idea. Any suggestions in this regard would be most welcome.

It's 9.30pm here, poor Nick is still not home from work as there seems to be a new instruction from India keeping them busy. Tomorrow's Wednesday already and we are looking forward to a weekend 'at home' this week. Brig arrives next weekend - I can't believe it's Christmas already!

Much love to you all and miss you dearly.

xx

Expat Escapades



Passing ships on the ferry

 I'm still coming to grips with the fact that it is already the 6th of December! It's been a month since we arrived in Singapore and I am astounded at how 'at home' we are feeling and how 'normal' life feels here. This is a good thing of course, especially considering the various "wobbles" experienced in the first week....I'm proud to say that the Grootes' are owning this 'S-E-A' experience and enjoying every moment!

Deck hand on the ferry

As I mentioned, we managed to book a night away this past weekend at a beach resort on Bintan Island which is technically Indonesia. What a treat! It is close enough that you don't have to fly and can travel by ferry which in itself was a novelty and much welcome change to the chaos experienced between OR Tambo and King Shaka for a weekend get away....

HUGE statue outside the fery terminal

Infinity pool at Nirwana

As luck would have it, we only got to bed on Friday night after 2am post dinner and a meander in and around the Arab Quarter with some of Nick's colleagues. Dinner for 5 cost us $27!! Unbelievable! And it was delicious and more food than we could eat. Thankfully I had pre-booked a taxi for a 7.30am pickup on Saturday morning otherwise I don't think we would have made it...I'm NOT a morning person. We boarded the ferry at about 8.50 and departed just after 9am leaving rainy Singapore behind us. It was quite something to see all those ships up close as they are massive loaded with designer goods and electronics I'm sure! Makes you realise just what a consumer culture this place really has.





Nirwana beach

We arrived in Bintan, thankfully to less gloomy looking skies, and made our way into the terminal to go through immigration and customs. We were stopped by a very smiley immigration official who asked whether we were here just for the weekend which we politely answered that we were, after which he directed us beyond the queue and round the back of the immigration counter and proceeded to 'fast track' our visa acquisition and present our passports back to us with many smiles and a note that he had just helped us jump the queue! We looked at each other and smiled! For a moment Africa didn't feel so far away and Nick slipped the guy a $50 for our $18 each visas.

"Purple-speedoed-viper"

We were ushered onto a shuttle and zooted off to Nirwana Gardens Resort which was about a 10 minute drive from the airport. To our delight, Bintan is an hour behind Singapore so we effectively gained an hour and were checked in and on the beach by 11am! The Indonesian style hotel was fabulous - very laid back but with every amenity you needed. The infinity pool was our haven for the afternoon and Nick made the school-boy error of falling asleep on his lounger, which was in the shade when he nodded off but not so shady when he woke up. Needless to say that my 'lobster' husband falls into the 'red' category since Saturday and finally accepted my hydra-mist offered earlier in the week. The afternoon was not without it's entertainment - we saw what we think was a leather-backed turtle (we think she was French) frolicking in the shallow waves on the beach. We also saw a 'purple-speedoed viper' with a rather large abdomen but a tan that would rival one of the Kardashian sisters any day of the week! His daughter was very sweet though and took a shine to Nick (she was only 2, don't worry). Perhaps the most entertaining items were the impromptu fashion shoots that, if lucky, you could spot at various times throughout the day. We had a particularly lovely Japanese model in the shade tent next to us being photographed by her manager/boyfriend/photographer for about an hour or so, striking various poses using the recliner and the pool steps as props. I nearly went and asked if I could get her signature but Nick said he didn't think it was a good idea.....VERY entertaining.

Freshly roasted 'lobsters'

The "cat-dog" that followed us home

After baking ourselves for a couple of hours we decided to have a nap and then walk the beach and watch the sunrise. Unfortunately the sunburn was worse post our nap so Nick strode down the beach shirtless, enhancing the natural beauty of the Indonesian coastline. The sky was beautiful as it had just stopped raining and the air cool enough for me to put a long sleeved t-shirt on. About 1km down the beach we heard this incessant 'meowing' and we started looking around for where it was coming from. It was a bit dark by then but eventually this teeny-tiny little kitten hopped down from on top of a log and ran straight at us, desperately rubbing itself up against our legs and meowing, meowing and meowing! Poor little thing looked starved and we were careful not to pick it up for fear of dodgy diseases. But it just would not leave us alone. We started to walk back down the beach towards the resort and this little thing just ran behind us, desperately trying to get close to us and rub itself on our legs. As you can imagine, I was pretty desperate for this poor little thing and was adamant that we should ask the resort for some food for it. Nick managed to calm me down and we carried on walking home but it just followed us further and further down the beach. Eventually, on the outskirts of the resort it caught a whiff of something and darted off and that was the last we saw of it! Nick sighed a big sigh of relief at not having to go and explain to the reception staff that we had found a stray kitten on the beach and could they please rescue the cat otherwise his wife was going to adopt it herself.

Me mimicking the photograph poses we saw

We ate at a Japanese restaurant on the beach called RIN which was delightful! I drank an entire pot of green tea over the duration of our meal because they just kept on refilling my cup. We both had miso marinated salmon which was delicious and with a table almost on the beach, who would complain?

The breakfast buffet was less enjoyable. Nick quickly found the 'fried egg' stand and made his way back to the table with his breakfast. I discovered the 'half boiled egg' stand and asked the chef behind the stand whether 'half boiled' meant that it was cooked. He insisted that it did so I took one only to crack it open and find that it was completely raw. I went back to him and asked whether he could put one of his 'half boiled' eggs back into the pot of boiling water behind him so that I could have it 'hard boiled'. On returning to my seat, I cracked the second egg and found it to be completely raw again! At that point I must be honest I lost my sense of humour completely and Nick proceeded to openly laugh at me because we had just spent the morning discussing how this whole experience has lead us to be more tolerant of other people and their different cultures etc. I had a complete melt down, ate a bowl of fruit and left the restaurant.

Chillaxing during the thuderstorm

Tea for two

Due to Nick's 3rd degree burns on his chest we decided against a day lounging by the pool and headed to the 'Activities Desk'. We had spotted a mangrove tour that we quite fancied and thought that a ride down the river under the shade of the trees might be a better option for us to basking in the sun. Unfortunately the mangrove tour was a full day trip and we needed to be on our ferry back to Singapore by 4.30pm. So, in true 'Nick and Nicky' style we hired electronic bicycles and decided to explore the resort! What fun! We looked like complete morons with our helmets on and various items of clothing draped around us as sun protection but we had an absolute blast. The resort turned out to be massive, with 5 different accommodation sites and various restaurants and activity centres dotted around. We discovered the elephant sanctuary and were introduced to 2 Asian Ellie's called Emma and Pina who were polite enough to sit down and let us have our photo taken with them. They were beautiful!



Us with Emma and Pina



We also discovered the Calypso Bar which sits in the middle of the sea on stilts and must be an incredible spot to watch the sun set! We zooted around all over the island and decided that we have to get ourselves one of those bikes - they are the bomb! It's a normal bicycle with an battery powered motor, so basically, it's somewhere in between a bike and a scooter. Such fun!

Nick on his e-bike

After our 2 hour 'e-bike' expedition we had a nice cool swim, enjoyed some lunch at the resort and had a snooze in a hammock on the beach! Blissful!

When we arrived back in Singapore the rain was beating down which made catching the bus an interesting experience but we made it home, threw together some dinner and enjoyed "The Smurfs" in HD on our couch in our little apartment!

Calypso bar

What a great weekend. It's such a treat to have spots like that literally on your doorstep. I'm sure that won't be the last time we go to Bintan, in fact, I'm seriously considering booking a night or two for Brig and I between Christmas and new year. We'll see.

The other exciting news is that we are off to Bangkok this weekend. Nick has to attend some business development training on Saturday, Sunday and Monday so we decided that it makes sense for me to go with. Thankfully we are able to fly on Friday and Nick will take the day off which means we'll have "one night in Bangkok" together before he has to start work :) We are staying at the Shangri La Hotel which looks AMAZING!! Very excited! I went to the library today and hired a whole lot of travel guides for Bangkok so hopefully I'll be able to get around on my own and see the sights.

We are having dinner tonight with Ant and Shane and have our quiz evening on Thursday. I've discovered a world of markets, food stalls and shops just around the corner from us that I never knew were there! I also managed to locate the post office so don't be surprised if you received a post card from me soon :)

I'm having such fun and really enjoying life here but I do miss you all terribly. I know that everyone is gearing up for Christmas at home and it would be awesome to be catching up with you all around a braai. But there will be lots of that when we are home in June. For now, it's dim sum, anti-perspirent and travel books for me :)

Lots of love to you all.

xx

"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.