Life gets busy and time for blogging disappears

Hello,

I know, I know, my blog has fallen by the wayside, but I have just been sooooo busy (lying by the pool) and just haven't had a chance.

Actually we have been a bit busy. For the last month we have had hubby's mum (Nana) here, which has been both good and exhausting. Always tiring showing someone around, but at the same time rather envigorating. It is also nice to explore and share this wonderful city with someone who hasn't been here for about 36 years. It's changed quite a bit. To be honest I think that the modernity of the city was rather lost on Nana. But we found it impressive all over again and realised hosw much we enjoy it here.

Why is it that people forget to bring good walking shoes when they travel? The best way to see Singapore is by foot, but we couldn't do much walking and true exploring until a new pair of decent walking shoes were purchased. So in the final week of Nana's stay we had to cramm quite a bit in.

There was the complusary visits to Chinatown, where much shopping was done and of course dinner at Maxwell food court, which has to be a highlight for us. Hubby and I are suckers for a good nosh up at the local food courts. Nana enjoyed it, I think.............

We also did the walk around Clarke Quay down to Marina Bay Sands, which is where the big new casino is. This place is really mad. I have to say. The architecture is just spacey, and there is something new being created all the time. It really is a bit more like urban art than boring old buildings.

Marina Bay Sands - Casino, hotel and exclusive shopping centre

The Durian.

Nana was also required to join us on a trip to Phuket for a week. It were bliss. We rented a villa and it felt like we were in the country. The occasional sewerage waft was testament to that. They had these wonderful upright bikes with baskets on the front which we used to go to the beach, which was about 15 mins ride away. Max fitted in the basket just right. Responsible parenting at it's best.
We were near Layan beach which for the most part ws totally deserted. Perfect. It had a little wave which was just enough to make swimming fun. It reminded me how much I love the sea. We really did'nt spend enough time on the beach. Next time I am not leaving it. The lure of shopping got the better of us.

Layan Beach

Coconut Beach

So, a car was hired and off to explore the more populated areas. Kamala beach and Patong beach are lovely, but over crowded. Not necessarily with people, but with sun loungers and umbrellas. Boats and other watersports cluttered up the ocean, and if this is your perfect holiday then, you would be in heaven.

Patong the shopping was fun. The first day was the best. We felt like we had landed in shopping paradise. Wandering the markets and bartering is exhilerating, helped along with a beer or two at lunch. We ventured back twice more, but it wasn't the same. It felt a bit forced by that point. 



We were there in the evening and did take a walk down the notorious sex district. It was a buzz. Not good, not bad just thrumming. We got caught in a torrential downpour and had to find a bar to wait out the rain. Pina colada's were required and my son was fawned over by the "ladies".

Our son did get to feed and pat an elephant which were huge highlights for him. He is even talking about wanting to be an Elephant when he grows up. We is only 2!

Ok, I have spent much longer then I anticipated writing this, actually I was trying to insert some photo's but it doesn't seem to want to play, so I'll attach them instead.

Sorry for the abrupt end to this, but there are things I need to be doing.

Hope everyone is well and in a festive mood?

The real holiday

So, the All Blacks won. Congratulations! Should be good for the NZ psychie and NZ'ers everywhere. But that is all the comment I can make as I didn't watch the game. I had a much more adventurous weekend.

Saturday was 'D' day for my root canal, and I had to go to a whole 'nother country to get it done. Well I didn't have to but chose to. I had spoken to two girlfriends about it here and they were most distressed that I was going over to Malaysia by myself to have this done. I put on a brave face and said that I was just going to catch a taxi over and then back again, easy! What I was astonished by, was the fact that neither of them knew that there was a taxi service which did this. And that it was only $10 SGD per person in a shared taxi or $40 SGD for the whole cab, one way of course.

And it was that easy.

I went to Queen Street, near Bugis, which is where all the local buses and Taxi's leave from for Malaysia. 10 mins wait and off I go. It took an hour from getting in the taxi to the taxi depot in Jahor Bahru (JB). Easy as. The best bit for me was not having to get out of the Taxi and go through customs, then get back in the Taxi drive across the causeway, get out and go through Malaysian customs and then get back in the taxi and head into town. Which is how it goes if you do the trip in the bus. Yes, it is cheaper, around $3.00 one way, but it adds about 40 mins to the trip, if not more depending on the time of day.

Upon arriving in JB, I was promptly ripped off. No international travel is complete without being conned. I hadn't been to JB for about 10 years and while trying to get my bearings a taxi tout got me. 10 MYR (Malaysian Ringgit) to a shopping mall. Well, hell why not, I had no idea where I was. Turns out the mall was around the corner. If he had been on the meter it would have cost about 3 MYR, and yes they do use their meter. Oh, he just got me at a weak moment.

Shop I did. Well I wandered around the mall and tried on many clothes and shoes. But no go. But McDonalds was good for lunch.

I then ventured out just in time for a tropical downpour. Actually it was good timing, not that I knew this. I needed to be at the dentist in 30mins and thought I may as well find a taxi since there was no point in walking. Turns out that the dentist is in JB, but greater JB. About a 30min ride from central where I was.

Yay, made it.

Other than the tradition of taking my shoes off at the door, the clinic was fine. Clean, modern and everything I needed or I should say the dentist needed.

As I lay back in the chair, with the drill whining in my ear, I realised that I felt like I was on holiday. I had had a whole day without my son. This is the first time in over 2 years. It was liberating.

Since when did going to the dentist become relaxing and not nearly as fearsome as I remembered it to be. Lucky, I get to go back another 2 times.

The return trip was equally easy. I did have to get the receptionist at the dental clinic to tell the taxi where I was headed. It is hard to talk when half your face is numb. I was home about 8pm.

All in all it wasn't nearly as traumatic as I expected.

Long over due

Hello,


I did the most awesome exercise class on Tuesday and still can't walk properly. I just thought you'd find that amusing. 


There is this bunch of women who meet on a Tuesday morning at the botanical gardens here and do a class. It's about 6 women and an instructor, almost like a PT session but heaps cheaper. 


The instructor made me (us) run (I don't run), push up's moving from side to side, lunges. Frog jumps, what the hell? They suck and I am sure that's why I'm still sore, it is Thursday as I write this. Rowing with bands and all sorts of other unbearable torture. 


The bit that a lot have people would have disliked, is the fact that it is at 9am in the morning and the temp is already 30 with 80-90% humidity. 


It was a total shock to my system. I haven't done anything proper (well ever) but in terms of exercise, since before I had my son, so about 3 years ago.


I LOVED IT and will be going again and every time I hurt afterwards I will think of my personal trainer back in NZ. What a legacy she left me with. 


Otherwise it's all ok here. Hubby's work is trying to kill him and it maybe working. He has had a very full on week with 3 late nights and now he can't get out of bed cos of the flu. He has to get out of bed cos he has to have a dr's cert to have a sick day.


He sagely informed me that it was the 'Man flu' as he sat in the middle of the lounge while I was attempting to mop the floor around him.


My son is a delight today, but I won't go on as I may jinx things.


Off to Malaysia on Sat to get my tooth fixed. Seriously infected root canal a couple of weeks ago, which caused my face to swell. 


It's a 3rd of the price to have it done in Malaysia compared to here. I just hope that doesn't mean they only do a third of the work. 


The monsoon season seems to have arrived early. We are having daily thunderstorms (which I love). I am not so keen on the rain, but umbrella's do work here. That's a novelty. I will know that I have assimilated, when I start using an umbrella as a sun shade. No, not a parasol. 


Other ground breaking news is that the Nana, Hubby's Mum, is coming to visit. Should be interesting. More on that as it unfolds. Ok, time to go and do stuff. 

Picture of Mum with her suppurating abscess. Drawn by hubby with embellishments by son.

Holiday, what holiday?

Yay, we went on holiday. It's taken a few days recovery. Travelling with a 2 year old is intense. He has needed recovery too. The journey up was rather uneventful. We went to Tioman island which is an island 54 kms off the West coast of Malaysia. We caught the bus up to Tanjung Gemok, about 4 hours bus ride from Singapore. The travel agents will quote you 3 hours, but remember that there is 2 lots of customs and inevitably there will be a late comer which we all have to sit and wait for. Yep. Not the best when you have a toddler who you know is on a time limit. From Tanjung Gemok to Tioman it's about a 2 hour ferry ride. Again, you will be told that it is an hour and a half, but take that with a grain of salt.

We stayed at the Berjaya Resort. It was easy. The food was reasonable and they had everything you could possibly want. You didn't have to leave the resort, which is good as Tioman is not a huge, happening metropolis. It is a tropical paradise, perfect for beaching, snorkeling, diving and other water sports. On that note, I was very impressed that they banned jet ski's and other fast motor boat sports, all in the name of conservation and preservation.

Here is a dump of the photo's that we took.

This was the 2nd pool. It has a shallow paddling pool for little ones. The other pool had two water slides and a pool bar, but my son liked this one.

Ahhhh.

Caters to families.

The room was basic, but had air conditioning, fan and a TV.

This is what we looked out on from our room.

Perfection. The island you can see is called Renggis Island, lots of snorkeling happens there.

What a beach.

Obligatory palm tree.

My son didn't really grasp the idea of the beach holiday, which didn't make it a restful break. But it was a break none the less. Hubby got go snorkeling for 4 hours and that was his holiday. Bless. He swam with sharks and everything. I snuck in a few chapters of my book. It was wonderful to swim in the sea.

Oh, god. There are lots of celebrations going on in Singapore at the moment and there is constant drumming going on outside our windows. Starts at about 3pm and goes until 11pm. Frazzling.

The journey back wasn't nearly as smooth as the one over. The ferry was 2 and a half hours late and no one kept us informed, so we spent the time at the ferry terminal to afraid to go and explore in case we missed the ferry. This then meant that the bus was late and so on and so on.

We learnt a couple of things. 

Number 1.My son gets car sick and chose to show us by throwing up on my husband. We couldn't change either of them until the bus stopped, about an hour after the event. It wasn't pleasant.

It was after 10pm by the time we got home that night, and were shattered. It was a rough day. 

Number 2, take the plane. There is a plane that gets you to the island. It takes about an hour from Singapore to Tioman, which is a good thing with a toddler. Take the plane, take the plane.

Ok, have been distracted by the drums. Am off.

Spectacularly bad day

I wasn't going to write this one, but not much else has happened since, well quite a lot has and I am sure I will get sidetracked and write it all anyway. This could be a mammoth read, time waster.

I love Friday's. It's the day of the week that always makes me feel positive and brings promise. It's the day that I think is good for pancakes for breakfast or bacon and eggs. I am not saying that I make this all that often on a Friday but sometimes I am inspired to do so. It's a good day for a treat. It's the end of the working week.

Last Friday was like all the others. Actually not really, and thank goodness for that.

I take my son to an ANZA playgroup on a Friday morning. They hold it at an indoor gym and it is a great place for the kids to run, climb and be active. It really is a bit hot for that outside here.


Couldn't find any pictures of Go Go Bambini, so I found you a map of it's location.


I enjoyed the playgroup initially and joined ANZA to meet other expats living here in Singapore. I hoped that it might help ease my transition. However I have found it sadly lacking........you know what? That's another blog all on it's own.


Playgroup was rather uneventful this week and I cam home felling rather disheartened. But that's ok as I had plans for the afternoon.


I have booked our first beach holiday since arriving here. Actually I think it may be our first beach holiday in about 3 years, and had to make the payments that afternoon. 


Being still new in Singapore, I still have to plan out my adventures so that I know where I am going and how to get there, especially with my son. If by myself I am much more likely to just rush out and take it as it comes, with the knowledge that if I get lost then I can catch a cab etc. But I have the leeway to muck around a bit. With my son, he has a limited tolernace for the buggy and if I let him walk then I have to leave about 3 hours before I have to be somewhere.


The other issue that we have to sort out is banking. Hubby joined us up with ANZ here as it was easy for us to get an account. What we didn't know is that it is classed as an overseas bank and they don't have NET's cards which work on the local network. NET's cards are like eftpos cards in NZ and Australia. So most things we do we pay for in cash. The other thing about ANZ is that they have a tie in with the other overseas banks but not with the local banks, which means there are limited ATM machines you can use.


Taking all of that into account I headed to Raffles Place, where I know there is an ANZ branch and then a short walk to Robinson Road to pay for the holiday. Mission accomplished.


I alight at Raffles Place and head to the ANZ. First obstacle was that they were under renovations. That's ok though as they have put an ATM machine just across the square. I find this machine. All going well. Only to find that the machine had temporarily run out of $50 notes (they don't have 20's here) and was only issuing $10 notes. How annoying since I want to withdraw $2000.00, but if that's the way it has to be so be it. Other wise I am going to have to get on the MRT and go to another station (where I know there is another machine), get the cash and then come back again and head to Robinson Road. I start with drawing. Only to be told that the maximum limit at this machine is $400 at this time. I KNOW that you can with draw up to $3000.00 per day here. I try to make multiple with drawals, but you know, these machines are hard to trick. Son starts screaming at this point as he wants out to run around and it is nearing 5 pm. I have to make payment by 5.30. 


There are a lot of banks around this area, but unless you know where they are it can be difficult to find them. Especially as I needed a specific type of bank.


Eventually I found a Maybank which I know takes my card. Cool. It is on Robinson Road, even better. To get to it, not so cool. There were roadworks on every corner and I had to use the MRT under pass. Which mean steps with a buggy. 


Off I trot. Get the money and then off to make payment and I still have about 20 mins. All good. Get to the travel agent. They are on the 8th floor and to get to the lift there is a flight of stairs. I mean 20 or so. With a buggy. I had no choice but to leave the buggy outside, unlocked, while we went to make the payment. My son used the climb to exercise his vocal chords. It was a bit like yelling in a public toilet.


Payment made. The lovely travel agent informed me that we could have got the same deal a bit cheaper had I gone to the Golden Mile (which is the place where all the buses sell their tickets from), I actually knew this but just wanted an easy, organised trip this time. Trying to get the confidence up about travelling with a toddler.


Got the tickets and got out. Buggy was still there. Crime rate is low here. I am not saying there isn't any, but on the whole it's a pretty trusting place.


Getting back to the MRT was where it all fell apart for me. I hoped that there was another entrance I could use to get underground and to the MRT because on the way over all the steps had been downwards, which meant going back was all upwards. I go to the entrance I had come out of and there was no way I could cross the roads. There were workers directing people underground and all the crossing where blocked off. Helpfully, there was a sign at the entrance to the MRT letting me know that this was not an entrance for people in a wheel chair of with wheels and that for this service you had to cross the road and use the lifts over there. 


Yep. That did me. I love irony, but not at my expense, well just not all the time at my expense. So, while I was struggling up the stairs, with peak hour workers heading home, I lost my footing and found myself sitting on the ground. My son was fine in the buggy, but I was done. You know, just over it all. I had gone out to do a simple task and it wasn't meant to be.


It's moments like that, that remind you you are still new in a huge city and it really does take a while to figure out how it works and how easy it was in your previous city because you knew it.


Now, I am totally ready for the holiday. 

It's time to travel

One of the bonuses of coming to live in Singapore is the access to south east Asia. We have been here 6 months, geesh time flies, and haven't dared leave the island. Well, hubby has been to Malaysia for bike rides, but that's not fun. Ok, not my type of fun.

When I was 9 years old I visited Singapore and Malaysia with my Mum and some of her friends. One of the places I remember visiting the most was Tioman Island. I think this was partly because I had to keep a daily journal and on Tioman I wrote a story about the Pumpkin eaters. What the? I know.

They were tiny jellyfish that had a dark spot in the middle. A bit like a seed. Yep, I still have no idea why they were called Pumpkin eaters or why this particular story stuck in my mind. But it has and it did.

As an aside, the person who corrected my journal daily (the point of the exercise was to keep my spelling and grammar up as we were travelling for an extensive period of time), was American. This has confused me no end as most of my schooling was conducted in Australia or New Zealand where they follow the Queen's own. I was always getting bad results from spelling tests and it wasn't until I was much older that I realised there was a difference, that it started to make sense for me.

So where was I?

Huh, that's right. It's time to go a hunting. Pumpkin eaters here I come. I have talked hubby and my son, the latter has very little choice, into going up to Tioman for the weekend. Ok, so I don't have anything booked and will be getting onto that after I have finished gossing to you, but I am excited. I love a good weekend away. And to the beach, lovely.

I wonder if the monkey is still there that bit me (true story) about 25 years ago? I'm sure I don't really need to re-visit that adventure.

Now, just to make sure you are feeling me, I have 'borrowed' a couple of photo's off the net. Well, I don't have my own as we haven't been yet!

Be brave

Yesterday, when I was at the supermarket buying yet another 6 pack of green tea and beer, I met a lovely lady who had just arrived in Singapore. She has just been here a month and has a daughter younger than my son.

Anyway as women do, we got nattering. I think when you are in a new place you tend to forget some of you inhibitions and respond more favourably to new people. So chitter chatter we did outside the local mall. My son and her daughter were causing mischief, chasing a ball all over the place. I find people's reactions to Max being boisterous very interesting. I think that us westerners are a bit more chilled and do encourage our children to be kids, compared to the local community.

Am I getting side tracked again, at least it's not by food.............. Nearly lunchtime, what shall I have?

I actually had a point to today's blog, but it has totally escaped from my mind. No great feat.

Uh ha. We were talking about play groups and the need to socialise our children. She (for the want of a better label and no offense intended), said that she had put her daughter into one of the costly centers in the mall. She said that she found it a bit restrictive as she had to be with her daughter and also the way that it was run was very education focused. Flash cards etc for 18 month olds. Her daughter gets bored and gets up to explore after about 2 mins and the teachers are most distressed by this.

I talked about my son going to a local play group in an HDB near where we live. It really is the polar opposite of what she has for her daughter. It is loud and the kids are kids. You drop them off for two hours. Yes, they do do painting and my son is certainly learning his ABC's along with Mandarin, but it's not so strict. Also the children are a great mix of cultures and I like this. She was interested and I will be introducing her to the school.

The interesting thing is, that it depends who you meet in the first few weeks of being in Singapore that influences how you live here. I was fortunate enough to meet a wide cross section. Some people wouldn't consider putting their children in the local system and others do. But I had access to a lot of information that other people haven't bee introduced to. Like the HDB schools and the local health insurance.

So, if you are interested in finding out about local schools, head down to the closest HDB and wander around. You will find the schools or look for the associates office.

Check out this website for health insurance, local health insurance. I was completely daunted by the website, so I just phoned the number and someone came to visit me and talked me through it. It was easy.

Another place that I have found useful information is the community centers. Have a look at their website and trawl around to find the closest one to you and see what they have to offer. They have classes in yoga, line dancing etc. Here is their link Community Centres.

So, be brave and jump in boots and all. Go exploring and have fun.

Oh jeeze and a tour

Well, since I last blogged it's been hell on a biscuit here.

My son has been sick and very miserable with it. Flu, I think. Basically it didn't matter what we did, he wasn't happy or comfortable. It makes for a long hard week. Thank fully he sleeps through the night, but oh god, the days are heel. We have been living on a diet of......well pizza and other healthy choices.

Hush! I know pizza isn't healthy or a food group in it's own right.

I have been so shattered that instead of sitting down to write, I have been doing the thousand yard stare. Seems to be my natural look these days.

Instead of date night this week, we headed to the pool for pizza and red wine. It was the best evening. Armed with the laptop, the iphone (hubby's), the boring phone (mine), two buckets for the wine (just really large glasses) and pizza (I wonder how many time I can write that in my blog?), we made our way to the pool. It was empty and peaceful, just what we needed. No hustle and certainly no bustle. It were bliss.

Saturday dawned bright and full of promise. Every morning is like that. Off to the markets. I am loving the markets. Good chicken, good veges and nice flowers. I always feel so domestic after filling up the fridge with yummy fresh food and flowers on the table make it complete or something like that. And I got a photo, not a great one, but one nonetheless.

See, there it is.  I am standing by the fish section and looking back to the fresh chickens.

Hmm, I might have to have a chat with Hubby and see if he can give me some of the footage he has shot on his wanderings. Later.

Today was epic. We had a visitor who had spent years here, but hadn't been back for about 20 years. Honest to go this place is totally un-recognisable compared to then. It was the compulsory walk down the river to the new Marina Sands. It is rather impressive. See, I stole a photos off the net for you and also one of the performing arts centre, otherwise known as the Durian (you will see why).

The Durian

Marina Bay Sands.

That was more than enough for the day, but nope, wasn't quite done yet.

It was a wonder down Little India. Little India, is usually packed on a Sunday afternoon. There is a real vibrancy and liveliness. It's great. Trawling through the shops and discovering all the little goodies that are on offer. And the food, yep back to that again. I had an exquisite palak paneer (home made cottage cheese in a spinach sauce). Yum. And the bit that made it taste better was using ones hands. Soooo good.

I have a couple of photo's which I took. See, I am trying to get the hang of this visual aid.

Colourful buildings in Little India (actually the place we had lunch)

Now I am done. Well almost. Hubby has just dashed off to the local food court to get some soup dumplings. Oh goodie.

Son had one final meltdown to finish off the weekend, but that was solved by early to bed. Hubby went for two bike rides (YES, two) this weekend and it only rained on one of them. That's some kind of progress.

Right, that's me over and out.

Rugby World Cup

This had to come up didn't it? I mean, really. As a Kiwi not living in NZ right now, any conversation automatically turns to rugby. And today is the opening and I guess the first game is being played. I was only alerted to the fact that something was up when a friend made a facebook comment referring to rugby.

You see, I use the term guess as I really don't have a clue. I don't even know who is playing the first game. I know, many would call me a traitor to my kiwi'ness, but it's just never been something I have had an interest in.

It is very easy to get caught up in the hype, and New Zealand could really do with a good party right now. It's been a rough year or two there and most people need to be able to escape from their realities for a little while. A good rugby season will help with that

The real issue I have with rugby and my birth countries obsession with it, is that it is too closely tied into the total psyche of the nation. For the next 8 weeks (is that how long the rugby world cup lasts?), the entire country's mood will depend on how well the All Blacks are performing. There will be a lightness, brightness and a positivity if things go well for the All Blacks. A feeling that all is right with the world and that all those nasties of the past few years are behind us and we can move forward as a nation. Heaven forbid things go wrong then it will the polar opposite.

The country will become apathetic and unable to function properly. There will be a gloom hanging over the entire country. There will be little point in conducting business as everyone will feel victimised and severely let down, by our rugby gods. Who is in the team this year?

The fact that the games are still being played and the tournament is still in action won't be of any consolation. The ringing of cash registers will be of some help to the doom and gloom, but at the individual grass roots level, not so much.

For New Zealand's sake I hope that the All Blacks are not true to form and don't peak too early. I hope the party is great for one and all. Mostly I hope that no matter what happens people remember that it is just a game. It's not a matter of National security or life and death.

Right, I am off to get my t-shirt printed with 'Rugby sucks' written on it. Not original, not clever but to the point.

The next step

Now that I have conquered food shopping, actually I have probably just begun, but I have it under control for now.  Of course with food shopping comes eating.

To be honest all we have done since we arrived here is eat. There is so much variety here when it comes to food, and many different places to get it. There are hawker centers, restaurants, kopitiams (foodcourts) in malls, fast food chains. I am pretty sure that on nearly every corner there is some form of eating establishment.

We loved eating out for the first month. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Mainly because we enjoyed discovering our new environment, and also because we didn't have any cooking utensils in the kitchen. As much as we enjoyed it, I started craving salads and things cooked the way that I like them.

Hold on, how did I get sidetracked talking about food. One track mind.

What I was getting to in this blog was my need for exercise. Hubby has been very conscientious and has been making sure that he gets out every week for at least 1 bike ride, which in this heat is super nuts.

Today while my son was at play group I forced myself to go for a swim. It was so good.

See, no excuse.

The pool is literally on my front door step and I go swimming lots with my son, but I manage to ignore it for myself. Today that is changing. I threw myself in and made myself swim laps. Ok, they were widths, not lengths, but still that's a good start.

Tomorrow I will attempt to do it again, then the next day and the next. Until it becomes habitual. Well that's the plan, but I am sure I can be side tracked by something.

Bagels, bagels where for art thou?

As many of my friends know I have been obsessing over bagels. I am not sure why, probably PMT and all I want to do is eat carbs and chocolate. But looking for a decent bagel here is like looking for a big white man whale. So I have decided that it is best if I do it myself. 


Bagels are one of those things that I have always thought are best bought from the people who know how to make them. I mean you have to make the dough, boil and then bake it. What a load of fuss, even if they are good. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

My son is so over my bagel need and has removed him from the lounge where I am typing this and closed himself in his room. YES, he can get out on his own.

Today was one of those really, really wet days and I figured it was the perfect day to give baking a go. The temp is below 30 for once. But it was a mission.

We have been debating the need to have 2 umbrella's in the household, but to this day it has only been a debate. As is right and fitting hubby had first dibs on the umbrella. Only fair since he has to go to work. Someone has to pay for my new obsession and believe me it's going to get expensive. Hubby ran off to work in the middle of a torrential downpour. I had a shower and hoped that the rain would stop belting down. But this is the tropics.



Off to school for my son. This required me to get totally and utterly soaked to the bone, which isn't really all that traumatic since it is hot, but my shoes were so wet that I was aqua planing on the inside of the shoe, which was then aqua planing against the pavement. Fun.

Gee, why am I giving you so much detail!

You see, the thing about baking is that I have to buy a mixing bowl, a mixing spoon, measuring cups/jug. And then of course I need the ingrediants.

I took myself to Mustafa's which gives me the heebie jeebies, but has everything. If you can find it.

Success, I found all that I needed.
And after much fun. I realised that I actually like baking bread. See proof.

I will taste test on Hubby this evening, if he is still alive tomorrow then all good.

Maybe blueberrie ones next? Cinnamon and raison? Oooh, chocolate.

Damn, I am going to have to hurry out and make some friends or else Hubby and I will end up HUGE.

Ok, enough rambling.

Meat and more meat

I was a wake bright and early this morning, with excitement tingling through my toes. Could have been pins and needles.

Anyway, I met a lady at the egg stall at the market the other week and she informed me of the best place to get meat in Singapore. Everyone has an opinion on this subject. Even the chicken man at the market can tell you where to get the best angus beef in town. "Go to Novena Square. Look for the building behind it and go up to the 4th floor and look for MMM butcher. He best for Angus beef in town." See, I was paying attention! No, I haven't tried it yet.

Food is integral to life in Singapore.

So the Egg lady, as she will forever be known, texted and set up a date for this morning to go and find her hidden gem. There is nothing like an adventure. Armed with my camera, the one on my phone, I stood and waited for my ride. I got a call 5 mins before I was to be picked up, asking what my address was, as Egg lady had deleted the vital piece of information. With my vast knowledge of Singapore, I proceeded to giver her directions. "You know that shophouse that you looked at and decided not to rent? Well, I live right opposite that." Clear and concise. Funnily enough she found me.

We drove for about 20 mins. I am not sure where, we were to busy meeting each other. We had chatted briefly and swapped numbers over eggs, but beyond that we knew nothing of each other. So we were having the obligatory girlie meet. "What are you doing here? How long do you think you'll stay? Are you enjoying it? What have you found hard about being here? Wow, it's cool to be driving in a car. You get to see different parts of Singapore." That inane chatter. It was fun! I felt like I had been let out for good behaviour.

Back to the tale. Basically we headed to the ports and in a huge industrial warehouse we found Ben Foods, http://www.benfoods.com. They have a selection of goodies on offer. There were your pasta's and  tinned goodies. Olive oil, canned tomatoes, frozen bacon (I am assured it is the best brand you can get in Singapore and at a hugely reduced rate compared to the supermarkets), butter, cheeses, wines.

The next section is your meat. There is pure Angus beef, vacuum packed fresh from NZ. There are frozen lamb chops, marinated ribs and all sorts of other goodies at reasonable prices. The catch is that it is all prepackaged and you have to take it how it is. For a small family like mine that is a bit daunting, but then, I have a freezer and will just have to re package into small portions.

Now, I have just been off on a quick tangent. In all my excitement I forgot to take photo's while out shopping, so, I have just taken photo's of the goods I bought. I will put them on the bottom and also for the hell of it I am going to compare the prices that I paid at Ben Foods with the ones at Cold Storage.

Actually I am going to get on with that right now.

Purely for baking and my son. Not for me. I paid S$2.60 for 250g. At Cold Storage butter ranges from S$3 to S$6 for 250g. 

I am not going to comment about this buy. I paid S$2.50 for this. At Cold Storage it is S$3.45.

Hubby and I LOVE good ribs. They better be good. US Marinated back ribs. I paid S$14.80 per kg. At Cold Storage Ribs are S$30.50 per kg. Cold Storage ones are Australian and not marinated. 

Meat, glorious meat. NZ Pure Angus Beef. I paid S$26 per kg. Cold Storage is about S$59.90 per kg.

Bacon. Oh, how I have missed you. I paid around S$10.00 per kg. In Cold Storage bacon is between S$20 and S$30 per kg. 

Thought I'd try this for lunch. I paid S$4.60 and at Cold Storage it is S$7.50.

Gotta have ya lamb chops. I paid S$15 per kg. The only lamb on the Cold Storage website I could find to compare it to was lamb french rack at S$69.90 per kg. I did see these at Ben Foods and I think they were around S$25 a kg, but were frozen.

It looks remarkably cheaper. But I haven't tried any of it yet. Although Egg lady swears by the meat. The only other downer about this is that you really have to have a car.

Anyway, we now have enough meat to feed an army. I think we'll have ribs tonight, followed by bacon for breakfast tomorrow and then maybe a lamb chop for lunch followed by a steak for dinner.

Happy eating.

Walk this way

One of the identifying factors of being in Asia for me is the directionless meandering which seems to be done at a snails pace and drives me to distraction. I am sure I have ranted about this previously and probably will again, but bare with me.

I am not sure about people's walking habits and I never really analysed mine until I realised that I would come home from a trip to the shops, cursing and fuming about the way people walk here.

Please, I am not having a go at anyone in particular, except those of you who walk real slow and seem to be drawn to any other moving force on the same footpath as you. And there it is, that's my frustration right there.

I am used to walking with direction and a pointedness. Purpose. I know where I want to go and stride away. I own the footpath. And this works in most western countries where the rule of the foot path is basically the same as the rule of the road. As I don't drive this can be rather confusing sometimes.

When in a new country, I often find myself happily exploring. Wandering in a thoughtless manner as I stare up at the buildings around me or stop in the middle of a crowd, because something bright and shiny caught my eye. Yes, I am a hypocrite. But at least I know it.

For the first few months of being in Singapore I found myself muttering under my breath, "Walk! One foot in front of the other". And things like "pick a lane, any lane." "Can we speed it up just a notch? I am going to lose my balance walking this slowly." I do hope it was under my breath. Hubby says that I can mutter rather loudly at times.

As time has gone on I am beginning to have a vague understanding of why people walk this way. It is HOT. Too hot to be walking at the brusque trot that I was used to in my former homeland. Also everyone here is also looking for shelter. Whether it be from the sun or the rain.

I am happier to walk out in the rain then then sun. At least getting wet cools me for a second before my clothes turn into a sauna. You can almost see the steam rolling off them.

Many of the old shop houses have a '5 foot way', which was introduced in the town plan of 1822. This was designed so that in the front of traditional shop houses there was a footpath which was 5 feet wide and was laid so that the over hang of the building covered the walk way providing shelter from sun or rain. Now days these are often built like covered corridors/walkways. Here is a link for more information if you feel the need to go all historical on us, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_foot_way.

I am beginning to see the sense in walking at a slower pace in the tropics. Less sweating, actually not really, but a lot less frustration at fellow footpath inhabitants. And really what is the rush?!

 A heritage shophouse in Singapore.

Looking front on to the shophouse

 Decorative tiles on shophouse

 Newer 5 foot walk

Another long weekend

We have just had a long weekend and I haven't written a thing. I don't have anything to write.

The weather was grey and overcast, which makes me think it is cold outside but that's an optical illusion. It's still hot out. As I have mentioned before in my blogs, it always rains when hubby wants to go for a ride. This Saturday just gone was no exception. But he did get out over the weekend.

Otherwise we spent the time happily lounging around the house and the pool. A venture out to China town to see the lanterns, which we were too early for. A wander around the mall and an evening of suger highs, was the high point of the weekend.

This is no bad thing. Relaxing and not doing much is a good thing, a very good thing. But I have come to realise that after the last few years I don't know how to do that. It's been flitting from one drama to the next. So now when we get to do nothing we get antsy. There is an impatience, a distrust of sitting still and enjoying the moment.

I say, something to work on.

Now back to scoffing my face on banana cake.

It's nice to be back

I have been wracking my brains trying to come up with today's chitter chatter.

This week has been a great week. And for the last 3 years that is not something I have been able to say. Having a baby, losing a business, renovating and selling a house (to pay off debt from the business). Well, it's been hard.

It felt like living under a blanket, more like a parachute. Sometimes it is all around you, almost suffocating you and other times it is high above you, giving you a sense of relief and breathing space, but still there. Hanging over your head.

For me the devastating part of this was having a small child that you want to have the energy to love, teach and enjoy. But instead it was a struggle to maintain day to day. My marriage, well don't even go there.

So, for the greater good of the family we decided to relocate. I know, why reign more hard work down on ourselves. I wasn't sure that there were enough reserves in my energy bank to make this happen.

5 months in and I am feeling the most myself I have felt in a long, long time. I am not sure that it is to do with the place (I totally love it here), the fact that it is all still new and exciting, the fact that it is warm (is massive for me), or that I am no longer confronted with the hardships that befell us.

All this week has been uplifting and light for me. My son has been a delight, I am relaxed and my husband has been happy at work.

All good.

To top it off we have a 4 day weekend and can rely on the weather for outdoor fun and games.

Today a moan........

After being for 5 months I have realised that I really need to sort out my wardrobe. Coming from a more temperate climate, I have very little clothing that is suitable for living in the tropics. Even my holiday togs, the ones that only ever saw the light of day when we left NZ for a holiday or I was brave enough to head to the indoor pool (don't let me get started on that), are giving up and need an overhaul.

Now that I cast my mind back a few years. Ok almost 20 years, I am not that old! Really. I have vague memories of moving back to NZ after having grown up in Australia and being very cold as we had no suitable clothing. I guess after living in a place for a long time on and off you adapt to the environment. Well it's time to do that again.

My first priority was my son. I sorted this before leaving NZ. It is easy to pick things up for him. He doesn't need to spend hours in the changing room trying things on.

Have you tried clothes shopping with a 2 year old? It is a nightmare. I still haven't discovered half my local mall yet. It's just not worth the trauma. Which brings me to my point. Yes, there is one.

I get between 10am and 12pm to myself Monday to Thursday. The perfect time to update my wardrobe, you would think. But you would be mistaken.

The only shops open at this time in my local mall are Fairprice (supermarket), parts of the Kopitiam (food court), Bread Talk (sells bready things) and Metro (department store). A coffee shop or two is open as well, but that's not what I am after.

I have two precious hours to shop until my heart is content and can't manage it. This is the shopping mecca, and yet totally unattainable, well for me, when I want to do it.

Most clothing shops will open between 10.30am and 11am. By which point I have lost my will to shop and am itching to come home and enjoy an hours peace and quiet before chaos reigns again. They will also be open long into the night.

Having moaned, I have found that most of the shops at Vivocity are open if I go there right after dropping my son off. This might be because it takes me 20 mins on the MRT and it is around 10.30 when I get there. Also the shops in Tanglin Mall are open at this time. I guess because it is a child focused mall and in an expat/tourist location.

I guess I have two options. Go and have a coffee and chill out and wait for the shops to open, or wait until hubby has come home in the evenings and head out then.

There is the 3rd option of having a live in helper, but that discussion is for another day.

Today I have spent my shopping time writing this instead. Oh well, the holey shorts will have to do for a bit longer.

Searching for your new home

This can be a daunting task. It can be frustrating enough in your home country where you have a reasonable grasp on how things work. Doing it in a totally new country, with different rules and regulations can be terrifying. But if you are thinking about coming to live in Singapore or any new country then it is a part of that equation.

The two times....

Tangent. My husband and I first came to live in Singapore about 10 years ago. While we didn't stay long, I think we may have been a bit too young and it didn't live up to expectations, it gave us a taste for the place.

Speaking of expectations, I think a lot of people come here with one set of expectations and find that the reality is rather different. Singapore has EVERYTHING you could want, it's just up to you to decide how you want to live here.

We have thrown ourselves in boots and all. My husband had been here earlier in the hunting for work. I think that makes us a little bit different to many recently arrived expats that I meet. We chose to come here and most others are transferred. I do get some strange looks from people when I say that we made the decision to come here and actively worked to make it happen.

I get sidetracked so easily. While job hunting and being very good at it, my husband got an offer within the first week of his 3 week sojourn. Instead of returning home and being there for his son's first steps, this is a factual even that happened, is all I am saying. He rightfully so, stayed here and found us a place to live. This was a GODSEND, when we arrived. It meant that we got off the plane and walked right into our place. Made it very easy with our son.

The way to find accommodation in Singapore is with an agent. I do know of people that have done it themselves. Generally these people have been living here for quite some time and have sussed some of the nuances of the city by then.

The agents, there will be two involved, 1 for you and 1 for the landlord, are the ones that you give your brief to. They are the ones that listen to your circumstances eg kids, no kids, huge budget or not, and because they know the city, the market and you they can generally find you the best fit.

In our case, my husband had these romantic notions of living in a shop house and being zen. Our real estate agent pointed out that this would be isolating for me and our son, we wouldn't have any facilities, pool, BBQ pits or play grounds and actually they didn't fit in our budget.

The other thing that we really considered was the location. We wanted something close to the MRT (Singapore's version of the tube, except that it is modern and works wonderfully) and preferably on the same line as my husbands work.

As a consequence of this we live very near little India in a Condo that has great facilities and lots of other mothers and children. This part of why we came here. To be immersed, not stuck in an expat bubble. Although that can be done and I have met a lot of people very happy living this way.

We are on the same line as my husbands work and it means that he doesn't have en excuse for missing story time.

To find an agent ask around. Some are great (ours was brilliant and went above and beyond. She met us at the airport the night we arrived and bought us to our new home), and some are not so good. We have a couple of friends at the moment who are looking and their agent is pandering to them which means that they have unrealistic expectations and are finding the whole process rather arduous.

Wow, just read this. It is rather disjointed. But hey, that's life.

Discovering a market

Whenever I have asked anyone who has been here for longer than me, which is most people, where they do their fruit, vege and meat shopping. The reply is the same. Tekka markets in Little India.

Now, my experience of markets hasn't always been favourable. In NZ I find that the fruit and vege markets are cheaper, but that the goods don't last as long as the more expensive produce from the supermarket. Here in Singapore, I have trawled through many a wet market with my son excitedly trying to touch the live frogs or search for Nemo. To be honest I find the markets overwhelming and feel rather out of my depth.

Today was a revelation and confidence builder for me. Tuesday and Saturday are the days that the fresh produce is bought in. The best days to go, as I am reliably informed.

I have been struggling to find good chicken, and have been repeatedly told to go visit the Tekka markets. So, today I bit the bullet.

The first thing I saw when I arrived was the food court, hawker stalls. I took note for a later date. I was on a mission today.

Then there was row upon row of fresh fruit and veges. I couldn't identify most of them, but was totally intrigued.

My theory is look around before buying. Get a sense of what is there and what looks good.

After my circuit of fruit and vege, I moved onto the meat and chicken. This is when I got rather overwhelmed. There was butcher after butcher selling beef, lamb and goat. The same for the chicken stalls.

My fear with these places is that if I get the wrong stall then the food is not good and I'll give us all a bad tummy. But hey, you don't know until you try. So try I did.

I found a nice man who talked me through the chicken's.  I was told if they have their heads and feet on and a tag around their necks, then they are fresh and haven't been frozen. I have probably been had and need to research this a bit more, but I feel for his chatter and bought chicken breasts from him. The best thing is that he boned and skinned them for me. How can that be bad.

So, with fresh chicken breasts, fresh stir fry veges I headed home feeling happy with my adventure and proud that I have overcome a silly hang up about markets.

I haven't cooked the food yet, but if it is good as it promises to be you'll find me at this market every Tuesday.