Random thoughts

Almost a year old already

2010-10-29T07:07:00.004+08:00

Natasha Morgan Evans

I was just looking back at photos of this time last year. It's amazing to think that Natasha turns 1 on 9th November. What a year!

It's funny how an event like having a premature (26 weeks gestation) baby can really help sort out your priorities in life. Seeing a baby grow from 890g to the almost 8kg that she is today is a strange kind of privilege. The wonder of creation is never more evident that when you actually get to see an eyelid unfuse, or cartilige form in an ear, or a baby start to be able to breath on her own. It really makes you value the small things in life that we tend to take for granted, like our health and that we really do have a marvellous creator God!

Less brain fog

Having changed the way I eat - no more sugar for me, low GI here I come (thanks Brenda) - and having the girls sleep through the night (mainly) has seen a marked change in the levels of brain fog I've been experiencing. Much like the Singapore haze of last week, the fog has finally lifted. I feel like I'm thinking joined-up thoughts again, and am even able to read books again. Long may it continue.

The baby brain really hit me hard. I'd become forgetful- people's names, lunch dates, playdates, my children's names etc and sometimes couldn't even string full sentences together. All that seems to be changing - what an answer to prayer!

Back to the blogging board

2010-10-23T21:14:00.002+08:00

So, after a three and a half year absence from blogging in which time I've flirted with Facebook and found it to be a largely useless waster of time (apart from being a great place to upload photos) and had two children, I'm back blogging. I still love to write, even if I have less time than previously. We'll see how long I last. My aim is to stay away from FB and come here instead.

The haze
Singapore is covered in a blanket of stinking smoke - not good. It registered unhealthy levels on Thursday, and quite frankly I'm fed up with Indonesia starting the illegal fires which cause it - just stop the burning!

BBC World service
Since our kind friend Erle tuned our car radio to BBC WS I've been completely addicted. Finally I have a place to hear 'real' news. Now I hear that they are cutting its funding, very sad indeed. There's enough rubbish/ads/repeats on the radio and TV, BBC WS is such a refreshing place for something slightly original and often quirky. Please don't let it disappear.

The girls
Natasha (now almost 1 year old, should only be 9 months however) has started crawling and today started waving. Such a cute age and growing up so fast.
Pippa has found Jesus and asked Him to be her friend, albeit in the middle of a week where she's not exactly been on her best behaviour. Pips loves school and loves to dress up as a fairy/princess/ballerina - basically anything as long as it involves pink. She has a fashion style all of her own, generally involving two layers on the bottom half i.e. two skirts or a skirt and trousers. That said, everything she puts together seems to work and she's got great attention to detail - not bad for 3 and a bit!

Tea ponderings
Why is it when you offer to make someone tea, you almost always have to come back and ask them how they would like it? Wouldn't it make more sense for them to say, for example, "tea, white, one sugar" up front...I guess it's just a politeness thing, sounds a bit demanding to give a list of ones requirements all at once. Maybe I'll try it next time and see what reaction I get.

Shipment
After 5 years in Singapore, we finally shipped all of our stuff from the UK to here. It's lovely to be reunited with some long-lost treasures. However there was also some pretty odd stuff in there - anyone for a Marks and Spencer Christmas pudding from 2003....

Wow we're parents!

2007-07-06T12:06:00.000+08:00

What a week! We now have a beautiful baby daughter, Philippa Jane Evans, who was born on 28th June 2007 at 10.48pm weighing 3.52kg (7lb 12oz). She is feeding and sleeping like a dream and currently seems to be a very relaxed baby. We love to just sit and look at the funny facial expressions that she pulls, and we are loving learning to be parents.

We have received some lovely gifts and flowers, pictures of the flowers are below...I love being surrounded by fresh flowers!

I've recovered pretty well and was out and about yesterday shopping and meeting people for lunch. I went to high tea at the Shangri La hotel for a friend's leaving do. Philippa had her first public nappy change in the rather posh marble-clad bathroom at the shangri la and her first public breastfeed in the dining room (discreetly hidden in a sling, as they're not too keen on breastfeeding over here).

I've included my favourite photos from the first couple of days, obviously we've taken hundreds...but most of those will appear on our website http://www.paulandcaillie.com/ , so keep watching that space.

The final countdown - two and a half weeks to go

2007-06-15T08:40:00.000+08:00

We picked up a new 'point and shoot' camera for me yesterday - the old one gave up the ghost. So here are the first shots from it.

Our Phil and Teds buggy...very cool.

The Moses basket complete with hand-sewn white liner. The cot doesn't come until the end of June so baby will be sleeping in this for a while to start with.
A beautiful hand quilted and appliqued playmat lovingly made by my stepmum (Thanks Jan, it's gorgeous!)
Red, black and white mobile (made by me) - apparently these are the colours and shapes that babies find easiest to focus on when they are newborn.
A small selection of the clothes that baby has already been given...many thanks to Mum, Mark and Nikki, Julia and Marianne for their kind gifts. Baby now has around 40 outfits...that's much more than I have!
Wow, I can't believe it's been two weeks since I last posted. Time is flying, I thought the last few weeks before baby came would drag...but it's certainly not.

I've been really living the 'lady of leisure' life while I still can. I've made friends with a lovely group of pregnant ladies who are all due within a week or two of me. We've been having lots of long relaxed lunches and it's been great to get to know them. Here's a shot of a few of the girls at Gemma's baby shower.

The nesting instinct definitely kicked in - I have hand sewn a moses basket lining (see photo) for the moses basket that a friend lent us. I've never sewn anything in my life. I also handmade the red, black and white mobile...not to mention cleaning out and reorganising every cupboard in the house!

Midsummer Nights dream

2007-05-28T14:25:00.000+08:00

Feeling quite cultural today as we went to see an outdoor performance of Midsummer nights dream on Saturday night at Fort Canning park. It was fantastic, we took a picnic and set up our mats (and cushions) on the grass. The whole play was done on boardwalks in and around the audience and it was very 'Shakespeare' with it's bawdiness, lewdness and audience involvement. It was awesome sitting under the warm Singapore night watching the stars, moon and bats in the sky. The play incorporated lots of modern stuff; hairdrier, popcorn, a rendition of 'I will survive' and football shirts - but I think they did it pretty well. Only Bottom and Titania's rendition of 'I will survive' complete with flashing disco lights would have had Shakespeare turning in his grave, the rest was pretty fun.

The pregnancy is progressing well, only 5 weeks to go! We are all set and I'm just glad that we don't have to move house...

Where we currently live - Jervois Grove, Singapore

2007-05-03T11:36:00.000+08:00

Click here to view map
Jervois Grove

House hunting

2007-05-03T07:14:00.000+08:00

The property market has gone mad. In four days, I will have only seen four properties (compare that to 26 properties in 5 days a year ago!). Looks like we might have to stay put and pay the rent increase.

They have an odd agent system over here. Both the tenant and the landlord have an agent, these are often two different people, both of whom expect their cut of the fees. This means that when taking out a year's rental agreement (the standard is two years), the tenant must pay half a month's rent in fees, this is as well as the landlord paying at least that if not more to their tenant. Being a property agent in this country is lucrative, and it seems they don't have to be all that good, and they certainly don't have to speak clear English...

Facebook

2007-05-01T18:28:00.000+08:00

I've recently discovered the Facebook phenomenon. It's kind of addictive and a great place to keep in contact with friends old and new. It's also an easy place to upload photos, so for those of you who are looking for somewhere to put photos this might be your answer. Only people who you decide are 'friends' can see your profile and communicate with you, so none of this dodgy web stuff. Here's the link www.facebook.com , I hope to see some of you on there soon. Look me up and send me a message. Below is my facebook piccie.

Names

2007-05-01T18:21:00.000+08:00

Lots of people have been asking us about names for the baby, and we aren't telling anyone until baby arrives. To satisfy that name curiosity that we all have, Paul found this cool website showing the popularity of names since the 1880's, I think it's just for America, but it's pretty darned cool anyway. Just type your name in the top left above the pink and blue box and it gives you a graph showing the popularity of your name. http://babynamewizard.com/namevoyager/lnv0105.html

Awake

2007-04-29T04:17:00.000+08:00

Sleeping like a baby

Well, it's 4.18am on Sunday morning and I'm awake again. This time the rain woke me up and the thunder and lightning has kept me awake for more than an hour. I really am 'sleeping like a baby' at the moment - that is to say that I wake up at the slightest noise and then can't go back to sleep, I also take about 3 hours of 'naps' during the day. I'm also eating like a baby, little and often. I guess this is all good preparation for when the little one arrives.

Forgetfulness

I've noticed over the last few months that I've become increasingly forgetful. I forget words, whole sentences, people's birthdays, lunch dates. Apparently this is all pregnancy related and 'will only get worse' (a favourite catchphrase of experienced mums when I mention any pregnancy-related woes). Here's a shot of an elephant we took at Addo Elephant park when we were in South Africa a couple of weeks ago... now I bet they never forget things when they're pregnant!

Greed

Our landlord is trying to put the rent up by one third - yikes! So it looks like we'll have to move house within the next month, I'll start the grand house hunt (the third since we arrive in Singapore in September 2005) on Monday. I can't believe the greed here, it beggars belief.

Unleashing the tree-hugger in me

I got a bit irate yesterday with the workers who had been sent to cut down my favourite tree. This may sound odd, but greenery is a big thing over here where so much of the island is covered in concrete and tar. This particular tree can be seen from the back of our condo and is one that I walk past most days, it's gorgeous, really high with all sorts of colourful parasitic plants hosted on it. In fact, just this week I noticed some new fruit on it when I was walking past with Julia. Anyway, I heard the chainsaws revving up and when I realised that they were cutting it down I leaned over the balcony in an irate-pregnant-woman kind of way and shouted at them to stop - there was a brief pause in the chainsaw massacre- but needless to say, they continued, so there is now a not-very-attractive stump where a once gorgeous tree stood. But, that's unfortunately the nature of Singapore - away with the old to make room for the new!

I think I've waffled on enough now, I'm still not tired, maybe I'll go read one of those chapters on giving birth -that's normally enough to make me want to escape to the land of nod...

Back from South Africa

2007-04-19T08:20:00.000+08:00

Ok, I know it's been a while, but I've had a fantastic month. First Mum and Luci came over to Singapore for two weeks, then Paul and I flew off to South Africa for two weeks to celebrate Paul's brother's wedding and spend time with his folks. Tomorrow my step-sister and her boyfriend arrive - so it's all go. I now feel very relaxed and am very excited about the arrival of the little one(only 12 weeks to go!).

Picture of us at Mark and Nikki's wedding.

I'm currently spending my time researching buggies/strollers/prams, cots and nappies...all good fun. To those of you who've just had babies, any tips or recommendations would be gratefully appreciated.

The flute playing is going well, baby definitely responds to the sound - I guess we'll only find out whether it's a positive or negative response once it's born! It's wierd to see little lumps moving and sliding across my tummy, and it's fun to guess the body part!

Cool music

2007-03-26T09:55:00.000+08:00

My sister's just given me the link for her boyfriend's band's music site. They are called Frostraid, they're from Greenland and their music is funky have a listen: http://www.musicforte.com/member/frostraid 'U&Me' is a good starting place.

Happy listening.

Busy, busy, busy

2007-03-16T08:38:00.000+08:00

I'm not quite sure how I used to fit work in...I now seem to be busy all the time. Of course it's 'good' busy ie stuff I have chosen to do, like meet friends for coffee, practice the flute, reply to emails, read books, cooking etc; but it's a busy time nonetheless. I'm making the most of all this free 'me-time' before baby comes along in July...

We had a fantastic small group (church) meet last night, I cooked a fabulous bobotie (South African dish) and then we had chocolate cake and a pot of tea - perfect. Everyone is getting closer and sharing more about themselves, we even had a new member last night - finally another bloke for Paul! (Up to now the group has been only ladies).

The chocolate cake was great, only $3 (about GBP1) from Carrefour supermarket, but really moist. But sadly still not a patch on Lou's Gran's chocolate cake that she used to bring back to Uni every time she went home - man, that was a treat - which will remain the benchmark for chocolate cakes until I find something that surpasses it (unlikely).

I've recently had the pleasure of meeting some new expats over here, Kim, Rico and Josh, who are great and I happily spend an afternoon a week with. And Camila and Daniel, who are friends of a friend in London and have just moved to Singapore to live, I think they could become good friends. We've also had to say goodbye to three friends in the last two weeks, but that's the way things go over here, the expat community is so transient.

I'm now preparing for Mum and Luci's arrival this weekend, we have an exciting two weeks ahead. It's been a year and a half since I last saw them, so it will be good to have so much time to catch up with stuff.

Cambodia

2007-02-26T20:35:00.000+08:00

We're back from a lovely long trip to Cambodia. What an awesome country! It was great to see Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples, take a long (10 hour) boat trip from Siem Reap to Battambang and do some sightseeing in Phnom Penh. I'll write more later in the week, but for the timebeing here's a picture of me and the bump, since a few of you have been requesting piccies.

Information overload

2007-02-14T12:25:00.000+08:00

There is so much to learn about looking after a new baby. Everywhere you look seems to offer slightly different advice. I guess because I have some time on my hands at the moment I am reading quite a lot and talking to a lot of friends who have young children. It's amazing what there is to learn...and I'm sure most of it can only really be learnt 'on the job' as it were!

That said, I'm thoroughly enjoying the reading and research into the various different things we need to know/buy/do/not do. I'm also loving having the time available to do them. Even more I love the fact that I can feel the baby kicking on and off throughout every day. Life really is a miracle.

Our apartment

2007-01-31T18:13:00.000+08:00

Here are a few photos of our apartment for those of you who haven't been here yet. Tempted to visit...?

Being a 'grown-up'

2007-01-31T16:14:00.000+08:00

Isn't it funny that sometimes something daft can make you feel like an adult...there I was walking along in my favourite shopping centre (Plaza Singapura) and I found the off-white queen-size bed vallance that I've been looking for for months, and suddenly I felt very grown-up. This does seem a little strange as one would have thought that either leaving home, buying a house, getting married, being pregnant or any number of other things might have made me feel this way over the past few years - but no- the bed vallance is what did it for me. Strange, but true.

We finally have a cleaner, and it's bliss! What a great feeling to come home to a totally clean house, I love it...

I notice that my blogs are sounding more and more domesticated, I guess it must be the hormones kicking in. I went for my 18 week scan today and the baby was kicking, writhing and waving with great enthusiasm - once again the doctor said "wow, you've got an active one there!". Good, good...

I'm also getting quite large now and even bought my first items of maternity clothing this week. Mothercare is my friend, they had the most fantastic 3/4 length jeans that fitted me perfectly (and they were a size 10!!!) - man I love shopping in British shops, they are so much more 'generous' on the clothing sizes.

Singapore Zoo

2007-01-21T19:01:00.000+08:00

I'm not a big fan of zoos, but Singapore zoo is pretty cool. Its layout is very natural with lots of rainforest and lakes. We finally went yesterday on a 'wildlife' photography quest for Paul, and it was a thoroughly enjoyable day. The orangutans were particularly visible, because they are an 'open display' which means they live in the trees in a certain area and are climbing above visitor's heads until they are brought down for feeding. The most amusing exhibit was the two polar bears (they looked a little warm!), their favourite food was watermelon - figure that one out!

Barra brith and being blessed

2007-01-19T23:00:00.000+08:00

Barra Brith

They say you start 'nesting' when you are pregnant, well, it's true - I've been into baking these last couple of weeks. Today I decided to make Barra Brith (Welsh tea loaf) for my colleagues, since it is my birthday. What a disaster! First it overflowed, surgically welding itself to the intereior of our oven, then it burnt on top whilst remaining raw on the inside, then it rufused to be extracted from the loaf tin. I wouldn't be surprised about any of this with my track-record in baking, but I made exactly the same thing using exactly the same recipe last week and it was 100% successful.

It still tasted great though - once I managed to extract it from its tin. I'm not, however, looking forward to dealing with the oven! That can wait until the weekend.

Hard times

I've had a number of emails from friends recently telling me of the death of close friends and accidents that people have had; it has made me realise just how fortunate and blessed we are in our position at the moment. We thank God for that. Our love and prayers go out to all those friends who are having a difficult time at the moment, we are sad to hear about what you are going through and that we can't be there to comfort you at this time.

Lovely day

2007-01-12T10:28:00.000+08:00

Life is good.

I'm having a really good morning. So far I've done all the housework that needs doing, made some sunflower seed cookies, practiced the flute (learnt a new note...) and now I'm going for a swim (even though it's bucketing down with rain!). Then I'm meeting a friend for lunch, working for two hours, then meeting Paul to go and watch 'My Fair Lady' at the Esplanade theatre. Lovely.

We went for our 15 week check-up on Wednesday, we heard the baby's heartbeat (150 bpm) what an awesome experience! Next check-up is in 3 weeks and we'll have another scan done then. We are really pleased with the Doctor we have found, she is very laid back and down to earth.

Last night we had a really successful home group, I made cottage pie and we all had a time of sharing what's going on in our lives. We are so happy that this group has come together, it's so good getting to know everyone in it.

Pregnancy and stuff

2007-01-06T10:46:00.000+08:00

How is it that my stomach, once almost a taboo subject, has become public property overnight? Often people's first reaction when they find out I'm pregnant is to stroke or pat my (already expanding) tummy! I guess I'll get used to that over the next few months. Here are the scans we have so far.

Photos- Top: Scan at 6 weeks Middle: Scan at 8 weeks Bottom: Scan at 12 weeks

Weather

It's started to warm up and dry up here again after the monsoon. It's lovely to be able to eat breakfast on the balcony in the sun again. The hoards of ants are back, any morsel left untended is soon found and turns black with the tiny creatures.

Wedding

We went to a wonderful wedding at the Conrad Centennial hotel on Thursday evening. Two of our freinds from church got hitched after 13 years of on-off dating. It was a touching ceremony (during which, to our surprise, the champagne flowed freely). The meal was great - traditional Chinese wedding fayre - jellyfish, prawns, shark's fin soup, fish head, rice, chicken, pork etc. There were eight courses in all. The wine, beer and (in my case) water flowed freely and fun was had by all. The live jazz band were immensely talented and we were fortunate enough to have a table near to them. There were around 250-300 people, and the cake had five tiers - they certainly don't do things by halves over here.

Photos - Top: The menu Next: The fish head Middle: Paul, Casey and Suwen Bottom: Paul and I

Happy New Year!

2007-01-03T09:50:00.000+08:00

Sea Gypsy was, as always, relaxing and refreshing. We don't know anywhere else quite like it. It is on Sibu which is a tranquil island in the South China sea, just off the East coast of Malaysia. We stay in wooden huts on a beautiful golden beach. We sleep a lot, eat a lot and chill out for the rest of the time.

Their New Year's bash in mid monsoon (they open just for five days in their off season) was no exception. Sea Gypsy attracts a certain kind of person, and we like that kind of person. We chatted, ate, drank, swam, sunbathed and played scrabble. The only thing missing for the perfect new year was all our close friends and family... oh well, maybe another New Year...

I'm now in the process of looking for a flute teacher as well as doing some self-study on British history (finally I seem to have an interest in this area, perhaps it's something to do with being away from home for so long!). I've just read a great 'Teach yourself the British monarchy since Henry VIII book, now I'm moving on to the second world war.

New Year's resolutions:

To swim more often

To update my blog about once a week

To learn to play the flute

To watch less TV

To learn some more Mandarin

Things to be glad about

2006-12-31T09:41:00.000+08:00

I find that counting my blessings can be quite theraputic so here goes:

I am happily married to a wonderful, kind, thoughtful and loving man.
We are expecting a baby in July
We live a comfortable life and want for nothing
We have lots of fun holidays to tropical destinations that I only ever dreamed of visiting
Our family and friends ar in good health and are successful and happy

Now things to be thankful for:

Skype, e-mail, friend's blogs and the internet
My flute
Avocados
Godiva chocolate
Marmite
Freshly squeezed carrot and orange juice
Tropical climates

OK, so it turned more into a list of what makes me happy, but I'm sure you get the idea...a happy and prosperous 2007 to everyone!

Flute

2006-12-26T15:59:00.000+08:00

Happy Christmas to all! We had a wonderful day with an adopted Australian family here in Singapore (that is to say we adopted them), three generations all under one roof, a traditional turkey roast and lots of good food and cheer. What a great day!

I got a beautiful flute for Christmas, it's something I've wanted to learn since I was about 6, and now I can't wait to have a go. I'm going to teach myself to start with, then move on to lessons when I can't go further on my own. In fact, I'm off to have a go now...

I'm thoroughly enjoying working part-time, apart from it's raining so much here at the moment I'm not doing as much swimming as I'd like. Oh well, monsoon season is over soon.

Expecting

2006-12-24T15:53:00.000+08:00

Wow, finally I can publish the news I've been wanting to tell everyone for the past couple of months. Paul and I are expecting our first child in early July next year. Yippeee.

Photos

2006-12-14T18:01:00.000+08:00

I've just been onto Gaz's photo site and stolen a whole load of cool photos that he took while we were away at the weekend. From the top: La Pau Sat, our living room, me at Pulau Ubin, Paul and I in a restaurant.

Back again

2006-12-13T20:25:00.000+08:00

Well, it seems that it's been a month since I last wrote anything. I guess I've been busy. This month I've gone to working part time after a bit of a battle with the school I work with. It works much better for me to have some of my own time, I'm not quite fully a lady of leisure - but almost.

KL and the Cameron highlands
We've just come back from a weekend in Kuala Lumpur and the Cameron Highlands with our friends Gary and Paul from the UK. A good weekend was had by all. The Cameron highlands is a cool mountainous area three and a half hours north of Kuala Lumpur. It still has lots of buildings from the colonial era, including the wonderfully named 'Ye olde smokehouse' restaurant, which is about as authentic a British pub/restaurant as you will find anywhere in the world!

We busied ourselves touring tea plantations, supping local tea, eating local strawberries and eating roast beef. The weather was cool and everything was distinctly British. Very quaint.

It was great seeing Gaz and Paul again, and it's lovely having the space to have friends to stay here now. They're off to watch the glorious England play in the Ashes in Oz, what a great trip!

Photos - Top: Paul at a tea plantation Middle: Tea grwoing area Botton: Gaz and Paul looking at Petronas towers

My ants nest
Now, you might remember me waxing lyrical about the local weaver ants nest. A couple of weeks ago I was most upset when I noticed that the hedge had been trimmed and the ants nest destroyed. It added to an already bad day! Although I guess it was worse for the few lonely ants huddled under a stray leaf in the pouring rain...

Christmas festivities
Christmas is well under way in Singapore, the decorations have been up for well over a month, the fake snow (foam) is blowing every evening at the local mall, Christmas carols are blaring out of every shop, and the local (Christian-owned) department store has ironically misquoted scripture in 3 foot high letters on the front of their store. Welcome to Christmas in Singapore. I'll try and take some photos soon.

Photo - Top:Chris, Priya, Suwen and Satoko at our Christmas party Below: Our Christmas tree - tiny!

Bangkok

2006-11-13T20:19:00.000+08:00

Bangkok is dirty, noisy, smelly and hot. That said, it has some beautiful temples and interesting markets. The main purpose of our long weekend was to go to our friend Glen's marriage to Pat. The wedding was massive and was in a very smart hotel in central Bangkok. The speeches were touching and Pat looked gorgeous.

The happy couples...

The wedding photographer!!

We stayed in a charming boutique hotel called the Wendy house, it's in central Bangkok and very reasonably priced. The breakfast was great and set us up for the day. The only downside was the four storey climb to our room. This, accompanied by the fact that to get anywhere by public transport in Bangkok means scaling about fifty steps, meant that we got a good workout this weekend.

The reclining Buddha, Wat Po; The Grand Palace

Our highlights were the temples (Grand Palace, Wat Po and Wat Arun), the canal tour and the enormous, sprawling Jatujak market (with 15,000 stalls selling just about everything you can imagine). By Sunday afternoon we were exhausted and treated ourselves to half an hour's reflexology - just what we needed.

One noticeable thing about Bangkok is the number of monks in their bright saffron-coloured robes, you see them everywhere. There are even signs on the trains asking you to give up your seat should a monk need one. The picture here was the best monk shot I had.

This flower is one I see all the time in Singapore and I also saw it in Bangkok, I've no idea what it's called - answers on a postcard please...it feels kind of like marshmallow and smells lovely.

I also love this one, I think it's a pink sonata, but I'm not sure - again, answers on a postcard please.

Weekend breaks are great...until you get home on Sunday night and realise you have work the next day. We are currently undergoing refurbishment at the school, and it's really unpleasant. This morning I arrived to a strong smell of paint, glue and cement dust. All the furniture had been removed and the floors were grey cement in readiness for the flooring. Not pleasant. Teaching, however was fun - we have a great set of students at the moment, it makes life so much easier.

Rain

2006-11-09T16:37:00.000+08:00

After weeks of no rain it has now started to rain heavily every day at around 2pm. It was no surprise, therefore, when it did so today. Or at least it shouldn't have been a surprise, but somehow I found myself walking back from the bus stop in a torrential tropical rainstorm. I broke the only 'weather'-related rule in Singapore - Always carry an umbrella...Never mind, I'll know better next time, or at least I'd like to think so.

As usual on my walk home I looked up to the top of the fence to see the weaver ant's nest. It's amazing, there is this colony of fairly large red ants who have woven together about six leaves to make a pod in which to live. Apparently they make the nest by making a string of ants between two leaves and then shortening the string one ant at a time. Then they squeeze a larvae to make the silky glue that holds the leaves together. They are there every day maintaining the structure, frantically so when it rains like today. I live in concern that the gardener will trim the bush and remove their home, I hope not, I rather like watching them as I walk to and from work.

We have friends from the UK staying with us at the moment, it's so good to hear all the updates from our UK friends, it's lovely to have them here.

We're off to Bangkok this evening for a wedding and some sightseeing, I'm looking forward to it.

Koh Phi Phi, Thailand

2006-10-30T19:20:00.000+08:00

Thailand really is a beautiful place. This was my second visit and you really can't beat it for clear water, white-sand beaches, friendly faces and good food. We had an awesome and relaxing four day trip (all for about £150 each!!). It's great to be able to take weekend breaks to places like this, I think we'll be checking out some more Thai islands before long. Sometimes when I'm lying on a beach reading my book, I just can't get over how lucky I feel right now - no I'm not gloating, just recognising my good fortune. Come and visit us and we can take you to a tropical island for the weekend too.

I think that pictures can do this place more justice than words, so here we go.

Left: one of the many lovely long-tailed boats, resting in the crystal clear waters.

Right:Us at sunset.
Below: Maya bay, where the film 'The Beach' was shot

Wow, what a great four days. Just a shame that we had to come back to work really...

Mini cornettos

2006-10-22T06:58:00.000+08:00

Wow, these things are great. What a magnificent idea! We were at a braai/BBQ yesterday with some new friends and they produced a boxed of mixed flavour mini cornettos. I think I might just have to install some of them in my freezer. They are big enough to satisfy a dessert/ice cream urge, but not big enough to make you feel guilty... perfect.

A friend that we met at the wedding in Malaysia introduced us to a really great group yesterday, all couples from SA, Oz and the UK, and all about our age. I think this group could be a lot of fun. They've invited me to a gathering on Tuesday afternoon (it's a public holiday here). I'm looking forward to it.

Where on earth have I beeen?

2006-10-21T12:00:00.000+08:00

My friend Julia posted this on her blog and I think it's a great idea. It shows where you've been in the world. I will try and update this as we travel more around Asia. Still, it only equates to 11% of the world (26 countries), and I'm not really sure if Hong Kong counts as China.

create your own visited countries map

And here's my map of the USA, only 17% (9 states so far)

create your own visited states map

Comments

2006-10-18T22:42:00.000+08:00

Is anyone out there? If you are reading this and fancy leaving a comment, please do. I'm not sure if the system works, as I haven't received any yet. Give it a go, I'd love to hear from you.

Mid-Autumn festival

2006-10-18T22:15:00.000+08:00

At the end of September we went to the mid-Autumn festival lantern extravaganza at Chinese Gardens (near where we used to live) - we went to this last year and it was quite something, hundreds of satin sculptures brightly lit. This year was a little disappointing (apparently they'd outsourced it).
There were very few satin thingys and there was some dire karaoke going on in an oversized marquee with no-one in it. That said, it was still quite amusing. I've put some photos on here. For photos of last year's see our website http://www.paulandcaillie.com/ (select 2005, Singapore).

Mooncakes
The mid Autumn festival is also the time to give and receive mooncakes. These look like pork pies but have a variety of sweet or savoury fillings. These mooncakes often have a whole cooked egg yolk inside to symbolise the moon.

The festival falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, is also known as the Mooncake or Lantern Festival. Several interesting legends are connected with this festival but, basically, the mooncakes signify unity and a cycle completed - traditionally, the end of the farming year and an abundant harvest.

Frank and Elaine's wedding

2006-10-16T21:33:00.000+08:00

Batu Pahat
We were at a Chinese wedding on Sunday in a town called Batu Pahat in the Johor Province in western Malaysia. The town is little known by tourists, hence a group of four caucasians strolling down the road in our wedding smartest elicited several honks of car horns.

Cake cutting
As the bride and groom entered (Elaine looked gorgeous in traditional Chinese wedding attire) they first stood for photos whilst pretending to cut a fake cake - apparently the Chinese aren't too keen on cake, but it's still a tradition. The couple then poured a blue beverage into a tower of champagne glasses, very impressive.

The feast
For the wedding meal itself we were surprised to find ourselves guests of honour, placed on the top table either side of the bride and groom. We were in for a real treat. It was truly a wedding feast, there were about seven courses, all of which were Chinese except for the chocolate ice cream for dessert. Some of the food I recognised, the rest I did not. I did, however try everything, even the oddest-looking things - they just tasted like chicken!

Somehow we ended up on stage for the toasts (with bright blue berry flavoured liquid); there was much raucous toasting - all in Chinese of course - then the karaoke continued.

It was a really sumptuous meal, and interestingly the tradition is that once you've finished eating you leave. So we had barely been served our ice cream when the mass exodus started, no mean feat for 120 people. It was amazing. The place was empty 20 minutes after the first ice cream had been served.

Great Aunt Lam
Paul sat next to Elaine's great aunt Lam. Mrs Lam is a very spritely lady in her eighties with a penchant for VSOP brandy in her Chinese tea (after which she became even more spritely). This, of course, offered me a fantastic opportunity to practice my Chinese. I introduced myself and Paul and asked her name. I asked where she was from and told her where we were from (all in Chinese so far!), unfortunately the extent of my Chinese did not stretch to the comprehension of her reply. Conversation dried up, I had decided that a conversation along the lines of "What's that?" "It's a chair" 'Is it a table?" "No, it's a water glass" would run it's course pretty quickly, so we just resorted to grinning at Mrs Lam. This worked well, she always grinned back and raised her glass.

The Tea ceremony
After all the guests had left, Elaine and Frank invited us back to the extended family's home where we were priviledged to observe the tea ceremony. Elaine and Frank served their close relatives tea in age order, from an ornate pot. As the relatives drank the tea, they offered some words of advice for the happy couple's future together, the relatives then passed small red envelopes filled with gifts of money. It was really wonderful to be inside a family home and see this ceremony taking place, we felt very honoured.

It really is great to have these kinds of opportunities while we are over here. In three weeks time we are off to Bangkok for a traditional Thai wedding, we can't wait.

On the bus from Batu Pahat

2006-10-15T01:25:00.000+08:00

Four hours on a coach at night is a great place to think; to really contemplate stuff. And that's just what I did - instead of succumbing to the usual attractons of my book, my MP3 player or sleep, I just sat and thought. Thoughts flitting around my head like fireflies; round and round, up and down; eyes closed; lovely. Very enjoyable it was too. I came up with three new business ideas (and rejected them all). I formulated a plan for a new badminton club, which I'll start this week. I contemplated the differences between Chinese and British culture. I mulled over the importance of having good friends nearby. Then we arrived home in Singapore.

I can see clearly now...

2006-10-14T09:34:00.000+08:00

We seem to be able to see and breathe again, thank goodness. It was all quite odd. I'm glad it's pretty much gone though. We were assured by our Singaporean friends that the situation was much, much worse in 1997 - everyone had to wear face masks.

This week has flown, all of my students passed their 3-weekly test, which is a relief. Even though the test results do not reflect on the teachers, I'm always glad when they all pass. I've learnt a few more Chinese characters, I find the process of learning them quite relaxing - however I don't seem to be able to remember them very well afterwards!

We're off to Batu Pahat in Malaysia this Sunday for a friend's wedding. It's about three hours away and we're going up and back in a day. It should be fun, I'll post pictures when we return.

We are really growing to like Singapore more and more, maybe we'll stay a little longer...as always we don't know exactly what we're doing yet or where we'll go after Singapore. Watch this space.

Singlish

2006-10-13T23:33:00.000+08:00

After a year here I thought I had mastered the art of understanding Singlish; until, that was, we had a talk from the second in command of Singapore prisons at church. I thought I was listening to another language. I guess what it is, is that most of our Sing friends tone down their Singlish when they talk to us and all we get is the occasional 'lah' in the middle or at the end of a sentence.

This guy was in full flight Singlish mode, I was amazed. It can be quite fun to listen to, but I have to resort to lip-reading quite often because of the accent. The picture above shows a sign from Pulau Ubin, one of Singapore's islands.

Singlish is basically the skeletal structure of English, with some key grammar missing and some Malay and Chinese words thrown in. It is spoken in a more abrupt manner than English is spoken. It also uses some quaint English idioms

Some examples:
lah - kind of like a tag question eg 'isn't it?' or 'aren't they' or even just 'heh?'
makan - to eat a meal
already - can be used with the present tense to indicate something that happened in the past
Can (also repeat several times to emphasise)- yes/I will be able to/I was able to
Cannot- no/I can't/I couldn't/I won't be able to
Off the light - Please turn off the light.
habis -finished
cheem -difficult, obscure
ang mo -a white person (that's us!)
rojak - mixed, something mixed
blur - adjective meaning confused
no perfect tense, no articles - eg makan already lah? = Have you eaten yet?

The verb TO BE
The verb TO BE is used in Singapore Colloquial English, and when it is used, it changes (AM, ARE etc) as in standard English. But it is often optional, e.g.
She so pretty.
That one like us.
The first one downstairs.
This new revision ah, REALLY new!

No wonder I get confused. Now imagine trying to teach British English to learners from all over Asia when they go to shops, restaurants, bars etc and people speak to them in Singlish. Yikes...

For more info see http://www.une.edu.au/langnet/singlish.htm#grammar-SCE

The Haze

2006-10-07T21:50:00.000+08:00

Well, I know I only posted this morning, but I've just found out more about the smoke. It's from southern Sumatra in Indonesia and it affects not only Singapore, but also Malaysia. The air pollution level is measured every three hours. Any measurement up to 100 is considered safe. Today's measurements have fluctuated between 100 and 150 - not good. Worst of all, it appears that a lot of the particles are small enough to get through the air con, yikes. Oh well, sounds like it's not too dangerous - I'll just have to get used to having itchy eyes.

We bought a photo printer today, finally we'll get around to printing some of our wedding photos. Not bad, only a year and a half late!

We witnessed what is quite a common event here in Singapore this afternoon. However, I realise that it's not really that usual anywhere else. We were at Funan - The IT Mall and there was a shop-opening event. This consisted, as all do in Singapore, of a drinks party, several talls stands of flowers donated by the neighbouring shops, and a very loud dance by a very big dragon troup, with a very big dragon. I think it's a cool tradition, and given how many shops there are in Singapore, I'd imagine that florists and dance troups also approve.

Smoky

2006-10-07T11:11:00.000+08:00

This week has been odd; I first noticed the haze last weekend when the morning sun was a lovely red colour. Since then the haze has ceased to be 'lovely' and more of an annoyance. It's like standing next to a really smoky bonfire for a week - and apparently it's set to continue for another few weeks. Evidently there's some slash-and-burn clearing going on in Indonesia and Singapore gets the smoke from there every year or so. This is the first time we've experienced it - and it's not nice. We've even resorted to turning our air-conditioning on...something we've never done in Singapore. It's quite surreal, it's like a smelly mist that won't lift.

We've had friends here this week, it's been nice to come home and chill out with friends from the UK. It feels really good to be able to just pick up where we left off with them, and it's really good to have the space to put people up now.

After Alpha last night we were walking back along Orchard Road (the main shopping street) towards the bus stop and we fancied popping into HMV (this was 10.35pm), to our amazement it was open. This epitomises the shopping culture here; I think we have grown very accustomed to being able to buy anything we want at any time of the day or night. It's quite bizarre.

Friends

2006-09-29T23:45:00.000+08:00

I know, I know, it's been a while since I wrote, but life has got very busy recently. We currently have our friend Al French staying with us, he's moving to Hong Kong for a year and he's on a work trip here right now. It's great to see him again, and as always with good friends, it's as if we just saw him last week (in reality the last time we saw him was at our wedding last year).

Anyway, as I said, we have been busy. What with Mandarin, Alpha, work and a trip to Malacca I don't seem to have had a free moment in the last three weeks.

Malacca was great, it was good to leave Singapore for the weekend. The only downer was returning home to find that our debit card had been skimmed and we'd had money stolen...oh well, it looks like we'll get it back. Malacca had awesome food and it was a fun city to spend a couple of days in.

This week I had an interesting experience, I was invited by my friend ZeNee to go to the final results show of Singapore Idol (the local equivalent of Pop Idol). Granted, it was an odd thing to do on a Monday night, but we had a lot of fun - I felt like a teenager again. Incidently a chap called Hady Mirza won, he was quite cute and vaguely talented.

Tonight we played tennis at the Singapore Country club with our church group. It was great fun - the ideal way to unwind after a week at work. Man, does it get hot playing tennis in this climate - even at 10 o'clock at night.

We have been rediscovering the joys of Skype this week, with a couple of old friends setting up accounts. We even had a video call where a friend in London could see us as we spoke - it's all getting a bit clever. So, anyone who reads this and wants a video tour of our apartment, just give us a call on Skype.

Mandarin is going well, I'm still loving learning the characters although I'm not picking them up as quickly as I'd like!

I've also learned to text/SMS in the last week or two. So for all those of you who know me as someone who dislikes texting - all that has changed. Feel free to SMS me on my Singapore number any time (it can be found on the bottom of all of our emails). I'd love to hear from you - don't forget to put your name on the SMS as I have a new phone which won't know your number.

Bye for now. Have a good weekend everyone.

Weekends

2006-09-10T20:25:00.000+08:00

It's funny how sometimes it can just be a totally normal weekend (or weekday for that matter), and you turn around and say - I just love being where I am right now. We were floating about in our pool at 10pm yesterday with a bottle of good red wine, and that precise thought came to me. Paul had cooked me a fantastic dinner (and lunch for that matter) and I'd spent the day playing badminton, reading my book in time to finish it for bookclub, and swimming. That was when I thought just how much I love exactly where I am right now! (The picture on the right is the front of our condo).

I had a chat with a friend who is starting her first teaching job tomorrow, and she's (understandably) as nervous as I was three months ago. And I reflected, it's amazing how quickly you get used to doing something so dramatically different.

My friend SMS'd me today with a very good question (answers on a postcard please!) - why do people often put and 's' onto heaven (thus making it heavens), particularly in worship songs. Surely there is only one heaven... it had Paul and I pondering for a few hours.

Alpha on Friday was awesome, the guests have gelled and all enjoyed each others company. It was a great night and I can't wait until next week.

I'm reading 'We need to talk about Kevin' by Lionel Shriver for bookclub at the moment. It's very interesting and is written in a very unique style. Watch this space for updates. Book club is on Tuesday (so I'd better get a move on, I'm only a quarter of the way through), I'll blog more on Wed or Thur about my conclusions.

Odds and ends

2006-09-06T22:23:00.000+08:00

I'm really enjoying Mandarin classes now. It's great to be learning a new language again. I finally feel that I'm 'getting it'. I just learned how to say 'I'm English' and 'Where are you from?' - a long way from fluent but a good start. The lessons are entirely in Mandarin and are really useful for helping me improve the way I teach English.

Fantastic news this week, my friends Sue and Justin are having a baby. I'm so excited for them. It makes me want to be back in the UK. I miss our friends there.

Life in Singapore is getting more exciting. I have badminton this Saturday, Mandarin every Wednesday, bookclub next Tuesday and we're off to Malaka next weekend. If we don't watch ourselves we'll be as busy as we were in London. I guess that wouldn't be such a bad thing.

I've finally told a few people that this blog exists, so maybe it's getting read now. I'm conscious that I don't want to change the way I've been writing. So sorry, it's still going to be a bit random...

Work is good. I'm really enjoying the challenge of being a teacher. I've learned that I prefer teaching teenagers and adults (rather than younger kids) and I prefer teaching more complex grammar (rather than elementary english). I'm still keen to teach biology and get the PGCE (Postgraduate Certificate in Education), but I'm not sure when that will be now. We have some pretty big decisions to make about where we want to be for the next few years.

I've almost finished reading 'The case for a creator' by Lee Strobel. It's a fantastically structured and well-written book which doesn't dumb down science, but instead explains some quite complex ideas in an accessible way. I thoroughly recommend the book to anyone.

Buses, bats, bites and other bits

2006-08-31T19:56:00.000+08:00

I know I've been writing a lot about Singapore recently, but I guess that's what happens when you've lived in a new culture for a while. I've become very aware of what's around me.

I get the bus to and from work every day. It costs around 15p and is fully air-conditioned. Most of the time I get a seat, it's brilliant. Today was a special day - I boarded a bus that was driven by the world's most friendly bus driver. He greeted each passenger and said good bye to everyone who got off. Sadly I was the only person to notice of the 40-50 passengers that recieved this star treatment during my journey. So I gave him a big grin and a wave as I got off the bus. I love how something like that can add an extra smile to your day.

I'm currently learning Mandarin (week 2 of a 10 week course). Last week I was convinced that the whole language is a conspiracy to confuse westerners. Today, however, I am thoroughly enjoying the challenge of learning such a dramatically different language. It's brilliant - every sound is totally new to me. It's nothing like the French, German, Spanish or Afrikaans that I've learnt in the past. I love learning the characters, I find it very relaxing. I'll be interested to see how I feel about it in 10 weeks time.

Mosquito bites are seriously plaguing me again. I'm not sure what causes the beggars to bite, but when they do, they really go for it. I feel like a pin cushion for the local population. Perhaps I should eat more garlic!

The other night I organised a picnic in the botanical gardens for Paul and I on our date night. It was great. The climate here is really conducive to evening picnics. I think we should do it again. The botanical gardens here is free and it's open until midnight every day, so no worries about getting locked in.

We had the first big rain storm for a while yesterday. It really knows how to rain here! It chucks it down. This morning I thought I was well prepared, but no, despite my trousers being rolled up to my knees, carrying an umbrella and walking barefoot, I was still absolutely soaked by the time I arrived at work. Oh well, nothing a quick change of clothes and a towel can't sort out. It's wierd, the drainage system in the country works like a dream. It can cope with what England would term 'flash floods'. It has this clever system of open drains that channel the water to the nearest concrete-sided river.... just amazing to see.

I love watching the bats here. One of my greatest pleasures is taking an evening swim while the bats swoop to drink from the swimming pool around me. They aren't shy. They love the fruit trees in the garden at our condo. Man I love living in the tropics (most of the time).

Tropical climates

2006-08-27T12:18:00.000+08:00

Don't get me wrong, living in a tropical climate has distinct advantages. However there are some notable disadvantages:

The weather is always warm, so you plan a barbeque - inevitably it will choose that day to rain
Ants think that they can live in or on anything you own. Currently there is an ant colony residing under the keys of the laptop.
Stuff goes off really quickly. Bananas are rotten by the time you've got them home from the market (almost).

Some of the best things about living here are:

You can leave the house in the morning knowing that whatever you are wearing will still keep you at a reasonable temperature at midnight. The temperature never changes.
You can keep potted orchids with very little care, the humidity does all the work for you.
You can go for a swim at any time of the day or night.
You never get cold toes (apart from when you wear sandals to the office and they get frozen by the sub-zero air-conditioning).

All in all, life is good. We had a group of friends round yesterday for a barbeque (it didn't rain - despite black clouds and rumbles of thunder). They all had kids who were happy to play in our pool for 4 hours solid! So we had a very civilized evening by the pool supping wine and champagne. Very nice.

Paul is working pretty long hours, but it seems that as long as he can bake something or do some gardening at the weekend, he can stay relatively stress free.

PGCE

It's almost time for me to start applying to do a PGCE, it looks like I'll be applying to Cambridge with a view to having Paul commute into London. It's only for a year, so I guess it won't be too bad, and I guess he can always stay with friends if there's going to be a train strike or something.

I'm still really enjoying teaching English; sadly though, all of the kids that I've been teaching for the past two months left the school on Friday to go back to Korea. Oh well, I'm sure the next lot of students will be just as much fun.

Alpha

Alpha is going well. It's great to be leading a group again. We have a really interesting mix of people and there doesn't seem to be too much of a cultural problem for us. I guess we have been in Singapore for almost a year now!!

One of our guests is a confirmed 'Darwinist', much as I was three and a half years ago. So, I'm reading Lee Strobel's 'Case for a creator', it's a fascinating book. Very scientific in content, but it's written in a very engaging tone.

Bookclub

I'm starting a bookclub with Alex, Marienne, Chris and Elizabeth. Our first read will be 'We need to talk about Kevin'. It will be good to get back into a bookclub again, it's a great chance for the girls to get together and chat too.

Ants

2006-08-22T19:24:00.000+08:00

I have been thinking a lot about ants recently. Not that strange when you understand how many there are in Singapore. Ants are everywhere. They are amazing creatrues; I'm sure a lot of you have heard me say this before given that I spent two weeks studying leafcutter ants on a peninsula in Southern Spain 10 years ago.

Anyway, I digress. People tend to largely ignore ants here, but they come in all sorts of fascinating shapes, colours and sizes. Nobody really says much about them, but they are everywhere. My manager even had to decontaminate my desk because there was a nest of them inside the woodwork somewhere!

I have a problem with the ants over here. They are viscious blighters. All I have to do is stand innocently preparing a meal in our kitchen and I will invariably get a munch on the ankle. It's like they think they own the place or something. They are a nightmare.

One day I was walking along on my handphone giving grief to some poor customer service representative and bang; a massive red ant jumps out of a tree and takes a chunk out of my shoulder. This, to me, is not proper ant behaviour. They should just get on with what they are best at i.e. finding the smallest scrap of food and moving in en masse to destroy or move it. Carrying items several times their own body size, and all that ant stuff. They should leave the business of biting people to the slightly more evil insects such as mosquitoes and wasps.

Ants: know your place.

New Zealand

2006-03-30T10:03:00.000+08:00

It's now only a week until we go to New Zealand, I can't believe it's come round so quickly. We've started packing, which is surprisingly easy since we have so little stuff. Coming back to Singapore will be simple now that we know the place.

I'm glad we've made the decision to go back to London next April, I am missing my friends and HTB. I'm also very excited about the PGCE, I've decided that Kings College London is my first choice. As much as I would like to study in Oxford or Cambridge, I really want to go back to London where all our friends are.

Life

2006-03-22T07:55:00.000+08:00

I'm loving teaching and generally enjoying life, apart from a cold (in this weather, really!) things are good. We met up with some of Paul's DB work colleagues at Lau pa sat the other day, and we played canasta with George and Alex last night. George and I really do have a similar sense of humour, it's quite funny.

I had an urge to do some drawing last night, I think I'd like to take some classes once we settle (and probably once I've finished my PGCE). I really need to get on and start the application for KCL for September 2007, I will get on to that today.

Working with the 6-8 year olds is fun, but it has made me realise that I definitely want to work with older pupils, so this voluntary work at the Canadian school has been very valuable.

We have a gecko (or a chicchac as the locals call them), he is growing rapidly and he lives behind our lounge curtain. I have a sneaking suspicion that he is keeping the mosquito population in check. I keep getting munched, Paul says it's because I taste yummy... I think I'd rather not!

I am enjoying the 'Story of B' book, it has some interesting ideas about human nature and ecology, particularly realting to the sustainability of population growth and the impact of agriculture on fuelling that growth. I shall read on and see what the conculsion is, it is an odd book, but strangely gripping.

Teaching

2006-03-17T15:05:00.000+08:00

Well, this week has been a bit odd. I cam back from Hong Kong on Sunday and got offered a job on Monday. I started teaching English part-time at Goro language school on Wednesday morning. I have two great students; Louson and Yin Hang, as well as a couple of private tutorials with Japanese ladies. It has to be said that I am thoroughly enjoying the teaching. I don't have much time for lesson planning, but that does not matter much as I am only expected to work through the Headway text book with them. The other teachers seem nice too, although they're all a little surprised that I've given up working in an investment bank to work at Goro!

It is also valuable experience shadowing Alex at the Canadian International School. It is good to see so many different teaching styles in action. I realise that I have made the right choice with teaching older kids, as much as I like the younger age group I do prefer a bit more interaction.

An aside to all this teaching activity is the fact that I'm travelling around Singapore on buses, and I feel like I've got to know Singapore better in this last week. It's a good way to get to know the layout of a country/city - probably worth remembering for the next place we are in - buy a bus timetable!

I am looking forward to having a home of our own, as much as I like entertaining friends here, it really would help if we had a little more space (and kitchen equipment).

New Job and Hong Kong

2006-03-13T16:40:00.000+08:00

I started looking for a job on Friday, and got a call to an interview with Goro language school on Friday evening. I've just had the interview and have been offered the job. I'm excited, I'm finally getting to use my TEFL qualification and I will get some teaching practice prior to applying for a PGCE. The language school is very smart and professional-looking, it is owned by a Japaneses guy called Naga. I think it will be a fun place to work for a few months.

We spent the weekend in Hong Kong with Alex. It is a multi-cultural, crowded, noisy and dirty city. That said, it has some awesome geography and is really quite spectacular. I'd booked the hostel, and the confirmation email had warned about 'angry men' and 'mafia' in the lift lobby - always bodes well. True to their word, we did feel a little threatened, but managed to get to our hotel only to find they'd given our room away and put us in an even dodgier hotel. Oh well... at least we had somewhere to sleep.

The food and atmosphere is great, it's bustling, lively and neon-lit. We walked along the twenty-minute escalator ride between the levels of the city; took the famous star ferry by night and by day; had dim-sum in a beautiful old teahouse; visited temples; gawked at the food markets and fought our way through ladies market selling fake handbags and T-shirts. We ate well, drank well and walked a lot. On the Sunday we made it out to the Island of Lantau and visited the Giant Buddha and tea garden for some much-deserved chill-out time playing cards and drinking beer. All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable weekend.

Rental ramblings and other things

2006-03-08T14:59:00.000+08:00

Since it looks like we are coming back to Singapore for three months after we've done our two months travelling New Zealand, I've started looking at rental apartments again. I found a nice-looking place in Novena which would be very convenient for friends, church and work. It is modern, clean and light and even comes with a weekly cleaner included in the cost. Brilliant.

Why is it that Singaporeans are always late for appointments? I had to wait twenty minutes for the estate agent today. That said, the air conditioning repair guys were spot on time, so I can't really complain.

I like having time at home, but I'm also looking forward to doing two days a week at the Canadian school from next week. It will be good teaching practice and it'll be good to be busy again.

It's amazing how quickly I've got used to the heat here again after the UK. The humidity is high, but it has great effects on skin and hair. I went for a pedicure yesterday, at my usual place, and they cut the price by 50% for no apparent reason - very odd, I'll have to go back before the offer ends.

I'm enjoying reading 'Boundaries in marriage' - it's actually quite a useful book. Says a lot about conflict, I think I understand where my defensiveness comes from, and more importantly how to go about changing my response. I like the idea that each individual in a relationship owns certain aspects of their soul such as feelings, attitudes, behaviours, choices, limits, desires, thoughts, values, talents and love. Once you can get this in your head, I guess any other problems pretty much sort themselves out.

I'm getting excited about New Zealand now, less than a month to go - time to get fit for all that walking.

Publishing by email

2006-03-06T13:17:00.000+08:00

This Blogger site even lets you publish your blog by email. Let's see if it works. This will be very handy when we are travelling in New Zealand. Happy birthday to Mum and Luci today.

2006-03-06T13:00:00.000+08:00

Back from the UK
I just got back yesterday after a cold and enjoyable 10 days in Blighty. It was great to see everyone, and really good to have so much free time in London. I missed Paul loads, but that was made easier by the fact that I was seeing so many good friends over there. I was really lucky with the weather, I had about five really bright, crisp days (just the type I've been missing since living abroad) and a bit of snow. I even managed to take in some of the sights; fleet street, St Pauls, the V&A museum, the National Gallery and the Tate Britain.

Plans
Paul and I made some plans for the next couple of years yesterday. It feels good to know that we will be able to do all of the travelling we want to do as well as furthering our careers in the way we want to. So, it looks like we'll be back in the UK from April 2007. Then I'll start my PGCE in September 2007.

Back to Singapore
It's surprisingly good to be back. The weather is certainly very agreeable, my toes are starting to defrost. It'll be a busy week this week, I'm going to start looking for some English teaching work, particularly since we plan to come back here in June for three months.

2006-02-10T10:38:00.000+08:00

Teaching
I really do think that I'd like to teach, it would certainly keep me busy all the time. I enjoy managing my own time and being my own boss. I understand that teaching can also be fraught with difficutlies, but at least I would never have to sit and stare blankly at a flickering computer screen for eight hours a day again.

UK Trip
I'm looking forward to my trip to the UK. It will be good to catch up with friends there, even if it will be quite cold. If I plan things right I should be able to see everyone I want to see. I'll miss Paul, it will be the first time we've been apart for more than a day since we got married.

Purpose Driven Life
I'm reading Rick Warren's 'Purpose Driven Life' at the moment. It certainly is a compelling read, a bit like a follow up to Alpha. I'm reading it at just the right time for me, it's time to put some of these things into practice. It seems that a lot of the sermons and teachings that I'm coming across at the moment are on the topic of evangelism, the 'fishers of men' story keeps coming up. In turn, I am becoming increasingly aware of how many of my friends and family are not Christian. Maybe God's trying to tell me something.

Singapore
I find it very strange in Singapore how people just walk into you. Somehow, even though London is massively overcrowded, this rarely happens there. People seem oblivious of others' personal space, and are unapologetic if they do bump or hit you. It can be very frustrating, particularly during the morning commute.

2006-02-01T13:09:00.000+08:00

Chinese New Year

We once again found ourselves on Sibu Island, Malaysia at the weekend. It's a lovely spot, the huts are basic (no air-conditioning, no hot water), the food is plentiful and wholesome and the atmosphere very relaxed.

Paul and I continued our bridge learning curve with George and Alex, and we enjoyed good wine and interesting conversation over the four days. The sun shone and there was a lovely breeze all weekend. You really can't beat the soporific sound of waves lapping on shore to put you to sleep.

We took a walk to the fascinating small village in the south of the island. It was neat, well-organised and had neatly-trimmed grass areas. The cattle and chickens roamed free, while the cats were locked in cages. It was odd to see hundreds of coconuts lying at the foot of palm trees drying in the sun.

Food
I'm still doing Atkins, I still feel good and I'm enjoying the food choices. However I still occassionally fancy a coffee - glad someone invented decaf with Sweet'n'low! It was weigh-in day today, no weight loss, just size shrinkage. I'm happy with that.

Work
Now I am back at work, with very little to do, planning my trip to the UK. We're off to Kuala Lumpar on Friday evening, so it's just a three day week - brilliant.

Photos
Paul and I both entered photos into the dpchallenge website. It will be interesting to see what the votes say. I know we won't be the worst ones in there judging on previous challenges.

2006-01-27T10:01:00.000+08:00

Once again I found myself with a friendly-looking Singaporean wanting to stick a needle in me. This time it was my choice, just a check up for general health. Anyway, after the normal worried look by the doctor as I told them I may faint, all went well.

I love these Atkins breakfasts; salmon, cream cheese, strawberries and avocado. Happy, healthy food for a happy, healthy me. Food cravings all gone, no chocolate since 10th January.

Nothing to do again at work today, my managers have a big presentation, I'm not included. So I guess I just sit tight and wait for Chinese New Year to arrive. A lovely long four day holiday awaits me. We're going to the driving range to have a go at a bit of golf, if I like it I might even buy a club and use the driving range in the condo.

We really are lucky to be able to live here for a while, the standard of living is very high and very cheap. The weather, public transport, food and facilities are all superb. Not somewhere I'd like to settle, but definitely a great place to live for a little while.

2006-01-26T16:44:00.000+08:00

Teaching

Once again I have nothing to do at work, and once again I find myself daydreaming about teaching. I'm beginning to think I should just get on and do it. I've just spent some time on the internet and found out about something called 'Teach First'. It's two years teaching in challenging inner city schools in London while at the same time receiving high quality leadership training from top employers, all while earning a decent salary. This is the first time I've heard of this, it's quite an exciting concept. To make a difference, get good training, earn a salary and become a qualified teacher all in two years.

2006-01-26T11:38:00.000+08:00

Food and friends

Life in Singapore
It does seem that we are properly settling into life in Singapore now. For the first three months we were finding our feet, now we have a pretty established group of friends. We also have more of an idea of what to do and where to go. Life is good and varied, and as Paul said earlier more closely resembles our life in London.

Cooking
I am really enjoying cooking for us again, this low-carb malarky is great. I feel fantastic, less sluggish, more energetic and generally happier. Most of all, the food cravings have gone. I no longer crave chocolate, caffeine or sugar. Those headaches last week were well and truly worth it (as nasty as they were). I even managed to run for 15 minutes on the treadmill yesterday, if I keep that up, I'll be well and truly fit for walking in New Zealand.

I found out today that one of the common desserts here, herbal jelly, is made from ground up turtle shell, yuk. Oh well, I guess it's not as bad as a 'live frog claypot rice'.

Random thoughts

2006-01-24T14:06:00.000+08:00

Every now and then I fancy writing down some random thoughts. When I do this I can't always remember where I put them. Then I forget them. So, in order to remember I've started this page. I'll be writing in a somewhat unstructured way, but I guess that doesn't matter too much. Writing things down always helps me to get them straight in my head.