Chapter 9

The two of us.........

We said farewell to Sasha and Tim mid-January - the last of our month-long guests.  We had a wonderful time with everyone. Thanks for making memories we will treasure!
Already planning when we will see our girls next, and in which country that will be!

Woke up the next day to "exploring-stopping rain"!  Yes, we have the huge downpours, but they are over in an hour.  Our Plan A weekend activity had to be cancelled due to the inclement weather, so plan B was a trip to the movies.
Saw "Silver Linings Playbook", which we both enjoyed. Jacki Weaver was good, not sure about her American accent though. Thought of our "Movie Mates".  We do miss our fun times together, and the dissection of the movie over dinner after.  We are all experts you see! We gave this 4 stars!

Now that we are here for another 3 months, we have decided on a new environment.  The building site over the road from our original apt was tolerable if it was a 3 month stay, but another 3 months was a challenge.  They started work at 8am and finished at 10pm, 7 days a week! That coupled with fighter jets, transports and Chinooks flying over quite low, as they head to the Paya Lebar military air base, was at times deafening. Our guests thought it was hilarious, and took photos! 

Freight plane over building site

Can't believe what we have accumulated in 3 months, but we have packed up and relocated from district 16, Geylang, to district 9, Central-Orchard. We are now between 2 train stations, so depending on how we feel, we can walk 5 mins to Dhoby Ghaut or 5 mins to Somerset.

Started with 3 suit cases between 2 of us

We are right in the centre of the city now. A stone's throw from the famous Orchard Rd, and within easy reach of many lovely parks and gardens for walking. This is a different type of street walking from Geylang, as the money that changes hands is for products rather than "services". I now walk twice a day for 30 mins, it's very pleasant.  See some interesting sites, such as this hi-tech rubbish collection service...

Our new abode looks over lush trees, which is a nice change from scaffolding. 

I now have hot water in the kitchen, but unfortunately still no oven. There is a pool on the top level, and breakfast is provided. And a bath......... oh, we have missed a bath!  
We seemed to have accumulated a few bottles of French champagne, so a soak in bubbles with bubbles is heaven. How spoilt!  Still 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, so if anyone is thinking of a stopover before mid April, come and join us. 

We ventured out to the Inaugural Epicurean Market at Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre. It is similar to the Wine and Food Fair in Melbourne. The tickets gave us $30 worth of vouchers each, which we used to "buy" delicacies and wine. For example, we had a Lobster salad, and a Crab Caesar for $8. A glass of Australian champers was $8, a plate of 6 assorted sushi $6. There were also free samples, so we grazed our way around eating Spanish ham, bratwurst, cheeses, pasta, spit roasted lamb, Indian butter chicken, organic fruits and ice-cream. (Sal, you would have been in heaven) We purchased some cheeses and dips and headed home.  This was our repast that evening.

Interesting table decorations

Last Sunday was a lovely day, slight breeze, and not hot. Or are we getting used to the conditions here? We found a wonderful organic vegetarian eatery/bookshop/grocer around the corner called Real Food, that serves all day breakfast, so indulged. Quite eclectic, with its warehouse looking space. Fresh slowly squeezed juices, (apparently less damage to the fibre content and a better flavour), with a "Rise and Shine" dish consisting of eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, greens and potato with ciabatta. I am sure we will try most things on the menu, it was so good. They serve lunch and dinner as well.

We then ventured to Marina South to board a Chinese junk boat for an afternoon cruise. It took two and a half hours and gave us another perspective of Singapore.  One from out at sea, south of Sentosa Island. We stopped off at Kusu (Turtle) Island, which had an intriguing temple, and a lovely beach area. You can just see some Indonesian islands in the distance as you cruise along. Afternoon tea was served on our way back to port.

I have now enrolled in art classes! This will be a huge challenge for the teacher to try and extract any pencil to paper result from me. But she took it on! There are 3 of us in the class, and we are learning from scratch. Left side of brain vs right side! No comments please! Physics, dimension, texture, movement, 2D, 3D, shape...............we even got homework!
Dipa is a local who has a studio in her parent's huge lush garden. It is in an area surrounded by all the embassies, and a part of Singapore I had not been. One train stop and a brisk 30 min walk away, although for the first class I did the 50 min walk there, weaving through the shoppers in Orchard Rd.
I cant see any works being purchased by a gallery, but it is another thing on my "Bucket List"  that I can tick now. Left brain tick or right brain tick?
Hope you have all ticked something off your lists as well.

Just to let you know as well, we have not had any rain here now for 10 days, and it has been mainly sunny - even though the weather forecasts show thunderstorms every day. 

Till next blog

Annie xx