Gifts from the Gardeners

 

Just came home to find some more flowers left by the gardeners.  Pleased as punch that I am able to make the garden more welcoming by placing these kind gifts around the patio and front door!  Now I had better head off to get some nice biscuits as a Thank You!

Things we should have brought to Singapore

There are quite a few things that I really wish I had brought to Singapore, I’m pretty sure the list will only grow, but hopefully it helps you with your packing:

• Patio Set

I could have bought half a dozen on these and sold them on for over three times the price in the UK.  Even the ‘cheap’ ones are expensive here.  If you have space in your shipment bring one.

• BBQ

Like patio furniture BBQs are very expensive here.  When we first visited Expat Auctions we saw a BBQ I could get in the UK for about £80-£100 at B&Q go for $800.  It was second hand.  We left our old BBQ in the UK thinking we could get a better one here.  You’d think that though, wouldn’t you?  Lots of people out in the warm weather barbequing steak with a drink in one hand and a pair on tongs in the other, sounds idyllic….but no.

• Brooms/Mops

There is a plethora or not very well made flimsy brooms and mops out there.  Nothing sturdy, just broom handles that break in two mid sweep.  For all the space they’ll take up bring your own.  It’s not that a good broom is expensive, I just can’t find any, and paying $10 for something to last a little while gets ‘expensive in its own way’ pretty quickly.

• Inexpensive Cotton T-Shirts

One thing I do miss about the UK is that I could get relatively cheap cotton t-shirts.  Another thing I miss is that I could get relatively inexpensive anything….but that’s another story.  When we’d go on holiday I would go to a supermarket, fill my trolley with holiday clothes and not care when they got too sandy or had ice cream spilt on them.  They were just a £10 t-shirt.  If I could get back to the UK to stock up again I would.

• Tablets

Without this sounding like I have no pain threshold I just want to say that the two packs of paracetamol I took with us are gone.  Pain relief/Cold and Flu etc is (guess what?) expensive compared to being able to get a pack of ibuprofen from Asda for 16p.  Stock up if you can.

• Food

Check out what you are able to bring and bring what you love best.  It will be undoubtedly more expensive here.  I never brought any food items at all thinking I wasn't allowed to.  I was wrong and I wish I took stuff with us.  Find out what you can bring, make sure your movers will take it (or that it can go in a suitcase) and take it with you.  Some things-like chocolate-are just not the same, and every so often you want a taste of home.  

Visiting Chinatown

Mark and I were running out of time to see all the beautiful decorations in Chinatown so we decided to head down there one evening before it got too busy.  We had seen them putting up the horse decorations before Christmas whilst driving down the road to head somewhere, but had only seen a small section.

Around Chinese New Year there are nightly stage shows and many things to see in the shops.  It gets really busy, so I'm glad we came on a week night.  When we parked up we walked down a main street until we came to a busy side street (can't remember if it was Temple Street or Mosque Street).  

The side street looked really interesting with all of the festive decorations and stalls, and seeing as I still hadn't decorated the house it seemed a good time to stock up on goods.  We were also really looking forward to stuffing ourselves with some good cooking.

We eventually settled on a place that served Thai food, although I wish we had just walked a bit further up the street to get some proper Chinese dishes.  I had a something with noodles and just presumed it would be an egg or singapore noodle.  However I got a flat noodle and didn't quite like the taste or texture of what I ordered.  Mark had a curry and he kindly shared some of that with me, although I wasn't really a fan.  I do have to say I am a super picky eater, so that probably covers most of my reaction.  The food was overpriced for what it was and we won't go back there again, but with all of the amazing food in Singapore it is unlikely we'll go to any places twice as there is so much to choose from.

Whilst walking about I did manage to see how beautiful Chinatown is and I picked up some decorations too.

There were plenty of festive stalls to pick something from and we eventually settled on two hanging decorations that are a bit more ornate than lanterns although about the same size and a horse picture that can be hung on the wall.....guess who chose this decoration?!

My New Bike

Say HELLO to my new bike!  We took over my old mountain bike, but when we saw this one in Giant we knew it was so me, and would be really handy for when I go out shopping.  The mountain bike was a bit old and rusty and although Mark was going to get it cleaned up it wouldn't have been the same.

We went to Giant at IMM and picked it up there.  A sales assistant checked it over and I had to stop myself from riding it to the car.  Not only would I have gotten into loads of trouble, but am not very good at bike riding in general.  When I was still in single digits I had a bike, but when we moved it got lost and I never really missed it.

During my time in the cadets I did some mountain biking, but mostly just to show up at things.  Mark still tells everyone about the time he took me out for a ride at Ballater and I fell side ways as I slowed down too much to go up a kerb.  When I stood up and got the bike on its wheels again I went off riding with a tuft of grass sticking out of the handlebar....only for everyone I met to gaze at me awkwardly while stifling sniggers (thanks a lot Mark!)  

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This is going to be very different, yup, I'm going to happily ride around like Julia Roberts/Elizabeth Gilbert in Eat Pray Love when she was in Bali.  I shall glide serenely from home to market not even breaking a sweat.. (except for the whole crashing bit, that bit I don't want to do....)

Wonder Full, Light and Water Show at Marina Bay

The Marina Bay Sands has a water show that’s put on every night for free at the Promenade, called Event Plaza, in front of the shops.  On school nights it is on at 8pm and 9.30pm, but on Friday and Saturday nights there is another show at 11pm. 

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The water show is put to some lights and music and lasts 15 minutes.  There is also a light show with lasers from the top of the Sands Hotel at the same time.  Its for this reason I would recommend seeing in twice in one night if you can.

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If you sit at Event Plaza near to where the water taxi stops on a specially made little platform you can watch the water show, you would then walk around the bay (so as if you are walking to the Merlion or Fullerton Hotel) to see the laser part of the show.  I have seen the laser part from the Gardens by the Bay side and didn't think it was as beautiful as watching it over the bay.  However others have said they have seen it from the Gardens, so check it out yourself and remember to report back!

A girls got to shop

When we were packing up all of our belongings to ship to the other side of the world we were really quite blasé about what was staying in storage in the UK and what was to go in the sea freight.  We’d been on holiday before and off course knew what clothes were the holiday ones. 

I love my new time outs

However when we arrived it was pretty clear there had been a mix up.  I kept opening boxes with scarves and hats in them and when I did get to our holiday clothes boxes I couldn't help but think we hadn't been all that prepared.  In total I have about 10 t-shirts.  I have 3 pairs of casual shorts and a few summery floaty dresses.  That is it.  Whenever we've been on holiday we've just lazed around the pool and rolled into something casual to grab something to eat on the waterfront.

When we came to Singapore I was very aware that it was the minority of shops that carried ‘ex-pat sizes’, however when I have had to admit defeat (and know that my packing skills weren't all too hot) I've been really pleasantly surprised.

I love my dresses, but mopping floors in this dress makes it much less romantic.

Warehouse, H&M and Dorothy Perkins are great because I already knew the style in the UK, and there are loads of American shops that carry western sizes too.  I'm sure the problem would be much worse in other parts of Asia, but Singapore is so western it hasn't proven troublesome at all.

There are times when I would love some of the gorgeous dresses that are in the stalls at markets or shops under the malls or HBD’s, but unfortunately my body is just not built like that!  I have a very skinny friend who was ‘shoo’d’ away from a dress by an impatient shopkeeper as the dresses didn't cover her size (which is a single digit!)

maybe I should have been more forward thinking

I have been thinking of heading down Arab Street to visit some dress makers.  Our friends took us for a little trip around the area and I fell in love with so many fabrics it was insane.  I can picture myself gracefully gliding around in a one of a kind creation that nips in and skims over all of the right areas.

Overall I wish I had brought over more cotton loosely fitting t-shirts and basic shorts.  I forgot that I would be doing chores (and boring things you never do on holiday) in these clothes. 

“Unless it might be better for me to get a helper for the chores and I won’t go shopping as much……. Mark…… Mark………no, it’s not going to work, shopping it is!”

Lady of Leisure

Whenever somebody asks me where I work and I reply that I don’t they say “Ok, unemployed then,” whereas in the UK they’d be more likely to call you “a lady of leisure.”  In my head it sounds way more polite and makes me think that I should be sipping G&T’s and lazing around a pool.  Unemployed makes me sound an awful lot plainer and makes me think of the list of chores I have to do at home.  Housewife maybe?  Hmmm, to me that makes it sound like I know what I’m doing at home!

The other day someone asked me if I had a car, when I said that Mark did, and that I couldn’t drive they asked what I did all day long.  Well, the list would be quite long, but not all that interesting, but that’s not what I replied.  Instead I made out I was the perfect domestic goddess, which I could be if I just got more done, stopped reading blogs all day….forgetting about items of clothes Mark leaves all over the upstairs…. 

Today is a prime example.  I went to the shop and got quite a lot of shopping and carried it all home again…only to remember that I forgot the eggs which I needed to get for tea tonight.  This means that I am about to head out in the mid-day sun to go get the last little bits of shopping I totally forgot about, and seeing as I’m already there I just know I’m going to pick up many more things.  (I have got to arrive back in the UK as a skinny Minnie after all of this walking)

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When I was in the UK so many people said that all my time would be taken up with coffee morning, swimming, yoga at the botanical gardens, and generally sitting back and watching the world go by.  However when I’m out here being an expat wife/housewife/lady of leisure/unemployed means that you are doing the exact same thing as you would in your home country.  We don’t have or need a helper so like in the UK I’m the one carrying the shopping as I don’t work.  This doesn’t bother me in the slightest, I am in such a lucky position, I just….kind of…..don’t really like how terms get bandied about or can make you sound.  Anyway, I really do love pulling the odd yoga position in the park, going for a long walk, floating about in the pool, but just like yoga it is ALL about balance!

Lunch with Mark and some shopping mistakes

Mark needed some help with some stuff at work and I volunteered as sometimes days can go quite slow if I haven't made plans and am up to date with housework.  Unfortunately Mark found out that I wouldn't be able to help him, but said I should still come in and meet him for lunch in town.
I wouldn't normally head to the Orchard area, as although it's really pretty and will be nice for visitors, I'm just not a shopper. I am way to practical and my own Mum despairs of me.

Mum "oh that's a pretty dress, you should get it."
Me "I already have a dress, I don't need two dresses, I wouldn't wear them at the same time!"
Mum "you can own more than one of each thing, you should get it, just do it....."
Me "no, no, I'm not a millionaire, I'm not throwing money away!"

And it goes on like this for ages.  I just don't really see the point of buying up loads of things, I'd rather have the money.  Of course every so often I fall in Love with items of clothing, and I do have quite a few dresses, but I don't actually get the point of looking about for enjoyment.  So I guess I'm missing out on that whole Cluny Court/Orchard Road thing, but I'm ok with that.  I do actually appreciate walking down Orchard Road and seeing all the buildings or sitting with a cup of tea and people watching, so I quite happily took the mrt instead of the bus to Marks work so I could have a little walk first.

I got into Marks work and we went to the on site cafe.  I tried to pick the healthy salad to make up for all of the sweet treats we've been eating up since Christmas, bad idea I stared at Marks delicious looking curry the whole time!  After lunch I walked back towards the mrt trying to remember if I'd been in any of the malls and what grocery shops they had in them.  I ended up going to a Market Place just because I didn't want to spend all afternoon searching, and got a few things for supper.  Without even thinking I picked up courgettes and put them in my basket only to find out at the till that they were $7 for two small ones!  That'll teach me to leave shopping so late I have to go to a Market Place!

Pit and Peak

This week has been less busy than the last as I didn't have quite so much to catch up on, however we did get the pool this weekend so I've been doing less in the house in favour of heading outdoors.
I'm finally back in a regular sleeping pattern and I think part of it was that I wasn't turning the iPad off until the very second I wanted to sleep. Now it's relegated to downstairs at bedtime and I don't feel like a zombie in the daytime.
Pit
-Had a great a great week so far full of nice days out or productive days at home, it's all good!
Peak
-Visiting the market with Sarah and her gorgeous little one
-Being back at RDA and seeing everyone there
-The pool finally being up and running
-Getting on top of chores again so that the house looks normal!

The pool

Ah, how did we ever survive without the pool?!

A trip to Ghim Mo Market

Sarah and I headed out to Ghim Mo market on Tuesday as we’d heard it was our closest and we really wanted to get in about all of that delicious fresh fruit and vegetables.  Sarah had a couple of hours before she had to pick up her eldest who has just started half days at nursery school so we left around 10am and took the quick drive from my house where Sarah picked me up.

We parked near some HBDs and walked off in the general direction we believed the market to be.  I have no sense of direction and constantly claim never to have been places I could have been sitting in 5 minutes ago so I let Sarah lead the way.  She quickly got us to the wet market and we started to weave in and out of all of the stalls.  There is a section for food, the proper wet market area for all of the freshly prepared fish and the shops area where they sell some pillow cases or towels.  All around the market is little shops selling shoes or bags, or regular grocery shops.  There were several coffee shops as well as chemists and some shops that looked like they had just been set up for Chinese New Year, although they looked like they could hold their own in a beach front in a Mediterranean resort.   

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We walked around the market a couple of times just looking before we actually grabbed a basket and started filling it with fruit and veg.  I got some peaches, nectarines, dragon fruit, plums, peppers and an aubergine which all worked out cheaper than fair price.  While Sarah got hers I played with her youngest daughter who was having great fun putting oranges into my basket whilst I took them out again.

Once we got our supplies we looked at the lime trees for sale which were decorated with ribbons for Chinese New Year.  I also like the look of some ‘cath kidston’ bags and purses, but pulled myself away from them lest Mark never trust me with housekeeping again!

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Unfortunately the market is supposed to be closing this year for refurbishment which puts paid to my plans of cycling down there on a sunny morning to pick up our supplies for the day.  I will definitely be back there and could happily walk, but will endeavour to find a bus which might take me part of the way back.  If going by MRT I think the closest stop is buona vista as its quite close to (but the other side of) the star mall.  The only thing I’d recommend is looking up it’s still open by the time you get round to going!

Happy Birthday to Holly

Being away from friends on their Birthday is particularly hard, especially when we would always have such an epic time when we were all together.  My friend Holly sent me pictures when she received her Birthday present from Mark and me (oh and Daisy too).

We are total Miranda fans and always quote her and get into ridiculous situations, so the Birthday card had to mirror that.

I'm so glad Holly loved her chocolate cake, flowers and teddy bear!  Not long before we see each other again!

and a bit of Miranda for those who don't know her!

The Pool Goes In!

On Sunday morning just as we were having our breakfast the people came to set up our new overground pool.  We had wanted one as soon as we arrived, but were checking out prices online for a while, and then kind of forgot about it over Christmas.  With the festive season behind us we decided to just get it ordered and settled with a company in Malaysia.

We were sold on them as we wouldn't have to set it up ourselves.  I'm no stranger to hard labour, but we have no tool at all, and since taking Daisy for a slow stroll makes me very warm I wasn't looking forward to doing this in my un-acclimatised state!

It was a bit of a pity we hadn't gotten it organised earlier for Marks colleague coming out, but at least he was able to see it go in, and he is coming back within the next couple of months.  The pool people set it up really quickly and put the garden hose into it to see how it would fill up.  They left for a little while as Mark was driving his colleagues to the airport and I was able to take some pictures.  I almost feel bad for all of the facebook updates I've been doing what with everyone in the UK getting soaked with all of the rain....sorry guys!

We put the pool in the area at the end of the patio right in front of the kitchen and next to what would be a Maids area if we had one.  The Maids area would obviously be a helpers part of the house so that she would have her own cooking area, room, and toilet/shower-room.  As we have no helper we are hoping to turn the Maids bedroom into a rec room/living room and use the shower room and toilet for when we are wet from the pool.  This will hopefully mean less footprints going through the dining room.

Can't wait to show you it once its all filled up!

A walk at Marina Bay

Marks colleague went out to explore by himself so we went for a walk down to Marina Bay as I think it is the most beautiful area of Singapore.  I'd been before with Sally and Tcina as well as on Thursday, but although Mark wasn't very enthralled by my stories of how lovely it is, he conceded and said he would let me show him during the day.  I also wanted to get close to the Merlion so I could get my picture taken with it.  Mark wasn't willing to play ball, so we decided on a shorter walk around the Bay.

Mark still had a bit of an achy foot, so I ran ahead to get my picture taken on The Helix Bridge.  Engineers would be interested in how it was put together, but I just think it is pretty! (I'm the pink dot on the side of the bridge.)

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Mark had to get a shot of all of the information about it.  I decided to double back so we could walk over the bridge together.

We walked around the bay from the Merlion side and walked across the bridge past all of the stands setting up for Chinese New Year.  There was a race going on too so we occasionally had to jump to the side when a bunch of people ran through the groups of tourists.

I still get amazed at living in a big city and always feel its one of those fake backdrops you see at Universal Studios.

I had hoped I could show Mark the top of the Marina Bay Sands, but his foot was still a bit sore (argh, we need this sorted!)  So we stopped for something to eat at a vegetarian place called Pita Pan.  It was right next to the Science Museum which is the orchid/bowl shaped building at the base of the hotel.

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Mark had a pita filled with veg of his choosing and some falafel, while I had some feta cheese in tomato, onion and pepper soup/sauce.  Mine came with some pita bread which I used to mop up every single last drop of it.  It tasted great and was priced quite reasonably for somewhere at Marina Bay.  The drinks were quite expensive though as plain bottled water cost $3.50 which to me isn't good value.

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I would come back here any time as the dishes were delicious and we had such a great time out casually walking around and people watching.  Visitors, you will be taken here!

The expat becomes the tour guide

When Marks colleague visited on Thursday we guessed he would be quite tired so decided to leave going out until the Friday.  We headed off to Marina Bay for some food as I didn’t know how ready he would be for a real food court that was outside seeing as he was practically melting in the air conditioned house. 

We parked up in the main financial district and walked around the bay to get to the Shoppes at Marina Bay.  Mark had to stop on the way to look at the kites flying around.  I'm sure Mark will put his spin on it, but quite frankly they weren't what id call kites.  Kites are made of string, bamboo canes and brown paper.  These were whirling, whizzing, battery powered, all singing, all dancing machines!  Needless to say Mark stood hypnotised for a while before eventually agreeing to move on (and only because there was a rumble in my tummy).

We stood under the fans, took pictures of the skyline and I pointed out the Merlion on the other side of the Bay.  Neither of the boys were impressed and they should be mightily disappointed in themselves.

When we finally got to the shops Julian said “wow, this place is massive!” to which we replied, “Um, not really, you should see a big mall.”  It’s done guys, we've become blasé already!  When I worked in Aberdeen, at my second last job, I could go the length of Union Street (our main street) in ten minutes to catch my bus to get home early on a Friday!  (Ten minutes was all it took-albeit I was practically jogging down the cycle lane to get home before the rush…but still, that’s a pretty short main street.  Now here I am calling out Marina Bay for what….?  Not being grand enough?)  My brattishness aside we did love showing off about our new home town.

When we got to the food court at Marina Bay we all decided on the Indian stand near the front and ordered three tandoori chicken trays for just under $15 each.  We all wanted fresh juice and three of those together cost under $10-I think my strawberry was the most expensive and that was only $4. 

After we stuffed ourselves on three big bits of chicken and some naan bread we went to walk up past the science museum to catch the light and water show.  If you want to know more about it, look at my post here.

After that we headed back in the general direction of the car.  I say this because we did head one direction and then the other until we finally found where the car had been parked.

Julian certainly seemed to enjoy himself and doing a touristy thing every so often definitely makes you appreciate everything this vibrant country has to offer.

Pit and Peak

This is Marks first week back at work and I've moved on so much from the Monday Dread I would feel back in November. I've had a really productive week so far as we have a colleague of Marks coming today and I needed to clean the house. All through the holidays (3 weeks of laying about in the sun) we didn't do much, so when Mark headed away on Monday I had my work cut out.
I also think I managed to sleep too much in the last weeks of December as I haven't been able to nod off before 3am for about 6 days-so I'm cranky in the mornings! Mark let me sleep in on Monday, but I don't know if that was just so I'd stay out of his way! I've managed to get through a massive pile of laundry, vacuum(!) and mop every teeny little corner, and generally clear the clutter. I'm back into my routine again, although I did head round to Sally's house for a coffee with some others.
Pit

• Marks away again through the day so we can't hang out and go for little walks

Peak

• Back into my routine
• Getting to listen to sermons again on my iPad while ironing (makes ironing much more bearable)
• Hanging out with other expat ladies aka drinking fresh coconut water, eating homemade flapjacks and chatting (even if this 2 hour departure from chores does mean it's all the harder to get back to mopping)
• Having the house to myself and playing music very loudly

Gifts from the Gardeners

The Gardeners come every Tuesday and kindly left Daisy an orchid.  

Well, she is claiming it as her own.  I'm pretty sure it was left for us all, but as she found it she is keeping it! This will brighten up the garden no end.  We currently have no pots of plants, and I used to love gardening in the UK.  Ever since visiting Tim and Sally's for Hogmanay we have had a serious case of garden jealousy, this might calm it down for a little while!

Nursery food for a nursery mood

After all of the rich food I’ve been eating in the last couple of months I am more than ready to get healthy.  Marks also been away recently and I can never bring myself to cook a real dinner when it’s only me that will be sitting down to it.

I have really enjoyed spending my time at home browsing through all of my cookbooks and checking out ideas on Pinterest when I’ve got time to myself, and have definitely gotten more adventurous with cooking.  Not having to work for 9 hours a day and travel for 3 sure does make a difference!

However I’m in need of something very, very simple so after a quick look in the fridge I have now pulled out every vegetable and thrown it in a pot with some water.  There are plenty of other opportunities to show off my culinary prowess.  

A Trip to the Garden Centre

Mark and I wanted to get some plants to make our garden prettier and hopefully brighten up our balcony as after being here a while and having been invited to other peoples houses we started to feel like we weren't taking advantage of our patio.  I had seen the garden centres on Thomson Road from visiting the RDA and Polo Club so knew that we'd have a good choice of shops.  We drove there, but I think its quite close to the yellow line, however I imagine you'd want to get a taxi back.

 I quite liked gardening in the UK if I had plenty of time to potter around.  However in Singapore I hardly know the name of any plants at all.  I really loved looking around and fell in love with some outside furniture, although I would never pay some of the prices they were asking.  Some of the sales assistants did come over to try and sell me some patio sets and they all said (with the more expensive sets) that if we moved they would sell them again for us unless we were bringing them back to the UK.  This seemed like a good option if Expat Auctions wouldn't do it.  So I guess it really is an option for some people.

We walked down the road popping into all of the garden centres on the way down.  Mostly they were full of things for Chinese New Year, but that made them all the brighter.  I do miss garden centres in the UK.  When I go looking for plants I want to have tea and scones and come home with a yankee candle.  Here they just seem to be into plants...in a plant shop?!  (I'm sure it can't be us that's wrong?)

Everyone was helpful and left us to have a walk around and the prices seemed reasonable enough and comparable to the UK. I don't like being followed and bothered to buy things, but people were on hand when we had questions about what light plants would like or where they could go in our garden. 

I have no idea what this plant is called but I love its papery petals.  There are loads of these tree's around our area, so I am going to have to linger outside someone's house just to strike up conversation and ask them...   

Unfortunately we got rained out so rushed back to the car with only a couple of seed packets.  If nothing else it's quite nice to have a walk around and plan what you want to do in the space you have.  

Christmas in Singapore

We knew from the off that we were going to have a different Christmas this year. Normally we would see family and friends and spend as much time with them as possible. This year it was just me, Sheila and Daisy!!

We were however really pleased and surprised at just how festive the city becomes. There are beautiful displays outside most of the malls, lights up and down the roads and streets and plenty of events to keep the festive spirit charged up.

We have had a really good first Christmas here and are now looking forward to the year ahead. I thought I'd share a few pictures of Singapore at Christmas and hope you enjoy them.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had a great Hogmanay and have gotten into the swing of writing 2014 on all documents (I normally start remembering round about June).
This is going to be our first full year in Singapore and I couldn't be more excited. I can't wait to travel-I always stare at people's holiday blog posts way more than any other pictures on their blogs. I make lists of locations and I live for Pinterest and the travel section there. Mark has transferred days over from last years holiday allocation and he's pretty lucky with his amount of days anyway so hopefully we can have a couple of long weekends away too. I'm also looking forward to getting out and about a bit more now that I can get around town easier.
I am a bit over making New Years resolutions although oddly enough I managed to make all of the 2013 ones work out (this never happens normally). I will, however, try to foster a more adventurous spirit this year and try to be more humble. I can act like a spoiled brat when I want to, and I would hate to look back and to see that I hadn't appreciated our time here. Let's see how long it lasts......
Have a great 2014!

A walk up Clarke Quay

Some friends of ours were visiting Singapore from Malaysia and wanted to show us around so we headed out to Clarke Quay after visiting the Arab Quarter.

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Along the river are three main areas you'd visit, these are Boat Quay, Clarke Quay and Robertson Quay.  Boat Quay is the part of the river closest to the financial and banking areas, but also Marina Bay and you can see it from the observation deck at the top of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel.  It is full of really beautiful and quite cute old shop houses which are so ornately decorated you can't help but stop and stare.  Of all of the areas around the river this would be the most chilled out.  We just parked up in this area and started to walk.  It was quiet because it was the start of January, but there was still plenty of things open to see and it was easier to get around.

Clarke Quay is super touristy and full of things to keep you entertained.  There are loads and loads of restaurants which would cover more Western dishes and plenty of places you can get a drink.  Personally it isn't really for me, but i can totally see it being a place you'd go for Birthdays or Girls/Boys Nights Out.

We walked along the river and grabbed some ice-cream from a busy looking shop.  Mark went for good old strawberry, but when I saw salted caramel I knew I had to get some.  BAD DECISION.  I've found that food here is really quite salty for me, and picking this particular ice-cream was some poor judgement on my part.  It was awful.  Our friend said she'd swap hers with me, which was so kind, but i just gave it to her so i could focus on gulping down as much water as i could!

On we walked a bit further until we came to a totally covered over area.  It looks like it would make going out in any weather really nice, and it was still decorated for Christmas.  

There was a large flat area with jets of water streaming up in the centre which all the kids were running in and out of.  I was really adorable and I can imagine 'falling' into it myself on a warm day!

We crossed the river and started to walk back down the river but stopped when Mark's foot got a bit sore.  He went over it a couple of days ago and has been a bit sore ever since.  Lets hope it improves soon as we are still not properly covered insurance wise!

Although I normally want to run and hide when we hit a busy area of town this part was OK.  I really enjoyed people watching and of course spending the evening with such lovely friends.

Quite a few people had brought their dogs with them which made me wish Daisy was a bit more acclimatised so i could show her off, and obviously give her the grand tour too.

I was all for going on a really cool looking ride which threw you up in the air.  There was a relatively short queue and all you had to do was get in a pod with about 9 other people while you were pulled back by an elastic band then let loose.  You would have got an amazing view and i just love scary rides.

Unfortunately this 2 minute ride cost $45 which is a bit steep.  When we went on holiday to Las Vegas I did all the rides at the top of our hotel The Stratosphere and ran around Circus Circus and other hotels doing as many amusement parks as I could (I was too young to drink or gamble so I had to do something!)....but none of these rides cost THAT much.  

When we finally got back to the car Mark was exhausted from walking on his bad ankle so coupled with a few recent late nights we headed straight for bed.  I would definitely come back to walk around the river again and next time might find more things I would want to do, or places that would be good to eat at, but we were really lucky for coming down to a place that is normally very busy at such a quiet