A Goodbye Lunch

After our RDA session today a group of the volunteers went out to say goodbye to our good friend Karin.  This is the first goodbye I've done and I didn't think it'd be so difficult to send someone on their way.  Karin was only here for a short while as her husband Ivan was on sabbatical and after a month out for travelling they are going to pack up and head back to New Jersey.
Karin has been so much fun at RDA and our walking group, so we all signed a RDA book for her then took her out for lunch at Cedele on the top of Wheelock Place.  It's the first time I've been there but is a pretty location for a lunch. The other women had amazing looking salads or sandwiches, but I went for the roasted pepper and tomato soup.  It's a bakery/cafe that looked like you get get a few healthy options out of the mains menu.  It also looked like there were good vegetarian options too.  There were bread and chutneys on sale at the front door but I was too busy getting group shots of our post RDA lunch group.
Good luck in your future travels Karin, we'll miss you lots!

Wandelen Dames

When I headed away from RDA yesterday I saw that Karin was heading in the same direction so we struck up a conversation on the way to the MRT.  Although I see fellow volunteers every week it's quite difficult to get chatting as we are so focused on the kids.
Karin also lives on the green line so we had to switch stations which gave us adequate time to ask each other questions about how we're finding Singapore. I love these chats as there Is so much tacit knowledge we just don't take advantage of (that's probably the librarian part of me coming through....)
One such tidbit was Karin's walking group, the wandelen dames.  It's a Dutch group of women that plan weekly walks all over Singapore. When I found out about them I jumped at the chance to join as a walking group has been on my to do list since I got here.
I was told to meet them at Pasir Panjang which is on the circle line so a two and a half hour walk along the Southern Ridges.  The walk was really good and I'll do another post with lots of pictures describing where to go and each stage.  As someone who hasn't walked very far in ages, let's just say blogging is all I'm good for today.
At the end of the walk we came down from Mount Faber and went to Vivo for juice. I stayed to get an orange juice and chat to everyone, but was also really wanting to get showered and changed into fresh clothes. I used to adore hill walking and love the freedom of getting lost out of doors for a couple of hours, but there's always that moment you get back to civilisation and find you don't look (or smell) like anyone around you!
I hightailed it out of there and hot home ASAP for a quick shower followed by a long bath....heaven!
I'm so grateful I get to go on these adventures and have the opportunity to make new friends, once again Singapore-you delivered!

Easter Visitors

Happy Easter!
I can't believe that last year Mark and I dug the car out of the snow to find a place to drive to so we could roll our eggs.  Now a whole year later (and about 3 weeks) we are in sunny Singers welcoming friends with a traditional Easter roast!
Yesterday we headed over to ZAC butchery on Changi Road for halal meat to serve and picked up a lambs leg, rosemary gravy mix and mint sauce.
We headed home via cold storage to get our vegetables and potatoes, as well as some roasting trays. We still didn't get any real ones so we had to pick up the tin foil/throw away ones, but at least that means less clearing up for me! We also got some cake at the bakers. Apparently all of the bakery/delis in cold storage have alcohol in their chocolate cakes.....good job we found out before trying to serve it up to our guests!  It probably makes more sense to have a fruit based dessert after such a rich meal, especially a Spring one.
I love having people over so I can decorate and set out the table, so friends over at Easter is a total blast for me.
It was such a great day and was once again another time I get to turn to Mark and say "remember this time last year?"

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!

Visitors and House-Warming Gifts

Tonight we had our first non-Medway visitors arrive for dinner.  As they can't come close to Daisy she had to hide upstairs (but made her presence VERY known), so when they left I gave her extra attention.

 They left us a house warming gift so I let Daisy help me open it up.  She is all about helping others...

  She loves getting her picture taken and Christmas is all about the kids...right?  

 Its behind you Daisy, turn around, the present is behind you! 

 Well, with all the excitement of opening stuff up I forgot to take a picture of the end result.  Rest assured we recieved some really delicious coffee as well as very pretty cushion covers.  I honestly couldn't have picked better ones myself, but our lovely friends did it without even knowing what our home looked like.

 Thank you again, you really spoilt us and there was so need at all.

RDA and The Polo Club

The other day I was invited to go along to help out with the Riding for the Disabled Association of Singapore by Amanda ( aka, the hostess with the mostest who held the pot luck dinner). I'm pretty scared of horses and was never a little girl that just loved ponies so deep down I was a bit apprehensive. However, I did think it would be great excuse to get out and see people. With Mark being away from home I also really needed something to speak about when he came back from KL.
Amanda asked that I be there for 8am as she was organising us getting a lift there, so this would be an early start for me. I dragged myself out of bed bright and early then headed off to Amanda's early as we planned to get so coffee in ourselves first. Amanda hadn't been sleeping so well, so when I went round she said that she had rearranged plans so that she'd drive us there herself. She'd also organised for Tcina, another newbie, to come along too. At this my ears pricked up....."someone newer than myself? Why wasn't I told?" Hmmm, long story short, Mark hadn't been taking the new 'phone numbers list' home...grr.
After our shot of coffee we got in the car and headed off up North near the MacRitchie Reservoir just off Thomson Road. It's so pretty and leafy there and it's surprising to see so much space in this little island. When we arrived at the RDA we got to look around and watch the horses as well as volunteers setting up for the riders. Tcina and I got to chat a little and arrange a day out the next day as we obviously weren't allowed to jump into the arena. After filling out some forms we were allowed to shadow the side walkers which was really interesting and gave me a taste for helping out in future.
After such a busy morning Amanda invited us round to The Polo Club where her family has membership. Tcina and I were more than willing to dip into the pool or laze on a lounger and sip cool drinks. I loved the juxtaposition of swimming along, looking over the field to the sky-scrapers beyond.
After a bite to eat (satays....what else?), Amanda showed us Turf City and a really cool looking reclamation yard. Turf City is somewhere I am going to have to go with Mark, I think he will love how quiet the Giant is there and I really need to have a better look around Paserbella, which is like a really pretty market.
All in all this is shaping up to be my busiest week so far. December is certainly looking a whole lot better than November and I love how full my days are getting.

Pot Luck Dinner

Some of the wives here threw a 'pot luck dinner' yesterday in honour of Sarah and I arriving in Medway Park.  It was really kind, and also my very first buffet like this.  I'd found the name on pinterest before, but never really quite got it.  I'd called it and American Buffet before, but I don't know if maybe we actually have lots of these in Scotland and I'd just never been to one.

As Sarah and I don't have our shipment yet we were excluded from having to bring anything although we both brought something along as a token as we thought it might just be a little bit rude if we wondered into someones house and started eating all of their nice things!

I'd went to the shops earlier to pick up some biscuits and muffins then went round to Sarah's house to meet up with her before we went round to the house of Amanda who was hosting the evening.  Sarah had borrowed her helpers casserole dish to make a potato gratin so I was feeling very underwhelmed by my tins of biscuits at this point.  

Amanda was the perfect hostess and welcomed us right into her home.  She had made so much already and put so much effort into everything that she made for dinner.  There were only a couple of people there before us so we got chatting and felt right at ease before the majority of people turned up.  

Amanda also graciously gave us a tour of her house which made me feel like these houses can eventually be given a homely feel.  Right now they seem to big and plain, but I know, as soon as our possessions start arriving in big boxes we will be able to create the same atmosphere too.  

I still feel a bit anxious before going to these things, but I'm sure in time that'll pass and I'll be able to go visiting without a major panic attack.  I had better be able to as Amanda has offered to take Sarah and I shopping and I need all the hints and tips I can get right now.

The night was really good, but I had to leave early as I had planned to phone my Mum in the UK at 10pm Singapore time so had to take a walk home in the dark - after an evening chatting about how all of the women were terrified of snakes and had seen them at some point in their time here.  Right about now would be a good time to say there are only 4 kinds of snakes I hate, big ones, small ones, living ones and dead ones.  Suffice to say I jogged home.

Pit and Peak

Yay, my first week as a housewife (busy-but not how you’d expect) and my last week in the UK for some time…

Pit

·         Every amazing thing that I do I know that I'm not going to do again for a long time.

Peak

·         Staying at the Pittodrie House Hotel which I love for a very long weekend.  Having a great long walk with Daisy and then an afternoon nap, sandwich and delicious supper on my first day of being a housewife.  Daisy and I went trekking for 4 hours all around the base of Bennachie and came back very muddy, exhausted but happy.  I can’t think of a better send off from Aberdeenshire.

·         Having the girls over for afternoon tea on Saturday and getting very unexpected leaving presents.

·         Spending a whole day with my Mum on Monday and then getting some Chinese food for tea.

·         Getting a big hug from the friendliest woman at my Church.

·         Seeing my brother on Tuesday and having a good old catch up and talking rubbish to each other for ages like in the old days.

·         Having the most delicious afternoon tea with my Grama at my favourite hotel in Aberdeen, The Marcliffe.

·         Having lunch with the girls from work on Wednesday and finally getting the last of the Christmas parcels to the appropriate people.

·         Unexpected visits from family….always very, very welcome.

Three Days and Counting

Today I went shopping for the last of the Christmas presents, met my Brother, had afternoon tea with my Grama, made tea, tidied up for visitors, met friends and went down to celebrate Guy Fawkes Night by watching my Mum do a fire walk to raise money for the clients at her workplace....and breathe.

The last couple of days were always going to be busy and they really don't disappoint.  

I needed to get the last of the Christmas shopping done and wrapped up for dropping off for my Mum, Brother and Grama.  As they may just be reading this post I really can't say where I went and what I got, but let me tell you it was a little bit from all...over...town.  I'd set myself the goal of getting everything in one and a half hours, but seeing as I had to go and close an account and then deposit the money elsewhere in town the allotted time was almost used up just doing those tasks alone.  I managed to get everything I wanted to and didn't get very stressed as the main presents had been bought and all I needed to do was to get the last little things and stocking fillers for people.

Once I'd gotten everything I wanted to I rushed back to the apartment to wrap things up and them headed back into town to meet my Brother.  We grabbed a coffee and then headed to Church for my very last sermon there *sob*.  One of the very kind women there actually came up to me afterwards and gave me the biggest warmest hug which made me feel really quite emotional.

After that my Brother and I met my Grama who I was taking to The Marcliffe which is my very favourite place in Aberdeen.  Sadly it'll be closed by the time we get back so I will always remember the last time I was there!  Mark had taken me there two years ago for a Valentines weekend and it's the sort of place that spoils you as soon as you walk through the door.  Last time we were there we saw Alex Salmond the First Minister of Scotland, this time my Grama and I saw another Alex, Alex Ferguson. 

When my Grama and I got out of the taxi we went straight to the drawing room where we were seated and given our menus to pick the types of sandwiches and tea we would like.  We asked for a selection of sandwiches and went for breakfast tea and my Grama also got a hot chocolate as it really was quite cold outside.  I didn't mind whatever sandwiches we got, as my eyes were fixed on the scones and cakes....

Our taxi driver came back to pick us up a couple of hours (and many scones later) and I just about managed to roll in over.  Luckily I didn't have far to go in the taxi as I already knew I had to get organised for people coming over in the afternoon.  

It really feels like time is speeding up now that we are in the very final week before the move...

Our last Guy Fawkes for a little while

One of the great things about growing up in Scotland is that we celebrate Guy Fawkes night.  I'm excited about celebrating all the great things about Singapore, but this is one thing I will miss about the UK.

This is my last Bonfire Night for two years as I don't think the authorities in Singapore will be too pleased with me lighting a bonfire in the back garden and throwing potatoes into it!

My friends came over to our apartment so that they could come with me to see my Mum participate in the sponsored Fire Walk down at Aberdeen beach where the fire works display is held.  If we were staying in our old apartment we could have cartwheeled over to where my Mum had to go, but seeing as we had since moved we needed to leave over an hour before hand to ensure we were there in time.

Inspire

Mark was unable to go as he had invited a friend over, and because Mark had been working that meant that I needed to get the shopping in and make the supper.  Luckily we had found all of our 'lost' M&S vouchers so I was able to treat the boys!  Oh yeah, I mean it was all home-made.

I had invited some friends to come and see too so they came over once Mark was able to get on the phone and give better instruction's as to how to get to the apartment, apparently mine were none too clear.

The bus into town took forever which mean that I had to run from Broad Street all the way down the Boulevard to meet my Mum coming out of the pre-fire walk motivational talk (for a non-runner this is actually quite a bit to go!)

We all cheered and clapped so hard for my Mum when she did her walk.  It was actually a further distance than I thought it would be.  Although someone behind me in the crowd saw all of the volunteers and where they had to walk and casually stated they could do it.  When their friend told them to try and volunteer last minute they instantly said they didn't want to and they were going to do a parachute jump for charity instead (God forbid they do two things for charity, although I can't believe they would have done either.)

It was amazing and something I just don't think I would have the courage for.  My Mum wanted to make a get away after doing it and headed home whilst my friends and I stayed for a hot dog, some toffee and the fire works.  They lasted a surprisingly long time and made me really proud to be an Aberdonian.  

Good job it was such a clear night and great display as it will be my last Guy Fawkes night for a little while now.

Autumn in Aberdeenshire

I am taking full advantage of this being my last autumn in Aberdeenshire for quite a while.  Our plan has always been to use up our holidays whilst in Singapore on seeing places we'd never seen before, so although I love this corner of the world, I wont be visiting for a little while.  

Although I've moaned about moving about so much in such a short space of time, most of the places we've lived in have been wonderful.  It's quite odd that this place is the cheapest of them all and its the 4 Star hotel.  We're in quite a predicament living in Aberdeen where hotels, even the worst of the worst, are expensive and you have to normally go over thirty miles out of town to get a place that will accept pets.  

When we thought we'd have to move down to Exeter for a little while we found loads and loads of lovely, inexpensive places that would accept Daisy dog.  However, we are here and I am making the most of it!

I love my walks with Daisy around the grounds.  We've been walking around the perimeter of the gardens, and then down to the walled garden.  There are still lots of apples on the trees and I'm finding lots of good conkers.

It's not all rest and relaxation though.  Today we managed to get some sweets to our old neighbours and visit my friends parents.  The weather turned horrible in the afternoon so we had to fly about the countryside in torrential rain.  My friend Catherine lives on the other side of the country, so seeing as we can't get there to drop of presents, and seeing as I thought I would be visiting and therefore bought heavy things it worked out quite well we could go visiting.  We bought some cakes from the baker and headed out to their cosy home.  Daisy came along too of course and played with their dogs and then we took them all out together.

I stayed chatting for longer than I should have as we had to rush back to the hotel as I was meeting Natalie and Holly there for afternoon tea.  I was glad they were able to see the hotel, but it was such a pity the weather had turned so awful.  The afternoon tea was actually not at all like it was the first time and such a disappointment.  It was so different, plain and made up of leftovers from breakfast.

Although it was upsetting that I had invited people to a place I thought would be nice and it was not, the afternoon was so lovely.  Holly gave me a wooden westie ornament and a really nice card.  Mark got a whiskey glass and some traditional Scottish cookery books (although I do think they'll be handed to be with bookmarks in them).

When I get back to Aberdeen I am looking forward to getting all my muddy clothes cleaned and looking good.  The one bad thing about hotels is that I can't just get my laundry done and all this walking has left me looking like a tatty scarecrow!

Pit and Peak

This is my last week of working in the UK for hopefully two years.  I am going to miss the amazing people I have had the pleasure to meet here but I will hopefully see a lot of them again, or at the very least stay in touch on-line.  This has been such a difficult Pit and Peak to write.

Pit

• Saying goodbye to people and winding up all of the work that I've been doing for ages, I'm just not part of it any more.  I've mostly been tidying things up and trying to stay busy whilst also allowing plenty of time to chat to all the well-wishers that pass my desk!  I have loved this job more than any other and am finding it so hard to say goodbye to everyone.
• Not staying up to date with my other blog and posting all of my lovely gifts I received in a very well organised Halloween Swap.  I have been rubbish at posting to it and feel bad for neglecting something I put so much energy into at the very start five years ago.  I have so many  happy memories that I can recollect from a single picture or post title, but I keep feeling sad knowing that time keeps on marching by and things are changing.
• Knowing that the gorgeous weather we are experiencing is the last I will have of autumn and winter for a long time.  I love these seasons more than any other, and in this part of Scotland it is already frosty in the morning.  We are living in a really pretty part of town and I love walking around it early morning and late evening with Daisy dog and feeling how cold it is.

Peak

•       Having a totally fabulous leaving drinks with some of the best people I have ever met and that I have been lucky enough to work with.  It has been amazing and I am already missing these people more than ever.
•        Having a wonderful send off at work and eating too much at the buffet that was put on right behind my desk. 
•              Getting a beautiful ‘Sorry you’re Leaving’ card with so many kind and thoughtful things in it.  Lots of ‘in-jokes’ and funny stories that people out with our office just wouldn't find funny.
•         This one is kind of for next week, but I am so looking forward to staying in the beautiful Pittodrie House Hotel again, I love where we are living at the moment, but nothing can compare to the amazing service at my new second favourite hotel!

My Last Day

I am so sad to say that I have just had my last day of work.  A big buffet was put on right behind my desk and I chatted for way too long to my manager-the best manager I have ever met/worked for.  I was very kindly given $120 for Singapore as well as many sweet emails.  To say that I was a bit teary on my way to the hotel for the weekend is an understatement.  I only joined this team 18 months ago and have so many happy memories here.  I really think that I have been a bit spoiled by working in such a friendly place, lets hope my next employer will be as kind.

I had to catch my old train and Mark would pick me up from the station like when we lived in Culsalmond.  He would then drive us to the hotel a couple of miles away.  The whole way to Insch I was wiping away tears on the very crowded train while carrying everything from my desk as well as a comically oversized leaving card.  It was so dark outside of the train the windows only reflected the inside of the train, so when I was attempting to hide I was merely weeping into a mirror!
After all of this moving about it is good to be looked after sometimes!

The hotel was better than I remembered and I even got to hang up some of the Halloween bunting I had received in a Halloween Swap with my swap partner on my other blog.  We had a most delicious supper in the cosy drawing room and Daisy once again had some fillet steak and steak burger as Mark and I both wanted to share our portions with her.

Girls Night

One of the best and worst things about leaving is a leaving party.  Parties are great, just too bad that after an eventful secret spilling evening we won’t see each other again.  I had the best time with some of the best girls I know, drinking cocktails, talking girl talk and eating as well as eventually walking each other home in the early hours on a work night….

Finding some friends

Since finding out that Mark and I would be moving to Singapore I’ve taken it upon myself to read up on ways to meet people once out there.  Mark will have work and all of his new work friends, but I’m not walking into a job over there and remain a little bit frightened about meeting new people.  I’m naturally shy and with Mark being more confident than me I am normally very happy for him to go out and deal with things.

Now that we are about to find ourselves in a brand new country I will have to change.  Luckily I have had so much inspiration from many different blogs I’ve read about people finding friends abroad.  I don’t know how they did it, but it’s worked.  I can totally understand how people would form solid friendships when they are so far away from family and their own culture and really hope I can copy them.  So now, I guess, I just have to get out there.   

I have been looking at the British Association of Singapore which holds a coffee morning every so often and think that may be a good place to start.  Other than that I am fresh out of ideas…I may just be peeping out of windows trying to pounce on the neighbours when they are putting their rubbish out! 

Christmas Shopping

The other day Holly, one of my friends, suggested we take a trip to Paula of Farnell, a cute little shop in Angus, which opens periodically selling Christmas decorations from mid autumn to mid winter.  Its the sort of shop you happen upon and then spend a good few hours at.  It has lots of things I love in it....twinkly lights, garlands and lanterns.

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Its in an old school house and is set within a picture perfect location just off a country road.  All the way down to it we were singing Christmas carols at the top of our voices while I half heartily looked at the map for directions.  We had taken the scenic route south which really meant much more opportunities to get lost!

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The whole shop is set up like a window display and you sort of just reach in and put what you like into your basket.  Seeing as we are temporary accommodation I was unable to really take anything much, my friend however, took a great many things...

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Everywhere you look is beautifully decorated, so it was a welcome break from shopping when our names were called to go through to the cafe and order some nice food.  One of the good things about this small shop is that you have to write your name down as you enter if you want to take a break at the cafe.  Because they then call your name when a table frees up you don't have to waste time hovering around.

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Its so warm and cosy and the perfect way to spend a late autumn day.  I am trying to squeeze as many Christmas things into my days as possible seeing as it'll all be so different so very soon.  On our way home we stopped in Montrose as Holly saw a statue of a dog.  She literally shouted "A DOG STATUE!", so we turned the car around to investigate.  The statue was actually for a dog called Bamse who lived during WW2 at was very kind and courageous.  You can read more about him here.

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Because we were so impressed by him we decided to visit his grave and once we finally found it we needed to find some pretty stones to put on it as everyone else had done the same.  Holly and I looked around on the beach for some stones and Holly found a really pretty heart shaped one, and I found one that was a nice colour.  We left it for Bamse along with some beach flowers and headed North again.  When we got back to our apartment we thought it would be funny to trick Mark and tell him I had bought all the things that Holly did.  We're not very good at telling fibs, he took one look at me and I burst out laughing.  At least what I did buy will easily fit in our luggage.

Me with the one thing I bought and Holly with her 'Mouse in a Box'

Time will tell

Hello, Hello, Sheila here I thought I would actually do a post instead of lurking around just reading lots of Singapore blogs and letting Mark do all the writing.  I have been extremely touched by some kind emails I have received whenever I have commented on peoples blogs.  I have been given lots of advice, or more links to help us and offers of trips and tours so that I can start to find my way even though I’m far from family.

I thought I would list out some things I am excited about and worried about in the hope that all of the exciting things don’t disappoint and all of the things that cause concern turn out to be irrational…here goes:

Things I am worried about:

1.    I really hope that I can start to meet people and form friendships, as I have a really good circle of friends here in Scotland.

2.    I’m freaking out in case I ‘get’ culture shock and end up quite irrational.  This post from The Expat Bostonians explains and I don’t want to  look back at this amazing opportunity and remember being cross and unhappy.

3.    Our little dog Daisy who I really hope doesn’t get too upset on the move.

Our little cottage

Things I am excited about:

1.    The opportunity to travel to amazing destinations we would never have visited from Scotland.  I can’t wait to take full advantage of the airport and ferry links.

2.    Living in the biggest house I’ve ever stayed in.

3.    Being in  a big city.

4.    Being able to save more money for wherever we eventually buy a home of our own.

We'll Miss You....

After speaking to a couple of friends they suggested putting this on to the blog and they can then leave a comment for us to read now and in the future. I'm sure I'll come by this post and edit it every now and then with all the things we are going to miss and when we are in Singapore we can detail the things that potential visitors to our home can bring with them!!

We have assistance in Singapore!!

I'm just off the phone and have fired emails back and forward to my very good friend Ishak. Ishak and I met on one of my first trips to KL where I was presenting to 200 Oil & Gas people. We hit it off and ever since we meet up when I am in the region.

I passed on the exciting news that the move was now on so he is going to act as a liaison for us in Singapore, I really think this is going to help us loads.

So, I want to give 3 cheers to Ishak, Hip Hip Hooray, Hip Hip Hooray, Hip Hip Hooray!

I think that's enough of that.

Petronas Towers Taken on my last trip to KL