"I went somewhere really unusual today......"

There's something about Singapore that means we are frequently going to places that we can only describe as odd or usual. Whether it be the strange market/shopping centre set in the old grandstand at the former (horse) race course, Turf City, where the children do a number of classes, or the strange restaurant and furniture shop mix in the old army barracks amongst the trees at Dempsey, there's always somewhere or something different here.



At the end of August, whilst we were out shopping for all the new uniform and stationery bits that the children needed for school, we also had a shopping list of dance shoes and items from Hannah's new dance school where she does a ballet, jazz and tap class. So we headed off for a shopping centre called Golden Landmark, which was on my list of suggested places from the dance school.



It was located just by Singapore's biggest mosque and next to some roads of lovely old "shophouses" (traditional terraced houses). I found the entrance to the carpark and noted as we drove down the ramp that the sign told me the the lower level was full. It was small and quite cramped so I followed signs to "more parking". We found ourselves in a queue wondering what the delay was for the 20 or so spaces it said were free. Then Adam saw a sign which said Car Lift.



"No," I said "it can't be a lift for cars, it's one of those Singlish expressions that sounds odd to us".



But this is Singapore, where there is always something different and it was a car lift. As we moved forward one car at a time, we realised we were in the queue for it. When our turn came, we drove up to a post and I pressed a button. The lift came down and a large garage style door rolled up. Amongst much excitement in the car, we drove in and I then wound down the window and pressed the up button. The door came down and up we went, from the basement to the 4th floor where we were able to find a parking space.



Inside the shopping centre had a masses of tiny premises that seemed to be a miriad of tailors, recruitment consultants and travel agents offering trips to Mecca. However, at the centre was the most magnificently over the top art deco lift which served the shopping floors and then went up the lobby of a hotel above. We finally found our shop and got the clothes and shoes before the excitement of going back down in the car lift.


Well, the children are well into their first term of this school year and here they are in the new uniform. Adam is now in his final year of juniors and they wear the senior uniform (don't know why) and he is back in long trousers on a regular basis for the first time since we arrived. Hannah is in the junior uniform (almost the same but the dresses don't have pleats).





With everyone back at school, Hannah finally had her birthday party as she wanted to share it with a friend who was 8 this month. They went to "Build a Bear". This is a shop where the children pick a teddy and with lots of games and fun, then get it stuffed, put hearts in, name it (and get a birth certificate) and then choose an outfit. We (the mums) set a strict budget and then the staff did a wonderful entertaining job for the next hour or so. It was then off for a pizza and birthday cake and lots of little girls and one boy went home with a new teddy.

All in all, it seemed to be a big success and here they are having fun.



Afterwards, we took a stroll round the shopping centre and found yet another of those strange things. It was a shop called "Baby Swim Contest" or something similar and in the window were a row of overgrown sinks. Parents took in their babies and undressed them while the sinks were filled with water. When all the babies were ready and the sinks full, each baby had a rubber ring put round its neck (it had a sort of flap to hold it comfortably in place) and then, all at the same time as each other, the babies were all put in the sinks.



The babies waggled their arms and legs, looking happy, meanwhile a lady then wondered along with a clipboard, noting goodness only knows what, while a large crowd gathered outside looking through the windows saying"ahh, so cute!". As this is a difficult thing to describe, we've done our best to take a picture of the babies in the sinks.




So, could this be a new business venture for somebody? I can see it now on Dragons Den!!!

Kissing Elephants

After our whirlwind tour of the UK, we arrived back and battled another bout of jetlag. Personally, I always find it much harder coming this way as I'm not a morning person at the best of times, but when the body clock is adrift 7 hours in the wrong direction, doing anything before lunch is a major challenge.





The following week the children were booked into a morning tennis camp each day which started at 9am, so that soon had us back in the time zone. They both had fun and I had a chance to get out and buy birthday presents for them without them tagging along. I also had my first trip into a Singaporean hospital for a minor, in and out in one day, thing. Admission was the trickiest bit - I don't know why it didn't occur to me to take my passport with me to hospital.......



The following week, there was a long weekend here courtesy of a public holiday for National Day. Here, public holidays happen on whatever day is the appropiate date so they don't always make a weekend longer as they can be any old day of the week, therefore we thought we'd make the most of this one. David has also been working extremely hard and very long hours, so we thought he needed a little rest.



We'd been told that a group of resorts called "Laguna" in Phuket was great for families, with kids clubs, spas and lots of restaurants etc. I'd managed to get a particularly good deal as August is low season there, in other words, the monsoon season.



It turned out to be a group of resorts along a 3km stretch of beach. The glitziest and most expensive resorts are right on the beach with others behind (were were further back overlooking a golf course). There are shuttle buses that run between them and even a shuttle ferry that plies the lagoons, so Adam was in transport heaven.



As it turned out, it was all so convenient that we didn't actually leave the resort for several days. Then David got itchy feet and felt the need to escape. That evening, we headed for the entrance and the bunch of restaurants, bars, shops and estate agents that lined the road outside. We chose a restaurant that looked busy and promptly had a lousy meal. Ok, so maybe promptly was the wrong word.



It took ages for the food to arrive and of our 5 dishes ordered, 3 were wrong. Hannah was asleep by the time her food arrived and when it did finally get to us, in dribs and drabs, it wasn't very tasty. However, the owner was profoundly apologetic, explained that it was their opening night and offered us a free ride home in the restaurant's minibus. I can't help but wonder if they're still in business.




Early in the stay we had some very unsettled weather and rain - well it was the monsoon season. This is Adam and David on the beach in the wind. As you can see, the waves are huge and the red flags are all up and I don't think they came down once during the whole 5 days!



For me, having lived in the tropics for about 1½ years now and being fully aware that cloud cover doesn't mean no suncream as the rays still get through, I didn't expect to get caught out. However, I actually got sunburnt walking on the beach when this picture was taken. and that's a first, getting sunburnt when there's rain in the air.




Despite the weather, the children had heaps of fun in the hotel pool and on the waterslide inbetween the showers along with some fun activities in the kids club giving us time to visit the spa. We also ate around at the various hotels in the group and at one, each afternoon a couple of young elephants wandered through the gardens with their handlers. People could stroke and pat them and so the children went up. The handler told one of them to kiss Adam. This involved the elephant putting its trunk around his neck, and then blowing whatever comes out of elephant trunks (elephant snot?) on his cheek. It's all very tickly and a little wet and smelly (I know, I've been kissed). Unfortunately, as the elephant put it's trunk on Adam's face he chose that moment to turn to us and tell us how tickly it was. This was a bad move as the elephant "kissed" him when his mouth was open.

Apart from kissing elephants, Adam also got a chance to try scuba diving in the pool, which he really enjoyed. Not many fish but still a great experience for him. Here he is waving to us.

At the end of our stay the weather improved and we took a day trip by speedboat to various places. This was a great last day and we went snorkelling in one place and were taken by canoe into various caves and mangroves around the limestone karst formations in that area. The scenery was spectacular and we finished at the "James Bond" island, from "Man with the Golden Gun". For anyone who, like me, can't distinguish one film from another by title, it had Roger Moore in and the island was a tall pointy, limestone thing sticking out of the sea.

By the time we got back home it was nearly Hannah's birthday. Adam also had a birthday bowling trip with 4 friends (it would have been more but some were away). It was slightly sad as 3 were leaving to return to the UK and the other is changing schools this term, but they all had fun and no tears. However, Adam chose a hazelnut birthday cake which we took along in a cool bag, first to the bowling centre and then the restaurant. The boys all took one look at the nuts and declined to have a slice, so we ended up taking the whole thing home with us again!




As the day before was Hannah's birthday, we had two cakes to eat that weekend. It was so tough! Here she is blowing out her candles. A few days later we went for high tea at the Marriott and had interesting slightly odd food selection. Lots of cakes as expected, but instead of cucumber sandwiches and scones, there were laksa curries and chickens feet. Yum.



Before we knew it, with a few more day trips and playdates, our 8 weeks were almost over and it was time to stock on up school uniforms and stationery. Now they're back at school and I can't believe it's September. Where does the time go? I'm sure Christmas will be along in just a week or so.