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| Doing my bit for the Singapore Road Network |
We rounded off the weekend with a good old comfort Sunday, had a lie in, gymmed, bought unnecessary but ‘useful to have in the cupboard’ stuff at the supermarket (ground cumin?? I don't even know what a Cumin is), late lunch at the pub finished off by a cinema trip to see the Dictator. Thank god we did, because it has been quite a hectic week
I must give you some prior warning this post is going to be rather scatty shambolic and incongruent, lacking both theme and/or structure. However I think this is ok as it accurately reflects my week, which is after all the point of this venture. So stick with it friends and I promise, if nothing else it will serve to make future posts seem far more professional.
Odd occurrences this week
Learning Chinese (sort of), Brad starting hockey, Brad prematurely retiring from hockey, Brad retaking up hockey, local lunches, and putting my fine blonde hair on the line braving a trip to a Singaporean hairdresser. You will be happy to know I am here to recount the events, in hopefully a not too lacklustre manner. (it is after all nearing the end of the day on Friday and we are off to Indonesia this evening for a spa retreat. GET ME THERE NOW)
Yao (Chinese for yes) I am on the road to bilingualism. It will however be a long and arduous journey. When I say I am learning Chinese, my mates Jen and Elyn at work are actually just giving me little phrases in Mandarin to learn to freak out the locals, thus far my repertoire includes yes, no and how much- useful in conversing at a)market stalls and b) with ladies of the night- apparently my Mandarin accent is far superior to my Cantonese, who knew! On the theme of my ongoing localisation, I have also gone for lunch with the girls from work a few times this week, it has been interesting to see what/ where/ how they eat on a day to day basis (Jen actually brought Brad and I some chopsticks back from Vietnam this week as a gift which was awesome, I’m now quite a dab hand, it only took me 2hrs 45 mins to eat my ham and cheese salad on Tuesday night). Food is a massive part of the culture here, but it turns out what and when they eat is very healthy- and trust me when the only implements you have are too large cocktail sticks you will soon cut down on the amount you shovel into you face. These are some of the lunches I tagged along to:
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| Beed, beansprout and noodle soup |
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| Rice bean sprouts and vegetables |
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| Grilled fish, veggies and rice. |
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| Ok not strictly a meal but some of the goodies Jen took back from Vietnam, some dried Mango and er, traditional Toblerone. |
Today we had an all out feast, Jay who sits with all of us girls (lucky boy) took us to a sort of back ally local food joint, ordered us a load of food and we just tried bits of everything, check out our little lunch time bonding sesh:
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| Don't be fooled by the smile, I don't really like rice. shhh |
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| a vacuum packed cheesecake- just had to take a picture! |
In a ‘come dine with me’ esque twist Jay has offered to invite Brad and I round to eat with him and his wife next month where they will serve up an array of local delights and generally test us on our Singaporean immersion, I in turn offered to cook them a roast- he didn’t look so keen.
So my new idea... As an insight into the ‘Asian Diet’ and how these people stay so slim and live till about 300, I am going to (with the help of my local buddies) keep a food diary for a week of what they eat and drink on a day to day basis...I will also include how much of this I manage, and/or any side effects.
Wayfarering Wayfarer
Hockey and his team the Wayfarers, was a pretty big part of Brads life back in the UK, it provided the underpinnings of his social, sporting and drinking and cross dressing life- he was also pretty good. So since we have moved out to Singapore Brad has been asked to play at the Singapore cricket club. Great news, as some of his mates play there too. So as only Brad could, he met some guy on facebook who sells branded kit out of his car boot, arranged to meet him on Sunday afternoon, got fully kitted out and went to his first training session on Tuesday night.
GOOD GOD IT AGED HIM
Since returning from Hockey on Tuesday evening, Brad has not been able to sit, stand, walk and as he tries to claim, feed himself unaided. Mystifying. Brad has been pretty active since we got here utilising our fancy in house gym, but apparently running around in the sweltering heat chasing a ball is all new levels of physical exertion. Hopefully he will acclimatise, if not he may have to take up bridge.
Cautious Colouring
There are many horror stories floating around expatville regarding local hairdressers and blonde highlights. It is not because they are not good it is just that Asian and Caucasian hair are very different (well observed Sian) in every way imaginable, strength, growth rate, durability (if that is a hair term) and pigmentation. Woven highlights as us lighter haired ladies know, are essential to achieve that, “oh my hair just goes light in the sun” look. So I let my roots grow out for 6 weeks, normally not an issue, but as my hair is growing at beastlike rates in the sun overhear, I was well overdue a touch up. I was referred quite a few good hairdressers by fellow blondies but they can be very expensive, seriously, like $700 for a full head (about 350 quid) and unless they are planning on resurrecting Vidal Sasson himself to cut and colour my locks, I am not parting with that kind of cash, for a maybe ok result. So after careful consideration and cost calculation, I threw caution to the wind and booked an appointment at the hairdresser nearest my house. 1) Because I’m a daredevil lazy and 2) Choice confuses me. Last night I took the plunge.
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| You will look like a div wherever you get your hair done. fact. |
Fortunately it turned out great, Gary from Malaysia was trendier than my right arm and looked like he had been blown over from Brick Lane, got the foils out and everything (I was half expecting the old cap and hook) He did a diligent and professional Job AND did not feel the need to comment on how dry my hair was. Gary got a tip. Also two absolutely cracking ideas that UK hairdressers could do with implementing 1) Ipads to play with at all of the chairs, makes whiling away the hours much more bearable. 2) LIE DOWN HAIR WASHING CHAIRS. This was incredible, instead of those achey neck sado-massacist torture chairs they use in UK hair salons, they have a sort of lie down bed that your legs dangle off and your head lies flat in a sink. Hair washing heaven.
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| the results. sorry it could do with a wash. |
For any Expats reading this, I went to Mode in the Marina Link Mall check out the website here: Mode Hair Gallery
All in all it has been a pretty normal, yet somehow eventful week. Anyway I must run as I need to pack for Indonesia, I couldn’t do it this morning as our cleaner got my wardrobe stuck closed, I wasted enough time having a strop in my pants panicking about what to wear to work to plan ahead. Lots of photos to come!
Aw crap, I haven’t learnt the Chinese for Bye yet, so errr. Bye.
XXX
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