"Good Expatting"

I have to be honest with you, it's been a pretty boozy weekend. Friday night was proper Chinese night, with European quantities of red wine to accompany it, Saturday morning we went to Switzerland (sort of) with Mr Ong our landlord  followed promptly by Lunch with a good friend of Brads and his girlfriend at an Aussie bar  which promptly descended into a 'day sesh'. We set up camp for the next 8 hours to devour 3 Rugby Games and several bottles of Gin. Ouch. 

Fortunately it is sunny today, because we are good for nothing bar lounging by the pool and attempting to return some colour to our greying hangover faces. Red will do. 

Return of Mr Ong

Those of you who have followed our journey so far will be familiar with the great man him self, Mr Ong. Our landlord who treated us to gifts and showed us around the local area on move in day, when we moved in Mr Ong said he would like to take us for brunch once we had settled in. True to his word, this saturday Mr Ong treated us to not only a culinary, but a cultural extravaganza, and all at 10 in the morning. 

We met him in a shopping mall, pretty standard practice here as everything is in air-conditioned malls, outside what looked like a bakery stall adorned with a visually stimulating array of pastries, breads, cakes and quiches. However this was just the tip of the ice berg. As we descended down the stairs we were submerged into an alpine chalet, complete with folky swiss music playing, mountainous landscape painted on the walls, and Asian staff, fully decked out in laderhosen and milkmaid costumes. When Ong does Brunch he doesn't hold back. Short of actually flying us to Europe he found the most quintessentially European spot in Singapore, and through tapping into our senses transported us on a mid morning trip to the Alps.

There was an achingly vast choice of food options ranging from continental breakfast to cakes, rosti and jacket potatoes. When you are a bit hangover this is near on impossible. Eventually I played it safe with a poached egg and orange juice. Brad simulated the appetite one might build after a full days skiing and got involved with eggs bennedict, coffee, water melon juice and a Chilli Con Carne baked potato...ah well when in Rome.

I tried to take a few snaps but got told off by a grumpy looking Asian in Lederhosen, I don't think he was enjoying the morning shift, hopefully they will do it justice.

I'm not entirely sure why they had rustled up a spanish paella at breakfast time, but what the heck, it smelt good.

Brad hadn't found any potatoes in supermarkets, He was literally in spud heaven

couple of cakes they knocked up 

Bread, obviously. 

Sour Plum juice, I thought it was a mojito- let down.

'Rustic"

More like it

should have come in Ski boots

These naughty cows were poking their heads through the window, in a cubicle in the ladies loos. Cows wouldn't get away with such lewd behaviour in the UK

Ong's Ride

Steady Decline

After Brunch (and a post brunch power nap) we headed off to meet Brad's friend Will and his girlfriend. The day was about to take a dramatic turn. They all got stuck into lunch but I was still a bit full from brunch so declined, having a bloody Mary instead, a decision which probably played a major role in my downfall.

At 5 0'clock by mutual consent we had ordered our first bottle of Gin, justifying this move as its probably cheaper, and service is pretty slow here so we would, er, remain hydrated. The games soon began (oh and I think there was some Rugby on too)

Death by Gin

At the table that would be the base camp of our decent Brad and I were introduced to a new concept, a concept that will now become our mantra. That concept? "GOOD EXPATTING"

As Will would go onto explain 'Good Expatting' can be declared when an expatriate indulges in extravagant or just generally very western behaviour, for the purposes of convenience or amusement. I shall give you an example from a situation you have already been exposed to; The wine in the restaurant last night was not being served fast enough, so we took it upon ourselves to administer the wine, thus "good expatting". A more elaborate yet brilliant example was that of a guy who went to Indonesia to play golf last week. He brought 2 caddies, one to carry his clubs, and one to carry his chair. Textbook "Good Expatting" I shall endeavour to highlight all episodes of good expatting from here on out. 

my new best friend, oh how you betrayed me

Further into the evening I was regretting not eating so asked if they served olives (essential for stamina) excited when they said yes, you can imagine my disappointment when this is what got placed in front of me. I can only presume they thought the olives were for my drink.

After a solid 8 hours we were very ready to go home. An incredible drinking game I was introduced to which I would like to share with the world is 'The Accent Game" I have heard a few versions of this in the past, but this took the biscuit. The Rules: There is 1 phrase you must say. You cannot Ad-lib or practice out loud. After everyone has attempted the phrase in the chosen accent, on the count of 3 the group must point to the worst 'accent doer'. They then drink and proceed to choose the next accent. The Phrase: "I WOULD LIKE HALF A POUND OF BACON PLEASE".... genius.

...

Feeling slightly less hungover, however a little on the pink side from a day in the sun, a healthy week is definitely on the cards. I managed to squeeze in a gym sesh today so hopefully I can maintain the momentum throughout the week, if you don't receive a progress report, I failed.

Hope you all had good weekends too. 5 days 'til Friday!

Speak Soon

XXX