On the road to Kuwait

Outside the expat square - We left....and we returned

2010-02-24T12:58:00.001-08:00

We had a very difficult year last year, hence no postings at all. One has to decide with blogging how much to reveal, and while I think the very best blogs are those that do reveal all, I cannot do this to my family.

The short story is that we packed everything up and moved back to Sydney, where I studied for my CELTA (teaching English as a Second Language certificate) and then got a job in an English language school, which I really enjoyed.

Late last year we decided to return to Singapore for a whole bunch of reasons. Despite a shaky beginning, we really enjoyed living here, and felt there were many opportunities for us here in South East Asia.

So I got a few jobs and we returned in January 2010.

Here we are! Feeling quite at home in a sublet while we figure out where we want to live. It's a whole new adventure, returning to Singapore not with a company but on our own, using our experiences from the last time and trying to make decisions outside the expat square.

I will be writing about our adventures here in Singapore, as independent expats.

Kata Beach Phuket, Thailand

2008-11-08T18:58:00.000-08:00

And Next.... ah the joys of living in Singapore!!
We were invited to stay the weekend at a house on Phuket, so we flew up on Friday afternoon, caught a taxi which took us 45 minutes to a gorgeous villa overlooking clear blue water. We had a wonderful time with our friends Adele, Scott, Ellen and Amelia. Went shopping in Patong where I learned the finer art of bargaining in Thailand from Adele, and bought some clothes for Lenny and a rather nice locally made handbag. Most of the shops were 'same same but different' as they say, or really different different but same - slightly varying grades of fake leather for the rip off label handbags amongst other things. A real highlight was riding on the elephants through a rough and steep bush track past local houses. It was so peaceful and we were taken up to a wonderful lookout over the ocean and the town. The elephants did their own thing, ripping a few plants out, stopping every now and then for a rest, stepping their way delicately through muddy paths. Lenny was thrilled to ride on his elephants head for the last part of the journey, and Amelia also was left to ride the elephant, with me on the back!
Finally we had lunch on Sunday at a restaurant right on and above the water, delicious food and lovely company.

here are a bunch of photos.

A bit of traveling part 1

2008-11-08T18:35:00.000-08:00

Yilpi came to visit us in Singapore and we caught the bus up to Kuantan, in eastern Malaysia. The bus left Singapore at 10.30pm and arrived at 5am, and I was surprised at how comfortable it was. It was like our own touring bus, the one from the movie 'Almost Famous.' Individual TV screens with good movies, and cheap as chips. Here are a bunch of photos. We stayed at the Hyatt, right on the beach!

On the racetrack, post F1

2008-10-01T06:20:00.001-07:00

Batman and I were wandering around Singapore trying to find City Hall when we came across the race track where the F1 was held just the other day. People were walking around, checking it out, and workmen were dismantling the seating so Singapore could get back to normal. It was fun to walk on the road where those strange beastie cars had driven.

Home from Sydney, out and about in Singapore

2008-09-28T06:06:00.000-07:00

It's been about a month since the last blog, during which we went back to visit everyone in Sydney and Byron Bay. Had a great time at home - Singapore felt a very very long way away. But coming back was easy, and I was happy to return to our apartment, and our new friends.
Since we've been home, there have been lots of things happening here. it is Ramadan still, and the Muslim population is gearing up for Hari Raya which falls next Wednesday - a public holiday. the Indians are celebrating Deepavali, and Little India is lit up like a Christmas tree. The F1 race is here now, and main roads of central Singapore have been appropriated and fenced off.
I am making a concerted effort to find some kind of work, and I have visited a voice over studio, and i have a meeting with someone from National Arts Council tomorrow.
Michael has been in India again, and is home all this week before returning to Mumbai. The financial chaos has caused much havoc and depression and Michael is writing a blog about it all. Will let you know when it is up.
Latest outings and experiences:

1. Little India - Sunday 21 September

We went with Bridgette and Mark and 4 kids, met at a restaurant and ate dinner. Beautiful lights everywhere, and zillions of people, especially Indian men who are working in Singapore on contracts. They converge on Little India on Sundays when they have a day off. The air was filled with the bubbling sounds of their language - soft and lilting. We went to a night market and checked out the cheap Indian clothing.

2. Geylang Serai during RamadanOnce again it was Lenny and me with the adventurous Bridgette and Mark family. We drove to Geylang Serai, a suburb of Singapore on the eastern side, and this particular area is Muslim. During Ramadan, big marquees seem to be set up, and lots of shops selling carpets, flowers, food, clothing, cheap toys, and more. We arrived at 7pm, which is break fast time, and it was really quiet as everyone ate for the first time since 5.30am. We ate at a hawker stall, chicken and spicy rice from enormous pots. Delicious. We walked through bazaars, hampered by sleepy kids but good fun anyway.I want to go back before Wednesday.

3. Janet goes to the theatre.

I went to SRT theatre to see a local play called Boom. I really enjoyed it, it was fast and funny and very local, so interesting for me. The acting was great. A few to many "I had a dream..." speeches, but mainly very entertaining.I love the Singapore sense of humour, it is earthy and self deprecatory, I guess a lot like Australian humour. I want to go to a lot more theatre here, especially local theatre.

Bye for now!!!

Day 3 - Friday

2008-08-22T05:45:00.000-07:00

Right, well today was fruit and vegetables and as much soup as you want. We started with our soup and some fruit, and I drank my vinegar and water which is also supposed to be very good for you. Also had lemon and ginger tea. Michael has been suffering from sore shoulders and has been in a lot of pain, and I dont know whether the diet is helping or hindering. Anyway, he went to a chinese doctor today who did acupuncture and massage, and he felt a lot better.
I spent the morning at the office with Lee Hwa, Michael's assistant, working on getting my singpass, and completing our permanent residency applications, and starting work on the Song Dynasty Music business set up. Drank black coffee, and water.
Went home to pick up Lenny from his Science centre excursion, and ate more soup and some veges. Went to Mariko's and Lenny stayed there while I went to the gym and flogged myself, amping up the speed and the incline on the walking machine.
Ate soup and green veges for dinner.
Derek arrived with groceries, and..... a DURIAN! Suddenly the whole house was filled with the pungent cloying smell of durian.

He showed me how to open it. it really is an amazing looking fruit, snuggled inside it's tough spiky shell. But boy, does it smell!!

I tried some, it has a texture of custard, or avocado, and is a very complex taste - and definitely an acquired taste. Durians are not cheap, and are adored by Singaporeans, Malaysians and Chinese. People go into the jungles to find fresh durian!

More photos of Pulau Ubin

2008-08-22T05:33:00.001-07:00

Michael and Lenny jam

2008-08-22T05:19:00.000-07:00

GM diet/sacred heart diet/cabbage soup diet

2008-08-21T05:11:00.000-07:00

M and I have embarked on a 7 day diet - my Indian friend Eika announced the other day that she was on this GM diet - the weirdest diet I have ever heard of - but she reckons she is losing weight, so I got home and looked it up on google. Found heaps of stuff, the diet, the story,plenty of comments on blogs, especially from Indians. On further inspection I read that General Motors never created such a diet and it is all a hoax. It is really the Sacred Heart diet -which I then looked up and found it to be exactly the same - and was apparently designed for obese patients awaiting surgery, so they lose a few kilos before the poor old surgeon takes a knife to them, wading through a ton of blubber. I remember seeing a simulated kilo of fat that was in my doctors surgery, and I was shocked at the size and weight of it. (It was made from some kind of silicon I guess.) Fat is just....fat. There is nothing special about it. Aisa told me liposuction is big in the Philippines, and I am sure here in Singapore as well. They just suck the fat out. Gross.
Anyway enough about fat - I am so over it. I never put on a gram in all my years until I turned 40, then BAM! I had a stomach. I remember going to the gym with a guy who turned out to be Princess Diana's personal trainer when she was in Australia, and he said that she had a little belly, and just couldn't get rid of it! Which gave me some solace, because if someone as perfect as Diana couldnt kick it, who could? Then I started doing my dear friend Anita's pilates classes and she would be relentless in her comments about my...well, my fat i guess. Not that there was a huge amount, but enough to get her worked up! Now whenever I do any exercise, I remember Anita, who was so particular and so incredibly disciplined in her daily life that she would not answer the phone in the morning until she had done her morning exercise routine. She was the bane of every physios life, if they had Anita as a patient there would be a constant stream of questions and suggestions and woe betide anyone who wouldn't take her seriously. My Anita memorial exercises. I imagine her watching me, encouraging me and shaking her head at my laziness. And being such a foodie, she would probably hate this diet regime. I never heard her talk about diets, only about good healthy food. I hope she has found peace wherever she is, and can rest at last. Though this month is the Hungry Ghost month, when the Singaporean Chinese believe the gates of heaven open and the dead come back to earth looking for food. Anita would be seeking the best vodka and some excellent cheese, and maybe some lovely pickled herrings.
A year later I had a baby, and that was the end of any pretence at slenderness. I stacked weight on after that, and it has hardly shifted.
So, I threw caution to the winds and did not let the naysayers on the net stop me from beginning the diet yesterday. And I am going to bore you with the details now, mainly because if I dont write it somewhere I will forget the agony and presumably, by all accounts, the ecstasy of the GM/Sacred Heart/ Cabbage soup diet. I will henceforth be calling it the Sacred Heart diet, or maybe even the Sacred Cabbage diet. This is because it makes me feel good, like someone is watching over me as I diet. The Diet God. Maybe Mary Magdalen herself, who may not have been adverse to the odd diet herself, given her (former) profession. Actually Aisa, my font of wisdom, was telling me about fasting at Ramadan. She is Muslim (convert actually as it turns out) and when she did her first month of fasting, during which Muslims cannot eat or drink between the hours of 5am and 7pm, she found it very very difficult. It is pretty incredible to think that a large percentage of the human race is fasting all at the same time for a whole month. About 22% of the world's population is Muslim, and it is the second largest religion in the world. So even more amazing! Anyway, Aisa said that people have a little word or mantra that they say when they get hungry, it acts as help from God to get them through. She said kids start fasting for half a day at about age 4, but her daughter was fasting a full day by age 6. They eat at 5am, a light breakfast of maybe noodles and meat, and then have nothing until 7pm, when they eat another light dinner. They can actually eat all night if they want to.
So our little diet is fairly tame in comparison!
Here is what I am doing so far.

Wednesday - DAY ONE - It is a complete fruits day - and it is suggested that you try to eat mainly watermelon or rockmelon, which is what we did. Lots of watermelon, which normally I dont like much, but yesterday it was delicious and perfect. I also ate a few strawberries, some mango, an apple or 2, and drank lemon tea and ginger tea and lots of evian water. I love evian water - to me it kind of tastes like milk, smooth and soft and delicious. I ordered 12 large bottles from my mate the grocer, Derek who delivers here almost every day, pretty much whatever I want. I tested him at first and the only thing he couldn't find were stroopwaffel, which considering we are in Singapore is not too bad. He has bought me lots of potplants for the balcony, and takes a personal interest in their well being, as well as all kinds of fruit and vegetable, and I am now asking him to bring me local vegetables, and to teach me about them. He brought me some kind of rambutan today which was delicious (even though it IS a vege day today and I shouldn't have but I forgot in the moment) and some kind of tiny fruit that tasted like a cross between lychee and grapefruit. And he also bought a HUGE long scaly vegetable the name of which I cant remember, and Aisa tried to tell me how to cook it but I am a bit nervous about it and I will keep you posted. I guess I can eat it tomorrow if I feel brave. Here is a picture of it.

He is going to bring me a durian, and Aisa is going to teach me how to eat it. She said to make sure I get a sweet one, and she said - though I do find this difficult to believe - that you can hold your nose while you eat it because it stinks so badly, but it will taste beautiful. She said Singaporeans like their durian bitter, but she never liked it that way(she is filipina). Derek said bitter ones are the best but if you eat a few of them you must drink water out of the skin of the durian - he stressed that it had to be from the skin - and your throat will feel better. Personally, they sound like a fruit from hell - they stink, and they hurt your throat, and you have to hold your nose when you eat them - what is that???? But once again i will keep you thoroughly posted, and may even take a photo.

So where was I - fruit. and more fruit. I made the special soup, but I didn't eat any of it on day 1. I did 30 minutes walking at the gym, building up a nice sweat. I actually didn't really feel hungry at all, and went to bed feeling pretty good.

Thursday - DAY 2 - that is today - it is now 9.05pm, and today I ate soup and a potato with some butter - yes, it is in the diet - and then lots of water. I had a huge test at morning tea when I visited Bridgette who had made her yummy little cupcakes with fairy floss on the top. I could hardly look at them, and I got through ok. I had some black coffee at her house, mainly to be sociable, but also I couldn't resist the smell of it - I just wanted it, like a crazy addict. Then at lunch I had more soup, which is just a ton of vegies, some Liptons onion soup mix, and water. It is pretty good actually and very filling. Afternoon went by, i did some singing practice, worked on a song, did my gym walk for 30 minutes and got Lenny off the bus. Dinner I had soup again, and bok choi with cauliflower, cooked in garlic and a teensy bit of oyster sauce. I didn't tell Michael about the oyster sauce.....

Now I feel pretty good, I definitely feel lighter but as we have no scales I am not tempted to jump on at the drop of a hat.
More of this excitement tomorrow, which is a fruit and vege day with plenty more soup, which I have in the freezer. Tomorrow I am going into Michaels work, to organise a SINGPASS, which I need in order to do the compulsory test for getting a full time maid. And also Lee Hwa will help me with the paper work for setting up my Song Dynasty business here. lenny has an excursion to waterworld in the morning which will be madly exciting for him.

Pulau Ubin - the first visit

2008-08-20T06:46:00.000-07:00

I've been enchanted by the idea of Pulau Ubin. According to the guide books it is just the way all of Singapore used to be, rustic and simple. So ofcourse anything labelled rustic and I am hooked.
The other Saturday we were sitting around at home. Michael was falling asleep in front of the TV and Lenny was watching it. It didn't look like anyone was going anywhere fast. but I needed some onions so got ready to walk to the shop. WHen I announced I was going, suddenly everyone wanted to go. So we went - and found ourselves in a taxi going to Changi Village - with a very interesting taxi driver who told us about the Hungry Ghost Festival.
We then went down to the jetty and had to wait for another few people before the requisite 12 allowed the boat to leave. It was a gorgeous evening - sun setting on one side and the full fat moon rising on the other. The boat was old and noisy, and it was a quick 15 minute trip across to the island. Smoke was wafting off the island as the chinese burned incense and paper to appease the hungry ghosts.
Bicycle shops, small fish restaurants, funny little shops, a small temple - more a makeshift shack really - and surprisingly a large stage was set up, and soon a full chinese opera was in mid flight. We stomped into the temple like a couple of left footed bulls, and lit our incense - they wouldnt let us burn our paper money, I think they were nervous we might burn the place down. A man in a blue shirt explained to me wearily (another bunch of boorish foreigners) that we had bought too much offering stuff and we only needed to burn 3 sticks of incense at a time.

We ate fresh fish, green chinese vegies with garlic, and a delisious fried rice at an outdoor restaurant, and watched the opera, which was being drowned out by the shrill auction through cheap amps.

I really love this place, and I look forward to going back and staying soon. There were dogs, and whacky shops, and cranky locals around, and I'm sure it will be interesting.
Came home on the boat again, wandered through Changi Village for a short while, then caught another taxi home.

Exploring Singapore in August

2008-08-20T06:14:00.000-07:00

We are really feeling much more settled now. Lenny still loves going to school, he never wants to miss Mr Ng's bus trip. I talk to the teachers and they are so happy with him. They say he is very settled there now and is very helpful, and is great with the other kids.

Here are some new photos. Lenny and his friends Ursula, Emily, Felix, Thomas and Murray. We try to see each other at least once a week.

Photo of Lenny at Terminal 3 at Changi Airport - one day we took Michael to the airport and then Lenny and I took the new monorail over to terminal 3, which was a great little adventure. It is huge and glass and marble and very grand and I only ever want to fly Singapore Airlines now! Lenny eating special fish at Changi Village on a quiet Monday. Leny loved the restaurant because it had old (really old) computer games.

Here is a photo of our driveway being dug up - it is incredibly loud here at the moment, with 3 guys on jackhammers - they call it hacking here, which is about right. Like everywhere else in Singapore, the old is being knocked down and replaced. Luckily, we live in one of the few remaining 'older style' large apartment blocks.

We are really feeling much more settled now. Lenny still loves going to school, he never wants to miss Mr Ng's bus trip. I talk to the teachers and they are so happy with him. They say he is very settled there now and is very helpful, and is great with the other kids.

A few more recent photos

2008-08-01T06:26:00.000-07:00

This is our kitchen at our apartment.

New Photos

2008-08-01T06:15:00.000-07:00

Here are some new photos of our life here. there seems to be a gecko living in our house somewhere, but at least we do not have snakes or monkeys like some people. Every now and then our resident gecko lets out an almighty squawk from somewhere in the house.
Right now michael is in Mumbai, on his first trip to india. He loves it, brings out the adventurer in him. i get these excited text messages from him telling me about what he has seen, how the rain is pouring down and they are driving through the streets of Mumbai. It will not be the last time he or we go to India.
Lenny is very well, and loves going to school now - never complains about getting on the bus, and when I pick him up he is full of beans. Here is a photo of him getting onto the bus.

here are the latest photos!!!

2008-06-17T01:04:00.000-07:00

Singapore weather in June

2008-06-12T05:04:00.000-07:00

Things are looking a lot better since my last blog, thank goodness! My mum and dad have been here since last Monday, and are right now on their way home to Sydney. it probably wasn't the best trip they have ever had, since we are a bit all over the shop and Lenny has been channeling Mr Cranky so has not been the most marvellous company. but we managed to do some sightseeing. Let me think......the local shopping centre, the park, the swimming pool, a bike ride by the river, chicken rice down the road. I think they went to a few interesting places on their own, but Lenny is totally anti sightseeing right now. he is totally into watching Disney channel, playing Professor Fizzwhistle on the computer, playing with Emily from 602, buying lollies from the 711, playing with his ever growing train set...and that is about it.

When we first moved here we thought we would stay here at Fraser Place Apartments for a few months and then find a more permanent place. But we have managed to find something sooner than expected - I think we had a pretty good Real Estate Agent - because we have found a good apartment that on second viewing we realised was a great apartment, and we move in on Tuesday 1 July. It is a 3 bedroom and study, really spacious and cool, balconies off every room, so we get a lovely breeze in the afternoons. it is on the 5th Floor, so at the level of the trees, and it feels a bit like a tree house. The grounds are fantastic, lots of room, bike tracks, a great pool, tennis courts, squash courts, a gym overlooking the pool- forgive me my dear friends, but it is quite a resort. mind you, most of the expat apartments are like that here, and I guess that is considered one of the perks. (Rowena, I noticed there is a Saatchi & Saatchi here in Singapore.....!)

We have been looking at furniture and our newest best friend Mimi the interior designer has been helping us out with suggestions. When we are in I'll show you around. Meanwhile here are 2 photos, one of the study and one of the main lounge. Also a couple of the grounds.

here are some photos of mum and dad's visit. We went to East Coast Park with our new friends Caroline and kids Emily, Thomas and Charlie. Lenny and Emily get on really well, and meeting them has been a real bonus for me. They are doing pretty much the same as us in terms of moving here, finding a house, going through the maid thing, so Caroline and I are a little mini support group.

This week Lenny has started a camp activity where he goes off in the morning and I pick him up at 3. He comes home hot and exhausted but so far is having fun.

Michael is off to Korea and Beijing tonight, Lenny will be mighty cranky about that piece of news, but he is back on Friday night. On Friday, my friends Alsison and Bella arrive for a few days. It's a pity we are not quite in our new place for them, but we will have fun here.

Janet and Mozart friend!

2008-06-01T03:48:00.000-07:00

more photos

2008-05-26T06:14:00.000-07:00

Adjusting.....

2008-05-26T05:53:00.000-07:00

A bad week in Singapore

2008-05-26T05:17:00.000-07:00

Annoying is the word to describe Singapore today. It is really just me, having a bad few days, arguing with Michael, crying a lot and just feeling generally pretty hopeless and like I have wasted my life. It was only today that I realised (duhhh) that I was terribly premenstrual, and it really got to me, combined with heat and frustration and general kind of boredom combined with trying to learn how to live in Singapore in a few minutes. I get so impatient, and when I go down, we all go down.
Alison wrote a comment asking why I had used the name jano! Well, it is actually the name my mum and Michael both use, so I thought I'd use it for this blog. But youse can all call me Janet.
I took Lenny to judo class today,at the Holland Club, which was full of tall, gorgeous blond Dutch women and their beautiful children. He loved it, and I met a woman called Surita from Kenya whose son also started judo today. So maybe I've made a friend. She lives in Arcadia (yes...) which she said is really lovely, near lots of rainforest, and really quiet.
I dunno what to think about this expat thing. Maybe you might have some comments to help me. I had some romantic idea of living here in SINGAPORE - somehow mixing in the cultures and living close to the heartlands (areas where locals live). 90% of Singaporeans live in HBD flats (Housing Board) and they are pretty ugly. Expats who are well paid mainly live in private apartment blocks which really are like a resort - pools, gyms, and the full time helper or maid who lives in a small room near the kitchen. it is easy here to only mix with expats - and like minded expats in fact - send the kids to British schools, or Australia schools, or dutch, swedish, japanese etc, and shop in areas that look like a slightly Asian Mosman. I find myself wanting a bit of both - the luxury of a big apartment with all the amenities, as well as the liveliness of the street and the locals. In Tokyo it is not like this - expats live in areas that are up market generally, but full of Japanese people and there is never any doubt that you are in Japan!
Anyway, there are my few bad says, and I guess I'll have many more. I am not in love with Singapore like I was in Tokyo, from the first day really. I had moments in Tokyo where I literally fell in love with something - the way the shopkeeper processed my order in Tokyu Hands, the gentle and kind way someone talked to Lenny, kids menus and dishes in the most fancy restaurants, kids going to school in their little hats, laughing at a joke with a taxi driver. And on and on. It's rough here in Singapore....'boy, was your name?' screeches the cleaner to Lenny, who just yells in response. But I have had a few moments where I love things and it sure is funny as hell!

2008-05-13T23:57:00.000-07:00

Singapore

2008-05-13T23:40:00.000-07:00

Hello my friends

This is my special blog for close friends so I can go on about stuff just to you. We have another blog on mac.com which is more for general consumption. I am new to this blog business so bear with me while I figure it all out.

Today it is pouring rain in Singapore. It is lovely, a relief from the heat. Lenny and I went to visit the 6th school, and it was really lovely, just close by, Montessori local school, he could go from 1pm to 5pm every day. Then if I could get a babysitter 3 days a week I might actually get some time for myself and I MIGHT be able to resurrect my ailing career, such as it was.

However, I have to get through school holidays which start next week for one month.

Let me try and end this and I will add more very soon. I have so much to tell you! Singapore is really funny, and there are always lots of funny little things that happen every day.

Not sure how to send photos here.

Please send me comments any old time.

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Sydney in 2008 - the first post

2007-09-09T20:47:00.000-07:00

Listening right now to Ben Folds Five and there wacky pop, Oh I wanna write like this!
So, this is my first blog, which I have set up to document the move from Sydney to Tokyo, and then to keep in touch with my friends and family around the world.
Today is Monday, and Lenny is at school, Yilpi is doing her music exam for the HSC, and Michael is in town having meetings.
I am recovering from a songwriting gig I played at last night which was amateur hour and I spent most of the night wondering why I was there. I was shaken.
But I'm over it now, after debriefing with Eleanor and deciding the show must go on and we will continue to write kick arse songs. Even if we are over 16.
Actually it was my birthday on Saturday.
I will write again later when my head is not full of this musical craziness!