I'm back...and, damnit, it's bloody cold.
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Blah blah blah, yes i know, "whinging Pom" etc but, quite frankly, after two weeks in tropical Singapore (attempting not to drip sweat on anyone and everything) coming back to a raining and miserable Melbourne morning after an attack of the annoying kid on the plane, i feel fully entitled to have a whinge. Many thanks, however, to my esteemed flatmate for dragging himself out of bed at a sutiably anti-social hour of the morning to come get me, and this after having stayed up to watch England bow ungracefully out of the World Cup. A match i also missed as a result of aforementioned flight. Though it sounds like i didn't miss much. Anyway, the papers will cover England's performance in far more detail than i could ever be bothered too (one word - boring), so back to the point which is SINGAPORE!
I've always liked the saying "home is where they feed you"and, with that in mind, mum and dad definately made Singapore home for the last two weeks! With Spanish wine tastings, Chicago steak, East Coast pepper crab, English roast beef, Japanese teppanyaki, Haiwannese chicken rice, Cha sui pork, Dim sum, (Singapore's Best) Kway teow, and host of other dishes whose names i cant remember (and if i could, probably couldn't spell), i think i ate my way round part of the globe! Which makes the prospect of returning to my admittedly slightly boring home cooking even less appealing. Guess i'll ease myself into it gently... *sigh*
But Singapore is not all about the food. After all Singapore is almost synomenous with Shopping, and it was high time for some retail therapy. Mum has worked her usual magic and our new appartment rocks. Just off Orchard road, 10 mins walk from Wisma Atria and Takashimaya (see left for those that don't know the area) and an awesome view of the city. So wandering down to the shops after a leisurally morning by the pool wasn't too tough. Much fun, but damn i'd forgotten how tiring shopping in the Great Singapore Sale can be. I know, It's a hard life... And to think that in two weeks i'll be covered once again in cow shit standing in a field in the rain. And at times like this you just have to wonder why...Of course getting out of Oz means catching up with the parentals (read: getting fed and nagged, in a nice way, by mum; playing squash and watching the world cup with dad), with my gran and the extended family, and also with old friends. Went to my first fashion show at Zouk, starring not only a certain Singaporean girl (who stole the show) but also my girlfriend's brother! Singapore is small place. You can check out photos here. Sadly the free-flow whiskey-green tea and two for one jugs of house mixers contributed to a very miserable Saturday but i havn't had a killer hangover for a while now. Made me remember why i tend to drink in moderation!
We also celebrated Mum's birthday a month early... I'm still not entirely sure why but, hey, good excuse for a party and also happened to fall on my uncles's actual birthday so lots of cake all round :-) And that was just the first week.
Second week, however, saw the beginning of the Alexander Mural Project. Which then proceeded to become something very similar to work... Hmmm. Still, having not painted since i left school it was nice to see i've still retained my limited abilities! The AMP is an attempt to brighten the room of the six year old son of a friend of mums. And of course me being me has decided that the ideal design will be of a coral reef, or at least coral reef fishies. And so it began. And unfortuantly despite my efforts, it didn't finish. Which is a little annoying but i have every faith dad (and my brother) will be able to polish it off... Soon... Cos otherwise the wall is going to look a bit odd...
Despite the AMP, still managed to make it out to the new MOS on Clarke Quay, caught up with some old friends and made some new ones; a fun night and i got some much needed dancing out of my system. Realised that till this trip back i've not been a a club for over a year and a half! Somehow in Australia i never find the time...
But i'm back now, and after all that i think it's time for bed. Places to go, people to see and things to do tomorrow. The holiday is offically over. We'll see if i can convince myself of that in the next couple of weeks!
Oh, and did i mention: EXAMS ARE OVER!!! (hopefully...)