A quiet day at home

We got up early this morning - before 7 - and decided to walk to the Botanical Gardens before it got too hot. It is amazing how busy the city is that early in the morning. The park was full of people doing tai chi and the Singaporean take on 'keep fit', which did not look very strenuous. There was a lot of half-hearted arm waving and the instructor had a small tape recorder playing a jazzed up, 'modern' version of Beethoven's 9th (choral) - I think Beethoven would be turning in his grave. There were lots of other people out and about, as well as the ubiquitous maids walking huge, hairy, panting dogs. It is a lovely time of day, before the heat gets too much.

We have spent the rest of the day just chilling. We are really enjoying spending time in our flat. We said we would go out for dinner tonight but have opted for an Ottolenghi special instead. What is great about living here is the range of Asian veggies, spices and carbs available in the shops so we can experiment with some very different dishes. And the local produce is, obviously, a lot cheaper than 'western' food. We will be trying a Malay 'sambal' this evening - it's supposed to be very spicy!

When I am not busy getting distracted, I am also trying to prepare for a grammar lesson that I am teaching on Wednesday - the difference between the future perfect and future continuous tenses. Answers on a postcard please! I am now teaching upper intermediate English learners who are apparently a lot more challenging than my lovely pre-intermediate expat ladies. They ask you tricky questions and expect on-the-spot answers. Pesky students! So it requires a lot more preparation - as the teacher, I am the middle(wo)man between the grammar book and the class. So that requires me to understand the grammar myself and then put it into simple terms so that they understand, whilst ensuring that my lessons are fun, engaging and 'student-centred'. Not a lot to ask really.

Family time

The family have been here a week and a bit. I've been busy having so many guests to look after - just keeping us in the staples (bread, milk and butter) is nearly a full-time job let alone everything else. The washing machine has been going non-stop as has the aircon. But practicalities aside, they are really enjoying themselves and love the facilities on offer in our condo, the pool and tennis courts in particular. Apart a bit of background noise from the building site across the way, they could be in paradise.

We all went to Raffles for afternoon tea on Sunday afternoon which I liked much more than I was expecting to. It is almost certainly a clip-joint, but the cakes and sandwiches were delicious (I miss sandwiches) and the atmosphere, with a harp being gently plucked in the background, very pleasant. We then retired to the Raffles Long Bar, famous for the Singapore Sling and Tim, his mum and brother and I sat wiling away the last few hours of daylight talking about home and a lot of other things besides. They put bowls of peanuts on your table here and you are supposed to eat them and then throw the shells on the floor. I really liked the atmosphere in the Long Bar and could imagine what it would have been like in the colonial times. Although it was overrun with tourists, it didn't have that touristy feel to it. I'm not sure about Singapore Slings though - far too sweet for my liking.

Mother and son

Unruly nephew added to the picture

In the long bar with the Phibster

Nothing like a rug to bring the room together

I have just spent a happy hour putting all my books into our two new bookshelves which were delivered this afternoon. It's like hanging out with old friends. We are also the proud owners of our first rug. As you can see, things are staring to take shape...just waiting for the new sofa to arrive!

Chick Chick Chick Chick Chicken

The last week has passed in a blur of study, socialising and Ikea furniture building (I could have paid someone to do the building for me - but where's the challenge in that?). Our visitors arrive at 10:30 tonight and I think we are almost ready. They have a mammoth journey: Northern Ireland to Dublin, Dublin to Abu Dhabi, three hours in Abu Dhabi and then on to Singapore. I am sure they are going to be extremely tired when they arrive, so we want to make sure that they can just crash and then relax for the first few days of their journey. Friends have lent us all sorts of things for my nephew, including a travel cot and lots of toys. I think he is going to have a great holiday - even if he doesn't remember it! Anyway, this is where they will be chilling out:

On the socialising front, we have been busy entertaining friends new and old, which has been fun. I decided to do a 'mid-week' roast last Wednesday (inspired by my friend Sarah), so after my course finished late, I hot-footed it to the supermarket to buy potatoes, chicken and salad. Although I am a closet vegetarian, I am not normally too squeamish around raw meat. So when I got home, I unpacked the chicken, noted that it was extremely fresh as it had been killed that day and checked its innards to see if there were any giblets I should be aware of. As I placed the bird back on the chopping board, I was dismayed to see a small, white, ghostly head (with one eye) looking up at me. Dry-heave. A moment of indecision: do I wait for Tim to deal with this (which would mean eating later) or do I pull myself together and hack it off? As I got our biggest knife and something to cover the head with, I made an immediate resolution to become a full-blown vegi, out and proud (I have since reneged on that - it was the salami pizza we ate last night, I couldn't resist). I was particularly disturbed that this ghostly head had earlier in the day had been full of feathers, running around clucking! I can't believe that something could go from alive to completely and utterly dead and plucked within a day. When he was carving, Tim kindly showed me the feet (thankfully I didn't see those when I put it in the oven), which looked like small, shrivelled grandma hands. Bleurgh.

I realise that this story shows me up to be the cosseted city girl that I am, but I guess I was just a little shocked. We don't serve our meat like that back home! I don't want to see head or feet or eyes! Two big white breasts and a couple of legs is enough for me...although I'm not sure that sounds quite right right...

Now the cleaner has been...

...I can show you a few select shots of the flat. Once my new bookcases and chest of drawers arrive next Tuesday I will be able to show you everything, no holds barred! You will see that the flat is still pretty bare, but I quite like the fact that I could do a cartwheel pretty much anywhere at the moment. We are just loving all the extra space that we have!

(the sofa in the office that we assembled on Saturday morning - we must do it more often, as it was a real bonding experience and we felt very pleased with the result).

The 'Jack and Jill' guest bathroom with two doors!

One week

It rained all day yesterday but today the sun is shining. I have spent the morning clearing boxes which has been very satisfying, but I have got to the point where we have run out of things to unpack into to, so I am going to call it a day for now. Once the Ikea delivery arrives, I am heading out on the hunt for furniture and then I have booked myself a mani/pedi as a treat later this afternoon.

I started my TEFL course on Monday and my second day was Wednesday. I'm glad it is not full-time as I think it would be more than I can handle at the moment. The rest of the week I have time to unpack, run errands, wait in for deliveries and generally sort things out. But I have enjoyed the first two days, and teaching adults is going to be a very pleasant change from the rug rats I had in London. The course is already teaching me things that would apply to my teaching practice in general and as an extra bonus, I think I might have made a couple of new friends.

Tim is so excited about having our own table and chairs that he has been inviting all the people he has met so far in Singapore and their wives to dinner. We entertained for the first time last night and it went well. I attempted my first meringue for desert which, as my Mum says, is very forgiving and it ended up in a chewy, creamy, fruity Eton mess. Just how I like it. I unpacked all my cook books this morning so for next week's guests I am going to try something a little more ambitious.

My first full week in Singapore has flown by, but we have accomplished a lot. I have had moments of feeling homesick - not having been away from home for such a long time, I kind of forgot what it felt like. But if we didn't have such wonderful family and special friends back home then I wouldn't get homesick at all, so I remind myself how lucky I am and get busy settling in and embracing this Asian adventure.