Training heats up

Last week I began my Oxfam Trailwalker Training in earnest. (For those of you who don't know, I was asked to join my sister-in-law Kim's team late last year after a member of her team dropped out. On April 16-17th our team of four plan to walk 100km in about 25-30 hours.) The fact I'm here in Singapore means I don't get any training on the track or in the company of the other team members but I do get to see a lot of Singapore. I did a 25km walk by myself last Monday and a 20km with my friend Jackie on Friday. Unfortunately I missed out on the team 50km training walk through Olinda on Saturday although I was glad to have missed the golfball-sized hail stones that accompanied the walk. Apparently hiding under fern fronds doesn't offer a lot of protection.

Training in Melbourne vs Training in Singapore

In Melbourne you get wet. In Singapore you get wet with sweat and that's before you even start.

In Melbourne you may need to dodge massive hailstones. In Singapore you need to dodge traffic and construction workers.

In Melbourne there are a few mountains to tackle. In Singapore there is Mount Faber which I have since renamed Mound Faber.

In Melbourne you stop at cafes for coffee. In Singapore you stop at hawkers centres for coconut water.

In Melbourne if you walk too far you may end up bored. In Singapore if you walk too far you may end up, not only bored, but across the border.

In Melbourne you rely on friends to support you with childcare, donations and encouragement. Same goes for Singapore.

All donations of any size welcome! It's a great cause. Our team is the Wayward Wanderers. To donate click here

Carnival Cheer

Last Thursday was the Athletics Carnival at Avondale. Both girls were very excited and made posters and pompoms to cheer on their house "Ghana". It was a day of good sportsmanship. Alice came first in the Year 3 Girls 100, first in the Year 3 and 4 Girls 800m and also in the 100m relay. Felicity came 4th in everything - 100m, 400m, long jump and ball throw. I was so proud of them both. Alice for blitzing the field and being a pleasant winner and Felicity for being enthusiastic about her efforts and not getting upset about missing out on a ribbon. She threw herself whole-heartedly into cheering and we all had a great morning.

On Saturday, Matt and the girls did more geocaching while I had a massage. A great time for the whole family! In the evening Genna babysat and we went out with our neighbours, Marion and Geoff Shepherd and Ruth Buckmaster to Little India for curry and samosas. Sunday we went to the National Museum which was excellent. We can highly recommend the History of Singapore exhibit. Despite being quite sceptical about whether they would have a good time, the girls were very animated and loved the special Egyptian exhibition. They did seem to race through some exhibits at record pace but considering we were in the museum for over four hours one can forgive a lack of concentration every now and again.

A weekend of celebrations

Our week with Matt away followed the usual pattern including the mandatory vomitting child (they always seem to choose a night when Matt is away to have a bout of gastro). So Alice was home on Wednesday but mostly it was a pretty smooth week. Usually if Matt is away on the weekend I like to organise a few things so that the time goes faster but this weekend it was all done for me. On Saturday we had a dragon dance and other festivities at our condo for CNY. It was a highly entertaining show and included fire breathing and throwing old vegetables around for good luck. We joined most of the condo for a swim after the show which was then followed by a birthday BBQ for our little friend Harry also at the condo. We didn't have to travel far!

Sunday was the Avondale School picnic at West Coast Park. It started at 9am for brunch because nobody wants to have a picnic at midday in Singapore. It was a beautiful park with great playgrounds -I'd like to take Matt and Buckley back there another time. Even had a handy McCafe for the essential takeaway coffee. Last night we had a skype call with Elissa and Toph to catch up on how Meg's first birthday and dedication celebrations had gone. Happy 1st Birthday for Thursday Meg! We so missed not being there with you for your party.

Above are some of the celebrations from the weekend and below are photos from one of the celebrations we missed out on....

In Transit in Hong Kong

Last Tuesday in Hanoi, I got up at 4:30am to start a long day of journeying to Hong Kong and then on to San Francisco.  I had half a day in Hong Kong between flights so I enjoyed taking the fast train into the city and then catching a bus to the top of Victoria Peak.  Some good veiws but was very chilly and also quite crowded thanks to Chinese New Year.  Like Singapore, there are a lot of Filipino maids in Hong Kong.  Also like Singapore, they enjoy their days off (Tuesday was a public holiday for CNY) and like to gather together in parks or outside the shops.  Unlike Singapore, it was only 15 degrees on Tuesday, so not quite as conducive to outdoor gatherings.  I was intrigued to see in one section of a covered walkway that groups of ladies had built little shelters out of cardboard boxes, to give them something to sit on and to block the wind.

In the US, I was attending 2 days of work meetings, held at the very scenic Mountain Winery in Saratoga.  On the edge of silicon valley (south of San Francisco) it was a very pleasant spot to be for a few days and very beautiful on a couple of mornings where we were above the fog.  While it was only a short visit to the US it was very useful for me to meet a number of people in person from the US and Europe.  On Friday afternoon I did my standard pilgrimage to Frys (think Bunnings, but for IT and Electronics) before heading to Shoreline Park where I hired a bike and went geocaching.

One thing that really struck me in the US was how much pedestrians have right of way.  If a driver even got a glimpse of me, a good 2 metres before crossing a road or driveway, they would stop and wait for me to cross.  Very different to the Singapore mentality where the drivers own the road and get quite cross if a pedestrian dares to step out in front of them!

I'm currently sitting in Hong Kong airport. I have 14 hours of flying behind me, and only 4 more to get me home again to Singapore...

Vibrant Vietnam

Vietnam was idyllic and chaotic all in one. Arriving on Wednesday night we saw Hanoi at its busiest. Motorbikes everywhere and nobody paying much attention to traffic lights. There is a talent in crossing the street. You just have to step out into the traffic and make your way across the street as the motorbikes weave around you. It's quite common to see four people on a motorbike and babies lying across the laps of drivers, held there by one hand as the driver steers with the other.

On Thursday we ventured to Halong Bay which is even more beautiful than the pictures lead you to believe. Over 200 small islands to cruise around, all with dramatic cliffs. We spent two nights aboard the Junk and there was nothing junk about it. There were seven staff onboard to six passengers so we were very well looked after. The other passengers were a good-natured couple from Switzerland, Monique and Bernard, who seemed more amused by our daughters than annoyed by them. We had some fun conversing in both French and English. We enjoyed three sea kayaking trips and the girls were both quite amazing at paddling so we just might have to investigate doing some more soon. There are several floating fishing villages dotted around the islands and it was fascinating to see how these people lived. A floating school is a part of each village.

Back in Hanoi we celebrated Lunar New Year with all the crowds and hundreds of scooters around the Hoan Kiem lake, complete with fireworks. For the next two days we explored the sights of Hanoi -a daytime walk around the lake, visited temples, got lost in back alleys, tasted the acclaimed Pha noodle dish, played at a rather tired old looking children's amusement park, had a ride on a cyclo and enjoyed a trip to the water puppet theatre. The water puppet theatre was traditionally performed by farmers in rice paddies. The puppeteers stand waist deep in water and manipulate the puppets on long bamboo sticks. It was in Vietnamese but as it was mainly actions it didn't really matter. Many of the buildings are really thin and tall which apparently goes back to the day when shops were charged taxes according to the width of the shop face. Hanoi has been called the Paris of Asia and the French influence is obvious in some of the architecture but it all needs a good scrub down if its to look anything like Paris. It was fun being there for the celebrations, and learning about the Vietnamese customs at this time, but the downside (for me anyway)was that many of the shops were closed for the new year. Might have felt a bit more like Paris if I was carrying around a few shopping bags.

Ten years ago....

Ten years ago Matt and I travelled to Singapore for the first time on our way to a five month trip around Europe with Tam and Andy. We stopped here for three days. At Christmas time Matt rummaged through our storage boxes at Mundy's Storage Haven (thanks Mum & Dad) and found me my diary of the trip. In those three days back in 2000 we took in Chinatown, Arab Street, Little India, Sentosa Island, the Night Safari, The Botannical Gardens, visited Matt's work colleague in his lavish condo, ate at Hawkers Centres, witnessed a lion dance and dined at boat quay. Basically I think we "did" Singapore's tourists spots fairly comprehensively although we skipped Orchard Rd shopping it appears. Here are a few highlights from the diaries..

Saturday 12 Feb 2000

Excerpt"The flight left a little late. Matt was treated like a celebrity, being a silver frequent flyer. The flight attendants made a special point of greeting him by name and asking whether they could do anything for him - probably they were aware how unused to economy he is."

Those were the good old days weren't they Matt? When did you last fly Business??

Sunday 13 Feb 2000

Excerpt "Back at the hotel we had a swim before heading down to an outdoor food court for alate lunch. Fried rice & Egg $3.50, Duck & Rice $3.00, 640ml Tiger Beer $6.50 Pretty cheap food!" Ten years on and prices are the same... In fact Duck & rice is often $2.50.

"This evening we had dinner with Rod and Lisa Saffin and their 2 y.o. Michelle. Rod is an Andersen Consulting Manager from Melbourne, now in Singapore. We discovered Lisa is a Korovian so we all had plenty to talk about. After an Asian meal, we went back to their condo. The place is 'huge' and costs $6,000 per month. Lovely balcony and living area." Where is this place?? I want it! Sounds like an absolute bargain!!!

Monday 14 February 2000

Excerpt "We woke up this morning very pleased that everyone was going to work in Australia while we were planning a sightseeing day in Singapore." Some might say we were appreciating our opportunity... others would call it gloating!

About the night safari "It had a real jungle amosphere. We had run for the last train back to the city but made it in plenty of time. We had a lot better luck than the guy who dropped his mobile out of the side of the night safari tram."

Tuesday 15 February

Excerpt: "We then headed to a lovely Balinese dinner at Boat Quay by the river. It was a beautiful spot before we collected our bags from the YMCA - with our packs on our back we went to get the bus for the airport and we both commented that we looked like backpackers. We had lovely refreshing showers at the Qantas Club lounge and waited for our plane to be called. We left after being delayed by a passenger who had failed to board after checking in her bags and going for a swim in the pool." Hmmm.... I'm not sure you can call yourself real backpackers when you are having showers at the Qantas Club!

Overall our first impressions of Singapore were very favourable. Probably why we were happy to say yes to this adventure....

Pictures from the big trip in 2000 (not in Singapore)

We head to Vietnam tomorrow. But that's another story...

Another Festival...

Singapore is gearing up for their biggest festival of the year - Chinese New Year. The celebrations go on for about month - much like Christmas. There are loads of red decorations everywhere and lots of oranges and pineapples as these signify gold which equals wealth and prosperity. Felicity was eager to tell me that on the morning of New Year's Day people give children a red packet which contains notes in multiples of two for good luck (and also two oranges but she was less thrilled about that). This year is the year of the tiger which symbolises respect, power and cruelty. The word on the street is that it's a good year for aggressive business opportunities, but perhaps not for a peaceful marriage or a gentle child. Apparently the hotels are booked out solid with weddings being crammed in right now before the Year of the Ox finishes (honest and steady but perhaps a tad boring) and the Year of the terrifying Tiger begins. A good omen for Richmond supporters?

On the weekend, we ventured to Chinatown which is a sea of red and bought a few decorations to get into the swing of things. The girls had their friend Flynn over for a sleepover on Saturday night - he used to live at our condo but moved out recently. Flynn is adorable and I threatened to adopt him but his parents wanted him back.