Images from India

India was a different place to visit.  The training was being held at a hotel near the office in Gurgaon, which is a satellite city of Delhi.  Think of it like being in Geelong.  Gurgaon has been "developed" in the last 10 years or so from farmlands into an IT and business hub, as an alternative to Bangalore.  It is home to many shiny glass and steel office buildings and shopping malls, there to service the thousands of call center workers and IT staff.  Outside the privately developed malls, however, are pot-holed roads, dust, dirt, crowds and noise.  It was the epitome of contrasts/juxtaposition between old and new, rich and poor.  I personally found my first experiences of India interesting, but not particularly endearing.  The traffic was definitely crazy with constant honking of horns and no real adherence to concepts such as lanes or indicators.

Andy was also in Gurgaon with us for a few days and it's always fun to hang out with him.  Although he did lead one of my team members astray by taking him out Geocaching all day Wednesday.  I also had to educate my team member that, for future reference, if you're going to sneak off from work and go geocaching with Andy, don't ask your boss' permission!  I of course gave him my approval, hopeful that Andy might help him loosen up a little.

I did enjoy a visit on our last day to the Red Fort in Delhi which is a 400 year old army fort and palace. It was very beautiful in the setting sun.  Getting there was a challenge, given that first, we told our driver we wanted to go to the "Old Fort" (a different fort) and it gradually became apparent that we were heading somewhere else.  Then the driver stopped several times to ask for directions before heading in the wrong direction down a narrow street around a large mosque.  It was definitely the scenic route, as the street front shops progressed from live chickens in cages, to large fish on boards (with buzzing flies) and goats heads, and then to car parts and workshops for cars, auto rickshaws, bikes and motorbikes.  It was crowded and somewhat chaotic.

After a quick tour of the Red Fort with my colleagues Wai Chee, Mok and Michelle, we headed to a market spot called Dilli Hatt (more wrong turns and the driver calling his boss for directions) where we enjoyed some cheap and tasty Indian naan bread and curries before heading to the airport and back to Singapore.

Just passing through

At 6am this morning I returned home from my first work-sponsored trip to Melbourne.  I spent the week delivering an "onboarding" training class to new hires who have joined the HP Software team, teaching them about our software solutions.  It was great to catch up with some family while in Melbourne although I was quite busy with work dinners on three of my six nights.  For the start of March, Melbourne was very green and it was definitely on the cold side.  I was quite happy to walk out of the airport this morning back into the heat and humidity of Singapore.  I think I'm definitely a warm-weather person.  Tomorrow afternoon I head off for my first trip to India.  I am heading to Delhi where we are running our onboarding class again.  I'm looking forward to experiencing a new and exotic location and adding to my count of countries visited.

High on life

It's our 15th wedding anniversary tomorrow but Matt's skipped town so we celebrated early. We had a night in a funky little hotel in our new neighbourhood of Tiong Bahru. We dined at Stellar Restaurant which had amazing food and also magnificent views from the rooftop bar. The kids went to our friends, the Fittlers, for a sleepover and apparently had a junior masterchef competition and watched Sound of Music - so I think we all had a fun night.

In the morning Cynthia brought the girls over to Tiong Bahru and we all went to look at the apartment. Mostly I think we are excited, a little nervous about where everything will go but I presume we will have some creative solutions. Did lots of measuring so hopefully we can work out what goes where.

Matt left for Australia on Saturday night and the girls and I went for a walk around MacRitchie on Sunday. This time MacRitchie wasn't flooded so it only took 3 hours to do the 11km rather than 5 hours like last time. The girls made me take before and after pictures of them at the walk but I think they look pretty fresh in both. We treated ourselves to massages for our tired legs and we are already planning our next long walk.

We're Moving...

Our first two years in Singapore are about to end and we are all keen to continue our expat life.  The breaking news this week is that we are moving to a new condo at the start of April.  With the end of our two year lease at Newton Gems, we were faced with a significant rent increase which, along with the construction site next door, spurred us to look for something new.  Lucinda and I spent Thursday afternoon being shown different apartments by our agent Deanna and we choose the third one we saw.  This is pretty good going given that some people will view 20-30 apartments or even more when house hunting.  We will be moving to The Regency at Tiong Bahru at the start of April, just in time for visits from Hannah and the Huddarts.

The selling factors of the new place are that it has 4 bedrooms, great balconies and nice views from level 13. It is also quite a bit closer to work and about 1km closer to school. It's on the green MRT line and only 3 stops from Raffles Place (CBD) although the station is a bit further to walk - about 800m.  The two big balconies are at either end of the living room and provide additional living space and can be opened up to allow the breeze to flow through.  The bedrooms, maids room and yard area are a bit smaller than Newton Gems, so we may need to do a bit of adjusting to fit everything in.  Guests will get their own en suite.  If you are interested, here is a link to the floor plan.

Here are a few photos of the place.

Cheering and Chingay

This weekend was a busy one. After spending all morning cheering on Alice and Felicity and the rest of Avondale Swim Team at the International Schools Swimming Carnival, we had a quiet afternoon (ie parents napped while kids watched TV) before heading out to Chingay. Chingay is a big parade and a part of the Chinese New Year Celebrations. It is held in the pit straight area of the Formula One course and I really wasn't sure what to expect. Chingay is truly spectacular with different floats from community groups, Singaporean companies, tourist attractions and also other countries. The street was full of performers, acrobats and dancers. The costumes were fantastic and the fireworks, firecrackers, streamers, clouds of ticker tape and lantern balloons all made for an amazing atmosphere . We didn't get home until midnight.

On Sunday the girls and I saw the Gruffalo (thanks to my boss Julie who was double-booked so she gave me the tickets) It was a dramatic production of the children's picture book and very funny - an excellent way to keep two very tired girls entertained.

How our camera broke

It all began when our friends Rachel and Mark went on holiday.  Actually, you could say it started three years ago when Buckley our dog was trying to get a ball from under the couch.  Or maybe it started when we bought a new dog.  Let's stick with Rachel and Mark going on holiday and note for background purposes of the story that the underneath lining of our couch is all torn, on account of Buckley having ripped it with his claws.

Anyway. Rachel, Mark, Lily and Holly live in our condo and have a pet hamster named Harriet.  They were heading off on holiday for a week and were all prepared to leave Harriet behind in their apartment.  Harriet lives in a hamster mansion with easily a week's supply of food and water on hand.  "Oh, we'll look after Harriet", said Jackie.  Jackie and Dave live upstairs with their kids Harrison and Lilia.  Rachel wasn't worried about Harriet needing to be looked after but was happy to facilitate some pet-sitting enjoyment.  And so Harriet moved into level 24.

After a few days a problem began to emerge.  Dave was having an allergic reaction to the hamster and this came up in discussion between Jackie and Lucinda.  "We'll take her", exclaimed Lucinda, "we'd love to have Harriet!".  This was closely followed by, "although, we are known to kill off hamsters...".  Seeing a solution to Dave's sore eyes, Jackie was not about to be put off by some urban legends used to frighten generations of hamster children. Harriet and mansion were promptly delivered to the Bertram residence.

On Thursday morning we were enjoying Day 1 of Chinese New Year with no work and no school.  Dad was napping, Mum was cooking scrambled eggs and Felicity was in the study.  Alice decided to take some photos of Harriet sitting on the lounge room floor.  After placing Harriet on the floor, Alice picked up the camera ready to take some wildlife snaps.  Harriet, perhaps sensing an opportunity, promptly ran under the couch, then up the torn lining, before disappearing inside.

As the ensuing drama unfolded, the couch was upended, hands were waved in distress, people ran in different directions, eggs were still cooking, how to explain to Rachel the sequence of events leading to the demise of her hamster was contemplated, the complete under-lining of the couch was cut away and silence was called for as we listened for sounds to 1) indicate that Harriet was still inside the couch and 2) give us an idea of where in the couch she was.

The hamster story ended happily when we located and retrieved Harriet from inside the backing of the couch.  Harriet was returned to her lodgings, the couch lining was taped up and the couch righted back on to its legs.  And the camera?  It turns out it was on the floor, still on with the lens sticking out, right under the path of the upturning couch.  The force of the blow struck right on the lens, crushing the metal and bending it out of shape.  Time for a new camera.

A taste of Durian

Felicity went off the Universal Studios today for a birthday party so Alice had her devoted parents to herself. We decided to make her dreams come true and take her to a Durian Shop. Alice was in her wonderland. She's begged us to take for about a year to Simply Durian after first trying it at a market. Up until now we had avoided this moment. We spent a small fortune on the delicacy known as "The King of Fruits"and then took it to a nearby park to eat. We all had a taste. Alice had about a quarter of the fruit before we convinced her to stop or she might make herself sick. Matt and I had a mouthful each. Durians have a bad reputation for smelling so pungent they are banned from taxis and public transport - some liken the smell to gym socks with a hint of stale vomit. Yes the smell is overwhelming, however the texture is pleasantly creamy like custard, the taste is strong and flavoursome ...and you do get value for money. Nine hours after eating it I can still taste it and I believe I can still smell it...