Cool

Today was a beautiful day weather wise. It was sunny but couldn't have been above 75 degrees and there was a nice breeze all day. I know that the weather may be an odd thing to blog about but days like this don't happen often here in Singapore. A day without sweating is a day to take notice of and to get out and enjoy. Too bad for me that I had to work most of the day so was stuck inside. But I did enjoy a leisurely walk home from the bus this evening and headed right back out again.

We should be heading into the hottest months of the year with July and August. I was here briefly in late August last year and it just seemed hot and humid so am not sure how bad it really is. I personally will hope for many more days like today.

On a completely different note, I got a really cute card from my mom today. I just love getting mail! (I know, I know...I am not proud but the mailbox has been empty for too many days in a row.)

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Settled in

Yesterday was a long and productive day. I am proud to say I am officially unpacked and settled in to the apartment. I still have to hang pictures on the walls so no photos until that is complete. I plan on doing that next weekend so shouldn't be long now.

The unpacking wasn't too horrible since I didn't bring a ton of stuff over. Instead, it took longer for me to decide where I wanted things to live in the apartment. I started out very conservatively and then realized that I have 3 bedrooms and 3 closets with just 1 person living here. Why not occupy all of them? So, I have done just that. I will have to rearrange a little when Alan comes for his extended visit but otherwise am going to enjoy the sprawl.

I also had to make a bunch of runs to the store to get extension cords and bath mats and other things. It has been so long since I settled in to a new place that I keep finding things that I have forgotten. For example, I finally bought a broom on Saturday but when I was sweeping up the apartment yesterday I realized I didn't buy a dustpan. Also, I have no windex to wash the windows and mirrors. And I have no coasters for the tables. I'm sure the next month will be one with lots of discoveries like that but thankfully I seem to have remembered all of the big and important things.

After all of the unpacking and organizing yesterday, I had my first official house guest. My friend Sonya came over for dinner. I made her Alan's yummy chicken chili recipe and she seemed to enjoy it (I even sent her home with some). We stayed up a bit late for a school night but it was fun to have somebody over and to entertain.

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Lucy

I FINALLY got a picture of my local kitty Lucy. I see her every couple of days but never seem to have my camera on me when she is out. I got lucky this afternoon and had my blackberry with me so got a shot of her. Not a great one but at least you can see how cute she is. In return for the photo I had to pet her for a bit but I am not complaining.

I am feeling much better today. Still a bit tired and sound congested but the worst of it seems to have passed. I am always amazed what a difference a day can make in how you feel.

Most of my day consisted of running errands. I made an IKEA run, a speciality grocery store run, and an electronics store run. Am having a friend over tomorrow night and am going to make chili for her so had to get the ingredients (hence the speciality grocery store) and had to get a crock pot and a phone (hence the electronics store). I needed to get canned beans and frozen corn for the chili. Something you'd think that every grocery store would carry but neither seem to be to prominent in Asian cooking so had to head a bit out of my way. On the plus side, they had Heinz Chili Sauce so will be able to make grape jelly meatballs (if only I head remembered to buy frozen meatballs at IKEA).

I'm guessing it seems a bit odd that I went to an electronics store to buy a crock pot. They sell them in the department stores but they are super expensive there. I instead went to BEST since they sell every type of small and large appliance. The crock pots were a bit pricey so I ended up buying mine at the Carre Fore store downstairs. Carre Fore is the closest thing to Target or Wal Mart here. Headed back upstairs to the BEST and got myself a phone so now I'll be a bit more comfortable on my late night telecons.

Tonight am heading out to dinner after a Skype date with my pal Janelle (and her parents Dave and Michelle) and a brief video chat with Alan.

Hope you have as productive of a Saturday as I did.

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A sniffle a day keeps the blogger away

Sorry I've been absent for a few days. Wednesday afternoon I started to come down with what has turned out to be an icky head cold. I sound a heck of a lot worse than I feel but have been taking it easy at home the past two days. I have slept quite a bit and have been drinking tons and tons of fluids. I think (fingers crossed) that I am on the mend and am hoping to have a full weekend ahead of me. We shall see...

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Ouch

This weekend I finally joined a gym here in Singapore. Have been meaning to for quite some time but as you know from my travel updates you know that I haven't been here much lately. It seemed silly to me to pay the money knowing that I wasn't going to be able to go. Now that I have limited travel on my agenda for the coming months I decided it was finally time.

The gym is about a 10 minute walk from my place which is a nice warm up before starting whatever workout I will end up doing. I went this morning for the first time and took a weight lifting class that is called Body Pump. A friend of mine used to teach this and I always used to joke with her that Pump your Rump was a more appropriate name. This morning I have to say that it really was a pump your rump class...having not been to the gym in far too long I opted to take it a bit easy...but am still feeling a bit sore tonight...hence the ouch.

The gym here is set up like most gyms in the US. This one is relatively new so is quite nice. Lots of equipment and a few different rooms for the group classes. There is a nice mix of locals and expats so didn't feel out of place at all.

One thing that was odd is that it was pretty empty at 7am this morning. Singaporeans don't seem to do too much before 9 or 10 am. The local coffee shops don't open until 7:30 am and most restaurants that serve food don't open until 8:30 or 9:00 am. That is quite different from the US where lots of places open at 6:00 am or shortly thereafter.

The other thing that was different at the gym was that most things are in the metric system. I have gotten used to knowing kph versus mph but haven't yet figured out the weights. Guess that I'll have to look it up since the weights are also a bit different in size. Seems to be the simple things that get me!

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Delivery Day

Today was sea shipment delivery day. The moving company arrived promptly at 9:30 am and started moving things in immediately. Everything arrived intact with just one minor crack in my desk - nothing major. There were 5 guys from the delivery company who carried everything up to my apartment and unpacked. All in all, the move was an incredibly easy process.

The remainder of the day has been one of IKEA table and chair assembly and endless loads of laundry. I have just one more side table to assemble but that will wait for another day because I am just pooped. I still have a bunch of things to put away and rearrange but again...will have to wait for another day.

Currently, am sitting on my sofa...with my feet on the coffee table...watching some TV... enjoying a glass of wine and some cheese and crackers.

Just in case you were curious why I have been so excited to get my furniture, below are some pictures of my living room.

BEFORE:
AFTER:

Lots more photos to come of the finished apartment but right now am just going to relax...in comfort.

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Seatmates and monsters and jetlag...oh my!

I made it home yesterday without any issues. Apparently when you are 'flagged in the system' they don't make a fuss for you to leave the country. I did hesitate a bit during the immigration bit in Singapore but am properly registered and have a green card to prove it. The officer did actually examine my green card (first time I've seen this happen) but I'm thinking that was just coincidence.

Friday night I went out to dinner with one of my employees and his wife. We've been out once before and they are sweet couple and are expecting their first child. They took me down to Darling Harbour and we ate at a seafood restaurant called Nick's. I had John Dory fish which was a very pleasant white fish. All very simple dishes but they focused on the fish and didn't try and do too much with them. The dinner was tasty and the conversation and company was even better.

Saturday morning brought an early start to the day with a 6am departure to the airport. The flight was fully booked so had a older couple sitting next to me. They were from outside of Mumbai, India and I have the feeling they haven't traveled on planes much. Every so often the gentleman would lean over and ask me why his TV screen was black or how to recline the seat. They were just so sweet that I spent the time explaining how to use the different things and helping them find movies, etc. When we were leaving the airplane the woman told me it was a 'pleasant journey' because of my being with them. Of course, I helped them find their next gate before heading to baggage claim. I so often have annoying people sit next to me it was kind of fun to have such nice and truly genuine seatmates.

Ah...have to back up a bit to explain the monsters. So, earlier in the week I saw a Facebook post from a friend who was up until 3am with his young son. I asked if it was monsters again and he confirmed. I replied and offered for them to send the monsters my way and I'd be sure to have them stay in Australia. They spent a bit of time looking at the world map and he took me up on the offer. Thankfully, for his sake and not the sake of the kids in Australia, I 'saw' two monsters being questioned by the police that night on my walk home. Had a note this morning that so far so good - they just discuss a bit of world geography prior to going to bed and he's been sleeping through the night. Am glad I was able to help!

Anyway, back to Singapore yesterday afternoon. I made it home around 3pm and decided I'd delay the unpacking until a bit later in the day. Instead, I sat down to watch a bit of television...6 hours later I woke up at 10 pm...whoops! I haven't felt too terribly jet-lagged this past week probably because I was on the go so much. I think that yesterday my body just finally decided that "nope...not doing anything else until you rest" which was fine by me. I woke up this morning to a complete disaster of open suitcases and laundry to be done and a kitchen with no food. All things that will be easily resolved throughout today and likely more easily because I am so well rested.

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Miles

Today is my first day without visiting an airport or being on an airplane in 5 days. I woke up this morning and realized I didn't have to repack my suitcase and had a huge smile on my face. It has been an exhausting week of travel and in case you have forgotten, here is where I've been:

Sat, 6/13
Durham, NC to Detroit, MI - 494 miles
Detroit, MI to Tokyo, Japan - 6,409 miles
Sun, 6/14
Tokyo, Japan to Singapore - 3,311 miles
Mon, 6/15
Singapore to Auckland, New Zealand - 5,231 miles
Tues, 6/16
Auckland, New Zealand to Sydney, Australia - 1,340 miles
Sydney, Australia to Adelaide, Australia - 723 miles
Wed, 6/17
Adelaide, Australia to Sydney, Australia - 723 miles

That is a grand total of 18,231 miles in 5 days. (To give you a little perspective, the US is approximately 3,000 miles between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans.)

Thankfully I have 2 days on the ground here in Sydney and am not due back at the airport until Saturday morning. The return flight to Singapore will log in at 3,918 miles. When my feet hit the ground in Singapore I will have traveled just over 22,000 miles in 8 days time. I think I should get a trophy or something for that.

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Sydney Customs

Yet another airport blog from an airport - this time Sydney in transit to Adelaide. Am beginning to find airplanes a bit more familiar than my apartment in Singapore.

I made it to Auckland last night without much trouble. It was a 10 hour flight and thankfully it wasn't very full so I was able to have a center row all to myself. This allowed me to lie down (sort of) and sleep most of the way from Singapore. I arrived at 11 pm and promptly fell asleep at the hotel. This morning I was in the Auckland office early for a bunch of meetings. I left the office at 1:30 pm to head back to the airport.

As mentioned above, I am currently sitting in the Sydney airport...this almost did not happen. As I was talking with the nice lady at customs, she informed me that I am traveling under a tourist visa and not a business visa. I was promptly attended to by yet another customs officer and taken to 'the area' and asked to have a seat while she disappeared through a door.

This was all quite alarming to me for a couple of reasons: a) I am a rule follower and would never intentionally try and enter a country illegally (when entering the US I always tick yes to the food question when I only have chocolate...they always tell me I don't have to but chocolate is food) & b) I have been to Australia 3-4 times under this same visa without any previous problems.

I only waited for about 5 minutes and she came out from behind the special door. She once again told me that what I am doing is quite serious and should not be taken lightly. I apologized profusely and told her I had no idea and would resolve it immediately (which incidentally cannot be resolved immediately - I have to wait until I am no longer on Australian soil). She was letting me in the country 'this time' but that I must apply for the business visa prior to entering the country again. She also told me that I have been 'flagged' in their system. I believe this was meant to be a bit of a threat and believe me, I have taken it as one. How the heck did I, the total rule follower (again, I don't jaywalk in Singapore because it is illegal) end up being flagged in the system with the possibility of being rejected entry into a country???

I guess this was bound to happen at some point. The last time I had customs issues was in Canada of all places. That time it was just due to the woman thinking I made a snarky comment when it was really just an innocent mistake on my part. This time it was because I allowed Qantas Airlines to complete my visa application on my behalf and because I was honest in filling out the entry form and ticked business. Regardless, I have already emailed my travel department to give them notice that I will need a new visa for Australia. It will be applied for on Monday - my first business day off of Australian soil.

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Another airport blog

I made it back to Singapore...only to head to my apartment, unpack, repack, shower, nap, and head back to the airport. By the time my flight to Auckland leaves Changi International Airport I will have been physically on the ground in Singapore for less than 8 hours.

After 31 hours of travel from Durham to Singapore - limited time on the ground in Singapore - I am now heading to Auckland, New Zealand which is another 10 hour flight. I think by this evening I will be able to say I have spent more than enough time on planes. What is funny is I will be on planes Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday as well...what can you do but laugh?

The Durham to Singapore flights were actually not too bad if you take the length out of them. I flew NWA which they constantly remind you is now a part of Delta. I had good flight attendants the entire way. The Detroit to Tokyo flight was especially frustrating to the flight attendants. Nobody seemed to be paying attention to their questions and probably 3/4 of the plane didn't speak English as their first language. I was in the last row of my section and by the time the flight attendant got to me I'd just smile and tell her my selection without her having to ask. Each time she thanked me profusely for just being polite and knowing what I want. I am just sometimes amazed at how horrible the flight crews get treated...remember to be nice to them...sometimes you can get free wine!

Am now sitting in the Singapore Airlines Krisflyer lounge waiting to head to my gate. This morning they had cheese omelets for breakfast which was nice. Having been gone for 2 weeks there is no food in my apartment so I am especially thankful for being able to be in the club.

Next post from New Zealand...

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Tokyo - Narita International Airport

Am in Tokyo on a pay internet computer and the clock is steadily ticking down...2 minutes left.

Just wanted to blog from Tokyo so hello...wish I knew how to say it in Japanese.

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Last day in Durham

Today is my last day in Durham until December. It is actually pretty sad when I think about it...6 months seems like a very long time without seeing my kitties, my home, my friends, and all of the other creature comforts of my home town. I don't mention Alan because we'll video chat as well as meet in Hawaii in September. Then I think about all of the service men and women who are deployed to Iraq or the Middle East or wherever they are away from home. I at least have the luxury of taking vacation when I want to and being able to afford a flight home if I really need to get here.

Regardless of the circumstance, missing the creature comforts of home is tough. You forget how nice it is to be surrounded by people who care about you. You forget about how great it is to come home to your cats or dogs who love you unconditionally. You forget forget about how nice it is to shop for clothes and shoes that are easily obtainable in your size...to watch the sports that you love...to read about silly local news...or watch the local news channels find crazy stories to fill the slow news days...to buy popsicles at the grocery store...to drink great coffee...to have a cocktail that costs less than $20...to have a need to watch the weather because it changes from day-to-day...to just feel like you belong.

Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying this experience. I have the luxury of living in a completely different country and culture and learn all sorts of things. I have yet to really explore the area and am very much looking forward to it. As great as that is nothing beats being at home and I will miss it greatly.

Until next time Durham...

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Planning

I am not at all a pre-packer. I am always amazed and a bit in awe of people who pack for trips a few days before they leave. I typically pack the morning of my trip unless I am leaving at some unearthly early hour of the morning...then it happens the night before because sleep always wins. Things change a bit when you won't be back to your house for about 6 months in addition to traveling half-way around the world.

I have a bunch of random items that I have purchased here to take back with me. I've done this either because it is cheaper (hello...dish rack) or because they are things I cannot get in Singapore. Because of all of these random items I have started the planning stage of packing. I have both suitcases out on our spare bed and have begun gathering all of my things on the bed as well.

It is a random collection of items (TSA is going to wonder what I am doing) some of which include:

• clothes & shoes - I brought with me for the trip
• some new clothes - because if you are over 5'4" and weigh more than 110 lbs you need to buy them here
• dish rack - which I don't think needs any further explanation
• wrenches - so I can put my IKEA purchased items together - I forgot these last trip
• spices - much cheaper here
• travel sized saline solution - I cannot find this in Singapore
• coffee - because I love our local coffee shop and Asia has horrible, horrible coffee
• power voltage converter - this was $150 cheaper here and is much needed in order to brew all the coffee
  

In addition to starting the packing process I also have all sorts of electronic items charging around the house. I am also downloading the latest season of Bones from iTunes. The Singaporean government does not allow downloads of music, movies, or TV shows from iTunes because they consider it a form of pirating. Therefore, I have to download enough things to get me through to September when I'll be back on US soil.

The full packing won't actually happen until tomorrow afternoon but in the meantime...lots of planning, charging, and downloading.

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Happy Birthday Jameson

So, it's 9:30 pm and this almost got away from me but thankfully I didn't. Happy birthday to my wonderful nephew Jameson! He turns one year old today...woohoo! Hopefully he got our gift in time for the big day.Thanks to my mom for texting me a fairly recent picture of him. He's getting bigger by the day.

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Poofy white clouds

The past couple of days in Durham have been warm, sunny, with blue skies and big white clouds. I like to call these poofy white clouds. They are not puffy...that is more of a bloated, accidental size. Poofy (pronounced poo-fee) is the type of cloud that is large and float through the sky. These are the clouds that make for a perfect afternoon of laying on the grass watching them float by and guessing what shapes they make.

A funny side store is that I have always called them poofy instead of puffy. I was out playing tennis with my friend Stacie last year and the sky was full of them so we took a moment to comment on what a few looked like. I made a comment about how much I liked poofy clouds and she looked at me and laughed. She said, you mean puffy? I said, no poofy...and that is when I realized to most everyone else they are puffy.

I have always liked poofy white clouds, ever since I was a young kid. The reason I'm blogging about them is because you don't get to see them in Singapore. The sky in Singapore is typically either completely blue or completely cloud covered. At night you can get some interesting clouds but they aren't usually big and poofy.

So, I'll ask a favor of you - the next time you see poofy white clouds, stop for a moment and enjoy them...maybe even try and see if you can see a picture in one of them...then smile!

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A Day in Durham

Today Alan and I spent the day together. We had no plans when we woke up this morning but ended up having a great day together.

We began the day with coffee and a handful of errands. We got back to the house mid-morning and were deciding what to do with ourselves. We both recently got new cameras so we decided to spend the day around Durham shooting pictures of some of my favorite places. My goal is to make a collage of all of the pictures so that I can have them with me in Singapore.

I started with a bunch of pictures of the cats and also of the house and things around the house. The cats were not too enthused with my new-found photography hobby.


The next stop was at our favorite coffee shop, Bean Traders. We hang out there with our friends on Saturday and Sunday mornings. They have the best tasting coffee I have ever tasted (roasted locally) and the owners are great.


Next we headed out of Durham for a bit and got some pictures at the RBC Center in Raleigh. Another favorite place for us since this is where the Carolina Hurricanes play hockey. Alan has been the benefactor of our season tickets this past year but I was able to get to a handful of games including one playoff game.

We then headed to our favorite Thai restaurant which is in Cary. For those of you in the Triangle area, Yum Yum Thai is the bomb! I tried Noodles in the Jungle for the first time and was not disappointed.
After lunch we headed to observation area at the RDU airport. I wouldn't necessarily call this one of my favorite places. However, I spend quite a bit of time flying to and from it and they have a great observation area. Alan was able to get some better photos since we were kind of far from the planes but I managed to get a good one of him taking those shots.

After the airport we headed back to Durham. Had another errand to run and then headed up to campus of Duke University. It is quite a beautiful campus and there have been a number of changes since the last time we explored it. We did make a stop so I could get a picture of Cameron Indoor Stadium where the Duke Bluedevils play basketball.

Next stop was downtown Durham. I must admit that we spend less time in the newly revitalized downtown Durham area but when I get back from Singapore we will head there more frequently. There are a ton of amazing old buildings many of which have been renovated. Alan and I are particularly fond of the old tobacco warehouses and buildings. Durham was the main production city for Lucky Strike cigarettes for many, many years.

A couple of pictures of the Bull City and the Durham Bull...

It was a hot day in Durham and we were walking around in the afternoon sun. Naturally, this required us to get a treat. If you are near the first bull pictured above look around and you'll see a great little shop called LocoPops. They make delicious popsicles from fresh ingredients. You may recall from a previous post that I can't get popsicles in Singapore so I jumped at the chance to have a fresh one. I had a lingonberry and pear flavored one and Alan had a mighty mojito flavored one.

We also popped into the speakeasy at Tylers Taproom in the Tobacco Complex for a beer. I had my favorite Michigan brewed beer, Oberon from the tap. Yummy...

To end our day we found a great new bakery at the Streets at Southpoint. It is called French Market Bakery and is behind Gap on the upper level. If you like cupcakes you need to run...not walk to them...holy cow are they tasty! And why not support another local business?

Hope your Monday was as fun as ours!

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Wedding Fun

Last night we went to the wedding of my good friends Stacie and Michael. It was at an outdoor venue and was just beautiful. The weather in NC in June tends to be pretty hot but thankfully yesterday it was only around 75-80 degrees with a nice breeze. Of course, Stacie was a stunning bride and the ceremony was lovely. Just thought I'd share a few of the pics from the evening.



The sky was overcast during the actual ceremony but cleared up as the evening went on. It was pretty close to a full moon last night and Alan managed to get this great shot of it reflecting into the lake.








Stacie and Mike during the best man and maid of honor toasts. I think Stacie looks so cute in this shot.




And finally, the self-portrait...I love the look on Alan's face...

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Chili and cats

Today, Alan taught me how to make chicken chili. It certainly took me a lot longer to cut and chop things up than it does Alan but I think the end result will be just as tasty. It has been fun learning some of the dishes that are my favorites that I have never made. I'm lucky to have such a great cook for a husband and now I'm learning some of his simpler dishes. If any of you come to visit me in Singapore I'll have to cook up one of these dishes for you (keep in mind there are only a handful at the moment).










I realized today that for as much time as I talk about my cats I haven't posted any pics of them. So, above left is Fez and on the bottom right is Fresnel. They have been keeping me company during my visit home.

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Update - Dish Rack

I have a dish rack!!! And I did NOT pay $36 for it!

Went to Target the other day to buy some staple items for the house here in Durham and picked up my coveted dish rack. There was a selection of many sizes, shapes, and colors and they were all under $12 each. I opted for a large, black dish rack. In addition, I also got the matching plastic drain/drip pan to go under the dish rack to keep the water from pooling on the counter. Both of them together cost me...wait for it...$15!

Am tempted to buy a bunch of dish racks and smuggle them in to Singapore to sell on the expat black market. Surely there are other American and Canadians who are outraged over the high price of dish racks in Singapore. But I won't...

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Commercials

The past two days I haven't been feeling that great so have spent some time resting on the couch and watching TV. First of all, the TV here has much more variety than in Singapore. Most of the TV shows in Singapore are American shows that are a season or two behind the US. This makes perfect sense because so much of TV is driven in the US. The thing that is a bit odd to me is that there are no local TV channels in Singapore. As a result, everything is from satellite and there are no local commercials.

I am not a fan of commercials...in fact, we have had Tivo for many years and I enjoy being able to fast forward through them. Having not seen local commercials for awhile I am actually having some fun watching them. Commercials for fast food, mobile phones, local restaurants, cereal, automobiles, etc. Who knew I'd miss seeing all of these? Okay, maybe I don't miss them but am having fun watching them.

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