Sunday Spa Day

Sunday was looking free and easy a few weeks ago. In fact, it was too free, and too easy, so with Kev also out of town at Nick’s stag, I knew that I would have a little partner in crime on a glorious free Sunday, and so I signed Jules up for a girly pamper session on Sentosa.

For my birthday this year the girls had given me money to have a little luxury spa session, and with Nick out of town and a full glorious day to fill, this seemed like the perfect time.        

            Whilst the majority of the good spas in Singapore end up costing around $800 just for a treatment or two, we managed to bag a $200 each GroupOn deal which gave us a steam room, an hour of massage and almost an hour of facial. It sounded perfect, and it was at one of the big swankie hotels too, so we knew it would live up to expectation.

            After a lazy morning we met at the beach for lunch before heading to the hotel and making the most of an hour or so by the pool. It was a little cloudy and grey today, but it was glorious being away from the busy Singapore pools, and out in a little bit of countryside.

When it came to spa time we were in a funny little shared room, where we spent two hours being pampered, pummelled, primped, moisturised and exfoliated. There was one slightly hairy moment where the clay face mask covered every inch of my face other than my nostrils, and I had a short bust of panic, but other than that it was a ridiculously relaxing afternoon.

            I returned home this evening desperate for a cup of tea, but feeling glorious.  I expect Nick back in the next two hours or so. I have a feeling that I am going to be starting this next week on a slightly more positive note than he will. Thank goodness for a public holiday this Tuesday.

Catching up with Flash

Although most of Singapore seems to have emptied out of town for the weekend, taking advantage of the Thursday free day, we were happy to discover that Flash, who has been living over in Hong Kong for the past year, was going to be in town for the weekend. He’s been over a number of times since he moved, but for some reason his trips to Singapore always seem to have clashed with our outings out of Singapore. This time we just about managed to sort out our timings though!

After a healthy start at the gym, we headed out to meet Liv and Flash for lunch at a cute little Italian place around 15 minutes away from the flat. What was supposed to be a couple of hours catching up turned into an entire day adventure with lunch, dinner, drinks, sunbathing and a little walk through Little India. It’s been strange not having Flash living in Singapore any more, but it was great to have him back, even if only temporarily! 

New buddies at Book Club

In London we had a Book Club (quickly re-named Wine Club), which brought us all together once a month for wine, nibbles, gossip, and a very small amount of book-related discussion. It was great fun, a good way to get a new group of girls together, and it forced us to at least think about books even if we didn’t get around to reading them in full every month.

            So, you can imagine my delight when I was invited to join a little Book Club out here that has been building up for the past few months. I attended my first meeting last night, and due to the short noticed, started on the back foot as I hadn’t read the book. Still, I came armed with wine (that I didn’t drink due to a very early Friday morning start) and nibbles, and loved every minute of the very relaxed, very girlie environment.

            Having just recently finished off the BBC 100 Books to Read Before You Die list I have only picked up a couple of fairly random books since then, but I have come away with a great big long list and a huge burst of inspiration to get my Kindle charged back up and ready to go! 

Welcome to the team Baby Max!

We had been waiting for news for a week or so, but when we landed in Australia for four days in the lovely spring weather we received a string of emails letting us know that the newest Porter had made his grand arrival.

            Welcome to the team Baby Max! I won’t get to Facetime or Skype until we’re back in Singapore next week, but until then I’m hoping that a flurry of photos, videos and emails will be enough to bridge the gap. Can’t wait to meet the newest, shorterPorter! 

Lunch with my new buddy

Having spent all of yesterday cooped up in a team training session (in basement meeting rooms that is starved of light and horribly depressing) I knew that I was going to be in need of something fun to power me through my Friday. I have always hated working a full day on Fridays, and living in Singapore has not changed anything there!

            This week I had plans to meet up with a new buddy at lunchtime, so I practically ran out of the office and around the sunny park to meet up with Fridah at the local food hall to grab some Japanese food as a little Friday treat.

            I met Fridah a few weeks ago at a conference that we were both attending when there was no one else vaguely interesting for us to talk to. Although we’re pretty different (Fridah is married with two children, comes from Nigeria and works at PwC), we got on really well, so when she had to leave during the conference break it seemed only right that we book in a little follow up lunch for a couple of weeks later.

            And so it was that I spent my Friday having a lovely (fairly long lunch) with a new buddy who not only was a breath of fresh air compared to my (often fairly sedate) colleagues, but she was also the kick up the butt that I needed!

            Since moving out here I have been spending a ridiculous amount of my time mooching around and achieving very little. My new buddy has children, a full time job, two successful websites, a thriving business on the side through Esty and is putting herself through night school.

            I left lunch bloated from a bad menu choice, but inspired that it’s time to get back to my good old ways. I need projects, lots of them, and a tonne more focus wouldn’t go amiss either. I’m inspired – it’s time to sort myself out, properly this time!