A surprise supper

This Friday we had plans for a low key supper in Little India with my new work buddy Sonya.

            Her boozy lunch slightly got in the way of these plans, and so instead of heading back for a quiet evening I went out to join her until Nick finished up work, and then we were going to slip away for dinner on our own.

            Somehow, but the most unlikely of coincidence, minutes after Nick arrived, he had to pop out for another work call, and whilst standing in a very small, ridiculously quiet side road where runners go to do laps because so few people are ever on the road, he bumped straight into Kate and Duncan.

            Kate and Duncan live in Hong Kong, and were passing through Singapore for just a few hours before their connecting flight home from a holiday in Lankawi. Rather than telling anyone that they were in town, they opted to have a quiet dinner, just the two of them.

Dinner at Lukes

Both our plans went out the window, and after a couple of quick catch up drinks we merged our solo dinner plans and had the most elaborate supper at Lukes, which was a real treat.

            Sometimes it’s the nights when you are planning to do very little that turn out to be some of the best!

A rather lazy weekend

Whilst I had a lovely well-behaved weekend, Nick was out with clients on Thursday night, and the result was a very tired Nick by Friday night, so instead of doing anything too exciting or fun, we opted for a Friday night at home, with steak for supper and a new film on the TV. We’re like old people, and it’s glorious!

            Saturday was a little bit more active, but not too much! Nick was up at 6am to go up to Malaysia for a game of golf with a friend, leaving me in Singapore to fill my morning with jobs, laundry, a 10k hike with Liv and a nice coffee in the sun. By the time that Nick got home in the early afternoon we were both exhausted, and we ended up having another very early night after a quick dinner at Smokey’s before passing out (having just about managed to keep our eyes open in the taxi home).

By Sunday we were both feeling a bit more alive and kicking, which was something of a relief! I started the day at Tekka wet market, leaving Nick to prepare breakfast and coffees, ready for the minute I came through the door. There followed a lovey lazy stroll around the newest art gallery in Singapore, The National Gallery, complete with a drink at their rooftop bar and a light lunch of some shared popcorn chicken.

We rounded the weekend off with a healthy dinner (classic Sunday – I cooked, Liv came to join us and we spent a couple of hours lounging on the sofa). She left us at around 9pm, and I was fast asleep by 9:30pm.

            It’s a good job that we have a full four day weekend of nothing by eating, drinking and napping coming up. I feel like I might need it!

Thaipusam 2016

Thaipusam is a Hindu religious festival that takes place through the streets of Singapore (and a number of other cities in the region) each year. It is mostly celebrated in the Tamil month of Thai (January / February) and whilst it is a big occasion for the community, it is also a real sight to be seen! With my new camera in tow, and having seen a little bit of the festival last year, I knew that I wanted to go and try and get a few good shots, and Nick was really keen to join.

During the procession from one large temple to another, devotees (who have been preparing through cleansing and fasting throughout the previous month) participate in what’s called the Kavadi Attam (or “Burden Dance”).

This means that huge heavy structures of wood and mental and pierces mounted over the devotees, with metal rods sticking through their flesh to support them. Most of them also had skewered metal through their cheeks and tongue, and added weights hanging from hooks off their skin.      

            Some other devotees have long chains hooked into their skin, which they then use to drag shrines along behind them, with friends and family helping to keep the chains from dragging on the ground or tangling.

Nick and I had been to the festival before, and we knew what to expect, but we didn’t last for very long before it all became a bit overwhelming and we had to escape the heat and intensity for the safety of home, air-conditioning and tea.

            It’s always amazing to see the celebrations and festivals of other communities in such amazing colour and bustle, but it’s also a real eye opener. It wasn’t the sort of thing that you might see on your average weekend in the UK.

Two year Singaversary

It’s official, I have been living in Singapore for a full two years today! Sometimes it feels like way longer, and sometimes it feels like hardly any time at all.

I can’t believe that it was just two years ago that I packed up my life in London, threw nearly all my worldly possessions under the road in front of Debbie’s house, and I got on a plane to the other side of the world “just to see” how things would go.

           

Well that was a rather bold move at the time, but I like to think that it was a decision for the very best. Here we are, two years later, happily married and drinking cocktails for brunch in the first restaurant that we went out to dinner at when I first arrived in Singapore. Time flies!

Art and nibbles

With a Friday night dinner date set up with Mike and Tilly, we had decided to spend the evening at the Gillman Barrakcs Art After Dark event.

            Once every few months the former barracks, which now house a number of studios and galleries in the old mess halls and sleeping quarters, keeps its doors open through to midnight, and hosts a number of music and art events, with the aid of food trucks and pop up bars throughout the night.

Hiding from the rain

The intention is that people gather, look around the art and then hang around out side drinking, enjoying the music and generally soaking up the atmosphere, and so this was our plan for Friday night.

            When it rained for the entire duration of Friday I did recommend changing the plan, butt the others were adamant that it was going to be a great night out again, so we stuck with it, and after spending 40 minutes waiting for a taxi we made our way about an hour out of town to the event.

Four hours in, we could finally venture outside again

Sadly, the rain didn’t stop. The taxi drive was about twice the duration that it should have been. The others were over an hour late turning up. The restaurant that we booked to eat in thanks to the rain had horrible service. All in all, what could have been a great evening just didn’t pan out quite right. We still had a good time, and it’s always great to catch up with Mike and Tilly, but I don’t think that I will be in a rush to get back out there for one of their Art After Dark events again any time soon.