Four days in paradise

Chinese New Year means great food, fun dragon dances around all the offices and shops for a good few weeks, and a glorious four day holiday.

            As always, we made the most of our extra long lazy weekend, by heading off to Phuket to meet up with the Browns whilst they came to the end of their annual ten day holiday.

            Sunshine, coconuts, traditional fishing boats and all the good stuff! Also, I had my new camera with me, so whilst lots of the photos are pretty random, I really do enjoy playing with the camera. A little selection below for you!

Morning pool appearance 

Fishermen taking a rest 

Home for the weekend 

Making the most of a cloudy afternoon 

NB xx

Thai cooking class

Coconuts from the garden 

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!

Getting the balance back

This has been another very well behaved week for me, so far. I have decided that post-wedding I need to concentrate on not just eating cake at every meal, as amazing as that would be, but on trying to get enough balance throughout the week that by the end of the weekend I don’t feel gross and repulsive, but like I have still had a good time and plenty of chance to get out and about on adventures.

            This week has been my first proper effort, and it’s gone really rather well. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were set aside for very good behaviour, with gym sessions before and after work, and only healthy things for lunch, even when I met Jules for a catch up on Wednesday we still only went for vegan salads. Good work so far!

            Thursday was threatening to be a little bit trickier because we had a full afternoon planning session, which included lunches being ordered in, which normally means pizza for my team, but thankfully I managed to get out to the salad bar and order them all healthy food before anyone raised pizza as a suggestion, so I won one more meal along the way.

            Other than a few little lunch dates, I’ve had very little in my diary this week, so we’ve spend a little bit of time planning for some future adventures that are still to come this year.

            First up is our long weekend in Phuket over Chinese New Year next weekend. Then there’s Dubai for Erin’s wedding a few weeks afterwards, and now Hong Kong for the Easter weekend too. We have a few bits and pieces to sort before confirming a ‘glamping’ trip in Indonesia in June, and a KL adventure in May before our brief weekend at home for my birthday, but all in all, it’s starting to stack up!

            I had been worried that we would run out of holiday days before being able to do the final rounds of Asia that we need to get done before the end of the year, but judging by what we already have in the diary, I think we’re going to be ok!

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!