Independence day

The honorary consul invited local estonians to his restaurant on the 24th to celebrate Estonian independence day. It was a great little party - just under 20 people, quite a colorful bunch. A few young girls who work in restaurants, a few bank, IT people, students etc. All in all an adventurous bunch, well travelled and enthusiastic. We found a few families with kids as well, even same age, so looking forward to a play date on Sunday. Also met finally the girl that my hairdresser has been talking about, however she had only been to him once. Just to prove the good fantasy of hairdressers because my impression from him was that she is a regular. And just last week a neighbor had given me a card from an estonian girl who works as a restaurant manager. She was there as well. 

Hopefully there will be some more regular get-togethers as the group got into quite a good mood and great relaxed atmosphere - well wine was flowing and we had a few shots of vodka to toast the Republic. 

The restaurant is very nice - an old colonial black-and-white house that has been renovated really nicely in fabulous garden setting with ponds and paths between the different seating areas. It is just tucked away from the main traffic and a bit hard to find so it doesn't get any passers by clients, just people who know about it. Which might be a bit hard in this economic climate. But hopefully it can keep going. It was just awarded the best new restaurant title recently.

Yesterday we had an event of the century - a rainbow! For some reason rainbows are extremely rare in Singapore and it caused a lot of excitement on the condo in the evening. For many kids it was the first time they saw one. 

Sorry, I have become such a bad writer, just so busy suddenly...

Robert works every day now and I have to entertain the kids on the weekends as well. Have been to the zoo again and everybody had a great time. On the weekend before that Robert had taken a day off and we planned to go to Pulau Ubin which is the last unspoilt island on the north coast with bicycle tracks and mangroves and wetlands to explore. Unfortunately Karl was not well so nothing came of it. Then as a minimum program we decided to go out for lunch and that turned the unlucky day into a catastrophic day - went to an italian and probably 15 minutes after leaving the restaurant as soon as I got home I was so violently sick like never before. Had to use all my willpower not to be sick in the lift with a pregnant neighbor. There was something wrong with my fish obviously because Raoul had had a few bites from it and was sick later as well. So much for a long awaited day off. I guess now we will have to wait for the next chance when the rig is finished and project all done.

Meanwhile I have become an addict of Bikram yoga. The manager at the yoga centre agreed to change my membership from the general one to Bikram and I have been going there a few times every week now. It is fantastic exercise - you have to work really hard and because of the heat sweat like on a treadmill. The first half of the class really feels like an intense cardio workout. Very tricky all the balancing and trying to contract every muscle and pull and push all at the same time. Second part is a bit more relaxing between the floor postures but in every posture you still work with every muscle very hard. It is really rewarding, afterwards feels like you have had a real proper workout but at the same time it gives you a strange "high", quite different from the normal post-gym adrenaline rush. So I'll go 3 times this week! Each instructor has a slightly different style and different tips and details, so really good.

Chinese new year

The Chingay parade (pictures below) was probably the closest we got to celebrating the Chinese new year although it is huge here and very much present everywhere you go. The parade was great - fantastic costumes, floats, special effects with smoke and fire. All very colorful just like Singapore itself with its many different cultures, most of which were in the parade with their costumes, music and dances. The dragon on one of the photos was spectacular - dotted with smoking incense sticks and fire spitting men walking around it. Very fierce. Our highlight was the Korean display as our taekwondo school took part. The boys were so excited to see their coaches and Karl said he wants to join next time so that he can wear this cool headband. He was very good at collecting all the stuff the paraders were giving out - leaflets, fans and sweets of course. Obviously as I explained with the photos the parade is a celebration on the Chinese new year and Chingay means masquerade in Hokkien. There is no connection to a gay parade whatsoever as homosexuality is forbidden here (although existing of course undercover) and carries prison sentence.

Apart from that the kids have had cny concerts at school and have been practicing some of the songs we hear in every shop these days. Beatrice was the lion's head in their performance, unfortunately the boys school didn't invite parents but we have seen some of the dance moves and heard the songs here. Also some neighbors have been kind and invited us to try their new year goodies like pineapple tarts and barbequed pork etc. And the kids have received quite a few of the famous red packets - hong bao's - with a few dollar notes. There are no presents at chinese new year, just money. Locals spend a lot of time with families eating and gambling and it all takes about 4 weeks - 2 before and 2 after the new years day. All the auspicious foods like raw fish and seafood go up in price before the holidays and restaurants cash in properly as well. On the new years eve it is apparently good to keep the children up late - the later they stay up the longer their parents live. We did not quite manage to follow that idea, should have gone to Chinatown for some excitement together with 200 000 Singaporeans. But as Robert has to get up 5.30 every morning late nights mingling with crowds are not really high on the priority list.

Now I am rushing off to my second class of Bikram yoga - 90 minutes in 40 degrees C. The first class last week was very good although I was quite nervous and didn't know what was going to happen. See how it goes today.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Sungei Buloh