So much to say

(As all you clever fellows might have guessed this post was supposed to be ready and up on 24 May 2008)

GAAK! It's been 10 days since my last post… how did that happen?! I'll tell you how it happened, it's been a hectic 10 days, that's how it's happened and yes, not all of it was work. So here the summary:

Thus 15 May 2008 – The honeymoon time in office is over and am loving the work here (?). Dinner was another beautiful salad creation by Such devoured with cold cuts and asparagus soup (awesome stuff!). Again no pics am afraid L

Friday 16 May 2008 – Hard work junkie Cee decided to dedicate this Friday and Saturday to work on a construction work project for Habitat for Humanity. Back breaking real-deal construction work of digging pits, wheel barrowing construction materials, and hand mixing cement, among other hard working construction site things, the girls decided his hard work deserved a party. So that's what Such, Lak (a friend) and your's truly did, all in the name of Cee (while Cee was still in construction camp hehehe).

And off went the beauties to Brussel Sprouts. Have I mentioned Brussel Sprouts? No, well it's this lovely Belgian beer place on Robertson Quay (Quay pronounced "key" don't ask me why) that Such and Cee love to go to. And with good reason! The setting is alfresco, the view is of the river, the staff is very friendly (I think that's cause of Such and Cee are so outgoingly friendly) and the beer – specialty. I have never seen such a long menu for beer, man its longer than most wine lists I've seen in my life! Two tightly packed columns of an A4 sheet, that's how much the choice is. Your's truly had an beer that is brewed by monks in a romantic far-off monastery, and the others has equally exotic stuff. It was a balmy night, with lovely company and some good cheese croquets.

Saturday 17 May 2008 –

1. House hunting - Depressing
   
2. I become an official member of the bus users - Ecstatic
   

Started the day @ 9.30 with a house in Tiong Bahru. Awful! Am coming back to India. Did some retail therapy in Great World City mall to cheer self up. Lunch was courtesy Such – a lovely vegetable and pasta toss-up. Faith in humanity restored, I went the next appointment in Bukit Batok – a much better house, but a little too far from office right now and not quite hitting the note. Cheered myself up with a pedicure, in an all Chinese place, where I didn't speak any Chinese (surprise!) and they didn't speak any English. It was comic to say the least, with customers pitching in to translate both ways! That's when I decided to get more local.

First step I walked over to the bus stop to puzzle out the hitherto untried SMRT buses. After staring @ the route maps for 5 mints and projecting my famous i-really-am-lost girl look, which I am devastated to say had absolutely NO effect on any of the locals (but did attract the pity of 2-3 desis, so sweet), I got the lay of the land and the rest my dear friends is history. So to Outram Park (a little tidbid of history my friend pointed me to) it was from Bukit Batok and while the location and price of the place was great, and the building was in good condition, the flat itself was not satisfactory. From there it was another bus to the nearest point to home and a 10 min uphill trek on Killiney to get home.

Such and Cee (back after his back-breaking-in-a-totally-nice-and-bittersweet-way construction site duty) took me to Blu Jaz in Arab quarter. They both need a post dedicated to just them, and I will do that soon, so watch out for Blu Jaz (you can check out their blog for some info) and the Arab quarter. For now all I will say that the food and my large Jasmine tea hit the spot; a perfect remedy to a stressful and not-so-successful day.

Sunday 18 May 2008 – Woke up @ godforsaken 8 AM and made breakfast for me and a friend, gobbled it up and ran (read: took a taxi) to Kallang river to go learn Dragon Boating. Well it was either a wrong place or wrong time but we never found our trainer and the team. So we went cycling instead. My friend Lak, decided I should see the Central Business District, so that's where we went.

I have to say that Sunday mornings are the best time to get introduced to the CBD, it was empty and cycling, I imagine, would otherwise be a non-insurable activity around that area. Tall buildings and so many of them and so close to each other that like a rain forest floor the sun does not manage to reach the road @ places. As with most things in Singapore the buildings are built with a aesthetic eye, the hawker center in the middle of CBD is slightly more up market but with all the essential hawker center characteristics, the footpaths are wide and clean and there is a sense of understated opulence about the place. The CBD area description cannot be complete without a mention of the Fullerton Hotel. It is a colonial style impressive building occupies a pretty spot next to the river in the edge of the CBD and forms a distant background for the Merlion.

The sun was out and I hadn't cycled for a long time and not for this long, so I got home and was out like a light! Slept and slept and then woke up with Indian food hunger pangs. Rushed (via bus if you please) to Little India, packed a rice and curry meal and came home to eat with TV.

Monday 19 May 2008 – Holiday! Woke up @ 12 and Such and Cee had invited friends over for a Champagne breakfast. AWESOME breakkie consisting of the following was consumed by all of us:

1. Champagne Moet (brought by guests)
   
2. Scrambled eggs
   
3. Cold cuts – beef, chicken and salmon
   
4. Chorizo sausages
   
5. Greek salad
   
6. Freshly baked whole meal rolls, blue berry rolls, and bread with soft butter
   
7. Cheese – Old Amsterdam
   
8. Yogurt – Strawberry, Blueberry, Peach
   
9. Orange juice
   
10. Coffee/Tea

We saw Such and Cee's wedding album, saw a few familiar faces (15 yrs younger) while digesting the spread. And then to the pool (swimming) it was! Played a hectic water throw ball, did a few laps, soaked up the sun a bit and off I was to Semei. Home cooked Indian food @ Bit's place to start a three day training starting tomorrow.