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Published: June 29th 2009
Chinese Bar - The Beginning
See the beer in the background - yet you were still meant to wait for the waitress to come and pour it for you!Hello again folks! Feels like its been a long action packed week. Not sure that there is lots to tell b/c I'm just not going to talk about the day to day grind of work...its going well of course, and I've settled into a routine...morning train ride in on the amazing public trans system of Singapore -air conditioned, frequent, cheap, clean ... the discipline clearly enforced ... $500 if you get caught drinking water or eating food on the train. Can you imagine London trying that? its only people drinking water that keeps them alive down there!! Lunch is always good local food - though I'm now told by one of the ladies in the office that I can't eat that stuff every day or I'll get fat -she was being very polite there ;-) I'm gonna dedicate a whole blog to the food of Singapore so I'll leave that for now.
We went out last weekend to a local Singaporean/Chinese bar were they were giving away free beer to anyone who could stack 25 135ml cans of Asahi up in a tower - of course a challenge like that simply must be attempted - and I'm proud to say
My go
Check out the architecural flourish on this one! we passed with flying colours...in fact, formy follow-up tower (after the formal victory) I added an architectura flourish that I'm quite proud of (see the photos!) Anyway to put a negative on a fabulous night, my phone fell out of my pocket in the taxi home and so I now have almost nobodies phone number anymore...doh! Thats one way to settle into a new home anyway! At least in Singapore, all it takes is a quick trip to the 7-11 to get a replacement phone and with pay as you go there is no contract or anything to deal with...very convenient for dumb-asses like me....
Week 2 of work came and went (another crazy week of me speaking 8 hours a day, they seem to happen all the time now) and I was ready for a last-minute solo trip to indonesia where I could lay in the sun, read my book, swim and basically not speak to anyone. Bintan, Indonesia was a fairly obvious choice as I could get there in less than an hour by ferry. I had hoped to do a bit of diving but courtesy of some false (or out of date if you listen to
their story) advertising, that wasn't going to be possible...never mind, when I arrived I was asked to 'take a seat over there, sir' and felt like I was in trouble...but it turned out that, whether b/c of my complaining about the scuba or simply b/c the hotel was over-booked, I was upgraded to the next hotel down the road. It turned out to be an amazing bit of luck as the place that they put me was up there with the nicest beach resorts I've ever stayed at.
Now I've previously learned what a weird feeling you have on the first night in an upscale beach resort on your own. You definitely experience that same moment of insecurity as you do during those first few moments of doing many traditionally group/couple type activities - be it going to a movie (nobody notices) or dinner at a non-fast food restaurant (leave your book at home and enjoy the meal) - but it soon passes and you are left to realise just how lucky you are to be in such a place - not to mention the relief you feel when you realise that you can still genuinely enjoy your own
company! I layed around in the sun, did lots of swimming and finished a book there that I definitely recommend to you all. Its called 'Then We Came to the End' by Joshua Ferris (he's only 1 year older than me..yikes!) Its a debut novel and its not only funny and deals with office life that would be familiar to most of you reading, but also it is set in Chicago - has lovely, vivid descriptions of the city and even has a couple of shout-outs to my home town - Oak Park (as an example of the suburban ideal no less!).
Anyway the weekend was lovely but to say I've been to Indonesia after a weekend like that is sort of like saying that you've been to Mexico after only visiting Cancun. I had french fries and a chicken burger for the first time since I left London but they also had an amazing beachfront and an all you can eat BBQ featuring lots of amazing, spicy food (and some rather cheesy singers belting out classic 1970s love songs). Actually Bintan and Cancun do have a lot in common and I wouldn't be surprised at all if that
The Owner loves this game
Yes this guy gave us free beer because of our stacking skills is the model of development they are going for. Hey I like Cancun and I like Bintan...shoot me!For the first time since I arrived here, though, I can see he allure of a non-touristy city break...that could possibly have something to do with the extremely pink skin I have even after liberal application of 50SPF sunscreen - man that equatorial sun is rough.
Another week is about to begin now - its a short week as I'm taking Friday off to head to east Malaysia - to the place I mentioned in my last entry, Kuching. I'll try to get some good pictures of me with Orangutans for that one!
Oh last but not least, I have to mention Michael Jackson - if you aren't in the middle of nowhere like me, you're probably sick of the stories of his unexpected and unfortunate passing. I only recently re-discovered my appreciation for all the music of his that I grew up listening to (that fold out LP of Thriller with Michael and the tiger is still so clear in my memory its weird and who can forget his song in 'Free to Be...you and me!') His was an amazing
career, sadly cut short.
I hope you this note finds you all well and is mildly entertaining as a read. If you've received an email of this getting published its because I added you as a 'Subscriber' to the blog. I promise not to get offended if you unsubscribe - just doing what I can to get the blog's readership stats up!
Have a great week everyone and I hope to hear from you all soon! 😊
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Susan
non-member comment
It cracks me up to no end...
that much of your blog is taken up with musings on food and drink! Really enjoying reading the updates, keep them coming and I do hope you are well.