Greetings all,

I hope you have all had a memorable and fun festive season. Our thoughts are with our family and friends, and I apologise for not being in touch sooner. Thank you heaps to all of those who sent greetings, cards and best wishes for the season.

Kafil and I have had a different Christmas/ New Year over here. I was feeling a little glum and homesick prior to Christmas , as there was not the usual array of catch ups, our pre Christmas Barbecue, or seeing family. I also missed finishing up at school, with concerts parties tears and laughs that I have become accustomed to over more recent Christmas seasons.

That said we have had a lovely Christmas. Our new friends Peter and Kirsten hosted a lovely Christmas lunch, with 4 couples and a a few children. We had a feast spending hours enjoying the camaraderie, the food the wine', sitting under the big fans on the veranda.

We also went to a wedding, a huge affair at Fort Canning Park. Carmen is one of my five a side soccer mates. Her husband Raj, is an enthusiastic unofficial coach of the team. Raj had about 200+ friends and family present whilst Carmen who is from Australia originally had a much more demure group. The wedding was very colorful as Raj's side put on their best Sari's and finery. The wedding was in a huge fancy marquee and the food was fabulous, beautiful tasty and a plentiful array of Indian dishes. I had my first vanilla vodka, but must say I favour the citrus flavoured variety. Carmen is now absent from the team as she goes to Australia for a second reception and South Africa for a proper honey moon.

Later that night Kirsten arrived from Melbourne it was great to have a familiar face holidaying with us. Kafil, Kirsten and I flew to KL for a week. Kuala Lumpur is a beautiful city the weather is slightly less stifling than here, the local people are perhaps friendlier and less reserved,and the food and shopping are cheaper and more to our taste. K&I had been in KL just four years ago, and found it a much changed place. There was a proliferation of freeways, so much more traffic and noise. Like Singapore the public transport is fantastic, we utilised the trains and monorail. We had an excursion about an hour of of the city to see some fire flies. They were beautiful, like tiny Christmas lightstwinkling in the mangroves as we drifted in a boat on the river. It was very interesting to watch the city fall away as we were driven thru suburbs and then to the rural areas. There are masses of palm plantations, being grown for the harvest of the disgusting fatty palm oil favoured for cooking in these parts of the world. We were also taken to Malawi Bukit, which was an old fortress site overlooking the sea, the place was inundated with silver leaf monkeys who obviously depend on the food brought up by the myriad of locals who delight in the monkeys antics. I loved being on high spot overlooking the sea, the monkeys however were very loud and smelly.

Kafil and I enjoyed revisiting some of our favourite spots which include the old railway station which is now a hotel. It has such a frayed elegance about it ,a real remnant from colonial KL. We sat in the cavernous dining area, having a cup of tea whilst the rain poured down outside. KL has some colorful markets too, we went to Chinatown, and to the Malay and Indian market stalls also. Chinatown is funny full of descigner rip off hand bags, tshirts watches etc. Young guys touting DVD's who cant believe we didn't want to purchase their ript copies.

We revisited the fab Butterfly Park, as I can't see too many of the vibrant enormous butterflies, that have a beautiful replica of their natrual environment to reside in. This year there was a meandering creek with loads of turtles basking on rocks and logs.

We went to a fab local Chinese restaurant which was full of locals, and whose food was superb.
Kafil enjoyed a chicken dish with bitter gourds, but I can't get my taste buds used to the bitter set of flavours. They also served an amazing lime juice, which consisted of whole small limes,sugar with ice water and a little dried salted plum. It sounds disgusting I know but the blend of lime salt and sugar, was a perfect rehydration of essential minerals after spending the day walking in the humidity. We were the only westerners in the place and despite its informality.- plastic chairs, plastic plates, some of the locals had really gone all out with there best clothing to visit this very popular eating place.

The Hotel breakfast was amazing and Kafil and I skipped eggs, and chicken bacon to enjoy the more traditional Nasi Lemak- rice chicken curry, ikan bilis and peanuts. I am sure Kirsten thought we were mad tucking down to this breakfast, but to us it was a far tastier and more exotic and interesting choice than cereal and toast we can have everyday at home.


Holiday seasons are different here, expats, fly home to visit families and friends and the streets of Singapore, fade into a slightly less hectic pace. People come and go here so quickly, I meet up with a group of women weekly to have coffee, play 10 pin bowling, have a long lunch and talk talk and talk some more about our different experiences. This week, I learnt that 2 of the group are moving on, there husbands have new postings, one to Vancouver and one to Mumbai. Such an odd collection of women, brought together by our similar circumstances of being a long way from home in a new country. This week we sat and chatted for ages, until the ferocity of the air conditioning in the pub, drove us scurrying away back into the heat of the day.


The weather has been less humid this last week, with a prevailing breeze which others have said they have never experienced before whilst living in Singapore. It is a welcome relief to the usual heat and humidity, and meant I can put on clothes that are less light and cool than ;my usual uniform.

I am looking to find work in a school, part time would suit, I have found that I really miss the goings on of students and employees, and hope to get some work soon. I t means changing my visa from a dependent to ...... I will have to visit the Ministry of Manpower to ascertain what I need to do. MoM cracks me up as a name, it sounds so straight out of an old Science fiction story.

Kafil and I ventured to Bukit Timah Reserve on the weekend. It has the highest spot in Singapore a measly 163 metre hill. There is a wide paved path to the top, but we opted to circumnavigate the hill using the huge steps on the alternative path. The reserve has the last remnant of forest in Singapore, huge trees, bamboo and rattan. We saw only one bird a brilliant aqua, small kingfisher, but we heard many. We also saw a large iguana, and monkeys. It was great to be in a less urban environment. I really miss the wide open spaces, bush and sea of Victoria. It was a very hot excursion, we spend around 3 hours walking mostly up hill in the heat of the day.

Chinese New Year is approaching and it is huge here. the main part of the celebrations are for 4 days next weekend with public holidays on the 26 and 27th of January. There are spectacular displays of red and gold adorning the city and the local streets. Singapore has a predominantly Chinese population, and they embrace the rituals and celebrations of the Year of the Ox.

We will head down to Chinatown, and enjoy the color and fireworks next weekend. Lots of expats flee town this weekend but we decided to stay and check out the festivities.

Hope you all have a great long weekend, and get to spend time with families or friends.

Best wishes
Kerri