Christmas... really?

It really doesn't feel like Christmas is in a couple of weeks, even though there are enough reminders around the place. Everywhere you go, you hear christmas music, the lights and decorations are everywhere - so I can only put it down to the heat.

I'm as ready as I'll ever be.... all presents bought and everyone has been accounted for. Everything has to be lugged over and back in our suitcases. Z and I leave this saturday morning to celebrate christmas in Brisbane with both our families - under one roof. C will join us on the 23rd December. C's parents, his sister and her children are coming to stay at chez Kellaway. We've done it previously and it works quite well. We'll be 16 for lunch on Christmas Day. C is cooking the famous Martha Stewart Honey baked ham with pears and cranberries.... yum, yum! C's family will stay for 5 days before driving back south during which time we'll swim, eat and swim. Mum and Dad will take C's parents for a couple of day trips.

Z has been asking me if Santa really exists. I can see she wants to believe in him, but she's picked up too many clues that it may not be so ie. how come santa uses the same wrapping paper as us? (stupid mum!). She wrote him a letter very late this year requesting some presents but mostly to let him know we don't have a chimney here or in Brisbane. It was very cute. I suggested Z advise Santa that we'll leave the balcony door open.

On another note - C and I went this morning to have the H1N1 vaccine and as of last week, it has now been approved for children. The child vaccine is in two parts, with two vaccines - each separated by a month. Z's appointment for her first vaccine is for wednesday afternoon.

A voyage of discovery

With some friends, I have been discovering some very unusual and interesting places in Singpore.

'Fairs' are big here - particularly the Christmas Fairs. These are mostly expat stall holders who sell beautiful things at a Fair which is held in the Ballrooms of various hotels in town. They are huge. There are approx. 70 - 80 stall holders selling anything from jewellery to christmas cards, hand made indonesian batik to chinese antiques. It's fun. Have to admit, I've bought a few things - and so has mum! I took mum to a fair the day after they arrived and she came home with bedspread!

With my friend Narelle, who in attempt to show me around Singapore - has discovered some new places herself; we head off the beaten path. Firstly I needed more crockery, so she took me to a warehouse in the back of nowhere, where you had to mix and match your own plates, bowls etc, that is after you scraped off the dust! It was amazing. After a couple of hours, we'd pieced together a really pretty set serving 10 places - I got decorative platters, plates, bowls, side plates. At the cashier, she told us they were closing down, so it was buy one plate, get 3 free! So my dinner set for 10 people cost me $25 SGD (18chf).

Another recent discovering was a place called the Pottery Jungle (and they weren't kidding). This place was in the jungle and while we were looking around the warehouse, we noticed a couple of monkeys also checking out the merchandise. I have never seen so much pottery in all my life. Can't say we liked most of it, but it was pretty interesting. They had plates, bowls, vases (some were taller than me), outdoor pots - you name it. I fell in love with a stool - yep, a stool made of pottery which came home with me. It has a chinese poem carved into it. I like it so much I think I'm going to go back and get another.

Another great find are the Singapore walks. They are guided walks around hot spots of Singapore. With mum and dad, we did the 'Arab area'. Totally fascinating. We saw a building built by a group of chinese billionaires totally for their folly - with a 15 storey high wine cellar where one has to suspend in a harness from the ceiling to get a bottle of wine. We also heard about the early royalty, about the Peranakans (Chinese traders who sheltered in Singapore during the monsoons and married the local Malaysians). Every day of the week you can take a guided tour of a different part of Singapore. I've only done one area, but Dad who enjoyed them so much, has also done the tours of 'Little India' and 'Chinatown'. I must do more.....

Christmas lights

Every year the main shopping hub of Singapore (Orchard Road) is decorated for Christmas. The last time I saw them was over 25 years ago, when a girlfriend and I crazily drove from Singapore to Penang. I'm glad to say the decorations are as spectacular now as they were then. I'm sorry to say my photography doesn't do it justice. Down at Tanglin Mall, I've heard they even make snow for an outdoor display twice per night, every night.