I went to a fish spa!

Do you know what a fish spa is? Well, I didn't until recently. It's a place where you sit with your feet in a fish tank and have Doctor fish nibble at your feet and legs removing all the dead skin! They're very popular in Singapore at the moment - a bit of a fad, I think. I thought it was pretty stupid, until my friend Sylvie suggested we try it.... Ohh, why not I thought and so off we went.

The little fish tank.

We had our legs sprayed with a vinegar like substance to start before entering the room. There were 3 tanks, one with little Doctor fish, a tank with bigger Doctor fish, and one with BIG fish. We had 30 minutes to try them all, so we naturally started with the small fish. As soon as you put your feet into the tank, the fish swarm around you and start nibbling straight away. It's a sensation between a light tickle and a light vibration. The two of us couldn't stop laughing - luckily we were the only people there.

The bigger fish tank

After 10 mins, we migrated to the bigger fish and got a good giggle out of the stronger vibration sensation they made. And then the larger fish - it was akin to someone rubbing a scrub on your feet and legs.... wierd. I must admit it works - my feet are very smooth.

The BIG fish tank

It was all good fun - and I'm going to take Zoe and Craig there, just for the fun of it.

Aboriginal Art

Now who would have thought Zoe would learn about Aboriginal art in Singapore.... not me! The french school! took each class of Zoe's year to an Art Gallery who specialise in Aboriginal paintings and artwork. At the gallery, the children were introduced to Aboriginal art, and told how the painting often told a story. Different dot patterns resembled different things - water holes, emus, dingos, women, kangaroos, etc - similar to a language. The children were then invited to create their own 'story' in paint using the Aboriginal symbols. These 'works of art' were then displayed at the Gallery for a week for the families to come and visit. This is a picture of Zoe and her artwork.

The teachers will pick the paintings up from the gallery next week and give them to the children to bring home. What a brilliant excursion!

Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve

Saturday, we were Craigless, (he's in Australia), so we girls set off to explore the Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve - a fancy name mangrove mudflats. We had a choice of 3 different walks - all along a raised wooden boardwalk, of 3kms, 5kms or 7kms. We chose the 3km walk and set off to discover the wetlands wildlife. Well, before we had walked 20 metres, we saw jumping fish, spitting fish (true! - they spit water at low flying airborne creatures to knock them into the water, so they then eat them), 2 otters and a crocodile. Zoe was so excited - as usual it was she who spotted all these creatures, and then spent the next minute trying to point out the creatures to her blind mother.

We continued around the boardwalk, and it wasn't long before we discovered two large prehistoric like monitor lizards.... they were sunning themselves on the mudbank. We spotted quite a few more of these wierd creatures as we continued the walk, along with a mudskipper, dragonflies, damselflies, and a squirrel. It was a really interesting morning. By the end of the walk, we were wet with persperation - it was so humid... and hot.

On the way home, we dropped in to a Goat dairy - we missed the milking, but we got to view the goats, and Zoe had her first taste of goats milk. She didn't like it much.

There is so much to see and do in Singapore - I'm working my way through the guide book. I'm positive I won't have reached the end of the book before we leave!

Visitors and counting down......

Things are starting to speed up - less than 4 months left in Singapore before we leave. Craig has been travelling a LOT - he was away most of the last two weeks in Geneva then Mumbai. He spent two days with us and has now left for a week in Sydney. We have 3 big trips planned between now and July, and family coming to visit in May and June. I've already inscribed Zoe into school in Collonges sous Saleve starting September and Craig and I are revisiting all the insurance policies and paperwork we have to reinstigate ...... UGH.

The three day Easter weekend (we extended to 4 days), we spent in Penang, Malaysia with Diane & Chloe Di Gemma. We all had a lot of fun and more than a few laughs. We did a bit of sightseeing, lots of eating, shopping and swimming. The Easter Bunny even managed to make it to Penang, bringing the girls Easter eggs (thanks Diane!). The resort was very nice, right on Batu Ferringhi Beach. The main town - Georgetown is UNESCO Heritage listed, but it was SO hot, our 'sightseeing' entailed being peddled by a 60 something year old man with few teeth for 2 hours around the main sights of Georgetown in a tri-shaw ( like a rickshaw). Our guy kept telling us 'we' were the king of the road - all the cars and buses would get out of our way.... I can tell you the cars and buses in Penang don't see it the same way, and cries of terror escaped my lips on more than one occasion. Anyway, we live to tell the tale.

The night market ran along the main road in front of our hotel each night and sold all sorts of things. Chloe had her hard-earned pocket money to spend and was an inspirational bargainer. I learned how to bargain from a 9 year old!

All in all, it was a super break, made even better by seeing and spending time with Diane and Chloe in Singapore and Penang.