1. Started the week on an aquatic note! Singapore's favourite building-ammenity is swimming pools. Our building has four of them. So I decided, while here, why not perfect my swim strokes? I've always been only a 'freestyle' swimmer. But now want to learn a few other strokes as well. So after a little back and forth with a swimming instructor, I was all in. His name is Iceman. Now now, don't go judging around already! He's a trained swimming coach/ life guard and drives a taxi for his day job. Interesting mix, I thought! Iceman (He insists that is his name) and I took some time to understand each other's accents. His, is a very broken, Singaporean/ Chinese English one and mine, is just another regular Indian-with-some-American-twangs-kinda one. Iceman thinks he'll have me 'frog-styling' in just 4 classes (each session is 45 min to an hour long). Spending the first hour of my day in the water, has literally 'refreshed' my first week. Looking forward to being the frog that complements my baby tadpole, in a few weeks from now!
2. The other activity I plan to pursue, while here in Singapore is Dragon Boating. It is not something one hears of much in the West, so again I thought, why not pursue it while here? Let's just say I am going all contextual even in leisure!
Dragon Boating takes a few hours of training and then one signs up with a team, to go practice thrice a week. While I hope to get some super deltoids and arms at the end of this, I also hope to make new friends in the team members that I boat with. For those of you relatively unaware of what this sport entails, think the Kerala boat races. If you still don't know what I am talking about, these images should help.
I first started out thinking of going kayaking here until I discovered Dragon Boating. The team I plan to join, has a race coming up at the end of the month, after which they start enrolling new members. So sometime in April, this fever should kick-off too. Can't wait!
3. Zoe's school is now focusing on the letter 'P' this week. As per their regular lessons, all week long, they have been going to school in 'Pink' or 'Purple' and even have a 'Pyjama party' planned next week. The 'P' letter lesson culminates in a tour to a "P for Photographer's" studio at the end of next week. Her class size has now expanded to accommodate 2 more children, making it into a full class of 6 little ones. Zoe is the youngest in her class, where the oldest child is 4 years old. Together they make for an energetic, jumpy handful of kids, all immensely fond of each other! It is an absolute pleasure to watch them interact with each other, especially at the 'tours' that the school arranges for them, in which parents are invited to tag along too. I do often wonder if Zoe will already sense a feeling of being 'uprooted' when we move out of Singapore? Time will tell...
4. Our regular lunch sessions, found Khyati (my other expat friend here in Singapore, aka cute little Varnika's mommy) and me at a Mediterranean spot, this week called The Original Sin. We were thrilled at the delicious and fresh fare served here, as we spent our afternoon catching-up and announcing to each other our future travel itineraries. In what has become a weekly affair, our lunches (strictly sans-babies as we like them to be) will now stop for a few weeks, until both of us are back from our travels. Can't wait for the next one!
5. The In-laws arrived Friday evening. Hubster and I went to receive them at Changi, while Zoe stayed home with 'Tita' (Janet, our helper is called 'Tita' by Zoe. 'Tita' is Tagalog for 'Aunt'). The weekend was spent taking them to some of our favourite local restaurants. Since they've been to Singapore before, there really is not much local tourism on their agenda. So we've decided to make it into a 'food tourism' kinda trip.
Saturday brunch was at the first place on our 'food tourism' check list - our usual hangout - The Murugan Idli Shop. It doesn't fail to impress with it's softest idli's and endless chutney and sambar, that keeps refurbishing itself out of nowhere, throughout the meal. That night we took them to The Lantern Rooftop Bar at the Fullerton Hotel, where over drinks and fare we chatted away, looking out at the spectacular night-kites in the sky (These kites are lit up and make for a visual delight when seen strewn across the night sky). Detailed plans got made for their stay here with us, which ranged from Mall-shopping to Malaysia. Looking forward to all the fun!
6. Zoe turned 20 month's old this week. Since all this monthly celebration business will stop after Zoe turns 2 on July 13th, this gives me just four more opportunities to bake desserts for the 13th of each month. So this week I decided to make my own ice-cream, for the very first time ever. Of course we don't have an ice-cream maker (No unnecessary clutter in my kitchen). So I needed to employ a 'sans-ice-cream maker recipe' this time. Worked out spectacularly and now instigates me to try out all the other flavours that I have in mind. I made a Cocoa ice cream this time. The In-law's, Hubster and Tita, all loved it. The daughter though very guardedly was given only two licks of it, for fear of a sugar-rush. I dread to think what a sugar rush would do to this already superlatively energetic bunny in our home!
7. On Sunday's, it appears as though the population in this city-state suddenly triples! Especially in the area we live, one can find hordes of 'helper and maid' population abound on Sunday's. It's out of nowhere, that this otherwise invisible population, that one doesn't encounter on a Monday-through-Saturday-basis, suddenly manifests itself in your face on Sunday afternoons. And like bees to honey, the 'maccha population' of construction workers flock around these maids. Some trying to pick up their catch for the day and others meeting their girlfriends.
There has been talk that some helpers/ maids do 'side jobs' on their days off, to make some extra money. Usually this money is enough to support their stylish lifestyles as well, often equal to or exceeding in some cases, what they make from their employers as full-time help. This 'maid-maccha madness' is profound near Lucky Plaza - a shopping mall with most Filipino businesses and restaurants, a few blocks away from our home, in the Orchard area. Walking through this area on Sunday's, that too with a stroller calls for much maneuvering around to avoid stepping on people's toes, quite literally.
On a similar note, the height of shopping in Singapore is perhaps reached, when one sees people shopping for people, on the street in some areas of this city-state. It's taking 'foot-path shopping' to a whole new level, when one walks by an area such as Orchard Towers, especially on Saturday nights to find what can be described at best as a collection of girls, strewn across the pavement, waiting to be picked up by interested clients. Mind you, this is Singapore, so there is nothing unsafe about strolling in this area by night. In fact, if anything, it's actually interesting to witness a 'pick-up' scene here, as it is stark, in-your-face unlike in some other areas, such as outside posh, high-end bars and clubs. While considered despicable and avoidable by some, this area often captures the intrigue of the voyeur in me, to further investigate this phenomenon to perhaps write in detail about it someday!
That's all for Week 22! Time to go hit the gym, this time with ma and pa-in-law to accompany me as well!
See you next week.
Love,
Shweyta
2. The other activity I plan to pursue, while here in Singapore is Dragon Boating. It is not something one hears of much in the West, so again I thought, why not pursue it while here? Let's just say I am going all contextual even in leisure!
Dragon Boating takes a few hours of training and then one signs up with a team, to go practice thrice a week. While I hope to get some super deltoids and arms at the end of this, I also hope to make new friends in the team members that I boat with. For those of you relatively unaware of what this sport entails, think the Kerala boat races. If you still don't know what I am talking about, these images should help.
I first started out thinking of going kayaking here until I discovered Dragon Boating. The team I plan to join, has a race coming up at the end of the month, after which they start enrolling new members. So sometime in April, this fever should kick-off too. Can't wait!
3. Zoe's school is now focusing on the letter 'P' this week. As per their regular lessons, all week long, they have been going to school in 'Pink' or 'Purple' and even have a 'Pyjama party' planned next week. The 'P' letter lesson culminates in a tour to a "P for Photographer's" studio at the end of next week. Her class size has now expanded to accommodate 2 more children, making it into a full class of 6 little ones. Zoe is the youngest in her class, where the oldest child is 4 years old. Together they make for an energetic, jumpy handful of kids, all immensely fond of each other! It is an absolute pleasure to watch them interact with each other, especially at the 'tours' that the school arranges for them, in which parents are invited to tag along too. I do often wonder if Zoe will already sense a feeling of being 'uprooted' when we move out of Singapore? Time will tell...
4. Our regular lunch sessions, found Khyati (my other expat friend here in Singapore, aka cute little Varnika's mommy) and me at a Mediterranean spot, this week called The Original Sin. We were thrilled at the delicious and fresh fare served here, as we spent our afternoon catching-up and announcing to each other our future travel itineraries. In what has become a weekly affair, our lunches (strictly sans-babies as we like them to be) will now stop for a few weeks, until both of us are back from our travels. Can't wait for the next one!
5. The In-laws arrived Friday evening. Hubster and I went to receive them at Changi, while Zoe stayed home with 'Tita' (Janet, our helper is called 'Tita' by Zoe. 'Tita' is Tagalog for 'Aunt'). The weekend was spent taking them to some of our favourite local restaurants. Since they've been to Singapore before, there really is not much local tourism on their agenda. So we've decided to make it into a 'food tourism' kinda trip.
Saturday brunch was at the first place on our 'food tourism' check list - our usual hangout - The Murugan Idli Shop. It doesn't fail to impress with it's softest idli's and endless chutney and sambar, that keeps refurbishing itself out of nowhere, throughout the meal. That night we took them to The Lantern Rooftop Bar at the Fullerton Hotel, where over drinks and fare we chatted away, looking out at the spectacular night-kites in the sky (These kites are lit up and make for a visual delight when seen strewn across the night sky). Detailed plans got made for their stay here with us, which ranged from Mall-shopping to Malaysia. Looking forward to all the fun!
6. Zoe turned 20 month's old this week. Since all this monthly celebration business will stop after Zoe turns 2 on July 13th, this gives me just four more opportunities to bake desserts for the 13th of each month. So this week I decided to make my own ice-cream, for the very first time ever. Of course we don't have an ice-cream maker (No unnecessary clutter in my kitchen). So I needed to employ a 'sans-ice-cream maker recipe' this time. Worked out spectacularly and now instigates me to try out all the other flavours that I have in mind. I made a Cocoa ice cream this time. The In-law's, Hubster and Tita, all loved it. The daughter though very guardedly was given only two licks of it, for fear of a sugar-rush. I dread to think what a sugar rush would do to this already superlatively energetic bunny in our home!
7. On Sunday's, it appears as though the population in this city-state suddenly triples! Especially in the area we live, one can find hordes of 'helper and maid' population abound on Sunday's. It's out of nowhere, that this otherwise invisible population, that one doesn't encounter on a Monday-through-Saturday-basis, suddenly manifests itself in your face on Sunday afternoons. And like bees to honey, the 'maccha population' of construction workers flock around these maids. Some trying to pick up their catch for the day and others meeting their girlfriends.
There has been talk that some helpers/ maids do 'side jobs' on their days off, to make some extra money. Usually this money is enough to support their stylish lifestyles as well, often equal to or exceeding in some cases, what they make from their employers as full-time help. This 'maid-maccha madness' is profound near Lucky Plaza - a shopping mall with most Filipino businesses and restaurants, a few blocks away from our home, in the Orchard area. Walking through this area on Sunday's, that too with a stroller calls for much maneuvering around to avoid stepping on people's toes, quite literally.
On a similar note, the height of shopping in Singapore is perhaps reached, when one sees people shopping for people, on the street in some areas of this city-state. It's taking 'foot-path shopping' to a whole new level, when one walks by an area such as Orchard Towers, especially on Saturday nights to find what can be described at best as a collection of girls, strewn across the pavement, waiting to be picked up by interested clients. Mind you, this is Singapore, so there is nothing unsafe about strolling in this area by night. In fact, if anything, it's actually interesting to witness a 'pick-up' scene here, as it is stark, in-your-face unlike in some other areas, such as outside posh, high-end bars and clubs. While considered despicable and avoidable by some, this area often captures the intrigue of the voyeur in me, to further investigate this phenomenon to perhaps write in detail about it someday!
That's all for Week 22! Time to go hit the gym, this time with ma and pa-in-law to accompany me as well!
See you next week.
Love,
Shweyta
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