Hari Raya Puasa

Today – Tuesday August 30th – is Hari Raya Puasa.  This means it is a public holiday in Singapore.

It is the celebration for the end of Ramadan – the Islamic month of fasting.  You can check Wiki out for more information.

Happy Hari Raya Puasa everyone!

Unusual Singapore Things #9

It is custom when parking in a shopping centre to REVERSE in.

Random Toilet Talk

I posted a Facebook status this morning about how I was happy for geckos to live in my house, I just wished they poo outside, and somehow it snowballed into a discussion on toilets in Asia.  Here are a few random snippets:

• My awesome Texas friend calls a squat toilets a “squatty potty” and shared that in her fancy schmancy office building near the Merlion used toilet paper is often not flushed but put in the bin.  I avoid squatty potties as much as in humanly possible – my aim and my thigh strength just isn’t that good. Either way I will end up wet.
• There is  a sign in the ladies toilet of the bar warning ladies not to squat on the toilet seat whilst wearing high heels. Given this is a bar and said ladies presumably have been drinking that feat is worthy of an Olympic event.
• The majority of public toilets here are self-flushing, which sounds great in theory but for some reason they don’t always flush and then I have to try to figure out how the button/sensor thingy works (again, easier said than done).The Little Missy’s head reaches just to the sensor, which can mean it doesn’t register she’s there or as she moves the toilet flushes over and over as her head moves.  I find this funnier than she does.
• Public toilets are free (unlike Europe where you have to pay for the privilege) and there’s often an attendant who is in charge of keeping things ship-shape.  She usually carries a trash bag and a pair of extra long tongs as she moves from cubicle and cubicle. I try not to think too hard about what it is she is using the tongs for.

Any other toilet talk you can add?

Things I’m Loving #1

To get an appointment for a check-up at the dentist in Melbourne you make the necessary phone call and are given a time (usually an inconvenient time) about six weeks hence.  So I was expecting the same sort of wait time here when I called to make an appointment for the Missies, only to offered an appoint THE NEXT DAY.

I have been very remiss in getting a skin cancer check, despite my dad having a melanoma removed from his back late last year.  This is bad of me, in fact it’s very bad of me and when I scratched my nose last night I noticed a couple of weird dry patches which prompted me to Google skin cancer clinics here.  I emailed my closest one and they called this morning and offered me an appointment TOMORROW.

This may have just been good luck on my part, but I’m hoping it’s the way things are here, most of the time.

 

 

Unusual Singapore Things #8

Poppy seeds are prohibited.

The Happiest Place on Earth

As a kid Sunday night was Disney night.  We’d scoff our tomato soup and buttered bread (Sunday night was always an ‘easy dinner’) and be freshly bathed and PJ’d ready for the start of The Wonderful World of Disney at 6.30pm.  If you missed it, you missed it.  There were no VCRs, DVDs, or you tube to catch up with it later.

We’d watch the opening scenes of kids enjoying the REAL Disneyland in amazement.  Those kids were so lucky and must’ve been American as no-one I knew as a kid ever went to Disneyland. People just didn’t travel overseas then.

This past weekend my girls had a five-day weekend courtesy of National Day here in Singapore and the great Australian tradition of “Pupil Free Days”. Sorry, I mean Curriculum Days. Whatever.

Anyways, to celebrate Singapore’s 46th birthday we went to Hong Kong Disneyland. Makes perfect sense, huh?

We flew Jetstar.  They were neither great, nor bad, and the highlight of the flight was sharing breathing space with one of the original Popstar girls from Bardot.  I should be embarrassed to admit I knew who she was straight away, but I’m not as I was addicted to that show and even have their first CD to prove it.

We went all out on this trip and stayed in a Balcony Seaview room at the Disneyland Hotel.  The hotel is Victorian in style and the attention to detail is amazing (which made up for the completely tramatic check-in).  There are little Disney touches everywhere, which i found quite charming as it wasn’t completely over-the-top.

As this was a birthday trip for the two Missies we splashed out a considerable amount of cash on dinner in the Enchanted Garden restaurant with the Disney characters.  We dined with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Pluto, which gave the big kids as much of a thrill as it did the little kids.  Surprisingly, the buffet was FABULOUS.  The food was plentiful, well cooked and top quality. Even my husband, who is very quick to criticise restaurant food agreed that it was amazing.

Disneyland Hong Kong is a little kids dream come true.  All the iconic Disney rides are there – Teacups, Flying Dumbos, Small World.  Disney characters appear regularly and I was thrilled (and a bit puzzled) that I was allowed to take my own photos, negating the need to buy those snapped by the Disney photographer.  My girls got to meet all their favourite characters, and even one bear called Duffy who I’ve never seen or heard of before.  Although, for some strange reason, Donald Duck seems to have disappeared.

We copped the two hottest days of the year in Hong Kong.  It was so hot I could wring the sweat out of my bra, and at one stage I had a a pool of sweat in my EARS.  Fortunately, staying at the Disneyland Hotel meant we could catch the handy dandy shuttle back to the hotel in the afternoon and return for the night session when it was a little cooler to catch the fireworks over Sleeping Beauty’s castle.

I’m not sure why queueing turns reasonable people into maniacs but it became a recurring theme in our visit.  It’s A Small World did not have a line (which was a shame as the queueing area had air conditioning!), but people would still RUN to the boats like they were in the finale of The Amazing Race.

I think it’s fair to say that certain cultures have different levels of respect for those already in the queue ahead of them.  On the Jungle Cruise a family of five carved a path from the back of the 25 minute queue to the very front, stepping on the Big Missy’s foot and pushing the Little Missy’s head into the railing.  We comforted our kids, raised bemused eyebrows at each other and got on with waiting.  To our surprise, the Disneyland staff member gave them avery animated  five minute tongue lashing, which we couldn’t understand given our non-existant Chinese language skills but they did not board the boat.  Yay, for the Disneyland lady!

We spent our last full day escaping the Disney bubble and headed in to Kowloon. We did a cruise on Victoria Harbour, strolled around, had a sensational dinner at a Chinese restaurant with my husband’s colleague and caught the MTR back to the Disney bubble.

It was such a wonderful weekend (despite the oppressive heat) and is certainly a weekend that will live in our memories forever.

A Tale of Two Sisters

It never ceases to amaze me how different my two daughters are, as is illustrated by the following tale.

 

We’ve just returned from Hong Kong (I shall blog that in coming days) and on Sunday night the OH and I were trying to figure out how to use the train ticket machine at the Disneyland station.  It was hot, it was crowded and we were not progressing in the queue so we told the girls to go and sit on the bench about 10 metres away.  Within a few minutes they were back, with the big Missy pulling the little Missy by the hand and both were sobbing.

It appeared that after they sat down a group of Chinese people surrounded them, staring and taking their photos.  The Big Missy freaked out, felt uncomfortable and dragged her little sister away by the arm.

The Little Missy then started to cry and wail “But I want them to take my photo! I want the strangers to take my photo!”

A Trip To The Chemist, Singapore-style

For as long as I can remember the under the counter spot in chemists/pharmacies has been the home of jellybeans.  The ones in the clear pack with blue writing and the pharmacy guild icon on them.  The ones that no-one really likes but buys anyway to make it over the $10 limit for electronic bank purchases.  And we all know that lollies/sweets/candy are placed at the eye height of little kids for a reason!

Things are a bit different in the Lion City.  In one chain of stores, Watsons, the under the counter position displays condoms along with mini vibrators for both him and her!

I have nothing against these things being on sale, and I totally understand that customers should be spared the embarrassment of having to ask for a vibrating pleasure machine, but for the love of god WHY ARE THEY AT THE EXACT EYE HEIGHT OF LITTLE CHILDREN???

There’s nothing quite so weird as your 4 year old daughter pointing to a pack of strawberry flavoured condoms, rubbing her tummy and saying ‘yum, yum!’.

Langkawi

In that blurry period of time in the month before we moved to Singapore, my husband realised that he had a stash of frequent flyer points about to expire and nagged me to use them.  I was hesitant to do so as I have learnt from bitter experience that his work or other commitments will usually intervene with long-term plans, but eventually I gave in and booked a weekend on my own to Langkawi.

Of course, Murphy’s Law came into play and only a few weeks ago he learnt he was expected to be in Melbourne for work on my weekend.  There were some noises made on his part about how it would be a good chance for him to see his family, yadayadayada. On my part, there was silence.

I have no idea what happened or what strings he had to pull at work, but I got my weekend aways as planned.

Langkawi is a group of 99 islands at the very top of western Malaysia.  It is to Malaysia what Phuket is to Thailand, but not as crowded.

As we are doing another trip this coming weekend I picked a cheapish resort, the Awana Porto Malai.  Before booking any accommodation I always check out Trip Advisor so knew in advance that the resort had seen better days.  It was dated (I’d pinpoint it as 1987 given the abundance of lacquered pine furniture) but I’m happy to report it was spotlessly clean.  The resort is situated on the end of a point a&  is designed to look like a mediterranean villa (I think).  Decking extends out over the rocks, so it sort of feels like you’re staying on the water.

My room (Deluxe Sea View) had, as its name suggests, a sea view. It also had two “Queen size beds”, and Asian Queens must be smaller than Aussie queens as I’d call them a “double bed”, but they were clean and comfortable.

The Sea View

I didn’t do any sightseeing, I’ll save that for when I have my family with me, but the “Fun and Activities Centre” had tours to the nearby islands for eagle-feeding, snorkelling and the like.

My one ‘activity’ was 4.5 hours spent in the Spa.  Obviously, this activity was not really an activity as I spent the entire time prostrate.  I went for the Royal Javanese Pampering, which included  a Javanese massage, a herbal body scrub (I chose the chocolate one!), a body mask, facial and a bath.  I’ve had a number of spa treatments over the years and they all promise great things,  but the only benefit I’ve ever found is the relaxation get as a result of lying still, so I won’t bang on about all the health-giving benefits I was promised.

Now, as I mentioned, I’ve had a few spa treatments over the years, many of them massages. I like my massages gentle and relaxing, and I prefer not to hurt the next day.  Yes, I am a wimp.

I had no idea what a Javanese massage involved, but I now know it involves the massage therapist kneeling next to you on the table and using all her might to squash the air from your lungs.  Repeatedly.  There were probably other nice bits but all I can remember is the shock of all the oxygen being expelled from my lungs as she leant all her upper body weight on my back.  At one stage she

The Spa

made my heels hit my bum, something that hasn’t happened in about 30 years to my body.  I’m surprised I didn’t snap a ham string! There were a  considerable amount of strangled noises coming unplanned from me and I can’t say it was my idea of relaxation.  So, now I know what a Javanese massage is and next time I will opt for the safer bet of an aromatherapy massage!

Treatment room

Apart from the day spa, I read three books and indulged in some very hot retail therapy.  Midway through shopping when my t-shirt was almost thoroughly soaked I paid the admission price to Underwater World in order to

Kind of sad this was a solo bath!

have an extended amount of time in air-conditioning.

Underwater World was underwhelming and The Late Show’s “Piss Weak World” skit sprung continually to mind, but it served it’s purpose.

I flew Silk Air and could not fault them. The whole weekend was a dream and I returned to my family rested and refreshed.  Which disappeared immediately on opening the front door!