March 3rd, 2005
Well, this week the blog will lie a bit more silent. We don't have anything big on the agenda this week, but that's all going to change by this weekend, so look for more pix sometime next week. We have however received our shipment from the US last week, and so now we have real mountain bikes, and our bike gear, so with this weekend's upcoming bike hash, out by the Changi Airport in the East Coast, we are hoping to really surprise our hash buddies with them not even recognizing us in our Garb!

Last Thursday I injured my back moving boxes from our shipment...it was silly actually, always BEND YOUR KNEES! They really aren't kidding when they tell you to lift things properly. Someday, it will happen to you! So, Thurs and Friday of last week was spent lying in bed, eating Nutella, which we have found here for dirt cheap! S $3.50. That's about $2 US. It's a bad addiction as we eat it right out of the container off of spoons, and it's even better from the fridge! Be careful, do not try this at home! You will not be able to stop! We've had 4 containers between the two of us since last Thursday!

Jeremy getting sucked into the vortex of the Nutella jar...

By Sunday I was ready to try some riding, and it had given Jeremy a chance to put the bikes back together and figure out what we needed to make them work properly. I needed to do easy stuff, on a bike path. There is the Ulu Pandan Park Connector that I wanted to show Jeremy as it runs along a river, Sengei Ulu Pandan, and there's a bunch of bird life and (OK, I thought it was a crocodile but maybe it wasn't) monitor lizards. The park connector goes all the way from near where we live to Bukit Timah Nature Park. We saw many monitor lizards on our way back home, as we got caught in a monsoon! The thunderstorms and rain here are awesome! The biggest cracks of thunder we've ever heard! And the lightning was cracking down not that far away from us. They would have made my dog Dutton turn inside out! The rain, which was a total downpour brought out the lizards. Because it was raining so hard, we were unable to get out the camera and take our own pix. We were soaked to the bone, but it did cool everything off. What we did notice is how this city has prepared itself to handle an influx of water.


Beginning our ride we noticed this drain was completely empty and then about a half an hour of rain, pouring steady rain, this is what we saw!

We had also met another couple who had heard of the park connector but had never ridden it, so they joined us. This is a pix of Annette, with their dog "Throttle". He seemed to enjoy the ride! I also told her about the Dog Hash and the Bike Hashes as well.

Annette and Throttle.

We are hoping to explore Bukit Timah Nature Park on Saturday. There is supposed to be a quarry where folks do rock climbing so we want to see that, and ride the trails around the Preserve, we'll see if it's anything like Scotia, but I'm pretty sure it will be nothing like Rothrock! Wildlife we may see...Cobras! Well, we read on a chat site that someone said they saw one...but we should see Monkeys! We'll have the camera with us just in case.

On Sunday we have another Bike Hash, which will be on this island, Singapore. It should be pretty easy as it's near the airport, so not likely many hills. However, the forecast (which they do seem to get right most of the time here) is calling for rain. So, we're thinking a mudfest will be the case. They promised us onsite showers! And the on after is supposed to be at a Yacht Club.

Monday I start my scuba course! I signed up last night, and we bought a few scuba items; snorkel, mask, fins, top, booties for each of us, so Sherry and Bill, no need to bring that stuff along for us! This way when I do my certification dive, I won't have to rent any of that stuff. Jeremy is also allowed to come on the certification dive trip, (he's already certified) so we'll get to do some fun dives too! And by Friday of next week, we will be diving off Pulau Tioman, Malaysia! Pulau means island. Click on the link to see where it is. The company that I'm getting certified through is called Living Seas. They have a nice website, with pictures of past dives if you want to check it out. Click on the live link above. My instructor will be Raymond, but we met Gideon Liew as well.


Just a random pix of a butterfly I saw on my way out one day. As I tried to get closer, it flew away.


Center of the Fountain of Wealth.

Last weekend we also went shopping. If there is one thing that you can do in Singapore, it's shop! They have the biggest, multi building, multi-level shopping malls we have ever seen! And it's nice to spend time in the AC! First, let me add, that both Jeremy and I hate shopping, but, we wanted to look for a pair of Chaco's for Jeremy as his Teva's have crashed out on him. What we did find, was a tiny little Royal Robbin's store, that had a huge sale. We found Jeremy a pair of sandals that look just like Chaco's for S $20! That's about $13 USD. We went to the SunTeck Mall and near it was the "Fountain of Wealth". There were ads claiming that many important heads of state had visited the "Fountain of Wealth" and that every night at 6pm the fountain would go off, and afterwards would be a laser show. It is also the largest fountain in the world, and is listed in the Guiness Book of World Records. We had to check it out!

For good fortune, you were to walk out to the center of the fountain, extend your right hand and put it into the water and walk around the circle (with hand in water) 3 times. Which we did. Then, just before the fountain was to go off, they blocked off the walk and turned on the water for the fountain overhead.



It was a big fountain, don't get us wrong, but I guess when I think fountain, I think of water shooting upwards too, not just falling downwards...we sat and watched it for a few minutes, and then got bored, so we decided not to stay for the lazer show...we weren't sure they would be able to outdo themselves like we were hoping. The mist from the water falling was refreshing though.

So, that's what we've got thus far. Next week I'll hopefully have some fun pix of our bike hash this weekend and Bukit Timah Nature Preserve.

Jeremy's folks are coming to visit April 2-10th and we have a side trip planned to go to Bali, Indonesia to soak up some of the culture and do some scuba diving, so we are looking foreward to that as well.

And in the news!
Former Pres. Bill Clinton was just here earlier this week to meet with officials after having been to Thailand to see Tsunami disaster relief efforts. We didn't see him in the flesh, but know that he played golf, at night, at the Orchid Golf Course (I think, if I'm remembering correctly).

And, "Blondie" was just here to play a concert which was well received by a crowd of about 4,000.

© December 6, 2008