Or should I say 'No Canada Day in Singapore'. That's not totally accurate, as they DID have a celebration on May 19th. That's right folks, way back in May.
As the good expatriate school children that we are, Kristin and I decided to go and celebrate our great nation's 140th Birthday, Asian style. In the morning I jumped on Google frantically searching for something interesting to do. I discovered that some international teams were having some sort of Dragon Boat competition, Canadian teams included. After that we planned to watch the "Changing of the Guard" at the Presidential residence, then head somewhere for a celebratory 'white' dinner.
As per usual, nothing happened as planned. We showed up at the Dragon Boat offices, not the actual place they were racing. So no dragon boat racing. BURN #1. Still in good spirits we headed over to the Presidential residence to wait for the changing of the guard, but guess what?! Nope, not today. There was a 'special function' so the guard's won't change until next month. Excellent. BURN #2. Now I'm getting pissed off, no surprise. Trying to keep calm, we took a stroll over to the movie theatre where thankfully we got seats to Transformers! Totally corny movie, but fun on a Sunday afternoon. We have this habit of going to emotionally draining and tragic movies, so this was a pleasant change.
About the only thing that did go right was our dinner. To close off our evening, we headed over to Clark Quay, which some of you may remember me talking about in prior posts. It's basically 'Whitey heaven'. We ordered our WMF like any good Canadians on Canada Day. I had a Falafel burger (healthy) with about 2 pounds of fries (shut up). Kristin had what seemed like an entire lamb, which I helped her finish. Gracious, I know.
It was after 11p.m. by the time we finished, so we jumped on the MRT for the ride home.
A messed up day turned out allright after all.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Another Successfull Weekend in Bintan, Indonesia!
Reisegruppe Alkohol decided, jet again, to ferry ourselves off to the resort island of Bintan, Indonesia! When you are looking for a quick getaway, there is no better place. Just 55 minutes off the coast of Singapore, it is easily accessible, has great beaches and is loads of fun. Instead of staying in a dilapidated shack on the east coast like last time, we booked into a resort in the north called the Mana Mana Beach Club. It was a bit expensive, everything was listed in Singapore dollars rather than Indonesian Rupia (which I dislike), but for a 2 day weekend away we couldn't have asked for more.
We managed to book all 13 of us on a ferry and secure accommodations, even though this was only 2 days before we left. We were very lucky considering the size of the group. Saturday morning, we got up bright and early and headed for the Tana Merah Ferry Terminal close to Changi Airport. We checked ourselves in, had some breakfast at their overpriced cafe, then got on board. Joelle, Kristin, Arno and I rode in first class comfort (that's the only way we could make it work on the initial booking) and relegated the others to coach. To bad for them. It was WAY to cold, but at least we got a free puff pastry and drink!
A shuttle bus picked us up from the ferry terminal in Bintan, and took us to our resort where we were able to promptly check in. This was especially important because we were, oh, about 5 hours early for check in. After ditching our stuff, we went and sat our butts on the beach and tanned (or tried to in my case) for a few hours, before having a quick lunch at their cafe. A quick word about that, and sorry for you people who think I talk to much about money! The prices were OUTRAGEOUS! You were paying S$11 for a hamburger which came with about 5 french fries. Jesus. I bought 'pizza strips' which was a very thin crust and a spattering of baked on pizza sauce and chili. They didn't even have my dip. Oh well, life goes on. It's only one weekend, right?! I had fish later that night in a small town just outside of the resort. That was nothing short of amazing. Fish, rice, chili sauce and lemon. Nothing is healthier and more tasty than that! At least in Asia.
In the interest of time, we sat our asses on the beach, drank beer and ate for the rest of the weekend. Saturday night was precious because I got a bit tipsy and jumped up on the platform at the beach bar and started bustin a move. I now realize that 'Alcohol makes fat people feel skinny and ugly people feel pretty.' I look disgusting in all the pics. They're up on Facebook for all to see if you are so inclined.
That's about it for now. Today is Canada Day, so Kristin and I are going to find something exciting to do in order to celebrate! Look out for that!
We managed to book all 13 of us on a ferry and secure accommodations, even though this was only 2 days before we left. We were very lucky considering the size of the group. Saturday morning, we got up bright and early and headed for the Tana Merah Ferry Terminal close to Changi Airport. We checked ourselves in, had some breakfast at their overpriced cafe, then got on board. Joelle, Kristin, Arno and I rode in first class comfort (that's the only way we could make it work on the initial booking) and relegated the others to coach. To bad for them. It was WAY to cold, but at least we got a free puff pastry and drink!
A shuttle bus picked us up from the ferry terminal in Bintan, and took us to our resort where we were able to promptly check in. This was especially important because we were, oh, about 5 hours early for check in. After ditching our stuff, we went and sat our butts on the beach and tanned (or tried to in my case) for a few hours, before having a quick lunch at their cafe. A quick word about that, and sorry for you people who think I talk to much about money! The prices were OUTRAGEOUS! You were paying S$11 for a hamburger which came with about 5 french fries. Jesus. I bought 'pizza strips' which was a very thin crust and a spattering of baked on pizza sauce and chili. They didn't even have my dip. Oh well, life goes on. It's only one weekend, right?! I had fish later that night in a small town just outside of the resort. That was nothing short of amazing. Fish, rice, chili sauce and lemon. Nothing is healthier and more tasty than that! At least in Asia.
In the interest of time, we sat our asses on the beach, drank beer and ate for the rest of the weekend. Saturday night was precious because I got a bit tipsy and jumped up on the platform at the beach bar and started bustin a move. I now realize that 'Alcohol makes fat people feel skinny and ugly people feel pretty.' I look disgusting in all the pics. They're up on Facebook for all to see if you are so inclined.
That's about it for now. Today is Canada Day, so Kristin and I are going to find something exciting to do in order to celebrate! Look out for that!
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