Our first day in Thailand was perfect: - delicious breakfast - poolside chairs - refreshing coconut - wandering the town - manicure - walking along the beach - dining sea side under Chinese lanterns and fireworks - swimming in a beautiful salt water pool with a gorgeous view - meeting new friends - delicious green curry. Truly a delight.

Welcome to Thailand

We made it and are all checked in and unpacked. Cannot wait to explore tomorrow. And snorkel. And have authentic Thai food. And swim in the ocean. And read in the sun.

Wandering about and a Wicked Night

My first full day in Singapore was absolutely perfect.

It included lounging poolside and a swimming work out (ha rough life I know) - and just enjoying the lush grounds of Kimmie's complex. They have the preetiest little brook filled with gorgeous koi and electric blue fish and neon yellow ones. These beautiful trees that are in full bloom with gorgeous white flowers and others with pink flowers. Coconuts clinging in clumps and lots of green grass.

As it started to cloud over, I was ready for lunch so called it a day at the pool and came in. After a light lunch and freshening up - I went on a walk to explore her neighborhood. Not too sure as to why I 'fresehened' up - within 10 minutes I was glistening with humidity - but it felt delightful all the same.

I started out at my usual brisk Calgary walking style and all was going well until this couple meandered in front of me at a snail's pace. It quickly made me realize - there is no need to hurry - and to enjoy my walk.

As I was recounting the story to Kimmie over supper she was giggling - thinking of all those time's we headed out to client's offices and she would check what kind of shoes I was wearing first - me in flats and her in heels was always a doomed combination - funny!

I find it soo enjoyable to explore new neighborhoods and when you magnify that in a new part of the world - it is that much better. You never know what you will find - an Indian restaurant where the sign promises spicey food and spicey gossip or perhaps an outdoor food court in the middle of the block, a KFC and Pizza Hut are givens, something that I really do not understand, as well as coca cola vending machines. They have 7-elevens but I didn't venture inside to see if they had slurpees too. I did however stop at the Starbucks for a shaken iced lemonade to help relieve the thirst on the walk back. Of course the golden arches were visible.

Kim got home from her second last work day (yay) before her 2 week vacation, we grabbed a lovely dinner on the patio and then realized we were running late for our show. Kim had booked us Wicked tickets - yay - my first Broadway show ever!

After dashing around the apartment - we were looking as delightful as always - ran downstairs and grabbed the cab that was waiting for us. Whew - the timing was perfect. He dropped us off at our location and we started walking towards the theater in the building. As we are walking we are noticing there seems to be a lot of young tweens around. And I mean a lot. And very few adults - hmmm - okay - maybe they are all gathered enjoying cocktails before the show starts. The next thing I know I can here Kim muttering under her breath. We were at the wrong theater. OOPS.

Off we take running - yes not walking fast but dashing through the crowd back towards the taxi queue. Kim's shoes won't stay on so she sends me on ahead to grab a taxi. One comes by and whisks us off to our correct location. Kim calls her friend to find out exactly 'where' in Marina Bay Sands he should drop us off (as it is 3 huge towers that have a big 'ship' shaped top that joins them together spanning over a block).

The taxi driver was great - sensing our urgency he is whipping us through the streets - tossing Kim around in the back seat (since she was not holding on) as he screeches to a halt at the theater. We get into the building and have a fairly long ways to go (at least a couple of  blocks in distance) - it is 7 minutes and counting - and if you are late - you are not allowed in until an appropriate break in the scene. Kim pulls her shoes off and we take off running through the mall. I am sure we looked extra chic - Kim barefoot, Me holding onto my pants (as they don't have a belt or tie and were falling down) sprinting past Hermes, Coach and Prada. The ushers again sensing our urgency were running us from place to place - telling us to go see Philipe or oops - actually the lift - mercies but we sit in our seats breathless and sweaty with 3 minutes to spare. 

And Wicked was more than worth it. It is about the wicked witch from the Land of Oz. They did a fantastic job - the costumes were incredible, the humor was cute and the singers were amazing. Thanks Kim for booking that for us - it was a true delight!

And now I am off to the pool for a couple hours before heading out to visit Kim at work, meet her students and see her school. Cannot wait.

Oh and tonight - we fly to Thailand. Yeah - not a big deal really!! Just a typical weekend in Singapore?!?!

Flight NQ 901

My last leg of the journey started in Tokyo on Air Japan whisking me another 7 hours south to Singapore. Went from 12 degrees and raining in Tokyo to 32 degrees and lovely humidity. Just what the doctor ordered after the 24 hour dry out plan that is common to airports and planes. When I landed in Tokyo - my first stop was for 1.5 litres of water - lol.

I lucked out with great seat mates the entire journey - but the last seat mate ranks as my favorite stranger of all time.

She was the cutest little Japanese lady who was going to visit her daughter (I learned this through broken english and lots of hand gestures!). The moment she sat down - I instantly liked her. (The book Blink is still on my reading list - the premise is that within 2 seconds we pass our first conclusion against someone/thing). Then when she did a series of pokes, pointing and pink sky to show me one of the most incredible sunsets that I think I have ever missed (we were on the non-sunset side of the window and by the time we took off, it was gone) through the airplane windows my reaction was affirmed.

By the time our meal had arrived, she had fed me Japanese sweets, communicated that she was visiting her daughter and laughed - head tilted back giggling kind of laugh - about 15 times over our struggle to talk to each other. I have never wished so much I knew another language!

Our meals arrived and we had both ordered the Japanese bento box. Unfortunately they only had one left so she insisted I take it and she ate the 'western' menu option of Paella. Scared of offending her as I don't fully appreciate the culture - I accepted.

No worries though - she got her share of both meals as she ate off my plate - lol! And laughed at me as I tried to trim the extra fat from my beef.

This sweet lady tried each of my dishes and told me what they were in Japanese. My swollen canadian tongue tried to wrap it's way around the unfamiliar words and we laughed more. I even got a double thumbs up for my chopstick use - lol - she was quite impressed that I knew how to hold them.

She then proceeded to break bread with me (literally) and insisted I try some of her Japanese cheese that she got with her meal. After sharing our desserts we settled in with our green tea and enjoyed the silence of a special soul - it is amazing the connection you can have with barely a word being spoken.

I turned on a movie only to find her leaning over and watching it with me as she read the subtitles. We checked out the map. She poked me lots to make sure I was using her garbage bag she had started and we laughed - a lot.

As is usually the case at the airport you never say goodbye to someone you have met once - you see them again at customs - waiting for luggage - and finally Kim and I got the chance to meet her daughter in the taxi queue. What a delightful soul she is!

Kimmie brought me home to her lovely home. We soon settled in with a glass of water and chit chat before we couldn't delay bed any longer as Kim has to work today.

Now here I am, lounging on her deck, drinking delicious coffee and planning my next move to the shower before a little walk? and then some pool time - or maybe pool first, a walk and more pool. Need to swim some laps to work off that Japanese cheese.

Oh and I had pink grapefruit yogurt for breakfast - delicious! Wish we could get that flavor back home.

Singapore!

I made it. The flight was a delight and will write more about that later but wanted to quickly update now as I'm sure mom will be checking!

One leg down

Made it to Tokyo! And only a few adventures along the way:

• the flight was surprisingly very warm so I had far too many layers on. And to think I had debated wearing long johns cuz I always get so cold on planes
• then our attendant managed to spill a big thing of apple juice all over me leaving me sticky and cold; it wasn't even my beverage
• movie choice was The Descendants and of course that meant sleepy tears
• I saw my first Saskatchewan Roughrider gear in the Tokyo airport; I was notably impressed

Now I am killing time until the next 7 hour leg.

One sleep....

Bali

I am down to two sleeps until the plane takes off. I wake up every morning, check the weather in Singapore, et all, think about everything I still need to do and slog through another work day. Finally this weekend I was able to start crossing things off that list:

• Trying on all my summer clothes and picking what is the most versatile and what I want to take
• Making the list of the gaps I still need to fill (not that bad - couple pairs of shoes that are cute and walkable other than runners, a cute little metal belt or stretchy fat belt, couple of toiletries for freshening up on the plane)
• Making a few meals to freeze for Jimmy
• Picking out the paint swatches to match up fabric for the bedroom

And now on to tell you all about Bali.

Well first of all here is pics of our resort:

Second, I can't lie as to how excited I am for a couple of their spa treatments there.

Exploitations Scrub/Mandi Lulur

US$25 / 1.5 hr    

Full body massage followed by body exploitation scrub with yogurt and flower bath then have your skin moistened with body lotion

 

 Honestly - $25?? How can I not have one or 2??

Third, the Ubud market promises to be a mecca of fantastic gifts and items, a traditional Balinese dance would be great entertainment and seeing the monkey's in the sacred monkey forest - although they scare me a bit - promises to be exciting.

Looking forward to sharing our experiences with you!

In case anyone else is counting.... 6 sleeps till I board the plane 7 sleeps till I see Kimmy 8 sleeps till I am lounging poolside

Koh Samui

During my time there Kim and I are jetting off on a little weekend outting to celebrate a wedding of one of her friends in Thailand. I am quite excited to spend some time with Kim's peeps in Singapore, to see Thailand and to enjoy a little beach time.


Here are a few pics off our hotel website:

Our hotel is on Chaweng Beach. It claims to be one of the more touristy areas and promises 5km of white sandy beaches, shopping and fantastic restaurants!

Singapore

So you can get as excited as I am . . .

Let's look at a couple of things that Kim and I have on our list

• Wonder Full Light and Water Show
• A new Oriental Carpet along Arab Street
• Visit to Kim's school
• Little India for a delicious supper
• Wicked the broadway show
• Chinatown of course
• Dinner and a Movie complete with blankets
• And the vacation would not be complete without lounging by Kim's pool (in 2 weeks you will see another set of pretty toes in this pic)

On my way

Well after 6 months of incredibly stressful work, seeing more of my corner on the couch than I have of bed, the beautiful sunny days or of my fabulous husband, I am finally about to log some hours in the air and go visit my beautiful and funny friend Kim!

In just 19 short sleeps I will be on my way! Doesn't the temperature look fantastic?

So here is the agenda:

• Arrive in Singapore and spend a couple days getting aclimatized and recovering from the jetlag.
• Fly to Koh Samui, Thailand to attend a wedding, check out the beaches and eat some delicious Thai good.
• Tootle around Singapore a little more.
• Fly to Ubud, Bali to enjoy delightful massages, check out the monkeys in the sacred monkey forest, and do a little shopping.
• Enjoy all that Singapore has to offer including Arab street, the broadway show Wicked, poolside reading and of course a little shopping

I cannot wait to catch up with Kim again. I am so excited to visit a new part of the world I have never been to. I am dreaming about the photos that I will get to take. I will use every minute of relaxation to recharge my batteries.

Stay tuned to hear the adventures as they unravel. I am sure they will be entertaining. Especially with Kim in on the stories!