Visitors and House-Warming Gifts

Tonight we had our first non-Medway visitors arrive for dinner.  As they can't come close to Daisy she had to hide upstairs (but made her presence VERY known), so when they left I gave her extra attention.

 They left us a house warming gift so I let Daisy help me open it up.  She is all about helping others...

  She loves getting her picture taken and Christmas is all about the kids...right?  

 

 Its behind you Daisy, turn around, the present is behind you! 

 Well, with all the excitement of opening stuff up I forgot to take a picture of the end result.  Rest assured we received some really delicious coffee as well as very pretty cushion covers.  I honestly couldn't have picked better ones myself, but our lovely friends did it without even knowing what our home looked like.

 Thank you again, you really spoilt us and there was so need at all.

 

Last minute shopping

We've slowly been getting into the swing of things in Singapore and getting ready for Christmas too. It's so odd to try to feel festive when it's warm outside.
I'm really glad I got all of my Christmas shopping done before we left the UK. This meant I got to hand over presents before we left....so I got to enjoy the best part, seeing happy faces with beribboned packages. Well, I say *all* but we did have one minor malfunction. We got some things from some super friendly neighbours down the road who I had only gotten some sweets for. This sent me into a major panic and I wanted to show that I wasn't being ungrateful or forgetting how lovely they were.
I don't know what people did before online shopping, but I don't want want to know!
I jumped online and bought some Halfords vouchers from voucher king and was able to relax knowing that I'd just gotten out of a tricky spot! I love voucher king as it's normally my first stop when I want to buy something. I always search for codes to see if I can get a per cent off or free shipping or even a little free gift I can put away, I just don't see the point of turning my back on a great deal.
I knew the vouchers were going to be well used as we always saw our friends out for a kong cycle ride to pick up shopping or just appreciating the beautiful landscape...yup, I feel much better knowing that the vouchers are being delivered for free and I now look super organised.
I may have been in the process of moving to a massive shopping hub but I am never leaving my frugal ways behind me!

RDA and The Polo Club

The other day I was invited to go along to help out with the Riding for the Disabled Association of Singapore by Amanda ( aka, the hostess with the mostest who held the pot luck dinner). I'm pretty scared of horses and was never a little girl that just loved ponies so deep down I was a bit apprehensive. However, I did think it would be great excuse to get out and see people. With The Husband being away from home I also really needed something to speak about when he came back from KL.

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Amanda asked that I be there for 8am as she was organising us getting a lift there, so this would be an early start for me. I dragged myself out of bed bright and early then headed off to Amanda's early as we planned to get so coffee in ourselves first. Amanda hadn't been sleeping so well, so when I went round she said that she had rearranged plans so that she'd drive us there herself. She'd also organised for Tcina, another newbie, to come along too. At this my ears pricked up....."someone newer than myself? Why wasn't I told?" Hmmm, long story short, The Husband hadn't been taking the new 'phone numbers list' home...grr.

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After our shot of coffee we got in the car and headed off up North near the MacRitchie Reservoir just off Thomson Road. It's so pretty and leafy there and it's surprising to see so much space in this little island. When we arrived at the RDA we got to look around and watch the horses as well as volunteers setting up for the riders. Tcina and I got to chat a little and arrange a day out the next day as we obviously weren't allowed to jump into the arena. After filling out some forms we were allowed to shadow the side walkers which was really interesting and gave me a taste for helping out in future.

After such a busy morning Amanda invited us round to The Polo Club where her family has membership. Tcina and I were more than willing to dip into the pool or laze on a lounger and sip cool drinks. I loved the juxtaposition of swimming along, looking over the field to the sky-scrapers beyond.

After a bite to eat (satays....what else?), Amanda showed us Turf City and a really cool looking reclamation yard. Turf City is somewhere I am going to have to go with The Husband, I think he will love how quiet the Giant is there and I really need to have a better look around Paserbella, which is like a really pretty market.

All in all this is shaping up to be my busiest week so far. December is certainly looking a whole lot better than November and I love how full my days are getting.

MRT and a look at Vivo City

On Monday I found out how to use the MRT and overcame a massive fear, I also got to spend the day with Sally who very kindly showed me how to use the MRT and therefore let me overcome such a giant fear.  I’d been spending a quite a bit of time around the house and had started to think this whole move malarkey was pretty boring.  It consisted of me cleaning the house and walking Daisy around Medway.  (Well duh Sheila, those things are boring.  What’s not boring is getting out of the house and exploring).  At the Christmas Party we had the most people come and chat to us since the pot luck dinner.  Along with all of the kind well-wishers was Sally who very sweetly enquired not only how I was doing, but what I had been doing.  (Possibly a very clever trick to make me prove I was doing fine and getting out of the house).  When Sally found out I hadn't been out and about beyond my local Fair Price she immediately set about planning something to keep me busy. 

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Well Monday came around and we walked to the local MRT station, which in my case is Dover.  It’s quite a walk away which is why TH got the car, but it is close enough if I don’t have shopping.  We have to walk through the Singapore Polytechnic which I had checked out on Google maps.  On seeing the path there I thought I wouldn't even dare to venture out, but Sally showed me a really easy way to get into the station.

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We’re on the green line and had decided that for our day out we would go to Vivo City so we only had to switch once onto the circle line.  I’d already been given a card to load up from Claire who I had gotten chatting to at the pot luck dinner, so I didn't have to pay the $5 for that.  I only needed to top up my card and get going.  It was really easy and so well signposted I wonder what I had been so afraid of.  I love seeing everything out of the window on my part of the green line and it’s definitely helping me to orientate myself around this place.

 

When we’d gotten to Vivo City Sally showed me around and explained that it was set out like three interconnecting circles which she assured me would mean it would be more difficult for me to get lost.  We then grabbed a coffee and chatted before having another look around and then lunch at the food court downstairs.  I tried to order chicken rice, but think I got something completely different.  Oh well, I guess I need to do more than point in future!  Whatever I had was really delicious and did have chicken and rice as part of it, so I guess I couldn't go far wrong.  The whole court is amazing and I can’t wait to take TH there for a very cheap feast.

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On the way back Sally said she would show me the Cold Storage at Fusionopolis which isn't too far away from us by car.  We got off at One North and walked round to the shops and as Sally had organised for her husband to pick us up and take us home, I was able to get some heavier things I didn't really want to get without TH.

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I don’t quite know what was so frightening about the MRT, but I assure you it is super easy to use.  It’s so quick, cheap and there are so many signposts around it makes me wish I had gotten out ages ago.  I can’t wait to jump on and see where each stop takes me!