Bec's Expat Life

Bukit Timah Reserve

2012-10-01T19:12:00.001-07:00

I have been a bit slack doing exercise lately and so I decided when I meet up with my friends, instead of just going for coffee or lunch, we should do some kind of activity while we chat. This way not only am I hanging with my friends and exercising, I'm also seeing parts of Singapore I have yet to explore. So the other day, my friend, Saoka and I went on an adventure to Bukit Timah Reserve to go on a bit of a walk.

We both live on the very far East Coast of the island, so we decided public transport would be the cheapest option. After two trains and a bus and an hour and a half later, we finally arrived at the Bukit Timah Reserve.
Now, Bukit Timah Reserve is very large, 3043 hectares to be exact, so we decided to try out the walking trails at MacRitchie Reservoir (part of the reserve). I thought it would be more of a stroll, oh how I was wrong. What greets you when you first walk into the reserve is a very steep trail and just when you think you are nearly there, you realise there is more. Finally when you make it to the end of this trail, you have the option of the leisurely looking path or the steep stairs..... we chose the stairs!

And there are multiple sets of stairs just like this

Despite these steep inclines it did not take long to reach the summit... probably because the highest point is really not that high.

Seeing as it only took us about 10 minutes to reach this point, we decided to continue along the other paths within the reservoir in hopes of seeing some wildlife!

We walked along the trails for about an hour and half and saw squirrels and different birds, stopping along the way to read the signs about the different types of trees and animals found within the reserve, which I found quite educational. When I thought all hope was lost at seeing a monkey and we were coming back down the steep trail, there they were and not just one, loads! Big ones, small ones, boy ones, girl ones. I have seen many a monkey in my life but I never get bored of watching them, though I keep a good distance because I'm petrified of being attacked, requiring multiple rabies shots or just them stealing my stuff (I have had this happened in Bali!).

I love watching them hang out and clean each other

There are signs everywhere stating not to feed the monkeys. If you have ever been to the Bali Monkey Forest you will know why you should not feed monkeys, they become ruthless and will climb on your shoulders just to steal the food in your hand. The monkeys at Bukit Timah Reserve keep to themselves because they are not fed by humans and it should be kept that way.

So I certainly got my fair share of exercise here, had fun chatting with my friend and saw a part of Singapore I have not seen= Mission Accomplished. Next stop is to the Tree Top Walk.

Adopting a dog in Singapore

2012-09-15T01:07:00.003-07:00

Most of you probably know that we have been fostering a dog called Joe, if not you can check out the blog I wrote about it here.

When we began fostering Joe in March, the plan was to foster him a few months and then find him a suitable forever home. My husband told me from the beginning there was no way I would be able to give him back after having him a few months. I tried to convince myself that it would be no problem, if I gave him back I could help foster more dogs. Within a few days of having Joe I knew I would not be able to give him back, but I pretended I could for a bit longer so Sean would get used to the idea of keeping him. The thought of him finding another forever home would have made me happy but to be honest I think I would have been extremely jealous. I felt like he was my dog within the first month and if I were to give him up to another family, I thought he would forget all about me and of course he would be happy, but I would be miserable and lonely without him. I also thought that if we gave him back to the shelter and he had to wait to be adopted I would feel so guilty thinking about him sitting in a kennel when he could be at home with me. So all I had to do was convince Sean we should keep him. It took Sean a lot longer than me to really commit to the idea of having a dog full time, basically because he wants to be able to go on holiday whenever without having to think about where the dog will stay when we are gone. I understand what he means but I love Joe too much to give him up just for that selfish reason. Luckily we have good friends in Singapore and have had a lot of offers to look after him. Big shout out to his second parents Pete N' Carrie! Even if we cannot get someone to look after him, there are so many different pet hotels to choose from. So with this problem solved, Sean agreed we would keep him. We have been fostering him for six months so it would have been way too hard to say good bye.

I didn't decide on a whim to keep him, I thought long and hard about how much time I would need to put in. Coming from the forest, without living in a home before, Joe needed some hard training. Luckily he never needed to be house trained, preferring to do his business outside. But there have been other issues we have had to sort out. He used to be very aggressive if you went anywhere near him while he was eating. I can understand, living in the wild, food was hard to come by and when he had some there was no way he was letting anyone take it off him. I tried a few different techniques which were not working until I saw a Dog Whisperer episode one day where he held the bowl while the dog was eating. As soon as I began feeding Joe like this the aggression stopped, he saw the food as mine and I was just letting him have some. I can even stroke him a little while he is eating which was a big no-no before. Basic obedience like sit and stay he picked up very fast, he is actually very smart and takes commands well. The only problem now is sometimes he is aggressive to other dogs on walks (not all, usually little dogs), so we are working on that. The point I am getting to is having a dog is not a stroll in the park (well, sometimes it is!). I want everyone to be aware when they get a dog, a lot of training and time needs to be put in, to ensure you have an obedient, well behaved dog and don't end up giving it away because it is misbehaving. I know sometimes if/when Joe misbehaves, the thought had crossed my mind, but I have always been adamant that you can't just give up, you just have to keep training, because repetition is the key. I think a lot people get dogs and don't think about this, just getting them because they are cute, but dogs need discipline, it is their basic nature.

With that said, I would also encourage anyone looking for a dog to adopt. There are so many dogs in shelters that need homes. I am not saying the dogs in the pet shops don't need homes as well, but most of the time they have come from puppy mills and by buying from pet stores you are supporting this. Both shelter dogs and puppies from pet shops need training, just because it is pedigree doesn't mean it knows how to be obedient (I think there is a bit of a misconception here). Within Singapore there are so many fantastic shelters here, with many dogs waiting for new homes. We have officially adopted Joe from Action for Singapore Dogs and they have been fantastic. Not only have they answered all of our queries during the fostering process but they continue to help with anything after adopting. They focus on keeping in contact with their adopters and providing support where needed. The adoption fee was $200 which included micro chipping and vaccinations and then an additional $14 goes to Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) for the license. Check them out and see what dogs and puppies they have up for adoption.

So we officially adopted Joe on Wednesday and Ricky (the President at ASD) came all the way out to us to sign the forms. I am so glad he is officially ours.... although Joe doesn't look too impressed...

The Lowe Family

Four Farm Hop

2012-09-02T20:45:00.000-07:00

When I received an email last week from notatourist.sg and NCompass Mobility to attend a four farm tour, I thought it must be in Malaysia, until I read on and realised the tour was in Singapore. 'There are farms in Singapore?' was my initial thought. Given the lack of space here and the fact that when you go to the grocery store everything is imported, I would be forgiven in thinking there are no farms here. Turns out that not only are there farms but there are quite a few and they all situated in the same area which makes it easy to do a farm tour. They are all located in Lim Chu Kang and Kranji area, which is in the north west part of Singapore.

A map of all the farms

When I think of a farm I automatically assume lots of grazing land and plenty of cows, well that's what it's like in Australia. But of course, there is not enough space for cow farms here and there are actually no abattoirs in Singapore, which is why all the meat is imported. So what farms did we go visit? Our first stop was to a goat dairy farm, Hay Dairies Goat Farm. Being an animal lover, I was particularly excited to go see some goats. We arrived in time to see some of the goats being milked and a host gave us a little presentation and some facts about the farm. I found it very educational. The Hay Dairies Goat Farm has about 1000 goats, but only about 400-500 milking mothers. A goats pregnancy is 5 months and they usually give birth to two kids. After giving birth they produce about 2-5 litres of milk everyday for 8 months until they dry out and then they begin the process of mating, pregnancy, birth and milking again. The average life span of a goat is 12 years and when the goats at Hay Dairies pass away, they are donated to the hospital for research. Hay Dairies de-horn all their goats because when they have horns, they try playing/fighting with one another and if they play too hard there is a greater risk of miscarriage.

The milking pen

The goats enjoy being milked as they fill up a lot and it helps to relieve them

All the milk goes into this to be pasteurised, due to Singapore food safety they are not allowed to sell the milk raw.

After the tour of the farm, we then got to try a bottle of goat's milk- chocolate flavour of course.

It was fresh, chilled and delicious

Hay Dairies also deliver their milk, which is great because it is so far away from me. A minimum order of 1600mls is required.


800ml (White Only)- $8 delivered, $7 at the farm. 200ml (White & Chocolate) $2.50 delivered, $2 at the farm.

I will definitely be ordering some milk. If you are lactose intolerant or have asthma or skin conditions like eczema, goat's milk is fantastic and a great alternative to cow's milk. On the Hay Dairies site there is some great info about goat milk health benefits as well as some information about visiting them and delivery.

Our next stop on our farm tour was to Jurong Frog Farm. Although I am an animal lover, frog's and well reptiles don't thrill me, I am absolutely petrified of toads so I was not overly excited to visit this farm.
Frog is a very popular dish here in Singapore, with about 3.5 million people eating it here and I have myself tried frog legs here. It's not particularly something I would order again though. The Chinese believe eating frog helps build immunity and helps heal dengue and can help cancer patients. They believe a female American bull frog stores all it's nutrients in it's ovaries and thus they are best part to eat. Of course we got a free sample of this part and for the blog I had to try it. As you can see in the video below, it was not really to my taste.

We also got to tour the farm and although I didn't want to but again all for the blog, I held a bull frog.

Croak, croak

I learnt that a full grown American bull frog is 45cm from head to foot and can jump ten times it's body length, about 2 metres. Fascinating, but cannot say it made me like them any more.

Truthfully I was glad to head to the next farm, Aero-green technology, the first aeroponic farm in the world. This is a fruit and vegetable farm, but due the harsh climate in Singapore, they use aeroponic technique to grow their crops. Straight from Wikipedia: Aeroponics is the process of growing plants in an air or mist environment without the use of soil or an aggregate medium (known as geoponics). They also use milk to "water" their crop (CRAZY!)

After an educational video all about aeroponics, we had a tour of the farm and then got to try the butter head lettuce and cherry tomatoes ourselves= WOW, TASTY!


Inside the greenhouse

At the end I purchased a huge bag of mixed lettuce for only $2, this is incredibly cheap for salad in Singapore.

Our last farm we visited was Bollywood Veggies where they have a cafe and we had some lunch before a look around the farm. As soon as we walked into the cafe I could smell the herbs from the dishes and my mouth was watering. We had chicken curry, rice, fish and spinach.

Our lunch

This banana bread is amazing- packed full of bananas.

The farm is very big and they give you a map so you can find your way around.

I really did have a very fun day and learnt a lot. These farm tours would be great for children or any one interested in learning more about Singapore's farms. If you are interested in doing a farm tour like the one I went on, get in contact with NCompass Mobility as they are in the process of organising their next tour. They also do other great tours around Singapore and it is a great way to meet new people and learn all about Singapore.

Thank you notatourist.sg and NCompass Mobility for an awesome day out.

MV Leisure World Cruise

2012-08-27T00:46:00.001-07:00

Sorry for my lack of posts. I am trying to work on this and start posting more. I just recently posted a new blog post on notatourist.sg and thought instead of rewriting it for my personal blog, I would link to it here for everyone who follows me here to read.

So please click here to view my blog post about going on the MV Leisure World Cruise ship :)

Enjoy. Hope you've all had a good Monday!

Happy One year Singaversary!

2012-08-02T02:02:00.002-07:00

Wow, how time flies! It has been one year today since we got on that plane from Australia and moved to Singapore and what a year it has been. Looking back we have done quite a bit in a year...

We have lived in three different apartments, finally settling into our own apartment.

We have travelled a few times to Desaru, a short Kuala Lumpur trip to meet up with my brother, a trip to Tioman Island, quite a few Pulau Ubin visits and I have even been back to Australia twice in this year!

We have had a few visitors, my best friend, Sash and my brother and his fiance.

We have also been fostering a dog, Joe, who looks like he will soon become a permanent family member.

We have learnt to do things a little differently and tried some new food.

We have also met some truly amazing people, who have become great friends!

Honestly it has been a great year and we are certainly looking forward to another year here and another and another and another.... :)

Singapore Pub Crawling

2012-07-20T05:54:00.000-07:00

I now know why they call it a pub crawl. It's not because you go to lots of different pubs on one night, its because the next day you are guaranteed to be crawling around due to the death-like hangover. That said however, WHAT AN AWESOME NIGHT!
Great people, cheap drinks, what more could you ask for. One of the crawlers loves the pub crawls so much she has been going every week since January! I don't blame her. When it comes to the price of drinks in bars here, Singapore Pub Crawl is the way to go if you want to do a night out on the cheap. With some drinks being as low as $5 and all the rest at happy hour prices, you are sure to save a little money and get completely wasted at the same time.
We met at the fat pigeon statue at Raffles place/Boat Quay and after all the introductions were made, set off for the first bar which was Charlie's at Boat Quay. We had tables reserved especially for us and of course a free shot to start the night off. Honestly I couldn't tell you the rest of the bars we went to after this, but if you are really interested go on a Pub Crawl! The night ended at a club in Clarke Quay and then I was done, drank too much and may have thrown up in the taxi on the way home.... Sorry Mr. Taxi Driver! Today was like the hangover from hell, but I don't regret it one bit! I met some great people and had an amazing night. I will certainly be back for another crawl and this time maybe not drink so much.... maybe.
Next week they start crawling Thursday nights and Friday nights, so all you workers have no excuse now!
Here are some pictures of our night...

Fat Pigeon Statue where we met

Some of the crew, others came later

First shot of the night

Morgan Mastercrawler!

Yeah these were good and bad at the same time :P

There will be more pics up on Singapore Pub Crawls FB page later so check them out! Definitely head on a crawl and invite me along too :)

Pub crawl anyone?

2012-07-17T18:46:00.001-07:00

For anyone who lives in Singapore and likes the occasional drink, you'll know it can be an expensive ordeal. Even if you plan to have just one, it's not cheap to drink in Singapore. My husband and I quite like a few "quiet" ones ourselves but more often than not we end up just drinking at home because we find the price of booze in pubs here a bit too much. I think I have finally found the solution, after a little research I stumbled across Singapore PubCrawl FB page. I've never been on a Pub crawl before but always wanted to give it a go. At first I thought, this is going to be expensive but it turns out to be very cheap and within my boozing budget. For just $20 on a Thursday night or $25 on a Friday night (starting next Friday, 27th July), you get to join other pub/drinking enthusiasts and get free entry into some of the most popular clubs and pubs in Singapore (might I mention that some of these entry fees usually cost $25 each!), at each bar you'll get a free shot (I'll definitely be wasted by the third bar!) and all drinks are heavily discounted (which is a huge plus when you know how much a pint can cost you here!). So basically you get to meet a bunch of new people, great for if you just moved to Singapore or just looking for new friends, while enjoying cheap drinks. I don't know about you but I'm sold and heading to my first Pub Crawl this Thursday night and I don't think it will be my last.

If you are keen to join me this Thursday and want to save even more money, when you make the booking, give them the code: BEC and you will get $5 of your ticket price.

For more information about tomorrow night's crawl and booking check out Singapore Pub Crawl's FB page here or their website here. Or if you can't be bothered with all that and want to book straight away contact Morgan on (+65)96405611.

Hope I see some of you tomorrow night!

Old Bukit Timah Railway Ride

2012-07-15T22:28:00.000-07:00

The only time I ever ride a bike these days is when I head over to Pulau Ubin and do a leisurely ride around the island. I usually dress casually and wear thongs (flip-flops) and take my time on a relaxed ride. So when I got invited by notatourist.sg and NCompass Mobility to participate in a bike ride to Old Bukit Timah Railway station, I thought it would be much the same and dressed in jeans and thongs. Despite the drizzly, overcast morning the ride went ahead and when me and my friend arrived everyone else was dressed like professional cyclists. Uh oh, I thought, I think this is going to be more intense than I pictured. Everyone had a laugh at me for wearing thongs but I assured them that I always wear thongs on a bike ride, I'm Australian! After some coffee to get us moving we hopped on the bikes and were on our way. We followed a well ridden path that used to be the old railway line with HDB's on one side and the highway on the other but in some parts we found ourselves in foresty areas and it felt like we weren't in Singapore at all. With the downpour overnight some parts of the path were muddy, very muddy! In these parts I was glad I wore thongs, while the others got their sneakers muddy, my feet and thongs got covered but at least I could just hose it all off at the end! In some parts it was rocky and that really worked the thigh muscles. By the end of the 10 kms my legs were like jelly but I was euphoric. We were glad to make it to the end and we had such lovely scenery along the way. Waiting for us at the end were snacks and refreshments, much needed after a big ride.

This was our route (click on the pic to make it bigger)

Mika and I before the ride

Bit muddy

Are we still in Singapore?

Muddy, exhausted but still smiling

If you would like to have a go at the ride yourself or just looking for more information about relocating or living in Singapore contact NCompass Mobility.

Thanks so much notatourist.sg and NCompass Mobility for an amazing morning

Farewell Poppa duck

2012-07-11T20:47:00.003-07:00

R.I.P. Poppa Duck

My grandpa AKA Pop as known to most and Poppa Duck to me just passed away. He was a great man and achieved a lot in his long life and passed away peacefully. When my parents moved to Hervey Bay at the end of 2002, Pop opened up his home to me so I could continue my last two years of schooling in Brisbane. He called me a drama queen and often said I wouldn't know what a tea towel was if it hit me in the face but I loved him for letting me live with him and miss him a lot. He was set in his routine and I was only 15 when I lived with him and hated being restricted by routine, but he put up with me and I with him :)
He was a fantastic husband, father and grandfather. He was also a war veteran, serving in the Royal Merchant Navy.
We went to Australia for his funeral and the service was lovely. Pop had time to organise what he wanted and his children Diane (my mum), Robert and Lyn did the rest and they all organised it brilliantly. Lyn even put a dvd of photos together of his life which unfortunately I can't upload on here but I will put up a few pictures of Pop.

Beerfest Asia 2012

2012-06-10T06:11:00.000-07:00

If you asked my husband Sean what one of his favourite things to do is, his answer would most definitely be drinking beer. He loves beer and can certainly drink his fair share. So when I heard Beerfest Asia was on here in Singapore I thought how much Sean would love to go. Unfortunately, his work roster intervened with his chance to drink beers from around the world and he was inconveniently scheduled to work the whole Beerfest weekend! He was devastated. He even forbade me to even talk about it.

Thanks to Singtel and notatourist.sg, I was given two VIP tickets to attend the Beerfest, which included free flow of beer. I am not one to pass up any opportunity of something free and free beer certainly sounded very tempting. As Sean couldn't attend, I invited a new friend who has recently moved to Singapore and we also met some friends there.

VIP tickets, thank you Singtel and notatourist!

I have never been a VIP before or been given any kind of special treatment, but I must say I could definitely get used to being a Very Important Person. As VIP's we got to go through a separate entrance and skip the line...

Our entrance- no line!

The line we skipped!

We also got a free T-shirt and a cup that we could use to get our free beer refills.

Our cup inclusive of stubby cooler and ribbon to hang it around your neck (photo courtesy of Claire from The Dot Diaries, check out her blog!)

We even had a host show us to our VIP area where we could get our free beers

The VIP area

I can't say we spent much time in the VIP area, only to get our drinks, but we spent most of our time on the dance floor. The entertainment was really really good. There was two marquees, the Blues marquee and the Rock Marquee, we stayed in the Rock Marquee because the music was better. One of the best bands was Raw Earth featuring a young boy, named Miguel Antonio, he truly had one of the most amazing voices. Also, an American AC/DC tribute rock band called Hell's Belle's were fantastic.

I figured with the free beers, I wasn't going to be going home sober and of course I came home reeking of beer as it spilt all through my hair and on my dress.

This was before I left for the night

And well this was me after A LOT of free beers!

I love this photo of our group

Overall the night was fantastic. I had a lot of fun. Sean was pretty jealous and upset he couldn't go, but at least he didn't have to deal with the hangover I have had to deal with all day.... but I have to say the hangover was worth it. Next year, we will be sure Sean can get rostered off so he can come too!

Thanks again to Singtel and notatourist!

Family Visits

2012-06-08T20:23:00.001-07:00

The great thing about living overseas away from family and friends is that said family and friends come to visit you! Not only do they get to enjoy a great holiday in Singapore but they get free accommodation. Recently my eldest (I have four) brother, Denis and his new fiance (AKA my soon to be sister-in-law! YAH!), Jo came to visit us for 5 days. Of course having people come visit you have to be the good little host and show them around which involves coming up with ideas of where to go and what to do. Luckily we have saved most of the touristy things for when we have people come to visit so we don't over do it. Every one who comes to visit has different interests so it is good to put together a plan involving everything your guest wants to do. Like when my bestfriend came to visit, she loves animals so our whole time together was devoted to doing anything animal related. When I asked Denis and Jo what they wanted to see and do when they were in Singapore, Jo's reply was "food, food and more food". We were happy to oblige!

They arrived on a Saturday night, so after a few drinks and a catch up we headed to bed, ready for day one.

Day One:

We weren't really too sure where to go and what to show them so we headed down to Clarke Quay. I just wanted to show them the touristy part of Singapore. Obviously being the middle of the day on a Sunday there wasn't really much happening in Clarke Quay, it is busier at night. Once they saw touristy Clarke Quay, they decided they would much prefer to go do more local things, eat at hawker centres and not the overpriced restaurants. Perfect, because the local food here is fantastic! So we headed toward Chinatown and went to a Vietnamese place (I know, I know, Vietnamese in CHINAtown!) and it was so good! Some fresh and fried Spring rolls, along with a bowl of Pho, almost made me feel like I was back in Vietnam (except that the Pho was $7 instead of 50cents!) Although Chinatown here is still quite touristy, you still get that Asian local feel. After heading down the popular tourist street (Temple Street) we caught the MRT to Raffles Place and headed up to 282m Bar for the view. There are no entry fees at this bar like you would have to pay to get to the top of Marina Bay Sands (MBS) or Altitude One and there is an awesome view right over MBS, the harbour and on a good day all the way to Indonesia. Plus happy hour drinks until 8pm everyday :) After that we headed down to Geylang to show them more local Singapore. And of course to get some cheap beer and awesome dumplings. An awesome end to their first day in Singapore.

Day Two:

We headed to Pulau Ubin! Argh I love this little island. There is so much to see. I even discovered another part of the island I hadn't been to before and we saw loads of animals, my favourite being the stray dogs. We rode around all day and sweated loads. Sean and I are used to sweating a lot but Denis and Jo are not being that they live in Adelaide. We spotted wild boars and monkeys and of course plenty of the stray dogs!


This little guy was adorable, looked a little like Joe and had the same smelly breath :P

The four of us

Wild boar

Some of the strays cooling off! So cute :)

We also went to the bike park and Denis attempted the see-saw... Sorry Den but this is too funny not to include...

Day Three:

Sean and I got a break from being hosts for the day while Denis and Jo went off to the zoo. They had a great time. That night we went for dinner. I had bought some vouchers online a few months back for $10 all you drink cosmo's so Jo and I took advantange of them and we also had some dinner there. After getting our money's worth of cosmos we all decided to head to the Marina Bay Sands Casino. We have never been before, mainly because Sean can go a little crazy at the casino! We discovered that there is actually no bar but waitress' come around and get you drinks. Sean found a blackjack table and did really well, we were up $315 when we left :)

Day Four:

We were going to head to Sentosa but the weather intervened, so instead we went to the famous Orchard Rd to have a look around and had lunch at Din Tai Fung (YUM!). We then went to Arab Street and looked at all the silks and then walked down to Little India to head to my favourite place, Mustafas. After spending a bit of time there shopping we went to a curry place for some yummy curry and then headed home to catch State of Origin!

Day Five:

Denis and Jo's last day we decided to visit Sentosa Island. Sean and I still hadn't been and we were looking forward to chilling out on the beach. We went to Siliso Beach and were actually quite unimpressed... but I guess it will be the closest to a nice beach you'll find in Singapore.... I miss Australian beaches! Nevertheless we laid out the towels and chilled out for a bit.


I suppose it aint too bad :P

Jo and I :)

After Sentosa we headed home to the pool, because the water at Sentosa didn't look the best to swim in. For their last dinner before they headed to the airport we went back to Changi Village for some awesome Prata.

It was so good having them visit, but we were definitely exhausted at the end! We are not used to doing so much :)

Eat for a Cause

2012-05-31T00:30:00.001-07:00

I love trying new foods and definitely not afraid to try odd foods like frog legs and shark head, but I never find these kinds of foods myself because I am scared that I'll order something wrong off the menu. I made up a game the other day when Sean and I were going for lunch at a Kopitiam (Food Court). Basically you pick two numbers between one and ten. I chose 5 and 2. Then when you get to the Kopitiam starting from the left count all the food stores until you hit your first number and then choose the item off the menu using the second number (as most of the dishes have numbers next to them). I thought if we did this we would end up trying things we don't normally pick off the menu! Unfortunately though we both ended up vetoing those food stalls and chose to get Wanton noodle soup (an old favourite). I do want to stick it out next time and just go with what I randomly picked but I do like it when someone else who has eaten the dish before introduces me to it.

So last Saturday I was invited by notatourist.sg to go to an event organised by NCompass Mobility called Eat for a Cause in support of the yellow ribbon initiative that helps rehabilitating ex-prisoners and drug addicts. To support the cause we ate at two restaurants that only employ ex-prisoners and drug addicts to help them reintegrate into society. We went up to Jalan Kayu which I discovered is a little hot spot of restaurants from local to western food and I plan to head back up there to go back to the same places and try the other restaurants. The first stop was New Soon Huat Bak Kut Teh to try out some Bak Kut Teh which is pork rib soup. We were told that there are a few versions of this soup, sometimes peppery and sometimes herbal. We tried the herbal broth and it was so yummy, I even got them to top up my bowl with more broth and the pork was so tender it fell off the bone. Accompanied we had a bowl of steamed rice and some salted vegetables.

A bowl of Bak Kut Teh

Our group enjoying our Bak Kut Teh

We walked off our lunch by walking 100metres up the road to an Indian restaurant to get us some Prata dessert. I absolutely love Prata, I could probably eat Prata everyday but I don't think it is that good for you so I won't. However I have not tried dessert Prata. We chose from Strawberry, Chocolate and Banana. I chose chocolate and it was good but supposedly they usually come a lot crispier. I think I will stick to my savoury Prata and curry. Unfortunately we were too busy eating our dessert and forgot to take pictures!

Overall the lunch was great, not only did it support a great cause but I got to meet some new people (which is always a plus in Singapore) and got to try some new food. Ncompass did a brilliant job organising the event and they do a lot of events to help expats meet new people and they provide many other services to assist expats moving to Singapore so check out their website.

Now while we are on the subject of food... you might remember I went on a Makansutra Food Safari a few months back and got to try out some awesome Singaporean dishes. Well, Makansutra are holding another Food Safari in June and you could win tickets to it. So here's how...

1. Visit the notatourist.sg Facebook Page at:

https://www.facebook.com/notatouristsg?sk=app_294554070634161

2. "Like" the notatourist.sg Facebook Page

3. Invite three friends!

4. If all three friends accept the invite, your friend and his/her three friends will stand a chance to be part of this event.

The Event Details as follows:

• 13 JUNE 2012, Wednesday

• Registration from 630pm - 7pm.

• Bus will leave from SingTel Comcenter lobby at 7pm sharp.

So give it go and good luck!

Why are Singaporeans / Asians Afraid of Dogs?? (Guest Post by Sean)

2012-05-17T21:59:00.000-07:00

This blog post was written by my husband Sean, first time guest blogging

Ok let me start by saying this may be a bit of a generalisation, I know that not ALL Singaporeans are afraid of dogs and that there are many dog owners here. But compared to other places I have lived it seems a large proportion are terrified of dogs.

When I am out walking Joe, (if you are not familiar with Joe from Bec’s previous post see the picture below), who is not a large dog, plus he only has 3 legs and I don’t think looks in any way intimidating. He is a very friendly dog and really has no interest in other people.

How could you be terrified of that beautiful face?

I have noticed that on many, many occasions at least 2 or 3 people we pass on the street every time we go out, react like I have a Dragon on the end of the lead. They will stop with terrified looks on their faces, move with their backs to wall, make a huge diversion to pass around us, form protective shields in front of their children or in some cases if they see us in time, cross the street. This happens all the time, while they staring at Joe like he is some kind of Demon.

The best reaction I have seen was yesterday, a Chinese man of middle age was walking behind us on our way to the shop, Joe stopped to take a pee on a tree and the man went to walk past us on a section of grass, as he was parallel to us Joe had finished his business and we resumed our course. At the sight of Joe walking back towards the path, the man stopped dead in his tracks with a look of horror on his face, put up his hands, started moving away backwards and made a bit of a whimpering sound (I though he was going to start crying), I said to him “Don’t worry mate its not a Tiger”.

So what is going on ?

Are Singaporeans / Asian’s afraid of Dogs?

Do Chinese people consider it bad luck for a dog to cross your path or something??

Any other dog owners noticed similar behaviour?

Joe's big surgery

2012-05-17T21:48:00.001-07:00

Last Tuesday the 8th, Joe had his big surgery to remove his leg. As mentioned in my previous post, Sean and I went on a little trip to Tioman Island for a few nights and Joe went to stay with our good friends after his surgery. Thank you Pete and Carrie for taking such good care of Joe while we were away and after his surgery! Joe couldn't have his surgery immediately after his accident, because it was found he had heart worm and it is dangerous to put dogs under anaesthetic when they have heart worm, so he spent a good few weeks with us taking antibiotics to prevent infection in his leg and some heart worm tablets to help cure him. After a few vet visits he had the all clear to undergo his operation. The vet is located in Clementi and we live in Changi so it is a very long ride and Joe absolutely hates travelling in the van because he throws up every single time, even if he hasn't had any food. One time I took him down to the van and as soon as he saw where he was going he managed to wiggle him self free of his collar and ran away, luckily it didn't take much to get him to come back to me and then I just had to pick him up and put him in. Aww, poor little Joe.

His surgery was very clean and requires no bandages. He was on antibiotics for about 9 days and some pain killers for about a week, but now 10 days later he is off any medication. I noticed the day after he stopped his pain killers he was a little grumpier than normal, so I think he is in a little pain, but he is very good and doesn't lick or chew at his stitches which means he doesn't have to wear a cone. I think it is a lot easier for him now because before his bone was sticking out and he was very cautious not to have it get in the way of things. Here is the Before and then After Pic.

See how the bone is sticking out, it would always get in his way

The day after his surgery, they had to shave him but his hair will grow back and he gets around much easier now (Photo by our friend, Caroline Burns (http://www.despatchesgallery.com)

Now that has been 10 days after his surgery he is allowed to have baths again, which is fantastic because he is starting to smell like a forest dog again! In a few weeks he should be fully recovered and then we will be looking for a forever home for him. If you or someone you know are interested in adopting this gorgeous three legged dog please do get in contact with Action for Singapore Dogs or even if you have a few extra dollars to spare please donate to help support them rescuing dogs and contribute to the ever increasing vet bills. We sure are going to miss Joe, but really hope to see him go to a loving home.

Pulau Tioman, Malaysia

2012-05-13T21:09:00.002-07:00

Have I ever mentioned before how much I love living in Singapore? Probably the best thing about it is that we are so close to every where else in Asia. We have a lot of choice when we want to go on holiday. Whether we want to go on a sightseeing trip or just to a beach to chill out, there is an infinite choice of destinations. Sean had some time off this month so we decided to head to Pulau Tioman (Tioman Island) in Malaysia. We spent 4 nights at Salang Beach on the North end of the Island and had an amazing time. We enjoyed beautiful sunshine everyday and spectacular sunsets every evening, plus don't forget the duty free alcohol! :P

How to get there

After researching the many ways of how to get to Tioman, we just decided we would ride the scooter to Mersing and get the ferry there. The ride took about 3 hours and that's including stopping every hour to rest our sore bums so I think if you went in a car you could cut the time a little. We left the scooter in a secure fenced car park at the Mersing Ferry Terminal and paid RM4 (less than SGD$2) a day. The ferry times are dependent on the tide times but I think if you contact Bluewater ferries a day or two before hand they should be able to give you a rough estimate of departure time. It cost RM35 one way and takes about 1.5-2hours depending where you get off on the island. There are 6 stops and we got off at the last one at Salang Beach. There is no food on the boat so I suggest bringing some along, because we were starving by the time we got over to the island.

On the back of the scooter

Bluewater ferry

If you don't have your own means of transport to get to Mersing, you can catch a bus. You can leave directly from Singapore with either Transnasional Express or Five Stars Express but a ticket costs about SGD$30 each way, so if you want to save a little money, cross the border yourself and make your way to Larkin Bus Terminal where you can catch a S&S International Express bus for RM11.50 (SGD$9).

If you aren't much for sitting on buses or driving for hours and hate ferries, the other option is to fly from Singapore. Next time we go, we definitely think we will take this option. The only airline that flies there is Berjaya Air and they usually have promo flights for $89 (excluding tax) each way. The airport is located in Tekek which is basically in the middle of the island and then from there you can catch a ferry to your destination for about RM20-40 and it should only take about 10-15 minutes to wherever you are going on the island.

Where to stay

We stayed on Salang Beach so I can only really tell you about the accommodation options there.


Accommodation at Salang Beach

We didn't pre-book any accommodation because we arrived on a Tuesday in low season but I suggest if you are going in high season or even on the weekend, it may be a good idea to pre-book accommodation. We went in search of somewhere cheap and found Salang Beach Resort at the northern end of Salang beach (not to be confused with Salang Sayang Beach Resort at the south end). We got ourselves a hut with a fan for RM40 (SGD$16) per night, you may be able to find something a little cheaper but honestly we didn't look. It was an extra RM60 to get aircon, but even though it is hot during the day, at night it is cool and a fan was all that was needed and who spends any time in their room during the day?

Our little hut was completely run down but that didn't really bother us. If you want to spend a bit more and get something better, there are quite a few other better looking options. I have read great reviews about Salang Sayang Beach Resort at the south end of Salang and the beach is much better at that end. But wherever you choose to stay, just remember you'll most likely only be sleeping in there, because there is so much to do during the day.

What to do

Besides just lazing on the beach, reading and getting a tan, there are a few restaurants in Salang and the food is cheap. The Asian options are always better tasting than Western options (duh, your in Asia!). Only one or two restaurants sell alcohol but the ones that don't, allow you to BYO. There are about 2-3 stores that sell duty free alcohol and a beer is only SGD$2, you gotta love that!


Me trying not to get burnt!

$2 beer watching the sunset

Snorkel- Everywhere offers snorkeling gear for hire for about RM10-15 a day. We snorkeled off the main beach in Salang and saw some beautiful fish. This is where the underwater camera comes in handy.

Snorkeling!

Trek- One day we decided to trek to Monkey Bay. The trek took an hour and it is over a huge, steep hill, so this is not for the faint hearted, but in saying that Sean and I are pretty unfit and managed OK. Wear sneakers, take plenty of water, some food and plenty of insect repellent (the jungle is mosquito heaven). We were told to follow the black electricity cable but on our way back we did get a little bit lost as the path isn't very well defined. I finally recognised a tree branch I grabbed onto going there and found the path again, so keep an eye on where you're going and make note of little landmarks. Monkey Bay is virtually secluded besides a few tourist boats but the snorkeling there was heaps better than on the main beach in Salang. We saw clownfish AKA Nemo!

Check out the video, it is so cute how they come out and try to protect their anemone.

I also saw a sea snake, but didn't get it on camera, but it was pretty awesome!
If you are not into walking you can get a boat to Monkey Bay for about RM20 one way or you can trek one way and get the boat to take you home, there are plenty you can flag down.

Take a boat trip- We didn't but there are a lot of options for about RM70-200 where you visit other parts of the island and go snorkeling.

Go Diving- Sean has his open water diving license but he hasn't dove in over 5 years so he had to do a refresher course, which is an off shore dive. Sean convinced me to come along with him because the Discover scuba diving for first timers is virtually the same as the refresher course. I was a bit hesitant at first because I suck at snorkeling, like breathing through my mouth under water and I am petrified of sharks. But our instructor who has been diving off Tioman for 7 years has only ever seen one shark so I felt a little safer. We went with DiveAsia and it cost about SGD$50 each which I think is very cheap for diving. The instructor was great and taught me how to breathe properly and once I knew how it wasn't so hard anymore. I had a little trouble equalising the pressure in my ears at first but once I signalled to my instructor he sorted it out and I felt a lot better. As a beginner without a license I was only allowed to go to a maximum of 13 metres and we ended up going down 12.2m. We saw 2 turtles and Nemo's plus a huge Eel. Unfortunately we couldn't take our camera because it can only go down 5 metres. After my diving experience I think I would definitely do my open water course because it is an amazing feeling breathing underwater and seeing all the marine life.

With all our scuba gear after our dive

Check out the wildlife- From Monkeys to Monitor Lizards to Cats, there is plenty of wildlife on Tioman. If you like cats, get ready for kitty cuteness. The island is full of cats but no dogs. When I asked why there was no dogs, I was told because Muslims do not like dogs. I was a little disappointed as I am obsessed with dogs but there were plenty of cute kitties.

Me and my kitty friend

Kitty getting some milk from mummy cat

Huge monitor lizards live in the little river that backs Salang Beach and in the jungle. Some are huge but are a little people shy.

Getting some sun

Monkey's live in the jungle and use the black electricity cable to get around.

Be prepared

1. Bring enough cash for your stay. Supposedly there is an ATM in Tekek but if you are not staying there it would be a pain having to catch a boat just to get some more money. Although if you are staying in Salang and are really desperate for cash, the duty free shop will give you cash using your credit card but charge 7%. All the dive centres except credit cards to pay for your dives.

2. Bring some good insect repellent and if you think you have enough bring more. Plus mozzie coils wouldn't hurt. Both these things can be purchased on the island but it is good to come prepared.

3. Just in case you do get bitten take some antihistamines and some very good anti itch cream such as a hydro cortisone cream. This I didn't do and there is no where I could buy these things on the island. I got eaten alive and have over 100 bites all over me and all I could find to buy on the island was some very mediocre anti itch cream that did nothing to stop the itching. I had 2 very restless nights because I couldn't sleep I was so itchy!

4. Take a good quality sunscreen and a lot of it. Again more can be purchased there. Slip Slop Slap! (hmm, you might not get that unless you are Australian!)

5. Take a back pack. If you plan to do a trek having a backpack to put everything in would be a lot easier than what we did using a canvas shopping bag.

6. Bring some good books. Chill out and catch up on some reading while lazing on the beach. Bliss.

7. Think about taking/buying an underwater camera. We love our Olympus Tough camera and with some amazing snorkeling on Tioman we managed to get some great pictures and video of the fish.

8. Take a light jacket. If you are like me and feel the cold easily, it would be a good idea to take a light jacket because it gets a little cool at night, plus it will be extra protection from all the bitey insects!

9. Take a sun shirt. If you are sun burn conscious, take a swimming sun shirt because otherwise you'll end up with a very burnt back from snorkeling (AKA snorkel back).

10. Relax, your on holiday!

We'll be back

Even though we have many holiday options, I think we'll definitely head back to Tioman because it is cheap and a little tropical paradise.

Radio link

2012-05-07T03:47:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to post the link to the radio podcast for my interview about fostering Joe... you can check it out here. It is mostly in Mandarin except the recording of my interview.

In other news, Joe is off for his big surgery tomorrow to have his leg amputated and I am pretty sure he knows something is up because he has been giving us puppy dog eyes all day. Also we are off to Tioman Island in Malaysia tomorrow and while we are gone our good friends will be looking after Mr. Joe post surgery. So once we are back I'll be sure to have a few new blog posts to write about Tioman and Joe!

Have a good week! xoxo

How to wear out a three legged dog

2012-05-02T21:25:00.000-07:00

Sean has a bit of time off work this month and so we have been trying to get out of the house a bit more. Yesterday evening we decided we would take Joe for a walk and then grab some dinner from a hawker centre on the way home. Our aim was to walk to Pasir Ris Park from our place in Changi and to explore our area a bit more. Here is the route we took :

According to google maps this is 3.7km each way. Along the way there are alot of terrace houses, which I love looking at because some just look so big and there were a lot of HDB's. We also discovered a bunch of shops including a 24hour shop and save and a 24hour Value store which is like a Crazy Clark's or $2 junk store, so it is good to know if I ever run out of eggs or more likely alcohol at 2am I know I don't have far to go to get some more. We walked to Pasir Ris park and discovered a fishing pond. At first I thought you could just bring along your own rod and go fishing for free but turns out you have to pay and it is not cheap as you can see by this sign:

$55 for 3 hours, $85 for 5 hours

I think I would just prefer to go to East Coast Park and fish for free.Here is what the fishing pond looks like, it is really quite large.

We also walked on to Pasir Ris Mrt and stopped at a little shop called Cottage Pies to have a mini pie as an entree. Being outside a busy shopping centre and next to the MRT there were loads of people and they all stared at Joe. He gets this a lot, probably because he only has three legs but it seems a lot of Singaporeans are petrified of dogs and freak out or steer well clear of him. Or sometimes it's the complete opposite and the 'ooh and ahh' and 'how cute' at him.

On our way back we found a hawker centre and had our dinner and walked the 3.7km back. Joe was huffing and puffing and we were sweating so we decided to go for a night swim. Once we changed and on our way out the door I called to Joe to come down to the pool with us but he just looked at me like I was crazy to think he was going anywhere else. This was the first time ever he has not wanted to leave the apartment when we are going and there you have it, we successfully wore out a three legged dog. We both slept well and so did Joe.

Beautiful Joe on our walk

I was on the radio!

2012-05-02T20:42:00.002-07:00

On Tuesday I was contacted by a reporter from Mediacorp's radio station Capital 95.8 and asked if I would like to do an interview about fostering Joe. As I am trying to get as much exposure for Action for Singapore Dogs and get the word out about fostering animals, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to talk about fostering Joe. So the reporter came round to my apartment so she could meet Joe and I and conduct the interview. The interview aired this morning at 8:15am on Capital 95.8 and will air again at 5:15pm this afternoon, but it has all been translated to Mandarin. I didn't get a chance to catch it this morning but I will be tuning in this afternoon to listen, even though I can't understand a word of Mandarin, maybe I will hear my name! So tune in if you can understand Mandarin. Here is a pic the reporter took of Joe and I :)

Surprise visit to Australia!

2012-04-20T02:43:00.000-07:00

For months before Easter, my Dad had been begging me to come back home for Easter because all my brothers were going to be there and my grandpa and it would be the first time in a while that the whole family would be together. I kept putting him off, saying that I might have to stay home to look after Joe and various other excuses. And to be honest for a while there I really wasn't sure whether I could go or not, because even though Sean was able to look after Joe most of the time, there were two days where he was going to be away for work and we needed to find alternative accommodation for Joe. Luckily a week before two of our friends offered to take him in for two nights and we were very grateful. However, feeling a little sly, I decided it would be fun to not tell my parents I was coming. In fact I even went as far as sending them an email on the day of my arrival (from the Brisbane airport) telling them I couldn't make it for Easter using Joe as an excuse. My Dad never wrote back to the email and told me later that he was fuming and was going to give me the silent treatment! Meanwhile I was laughing my head off, slightly over caffeinated to make up for the lack of sleep on the 8 hour flight, in the Brisbane airport as I was sending the email. A few hours later, I had caught my connecting flight up to Hervey Bay and was in a taxi on my way to surprise my parents. I had no idea if either of them would be home and it turns out my mother is deaf. The taxi made a lot of noise coming up the gravel driveway and Shrek (my beautiful rottie) was barking and yet she still didn't come out to see what all the commotion was about. Even after coming inside and looking around making lots of noise, I finally found her in my brothers room on the computer, totally oblivious to my arrival! Nonetheless, I successfully surprised her and she was very happy to see me, telling me how angry my Dad was that I said I wasn't coming. My dad was working so we decided to go to his office and surprise him. Oh, the look on his face when he saw me, after calling me names I would prefer not to recall, he was very happy to see me and I made his crappy day a whole lot better!
A couple of days later my two brothers and my future sister in law (hint hint Denis!) and my grandpa arrived and we spent the Easter weekend chilling out and eating seafood and lots of chocolate. But how I spent most of my weekend was reorganising my parents books into alphabetical order. My dad asked me to help him put some books he had just gotten onto his new bookshelf he had just gotten. See you should know my parents are kinda of obsessed with books, you know the paperback kind or hardcover, they wouldn't know how to use a kindle if you had a gun to their head.... actually neither would I, to be honest... really should get one of them! Anyway he was randomly placing them on his bookshelf and I started to help him but I guess my manic organisation skills must have come into play (trust me, it doesn't happen often) and I thought if I was going to help I had to do it right. So I started from scratch and started organising... I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...

This is probably a quarter of what they have

And that is most of their book shelves and that took me about three full days to sort them all into alphabetical order. Sounds like a nightmare but it was actually quite therapeutic. I didn't actually have enough time to catalogue them all so I decided to take pictures of all the books spines (like in the pic below) so I could see the author and title and plan to catalogue them on goodreads.com for my parents.

That might take me a while but I am a housewife and I do have a lot of time even though I procrastinate A LOT!

And last but certainly not least here are a few pictures of Shrek because he is just too darn cute for his own good!

Slobber

Um, pretty sure you are a bit too big for that chair...

So excited to go on a walk

I was meant to post this ages ago but I have been a bit slack, so sorry, will try and keep on top of the blog post from now on :)

Cinema in Singapore

2012-03-26T06:50:00.000-07:00

Today, Sean and I went to the cinema for the first time in Singapore. Expecting at least 15 minutes of advertisements like in Australian cinemas, we weren't too worried when we were running 5 minutes late. I don't think I have ever been so disappointed to see that there were no adverts and that the movie had already begun. Luckily, I think we only missed a few minutes. The other weird thing was we were allocated seats. I am not sure if every cinema in Singapore does this, but in Australia you just sit wherever you want. We went and saw The Hunger Games, which I have been pretty excited for since I read the books years ago. It was really good and I thought it portrayed the books quite well... but this isn't a movie review blog so thats all I'll say :)

On another note, anyone else noticed that they love giving you loads of plastic bags here? I always try to remember to bring my reusable bags but sometimes I forget. They seem to double bag everything and give one separate bag for certain individual items... seems such a waste and very environmentally unfriendly!!

Our foster dog, Joe

2012-03-20T04:38:00.000-07:00

Most of you know I love dogs and sadly left our Rottweiler, Shrek, back in Australia with my parents. I tried to convince my husband that we should get another dog here, but after talking about it for some time, we decided it would be best not to, because if we wanted to go away for a few nights, we would have to find someone to look after the dog or put it in a kennel.

Nonetheless, I signed up to foster dogs through Action for Singapore Dogs (ASD), thinking this would be a better option because you get to look after the dog for a few months while they are sick or recovering and then they go back to the shelter to find a "forever home". On Thursday I got a call from Ricky, from ASD, to see if we would like to foster a dog named Joe for a month or two while he recovered from heartworm. Joe was found caught in a wild boar trap (I know I had no idea there were wild boars in Singapore either!) and lost one of his back legs. It seems to be very common for more stray dogs to be caught in these traps than boars. Check out this blog post about it. He needs to have the leg fully amputated but the Vet found that he has heartworm and cannot operate on him until he is cured. That is where we come in. It didn't take us long to decide whether to take him in or not, especially because we were told they were having trouble finding a fosterer. After arranging for him to be delivered to us on Friday morning, we set out to get supplies. We needed a dog bed, dog leash, dog collar, bowls and food, I had forgotten all the little things you need for a dog! When he first arrived and I tried to pat him he snarled at me and I realised he was a bit hesitant with strangers, but after I gave him some treats, he soon became my best friend. When Sean came home from work, it took him a little longer to warm up to him (I think he prefers women!), but again after some treats, he happily succumbed to some pats. He has to be given medication morning and night, but the best thing is, is that because he is so food oriented, I just mix it in with his food and he doesn't even notice it is there. I plan to fatten him up a bit because he is very scrawny, I don't think it will be hard because he loves food.

It is definitely a lot different having a dog in an apartment compared to back in Australia. We have had to make sure we take him out at regular intervals to do his business outside, luckily he is house trained (not sure how, perhaps he was someones pet before he became a stray?). Whereas back in Australia, how dogs lived outside and all we had to worry about was the once a week poop scoop. The grounds at our condo are quite large with lots of grass, so it is kind of nice to get out of the apartment regularly and walk him around.

His leg that he lost is still an open wound, so while he is in the apartment he wears a cone at all times to stop him licking at it, but when we take him out we take off the cone because it gets in the way and just make sure he doesn't lick. He is very well behaved and usually does what he is told and especially does what he is told if food is involved. We are trying to train him to take food more gently because he tries to bite your hand off if you have a treat ( a trait of being a stray I presume). We put him out on our tiny balcony at night to sleep and he winges for a bit, but then goes to sleep. In fact I think he is becoming very attached to me, I walked him to the shops today (just 100m down the road) and left him outside for 5 minutes and when I came back he was so excited to see me and jumped all over me (well tries to jump, good job he doesn't have 4 legs, he probably wouldn't stop jumping hehe).

After he has recovered he will then be looking for a forever home, but to tell you the truth I think it is going to be incredibly hard to give him back because I have grown very fond of him. Sean keeps reminding me that if I don't give him back then our home won't be open to other dogs that need fostering, which is true but if they cannot find a forever home for Joe, I couldn't just let him live in a shelter, I have become very attached! But we'll see and I'll let you know if he is still with us in a few months haha!

Of course, here are some pictures to gush over and a video of him getting his first bath (he was so dirty!)

We call him Conehead!!

True Love

Peek a boo

His first bath- he was so well behaved

Look at all the dirty water, ew! If you want more information on fostering or adopting in Singapore or just want more information in general check out the ASD website or the ASD Facebook page.

Now I just have to add this picture because it is hilarious... found in our local pub toilet!

I love the husky throwing up out the back and the St Bernard skulling the beer, seriously cracks me up everytime!

Australian Meat

2012-03-04T00:31:00.000-08:00

Everyone loves a good steak... unless you are a vegetarian of course. Sean and I used to have steak for dinner at least once a week back in Australia and red meat featured in our meals a couple a times a week. When we moved to Singapore we thought our steak dinners would only happen on special occasions and we would be eating a lot more pork and chicken instead because red meat in Singapore is way too expensive. Luckily we discovered QB foods (recommended by friends Laurel and Andrea) and although their meat is not as cheap as what you can get in Woolworths or Coles in Australia, it is the cheapest we have found in Singapore and they have a good selection of meat from Australia. They also have US meat. If you order over $200 they deliver it at no extra charge. However, even though they have some good steak selections, they do not have cheap sausages like we got back in Australia or lamb steaks, which we use for curries.

Luckily Sean travels to Perth often for work and is able to buy some meat there and bring it home. At first I couldn't believe that you were able to bring meat into Singapore especially because Australian customs are so strict, but supposedly it is no problems to bring it back here. So he just bought a load of meat, put it in a freezer bag, put it in the cargo hold (where it is cold) and brought it home for me :) He also brought me home some cheese. He got me 500g of Ricotta for AUD$4.50 (SGD$6) because I can't seem to find any for less than SGD$10 here for only 450g.

This is what he brought home for me :) I cooked up a nice sausage and bacon breakfast, I have certainly missed sausages. What they call sausages here I wouldn't even feed to my dog. I now need to buy a slow cooker so I can make some awesome beef stews and lamb curries.... mmmm I am getting hungry just thinking about it...

11 Questions Tag

2012-03-01T18:56:00.000-08:00

I don't usually do a lot of these blog thingys but this one looked fun and I have been trying to blog more so thought I would give it a go.

One of my good friend's Emma and fellow blogger who has an awesome blog, La vie, style et beaute, tagged me to participate in this 11 Questions Tag. The rules are as follows:

Rules

- You must post these rules.

- Each person must post 11 things about themselves on their blog.

- Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post and create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.

- You have to choose 11 people to tag and link them on the post.

- Go to their page and tell them you have linked him or her.

- No tag backs.

- No stuff in the tagging section about 'you are tagged if you are reading this'. You legitimately have to tag 11 people.

So to begin, here are 11 things you may or may not know about me:

1. When I was 15 (turned 16 there) I went to Germany with 3 other students for a school tour and I used to be able to speak a bit of German, now I have no idea!

2. I really miss my childhood home. It had 6 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 2 separate staircases, 2 kitchens, 4 living areas, 2 outdoor entertainment areas and a pool. There was always about 10 kids running through the house because I have 3 brothers and we would always have our friends over.

3. I am a pretty shy person until I get to know people and then you can't shut me up.

4. I am a WORRIER! I worry about a lot of things but Sean is the complete opposite and is very good at calming me down.

5. My favourite country in the world (besides Australia) is Laos (with Vietnam a close second) because the locals are so laid back.

6. I still haven't figured out what I want to do with my life. I used to want to be a Pre-school teacher, then a Vet Nurse, then a Mother and now I want to study Nutrition.

7. I have been to university twice and dropped out twice. SHAME!

8. We used to have two dogs (we still have Shrek who lives with mum and dad). We also used to have a border collie named Jazz who was incredibly hyperactive and loved chasing birds. When we decided to travel around Australia in a van in 2010, we had to give her away to a farm where she could spend her whole day chasing cows! Here is a picture of her:

Can you tell she used to hate this jacket?

9. Every few months I go on health kicks and they usually last about 2-4 weeks. Not because I am overweight (quite the opposite!) but because I am obsessed with Nutrition. I am currently in the everything in moderation phase right about now and it is so much better than being on any crazy health kick!

10. (Stealing one of Emma's things but true about me) I cannot get to sleep without reading a chapter of a novel. Even when I am so drunk I could pass out, I have to read a few lines to get to sleep and I know I will not remember a word I read in the morning!

11. Sean and I love zombies. Sean gave me Zombie Survival guide one Christmas and we even have a Zombie attack plan. You might think I sound crazy but you will be screwed when Zombie's attack! I even had a picture drawn by an artist to make us look like zombies, here it is:

Maybe a bit too obsessed with Zombies...

Ok next, answer questions the tagger set for you, I think this will be the hard part.

1. Who do you admire or look up to?

Seriously this is hard, I don't want to say a famous person because you can only view them from the outside and never know what goes on in their lives and maybe it is not as glamorous as it seems. So I am going to say I look up to and admire my best friend Sash, because she has always known what she wanted to do with her life and has gone ahead and done it and she is one of the smartest, friendliest, caring person I know.

2. What would you do if you won the lottery?

Easy, buy a private plane and travel the world. I suppose I would give a bit to my family haha! Of course I would give some to my family, but honestly I don't think I would tell many people because I would hate for people to become greedy and expect you to pay for everything. So if I start talking about travelling the world in my private jet, you'll know why!

3. Do you have any (secret) talents?

I can touch my nose with my tongue?

4. Does your personality and zodiac sign description match?

I think so. Usually when I read my star sign they are so vague that I can somehow make it relate to my life.

5. Where do you see yourself in ten years?

Most likely still living in Singapore and maybe with a few children, I hope.

6. If you could only shop at one fashion store for the rest of your life, which one would you choose?

Easy! Cotton On. It's my go to clothes shop, because the clothes are cheap and they always fit me and my style.

7. What is the most embarrassing thing that has happened to you?

It would of been when we were tubing in Laos ( if you don't know what tubing is check out this blog post here) I decided to try one of the swings and I had everyone in the bar watching me and cheering me on and then I faceplanted it straight into the water, barely hung onto the swing for a second. Luckily everyone gets smashed and can't remember a thing when tubing!

8. Do you have any weird dreams?

Not really. I don't dream often and when I do I never remember them.

9. What is your guilty pleasure?

Why is the answer to this always something edible. Nobody ever answers with some guilty sexual pleasure. And neither am I. I am going to say cream, whipped cream on desserts, not in the sexual way!!

10. Do you like your name or would you prefer having a different one?

I like my nick name Bec but it is weird when people call me Rebecca... but I don't hate it.

11. Who is your celebrity crush?

Jude Law, even if he is a cheating scumbag because he cheated on the gorgeous Sienna Miller, he is still hot!

Now I have to tag 11 people/ bloggers:

1. http://talesofabusyhousewife.blogspot.com/

2. http://australianexpatfamily.blogspot.com/

3. http://joelandstacey.blogspot.com/

4. http://livinginballan.blogspot.com/

5. http://www.expatadventuresinsingapore.com/

6. http://pamexpatlife.blogspot.com/

7. http://tanguerainsingapore.blogspot.com/

8. http://amelbournegirlinthetropics.blogspot.com/

9. http://thedotdiaries.wordpress.com/

10. http://ausinuk.blogspot.com/

11. http://thestunzfamily.wordpress.com/

My questions for you.

1. What would you choose as your last meal?

2. Do you have a zombie plan/ end of the world plan? If so, what is it?

3. I have to ask this, what would you do if you won the lottery?

4. Dogs or Cats?

5. Favourite Country (besides your home country)?

6. Facebook or Twitter?

7. Typical question, name 3 items you would want on a deserted island?

8. Is there anything that you would change about yourself?

9. What can you hear right now?

10. What was the last film you saw?

11. If you could have any job, what would you want to be or do?

And that's it. I wonder who made it to the end of this post. I am looking forward to reading some of the answers.

*If you leave a comment on my blog, please click "Subscribe by email" after you make the comment below, so you can read my reply.

Playing with my new camera

2012-02-29T23:45:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in my blog post about visiting KL, we bought a new camera. We have been without a camera for a while because I always end up breaking them, whether it is from dropping it on the ground or from putting it in my handbag without putting it back in the case and it getting hammered in there. I thought I wanted to get a DSLR because they seem to be the "in" thing right about now, but then I realised I really am not much of a photographer and don't know much about photography and honestly have little interest to learn. While we were browsing through Singapore airport we saw a camera store and thought well we need a new camera, so we went in just to browse and ended up buying one! We found one that is meant to be indestructible (Olympus Tough), well only if dropped from 1.5 metres, and it is waterproof up to 5 metres, not that I go in the ocean much (terribly afraid of sharks) but I wanted an underwater camera because I have seen some awesome underwater pool shots that looked pretty cool and wanted to give it a go. Anyway, our new camera has some awesome settings on it, from punk'd to sparkle to water colour and the coolest of all- drawing! Here are a few shots I took just playing around.

Punk'd setting- I look like a ZOMBIE!


Drawing setting- sorry it is not very clear because of the white background! I drew a picture of me! This is meant to be a space invader. This was Sean's idea and I said he could only do it if it was done in a clear not so obvious way and not done in colour. See marriage is all about compromise! I plan to start taking more pictures with my new camera, I just got to get in the habit of remembering to take pictures. *If you comment on my blog please click "Subscribe by email" below the comment box after you comment so you can see what I reply

Hair cutting Singapore Style

2012-02-29T21:01:00.000-08:00

Sean gets his hair (what's left of it!) cut more often than me. In Australia it was such a pain trying to find a good barber at a cheap price. Sean hates paying more then AUD$20 for a haircut and he even considers that way too expensive (he is a tight arse). We would drive around for ages looking for a good barber, one without too many lines and somewhere cheap and always by the end of it Sean would complain they cut it too short!
In Singapore getting a hair cut is so much easier and so much cheaper. Dotted around the island in many shopping malls you will find these hairdressers that do 10 minute express cuts for SGD$10 and there usually is hardly any wait. The most popular franchise is a place hailing from Japan called QB House but the other day we went to one called Hair Club.

All you need is a $10 note and you put it into a machine and receive a receipt before your hair cut.


Step 1- Insert $10, get a receipt

Then you get your hair cut and it is all pretty basic until they vacuum your hair at the end!


Sean getting his hair vacuumed

So getting a hair cut in Singapore is much easier and cheaper than Australia and he never seems to complain it is too short anymore. If you want to watch a video of someone getting their hair cut at Hair Club I found this video on You Tube.

*If you comment on my blog, please click "Subscribe by email" at the bottom after you comment so you'll receive my replies.