Category Archives: Singapore

DIY

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It’s been a number of years since I’ve spent time in the DIY laundromat to do this household chore. Our Bosch has decided to do it’s own thing so I Google-mapped the nearest laundromat. It was just a short bus ride away, so I threw the sweaty mound clothes in the Ikea bag and off I went to the DIY.

If you’ve never had the privilege of participating in this life-lessons event, try it out some time. Maybe try it in your hometown, and then in some places you travel to.

Pourquoi, you ask?

I say, pourquoi not?

There are a number of things I thought about during this an hour and a half excursion:

There is comfort in washing clothes; in the smell of the laundry detergent that fills the air in every laundromat.

You learn to read and follow instructions. Hopefully it’s before you go buy the potentially unneeded detergent.

The signs that are so easy to follow that almost anyone could clean their clothes independently.

You will learn that the dryer “averagely takes about 30 minutes to dry” (I do love finding those intricate English misnomers).

You will use some time management skills and see how much you can actually do in that 30 minutes while the dryer is averagely drying your clothes.

The laudromat is a wonderful place to observe others, and reflect on life.

I value these mini-life lessons. They are in everything we do. We just tend to overlook them.

Spider in Shower

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Yes. That’s what I said.

Spider in shower.

When you visited tropical places, you have to expect tropical things.

My friend, Alaa was visiting from San Diego so we took a weekend trip to Bali. We were staying at a lovely villa I have stayed in before with Monica and Jeanette a couple of years ago. When staying in Southeast Asian resorts and villas, there usually a customary welcome tour that the staff and hosts do for you to show you the features of your accommodation.

Our gracious host walked us through the fountain, kitchen, pool and rooms. One my most favorite features of villa stays are the outdoor showers, which of course our host was happy to show us. When we entered the master bath area, I noticed a visitor in the shower on the wall. A big visitor. One that had 8 legs and was about 4-5 inches in diameter (although it was likely bigger because we were standing back a ways).

There was no freaking out. There was a just a statement.

“There is a really big spider in the shower”, I said.

“Que?” he responded (okay he didn’t say que), but I did repeat my statement for him to hear and pointed to the large creature.

The gentleman apologized and said he would take care of it. And he did. He stayed behind as Alaa and I went back out to the main area.

Not long after this minor spider/shower incident, Brett joined us at the villa. We blah, blah, blahed and after some time we decided to turn in. And as it turned out, the “take care of the spider” was just temporary because, when we went into the large bathroom area for the usual nighttime routine, guess who was back in the shower?

Photo by Mircea Iancu on Pexels.com

Brett tried a second round of “taking care of it” but that sucker was fast! So we decided to be at peace with our shower-spider-friend and just use the nozzle to scooch him out of the shower with some water.

And we never saw him again.

Is it because…

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Moving homes is a bit of work. It always requires a bit of a purge, which I quite enjoy. We don’t have a lot of stuff, but it’s always a good time to go through the things we have and deem the importance of each item, or lack of.

In my second round of item purge, I didn’t collect a lot to take for donation drop-off, but what there was, I did want it out of my way. So I tossed things in a big Ikea bag, grabbed my PMD (Personal Mobility Device) to ride home on, and ordered myself a taxi for the ride to the donation center.

Once the taxi arrived, I didn’t expect help with my items. It isn’t a consistent practice here in Singapore, so I didn’t expect the driver to help me out. I didn’t need help anyway.

After taxi uncle popped the trunk, I put the Ikea bag in first, pushing it to the back of the trunk, then folded my PMD and was about to place it in the trunk in front of the bag. I knew it would fit because I had done this before, and I knew the bag would add some stability for the bag and my PMD in the trunk. Since taxi drivers are known for their abrupt stop-start method with the gas pedal, I didn’t want things rolling around.

As I’m placing my PMD in the trunk, uncle gets out of his car and removes the Ikea bag from the trunk and places it in the front seat of the car instead, stating, “Much better in the front seat.”

ikea bag

I took a breath, clenched my jaw a little, and began the thought journey about why his way to pack was better than mine.  I simply responded, “Sure, thanks!” 

I got in the backseat, confirming for him my Point B when he asked, then sat in silence for the next 10 minutes.

As we drove, I wondered about his motive for moving my already well-placed bag. Was it because:

  1. He knew his trunk capacity well and really thought that the bag and the PMD would never fit.
  2. He thought I’ve never packed a trunk before.
  3. He was just being a helpful taxi uncle.
  4. I’m woman.
  5. I’m 20 younger.
  6. I’m a foreigner.

Feel free to make your own decision, but in my mind, I knew exactly why he moved that Ikea bag.

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Photo by Juan Pablo Arenas on Pexels.com

 

Paper Straws

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A few mornings ago, I figured I would try the new little cafe near our apartment since we are moving neighborhoods in a couple of weeks. Looked cute, had a menu I could work with, and of course, Wifi available.

Found myself a spot, got settled and got working. I’d eaten some food, but needed a little something else so I checked back to the menu for another something to order. I picked out an avo, banana, honey and whatever else smoothie for my late morning snack.

Now.

For smoothies, a straw is usually a necessary tool to have around to have a fairly clean drinking experience, so obviously mine arrived with one. A straw of the eco-friendly variety.

Cool. Good.

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But it was a paper eco-straw. In a smoothie. Iced coffee – no problem, paper-straw me. But not for a smoothie. While the drink was everything I wanted it to be, the texture of the paper eco-straw turned me off a bit when in fact, I thought maybe the avo would throw me off. Yeah, yeah. First world problems.

But you know what? It’s feedback and story worth knowing. I survived that soggy straw experience and you can too. I probably should have just removed the straw and let the smoothie make a little mess as I drank it, or I could have brought my own eco-straw since I now have a variety of them. At home. Don’t forget yours. 😉

Eye Roll

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I’m in a bit of a mood this morning for a few reasons – mostly because of some job-related disappointment, but whatever. That’s the first eye roll.

I’ve found myself doing a lot of eye-rolling at things lately that really shouldn’t matter, and don’t matter in the grand scheme of life…. but when you keep hearing and seeing some of the same duh-ness, you HAVE TO ROLL YOUR EYES! You can’t not.

So the Eye-Roll Award this morning goes to the server I had at one of my usual coffee shops. I come here often with my laptop, order some cold coffee and toast or something, and work for a few hours.

Like most days, today I do the same. I sit at the window, look at the menu and decide on food. She comes back and takes my order.

Me: “I’ll have the french toast and an iced coffee please.”

Server: (Furrowed brow) “Iced coffee?”

Me: “Oh I’m sorry. I meant cold brew.”

OH. MY. GAUD.

Not just once has this happened, but several times here and at different coffee spots. Is there really such a huge difference between iced coffee and cold brew?? Am I too 2010 with asking for an iced coffee? It’s not like I’m talking about a beta video machine to a Gen Z person. Come on now…

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Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

 

Dude, Stopping Dropping Your Tails

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Perhaps you read about the live-in gecko we have. If not, you might want to go back and read those posts. No pressure.

So when we thought that life would be back normal with our little friend, as he nonchalantly goes running across the wall from the air conditioner over to the plants, something else happened.

I was cleaning one day, between the coffee table and the TV table. Just picking up little threads and tiny leaves that track in front outside from the rug before vacuuming, because that makes sense, of course. So I picked this little, maybe centimeter long piece of something up to investigate it. And when I felt the texture of this thing, which was, in fact, a little squishy but still firm, I dropped it immediately. Our live-in guest left us another little appendage, for a reason we do not know. That was so nice of him.

So I left the little, discarded tail on the coffee table where I dropped it so Brett could see it when he got home. That went over well, hahahaha!

I wonder what will happen next in the tail-dropping sage!

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Um, Dude is Back

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You may have read the tale (tail – hahaha) of the little guest we had who lost his tail.

Well, wouldn’t you know that the little dude has returned? With a new tail. But this time, he’s not hanging out in the kitchen to bathroom corridor – perhaps that was a bit of PTSD situation for him. Dude now scoots his way out of the air con unit in the living room! The unit is high up on the wall and is sometimes on during the day so I’m not sure how he hides out in there when it’s on! Very strategically I suppose!

The scooting strategy is to come out in the late evenings now – every evening! When we have lights on and are watching Netflix or CBS or something, and there is talking and noise. Brave little soul considering what happened to him! He makes his air con exit quickly and pauses on the wall, perhaps adjusting to the light and heads over to the plants. This is fine. Eat up those ants, buddy.

You Dropped Your Tail

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Having an unexpected guest in your house can perk your nerves. Even if the guest is a harmless little gecko.

Living in a tropical climate, you are going to have these guests. Ones like geckos or ants, or roaches, or something. If I had to choose – I choose gecko.

We had seen a few little guys here and there in this apartment, usually by the door or in the kitchen. No big deal. But one evening when we got back from boot camp, little dude was on the breakfast bar wall heading to the bathroom – perhaps? We figured he didn’t really need to be in there so we grabbed the kitchen bin – a small white plastic bin – covered him up and scooted him towards the front door. A couple of times in the scooting process, we got a glimpse of his little tail and we were afraid he might actually get it cut off in this life-saving event.

So we get him to the door and shoo him out. We felt pretty good about ourselves until we saw that, in fact, little dude has a hard time running away AND his tail is gone! We both got a bit grossed out and felt a bit bad, but at least dude was where he belonged and got away even though his tail was sitting on our welcome mat… (I’ll leave that mental image there)..

Being the people we are, googling gecko tails the next day was helpful because we learned that geckos will drop their tails in threatening situations. So then, we didn’t feel so bad! Dude would regrow a new one. Great adaptation.

Volunteer Time at Food Bank Singapore

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I’ve been doing a lot of volunteer time with the folks at the Food Bank Singapore for the last couple of years. When I lived in New York, our school would often have food drives for the NYC Food Bank and so when I moved to Singapore and found that my school had the start of a relationship with the fairly new Food Bank Singapore, I thought that this some work I could carry through from my last experience.

In my roles at the International School, I supported the development of the relationship of the school and the Food Bank by inviting representatives to give information sessions to students, enabling students to hold events to support the Food Bank, and organizing volunteer Saturdays for staff and families.

Although I have left that school community, I didn’t want my relationship with the folks at the Food Bank to cease because this is eradicating hunger is a cause I strongly believe in. The system isn’t ideal here in Singapore, but they are doing fairly well securing donations from large companies, hotels and the general public for beneficiaries. This community support clearly benefits the 10% of Singaporeans that are food insecure, but of course, the hope is that over time these beneficiaries will be able to become food secure on their own (as with any public service to the community).

If you are looking for a place to volunteer, Food Banks offer a number of different opportunties. Here are some of the things I’ve helped out with:

  1. Inventorying food at the warehouse
  2. Packing food bundles for beneficiaries
  3. Help littlies pack bags for delivery in the community
  4. Canvassing at the Food Expo & other large events
  5. Raising awareness of local food waste problems
  6. Assist at the Grab & Go (free food pick-ups to beneficiaries)
  7. Leading students in sorting food
  8. Chatting with many volunteers
  9. Data entry of requests and food distribution
  10. Researching worldwide food waste issues, etc.

Likely there is something that you may be interested in helping with, so get out there and do it!

 

 

Just When You Need It

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The last couple of weeks at work had me running near empty. Feeling like I was torn in so many directions, all energy spent. While still keeping up with the fitness routine as a way to barely stay balanced, I felt myself slipping into the abyss of exhaustion and negativity.

Since moving to and starting work in Singapore last year, I had mostly removed counting down to the next holiday because life became more manageable. But isn’t it true that the longer you invest your time in a place, the more work you take on? I’m a bit of a “yes” phase right now, and I’m okay with the saying yes… it’s just more like actual adulting again. So anyway, because the start to the year was more hectic than last – but in different ways – I found myself counting down to the long weekend.

And then it arrived! How glorious! The long weekend and a nice weekend getaway to Langkawi with Brett and a few friends. True be told, we all needed a recharge. Just a couple of days relaxing at the pool bar, reading, eating and enjoying each other’s company.

Grateful to have these opportunities to get away like this, especially with such lovely people.

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