It's been a while...

Hi again, everyone! Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve written. It’s been a busy month. Let’s see…

The Christmas party at work was lots of fun. It was good to see (most) everyone “turn off” for a while & relax. We had a really nice buffet lunch, some games, a lucky draw (raffle), and some awesome cakes for dessert. The raffle was really great – they gave away an Xbox 360, a mp3 player, a remote controlled helicopter, and about 30 other prizes. My streak continues – I didn’t get anything. :-)

The highlight of the party was the games. One of the games was called “Chinese Whisper” (not the most politically correct of names – we know it as ‘telephone’ in the US). You know the game – a bunch of people sit in a line, and a phrase is told to the first person. The phrase is whispered from person to person. At the end, the team that is closest to the correct phrase wins.

Playing telephone with non-native English speakers is a terrific experience! I was third in line, and the phrase that was whispered to me was “We are bored baby bamboo basters”. Hmmm… ok, I figured they just picked some random words for the phrase. At the end, we were told that the phrase was supposed to be “Rubber baby buggy bumpers”. Even the judges couldn’t figure out how our team butchered it like we did.

Christmas in Singapore was unique. For several days before the 25^th, the sidewalks along Orchard Road were filled with stages. There were mini-concerts put on by groups from all over the world. Probably one of the most popular was the story of Jesus’ birth told in modern dance by a Brazilian group. Interesting.

On Christmas day, they had a ‘parade’ on Orchard Road. The parade consisted of them blocking off the road, and parking a half dozen floats on the road & leaving them there all day. People just wandered around looking at them, except for the ½ hour when it was pouring rain. In the evening, they had a big concert at the end of the road. There was some classical music, some choir music, and some modern music (including the band from Brazil). There was a jazz singer from the US that did a really nice job.

New Years Eve was just a few days behind, and I had plans to go out with some co-workers. Those plans fell apart at the last minute, when the organizer came down with Chickenpox (that’s gotta suck for someone who’s in her late 20s). So, I headed out for dinner by myself, feeling a little bummed about how I was spending the night. But, things quickly turned around. I found a nice little Thai restaurant along the river, and sat down & ordered. Soon after ordering, a woman came over & asked if I was dining alone. I told her yes, and she said that her family would like it if I would come & join them for dinner! That made my day. They were a very nice Canadian family, who was meeting in Singapore for the holidays. The mom & dad live in Hong Kong, because the dad works for a hotel chain. They had 3 daughters – one works in Dubai, one works for the Canadian Air Force, and one is still in the University. They were actually done with their dinner, but they stayed & talked with me while I ate. It was really fun – we had some great conversation. Afterwards, we said good night & they were on their way back to the hotel (they had an early flight). So, I called another co-worker & met him and his friends for the countdown.

We went to Clark Quay, which is a cool area along the river with lots of restaurants & bars. As we arrived, they had a Carnival-type parade marching through the street. There were people on stilts, people juggling fire, and even some transvestites. :-) Everyone gathered for the countdown in the central area, and we celebrated 12:00. We grabbed a beer afterwards (in a coffee shop – one of the guys in the group thought the bars were too crowded), and then I headed home. Not the wildest of New Years, but it was a good experience.

Then, in January, came my 6 month home visit. That was a great time! Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see all of you, but I saw most. I couldn’t believe how packed my days were, and how quickly the time went by. It seemed like I was leaving again almost as soon as I had arrived.

I got to make the annual trip up to Brent’s cabin, complete with a broomball game, some incredibly spicy chili, lots of beer, lots of cards, and lots of fun. It was a good weekend with the guys.

I also got to go rock-climbing with some co-workers, and discovered that my forearms need to be in better shape. :-) There were also several parties, lunches, and dinners with friends. It was really nice to see all my friends, my parents, and my grandma. It was a great trip home.

Now I’ve been back in Singapore for a little over 2 weeks. The constant rain has stopped, and the temperature has been really pleasant. I’ve been learning how to windsurf (took lessons in Dec), and I’ve been out 3 times since I’ve been back. I’m finally able to get the board moving without falling over… definite progress.

I went windsurfing last Saturday, and met a big group of people out there afterwards. It was a really diverse group of windsurfers – there were Singaporeans, Americans, Australians, New Zealanders, and probably I lot more. They invited me out to dinner with them, and then we went out for drinks. They invited me out surfing again on Sunday, so I did it again. But, when I arrived on Sunday, there were no rental boards/sails available. So, one of the guys that I had just met let me borrow his other board & sail. This board was much smaller & more aggressive, so it was really hard to control. And, the sail that I used was almost twice as big as the ones I had been using before. It was really overpowering. After 2 hours, I was exhausted & bruised. Still a lot of learning to do. But, it’s great that I’ve met a cool group of people to hang out with.

I’m about to be visited by some VIP guests. My parents are coming out to visit. It’s their first time to this part of the world, and I’m looking forward to showing them around. I’m taking them up to Thailand next week, and then we’re coming back to Singapore to witness Chinese New Year. After that, they’re heading down to Australia & New Zealand for a few weeks. Should be a great trip for them.

Well, that’s all for now. I’ll try to do a better job of writing more often. I hope you’re all doing well.