Three tourist jaunts

So far we have spent most of our time at work but have made an effort most weekends to head out and do something a bit touristy and the see a bit of the place. So here are three favourites so far in case any one ever visits.

Night Safari @ Singapore Zoo
During Chinese New Year break Rachel arranged for us to visit the Night Safari part of the zoo. It is a long way out of town by Singapore standards towards the causeway to Malaysia. The zoo is apparently one of the best in Asia and the night safari shows off the animals at dusk and in the early night. We arrived to the complex which is akin to what I reckon Jurassic Park would look like, lots of themed buildings and cafes. The tour itself involves jumping on a chain of golf cart contraptions and then being driven around by a guide. I was skeptical about the zoo thing to begin with, which is probably a reflection of the fact that my only previous zoo experiences are in Wellington and at Marineland in Napier. Anyway the tour proceeds through different areas such as the Tibetan Highlands, the African Savanna, Jungles of South East Asia and in each region you see a different collection of animals. The anteater was a highlight but perhaps the most exotic were the elephants, hippopotamus, tigers, rhino, flamingos, hyenas that were all out and about. The tour finishes with a night animals show were the otters do tricks. For $23 each it was a good night out.

Biking along East Coast Parkway
Over the same weekend we meet up with some school friends who were doing a bike ride from the centre of town out towards Changi Village which is near the airport. We managed to meet them halfway along their journey with our rented bikes. The ride went along a long coastline of reclaimed land and artificial beaches with a very wide bike path. Its akin to the feeling of running along Mission Bay and St Helleirs in Auckland, We even saw a New Zealand Icecream shop along the way. Its a popular place to be seen in your gears and exercising but we reckon we will be back to ride along it again. The city itself is very hustle and bustle so the low rise East Coast is nice contrast.


Mt Faber Park and Henderson Waves:
Between home and school is a series of interconnected parks which is called the Southern Ridges. This has become a nice place to run, explore and also get lost. From school a new path links up with a few hills and after 10 minutes to new bridge called Henderson Waves. In Singaporean fashion they have a bridge between two previously inaccessible parks which stretches 100 metres above a motorway below. I stumbled across it and will be back to take some photos. The rest of the run home is along concrete paths but it feels a little like Mt Victoria. The final part is a drag through suburbia and big roads back home. Finding home is easy as I can spot the skyscrapers next door from a few kilometres away.















http://www.flickr.com/photos/weesen/3155127947/

There is plenty of other things to do and keep us occupied but the local pastime is still shopping and eating food.

A day in the life of Rachel in Singapore

Andrew told me that people may find this interesting. I may have to jazz it up a bit to make it so. Here goes.... Every day the alarm goes off at 5.45. We then go and hang in our own bathrooms. How fantastic is it that we have a boy and a girls bathroom. Andrew then makes me my breakfast which is usually pancakes with seasonal fruit or eggs benny with freshly squeezed orange juice. Yeah right! We leave the house at 6.30 then we walk through a big housing complex to catch the bus. The bus is an experience in its self. Most of the people on the bus are asleep. I don't mean resting their eyes, they are full on out to it. We often wonder how they know when to get off??? I love the bus because it has TV. So in the 15 mins it takes us to get to school I am up to date with the worlds news.

The bus drops us right to the bottom gate of the school. Note that I said bottom, we then have to climb the mountain of stairs to get up to school. It is so steep that Andew has decided to give up running because he thinks that that is enough exercise for the day. Ok so I may have exaggerated that a little. But it is fun watching the students climb the stairs everyday. Lets just say there are not many over weight students at ISS. Apart from the ones that Taxi all the way to the top gate of the school. I am in my office by 7. My office is pretty cool because it has like a McDonalds drive through window. Every morning most staff stop by and chat. I guess I am the counsellor so I am just doing my job.

School starts at 8 so that is when Andrew gets really busy teaching and stuff. I just sit waiting in my office waiting for people to come see me. I wish. I am really busy now I am doing all sorts of crazy stuff. In fact this week I signed a 2 year contract to stay with ISS. I am going to be the new Special educational needs teacher. I will start that role in August. Andrew is thrilled because I think that he thought i was serious when I said I was giving up teaching to work in starbucks after my 6 month contract ended. I am currently teaching two classes. The students are really great. I even have a kiwi boy from Napier in my Grade 10 Geography class, so I have at least one student that laughs at my jokes. The next highlight of the day is 3pm when the school day ends. Mon and tues we have staff meetings, Wed I go to Yoga, Thurs I am taking a hip/hop dance class and Fri we go to the Bali Hawker center for a few beers.

When it rains

After a month of living in Singapore it finally decides to rain. The anticipation of a large thunderstorm had been building for weeks. Colleagues from all corners were willing to share their stories about the wicked torrential monsoon rains. We had even seen the umbrella vending machines lying in waiting.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/manuel69/ - CC Commons

The actual rain storm wasn't quite so exciting but it was still interesting watching people behave in the rain. I was half way through running home on an urban bash through the roads and overpasses. It began with a few heavy drops and then eventually rose to a crescendo. The massive metre deep road side ditches, which are a danger for any tired runner were full of gushing water. A mass of umbrellas appear from peoples bags, as some kind of insurance policy. The workers stand beside the road waiting for the buses which unleash a depressing splash as they dive through the roadside puddles to wet a bus stop of innocent bystanders. The rain seems to soak the life away from people wandering the street, heads down, trudging off with wet pants and shirts. I was pretty happy running along at least the rain dropped the temperature a bit.

The rain for Singapore is like the wind of Wellington or the smog of Santiago. Just an element of a city which makes it just a little bit quirky.