BACK TO LIFE, BACK TO REALITY...

So we're back in the humdrum of real life now (to anyone who wondered what happened between Bali and Oct 10, well, we'd like to know too, because the tan has faded, the yummy Bamee goreng - special Indonesian noodles - is gone, and every relaxed muscle that thanked us for the trip is on the verge of declaring war). Bleah. Came back to the final leg of the Wades' vacation, and it was great fun. Lots of nice dinners, funny moments, and learning how to play something called Yugioh, thanks to Lorc. And then a journalist-friend of ours from Vietnam had to come to Singapore for a story and crashed with us... We're expecting more visitors later in the month, and I'm wondering if we need a full-time concierge at this stage haha. No lah, I'm kidding. I love the sound of a happy and full house - comes from the years of training by Mum I guess... With our working hours and stuff, it gets lonely being a party of one sometimes.... Anyways, since Hieu (viet friend) headed home it has been horrifyingly mad. Pete had a whole ad campaign (his second for Stomp!!) on his hands, and has left his mark on virtually every library here, in addition to everything else he was doing, of course, and I, well, I'm not even sure where to start (or when it ends), so I'll spare you the details. Singapore's currently enveloped in a horrible haze, and its really easy to let the weather get you really very down because everything seems really dismal, everyone's falling sick all over the place, and no one really wants to go out and breathe in all those pm10s (there are, of course, air-conditioned bars, which help greatly). The PSI hit a year-high on Saturday night - 150, considered unhealthy, and it was horrid, especially since Gwen's friends - Carol, David and their son Cole - were in town on the way to Bali.... Wish they could have seen Singapore under better circumstances. Keeping my fingers crossed that by the time they stop in Singapore on their way to Australia, it will be better. Not sure which way it will go though, its on the up again tonight. Bleah. I hope Pete and I don't get sick.... On a happier note, Div, Ruben and Sarah had their very first modern dance recital (they all take dance classes at a funky school called on Sunday and all of them were really brilliant. The first two munchkins shook their butts off and tapped their way through Carwash and look soooo cute, not missing a single beat, and Sarah wowed the crowd with her tap dancing. Considering that the entire show lasted 2.5 hours and involved over 17 performances by kids as young as 3, it was actually surprisingly easy to sit through... The kids were really very talented, and this one young guy - Elijah - who could not have been over 6 or 7, was brilliant. He was such a natural with such flair that I think half the female audience was obsessing (sigh, okay, not obsessing, but they were certainly watching him closely. too closely.).... You're gonna have to wait for pictures of our little dancers though, the ones on the phone didn't quite come out, so gonna have to bug Angie or Terrence for stuff off their cameras. The weekend before was lovely.... spent the evening at Mum's (cuci kaki day - for whoever understands my crappy spelling) and ate waaaaay to much Sindhi curry. Mum even had chana and chutney on standby for Pete. It was real nice and a chance for everyone to catch up... Oh, and just re-read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, which I have to say was amazing, even the second time around. Even Pete was impressed, especially with the use of visual storytelling integrated into the story itself.... Wonderful... Oskar is so endearing, and so believable... And I have to say, it takes real skill to tell a story from the simplistic viewpoint of a child and not sound put on - and I think too many people have forgotten what it was really like to be one.... It's right now on my list of "can't ever re-read too many times", alongside the likes of another fabulous "from the eyes of a child" book, Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time.... Okay, okay, will not bore everyone with my literary obsessions.... Quickly moving on... Other than that, its really quite the same stuff, different day... Looking forward to the weekend. Quality time with Pete, catching up with the crew... It'll be really nice.... Considering also popping our noses into Oktoberfest on Friday (despite, of course, having already gone crazy at the one at the Swiss Club last month, which was BRILLIANT, though I promised not to post any incriminating pictures here, heh)..... Of course, that is assuming I survive the dang week... Wish me luck. Art Ps: Yes, TWO posts today!! What can I say... making up for lost time... :)