Or Happy Chinese New year to us pinkies.
Yes, today, February 2nd is the start of a New Year in the Chinese calendar – The Year of The Ox.
Last year it was the Rat’s turn and there were certainly a few of those around! Let’s hope all the rats have now scurried back into the sewer from whence they came and let the slow and determined ox do his bit to turn things around. The Ox is actually the 2nd sign in the zodiac and is the symbol of new beginnings. He has a slow but sure action and is a steady as he goes sort of animal, which will do nicely thank you. According to the Chinese zodiac we will all achieve greater results with a “go with the flow” attitude. So here goes:
As per usual Christmas came and went far too quickly, but with little incident to spoil the occasion, well apart from one. We were having a fabulous time at Gareth’s work Chrissie do – a beautiful champaign lunch at a flash hotel down town (similar to the orphan’s one only we weren’t paying this time!) and I spotted a fabulous European platter selection. All my fave bits and pieces along with fresh, crusty bread, European olive oil and balsamic vinegar. So I filled up the plate with goodies and a big bowl of oil and vinegar and totted back to the table of about 15 – only having had 2 glasses of bubbles at this early stage. Unfortunately, I tripped as I made it to my seat and not only did my lovely mini platter spew forth across the table, but the poor guy sitting next me got the whole bowl of liquids right down the centre of his back – lovely!!! All he could say was “what am I wearing?” My reply was “don’t worry, whatever it is, it’s very good for the skin”. Needless to say G wanted to crawl under the table whilst everyone else laughed, jeered and made comments unrepeatable in a public forum such as this. I spent the rest of the afternoon apologizing and the guilt was so huge that all I could do was hide my shame in a bottle of champers. Mind you, he wasn’t too affected by the incident after a few too many “reds” either, but he did get a bit pongy as the hours went by and vinegar started to sour! I haven’t seen him since so still don’t know if I owe him for a new shirt.
It is with great relief that I didn’t give a repeat performance at our orphans dinner and that we all had a fabulous (if rather extravagant) Christmas Day. The lunch was lovely followed by drinkie poos in The New Asia Bar in the Centre of town. It’s on the 60 something floor of one of the central hotels with fantastic 360 degree views of the island. Apparently it’s were the media artistes hang out (so why they let us in I’ve no idea), although we didn’t see any. We eventually made it home in not too shabby a state, but were grateful that we’d decided to take Boxing Day off.
New Years was much quieter – the thought of heading into town to see the fireworks was very tempting, trying to get a taxi home amongst the throngs was not, so it wine in front of the telly, opening the door at midnight to let the new year in (an old Liverpool habit) and off to bed.
Gareth took a week off in the New Year to go diving in Monado, Indonesia. I was working, so he did this one alone, although made lots of dive buddies while he was there. Lots of fishes and marine life were seen and he came back with a smile on his face and great tan (I thought Obama had arrived when I met him at the airport!!), so it was all good.
Since then, the economic crisis has hit like a tidal wave. There were hopes that Singapore, along with the rest of Asia would escape relatively unscathed, but it’s now the same story here as everywhere else, although the effects don’t appear to have run as deep as elsewhere. People still seem able to manage, no one is being evicted from their houses and everyone is still able to feed their families, although the cheaper supermarkets are coming out better off than previously. The hawker centers are full and you can still get chicken and rice for $2.50 if you know where to look. The weather is also on the up and we seem to be out of the rainy season now with temperatures and humidity definitely on the rise – back to the pool then!
What’s Hot
A couple who stripped naked and walked up and down a major entertainment area at night when it was in full swing. Don’t worry Mum – it wasn’t us! Apparently everybody loved it, snapping photos on their mobile phones and generally cheering them on, much to the disgust of some officials – this is Singapore after all and you just don’t do that kind of thing here! Some reports suggested they were protesting, but what about no one seems to know. Maybe they just got a big bowl of oil dropped on them during their meal??! Either way, no one’s heard of them since “the incident” hmmm…..
What’s Not
Expensive weddings. Yes the recession has hit hard for those young and lovely couples wanting to tie the knot in a down turn. Apparently they are making such sacrifices as hiring a band without a singer coz it’s cheaper, only buying a wedding dress and one “off the peg” outfit rather than wedding dress and two designer outfits (why do you need two designer outfits, it’s only one day??), and saving up to $5,000 by not having pre wedding day photographs taken, and can save money by only having 10 hours of photographs taken instead of 12 hours – what the??????? I guess they’ll just have to “go with the flow”.
And finally…..
We sincerely wish you all the best for the year ahead. May all your rats be little ones and your oxes kind and gentle.
Cheers then
J & G
