Missing work already

Dear Marms

Just like with you, it is funny how much you realise you are going to miss something when it is gone. Work has gone. There are bits that I will really miss. I will miss MyClubs.

MyClubs are a value-added opportunity for enrolled students to sign up for extra classes and I just loved having them on my timetable. They covered things like Pron Dr. , Vocab Dr. Film and TV, Coffee and Conversation, Gardening... the list goes on.

Some students are hardcore attendees and go to all lessons regardless of level so you get to know them really well. Also in one class you can get a whole range of language abilites so it is a bit like life outside the classroom where as a beginner you have to make sense of complexity and accept there are somethings that will remain a mystery.

My one-but-last MyClub was at Seed Cafe - just a short walk from work. Seed Cafe is part of the Rainbow Centre and the students from that school work in the cafe - a marvellous idea all round.

Last Thursday, there were around a dozen MyClub students from all over Asia chatting away in English - their only common language. The conversation, peppered with laughter, showed how well everyone gets along. The picture sent to me by Stella (Thank you) is a nice momento of this almost last class of mine.

Do I have any MyClub regrets? - perhaps I should have taught these ladies how to play "spoons" - I do think it has cultural currency. Maybe Diane, this is a future opportunity for you... MyClub "Spoons" - but you will need a risk assessment, for sure.

Remember Spoons? Marmite you witnessed Laura and Sammi rolling around the floor - fighting it out for one spoon.. That is spoons. How could you forget?

Love U!!!

What? A way to leave...

Dear Marms

Yesterday in many ways was a blur. What with the leaving cupcake and the recently rediscovered leaving card presented around the island at work along with two other colleagues; and the WITS do that I arrived rather late to, today will be enacted in survival mode. The two events bear nothing in common ( in energy expended and fun had) but I mention them because they happen to happen on the same day.

I awoke full of beans as always this morning but now things have settled to an even keel. Muffin and I have already been round the block. The coffee was been downed and fortunately that black elixir has now hit the spot.

Ah, yes, where was I? I turned up to party time around 10:30 after leaving class at speed and for a while felt like I shouldn't be there as everyone of those tennis-playing ladies of Singapore were in full swing and I still had work in my head. This is a very strange feeling  - like you have probably gatecrashed the wrong event. Moreover, it was the polar opposite of what I had just left.

Worst of all, these end of season dos are themed and everyone was in a black dress and masked. The others had spent hours getting dolled up and I had just run out of the office... so many contrasts.   I felt a bit like a penguin using genetic imprinting to find my team. This was not easy... Hundreds of black outfits - all tennis players and wearing masks. And.. all were dancing! ALL!!

It didn't take long to slip into party mode and even though this wasn't about ME as so many of my recent forays have been, I felt that it really was a big moment in my going away from sunny Singapore. At parties like these where the physical energy lifts off the roof, I feel very much at home, introverted as I am. I know some of you party girls will read this...It was a great night...really. I'll see some of you  later today, no doubt.

Tennis has been a big part of my time here and I reckon I must have played in the first ever WITS season when it was quite a small event. Now there is an industry that has grown to support this tennis habit - coaching - clothing - partying - sponsoring. It is BIG beyond belief. This time it was organised by "Queen" Linda and her committee. I can't imagine that my new life will have the same pizzazz - not in Milton Keynes, anyway.

So Marmite, when I was cleaning the house and dancing with the mop, little did you know it was serious training for party time.

Miss you loads, Muffin sends his love too.

XXX

A fine line - vagrancy and slumming it

Dear Marmite

You have experienced this yourself. For the first few months of your life you were a street dog - a wanderer with no home. I am in that situation now. I actually find it a very comfortable  lifestyle choice. I am currently sharing, or as the Singaporeans say, "putting up" at Muffin's house which is a landed property facing a National Park. As houses go in Singapore, I have definitely landed on my feet and Iam certainly not slumming it. It is a quiet area, away from the city and very Zen.

What is more, there are some really old properties around here - single storey dwellings that might well date back to the 50s where the owners are into guerilla gardening - rambutans, bananas, figs, herbs all vie for a space on the verges outside these little homes. I just love walking Muffin and checking out what is there.

In contrast  not far from here are the big concrete edifces built for the masses. I think about 80% of homes in Singapore are HDBs. These are government-built highrise blocks for Singaporeans. It was in Toa Payoh yesterday - probably the oldest of the satellite towns full of HDBs - that I was asked whether I lived nearby. I didn't want to explain that Muffin had kindly let me stay with him so I said sort off and that  I'm taking care of a friend's dog. To which the reply was, "Chinese?" For the life of me, I couldn't think of ethnic background of my friends so I said golden retriever. Aaaah, you dog lover... was the response. I knew at that moment I was labelled not as a dog lover but an eccentric Ang Mo.

I am not the only eccentric Ang Mo in the eyes of locals. I think many of us carry this badge of honour. Last night at Palais Margy was another last for me and I mention it here because there was a good deal of eccentricity around the table.. saying goodbye to old friends over a Sri Lakan curry. Margy's place is on the grand side and about as far removed from mass housing as you could imagine. When I am back in Britain, I can only dream of sitting out under the night sky in November. Thanks for a lovely evening ladies!

On a serious note, as I am of no fixed abode, form filling is a bit of a problem. Do I put my future address - my last address where I lived for 14 years or the temporary addresses where I currently am...  ? Any thoughts... ? is there a place for vagrants like me in this modern world where you have to prove yourself to banks and visa people?
The biggest problem is that companies promise to send a cheque to the address you have moved from. So I am awaiting a cheque from Chubb as a refund for insurance on a place they know I have moved out of..  I wonder whether they get that Idon't live there any more and that they will send it to the temporary place I asked them to.. Watch this space!

See you Sunday...

Love you loads...

XXX

Potentially My last ever working week!

Dear Marms

How odd is that? The thought that I may never work again makes me feel a bit weird. It is not that I loved everything about working but it certainly gives a structure to your life and in many ways it is the reason to get up and get going. What I will miss is the banter and support from friends and colleagues - guys, I'll miss you all loads; certainly the ginger chocolates and even Karl's puns, perhaps. All in all it has been a good place to be just because of the people.

Friday is my last working day and I imagine myself leaving my lanyard behind, entering the lift on the fourth floor - I call that floor the Magic Kingdom because pretty strange things happen up there -  carrying a large bag filled with the detritus currently spread across my desk and in my locker and simply disappearing. Whoa.. THAT is going to be a big moment.

Fortunately, I will jumping into a taxi and whizzing off to the British Club for tennis so that moment will be gone and like a roller coaster I will be on that cusp of disappearing into the unknown.

I could go on at length about all the bad things that happen at work; most of them comedic and definitely worthy of a British sitcom but somehow bad things don't stick in my memory as being that bad. They really are just bizzarely funny happenings. I expect one day when I am back in England talking about the old times with people who shared my life out here in Singapore - we'll have tears of laughter rolling down our cheeks and not those from the frustrations we all endured at work.

You must remember some of those times when sitting on the floor we'd chat about how bad the day had been and somehow you made good sense of it all and in the end life never seemed to be that bad.. Thank you for that, Marms - you have always been a good listener - one of the best, in fact.

The Watershed Moment

Dear, dear Marmite

Late last night I had an epiphany. I realised that I had turned a corner... a really BIG one... and I really was ready for leaving. The house is sorted, tax organised, money sorted and most of my trip planned. More to the point my head is slowly clearing the fugue of all that has gone before.

What is more, I realised that everyone seated around that table at Picotin on the Fairways Golf course in the heart of the jungle would be heading in the same direction as me sooner or later. In fact, we were actually making plans to meet up on the other side. Just think, all nine of us could actually be seated round a table somewhere in the UK one year from now. Obviously the conditions would be different - it would be much colder for a start - but possible.

I still feel sad that you won't be around to share the fun but you will be there in spirit and we'll never ever forget you, that's for sure. I have got other things to look forward to. I have long lost friends who have contacted me through Facebook and it will be so nice to see them again. That is one of the good things about FB - it keeps you connected and I realise I am connected to people across five continents - letter writing could never have done that for me. Thank you MZ.

I have also planted seeds for a Singapore reunion weekend in Old Blighty. The wine will be considerably cheaper... there is a high tax on alcohol over in Singapore plus sterling is worth diddly squat so it will seem an absolute bargain for a while, I am sure there will be a few glasses raised to the old times when we get together.

My family is back in the UK.. Hopefully my kids - a little older - will be a little wiser! I have been teasing Danielle about her buying a house with a granny flat for her old Mum... Sadly that has been met with derision. Only joking... remember Danielle, I love you especially when you are asleep.

I also have an EX who is now happily entwined with his new squeeze, "She who cannot be named". It would possibly be wise to give them both a wide berth. We don't want to deflate joy I currently feel about returning, do we?

Connections are so important.. love you loads, Marms. You are the best!!

A New Man in My Life

Dear Marms

I have fallen for another and You can call me fickle or anything you want. I know you would love him too and I hope that you will get to meet him before I leave.

Muffin is much younger than you and still quite daft. He is very affectionate and even though we have been together for just three days, I think we have really bonded. We go for a brisk early morning walk and he is very calm and walks very much like you do... only faster! AND... he gets excited when I pick the lead up. WOW!

I am staying in Old Upper Thompson Road right next to another National Park so in many ways it is just like Dairy Farm. You hear the birds chattering and there are monkeys all around. Staying here, you wouldn't believe that this is a very crowded small island.

Lower Peirce Reservoir is one of the oldest in Singapore. The park has recently been upgraded and there are 900m of  easily accessible wooden walkways where dogs are not allowed. It was named after the engineer Robert Peirce who was in Singapore around the turn of the twentieth century. It like many other places have been named after the people who contributed to the development of this beautiful island.

NParks do a great job looking after the flora and fauna, but to be honest, from my experience, you could put a stick in the ground and it would grow. What will I miss when I leave? Definitely the lush forests and the tropical sounds - money can't buy that sort of beauty.

Hoping to see you soon.

Love

XXX

Hugs all round

Dear Marmite

It was so lovely to see you again on Saturday. Being at my Dairy Farm Leaving Party was so appropriate and special. Remember the thousands of times we wandered around the estate on our "draggies" and how so many people addressed you by name but barely gave me a nod. You were definitely the famous half of our partnership.

The party was the best ever and it was Melanie who organised it. I was blown away by the whole thing and I even had a song sang to me from my bicycle. How clever is that? Thank you, Manicam. You have a great talent.

If we sat down and talked about where we came from to all end up in that room, I wouldn't be surprised if there was DNA from Vikings to Aborigines present in that one room. What is wrong with our world when literally the whole world could be represented in one room and party happily together because of their differences and not inspte of them? My life is so much richer for having you all as friends. That is one reason I love Dairy Farm... long may it stand!

The big take-away, which brings a touch of sadness, is the thought that there are some people that I probably will never see again and that at that moment they were all in the same room. For me, that is the big bad bit about leaving. There is, however,  a "leaving book" with a collection of other people's memories of me that I will take back to the UK and probably use as a CV. Although it has been done with humour, I think something like that would be a more accurate record than a serious CV for anyone wanting employment and it would be more entertaining to read for sure.

I see myself as basically an introvert. I don't seek out large groups and feel comfortable with my own company. Strangely the photo-record of the evening tells a very different story!

Oh boy, I will smile long and often about that night. Thank you for coming, Marms and Rita..

Love XXX

Halfwits and Drongos

Dear Marms

We are fortunate to have none of these people among our friends but there are a lot of them around and I suspect they are evenly spread throughout the world.

In the time I have been sorting out my return to the UK I have come across an inordinate amount of these people. Let me give you  just a few examples - I wanted to travel through Russia and for that I needed a visa. The agents were very helpful until  I came across a snag - I realised I wouldn't be entering Russia within 30 days of leaving Singapore where I would have to get my visa sorted. I emailed my agent and guess what? They sent the same information again but didn't answer my question. It took two more emails before I got an answer.  I imagine that travel agents earn their keep because they are experts in their field. If I have a query, they should be the "go-to" people. This is a wrong asumption.

Number two - This was a robot answering service who called herself Sarah. When I wanted to book an appointment to have my water and electricity cut she was the only person I could get to speak to. Sadly, she didn't understand and it took 2 hours to get a human to actually help... I thought AI was the future but this one was not "intelligent". I swear that if I ever meet Sarah, i'll punch her. I spoke to three different people but each time Sarah interrupted and told me my problem was sorted and then cut the conversation so I had to start again. TWO HOURS of my life  wasted trying to get a robot answering serivce to comprehend!

I could go on ad nauseum... I won't. The memories are painful and I must treat these encounters as learning experiences. My advice to the world... employ people who can read emails and sort out systems that respond to more than one issue... Is that too much to ask?

Now I have had my rant all is well with the worls and  I probably won't punch Sarah as it would hurt my knuckles..

Hugs abound when I see you later

Love U

The first step on a journey begins with a bottle of beer!

Marmite

Yesterday I moved out of a home I had lived in for 14 years and shared with you for nearly 12. It was strange. After I had mopped the floors, cleared the cobwebs and put bleach down the toilet, Jeremy and I sat on the floor in the living room - now an empty shell - and drank a beer to celebrate the end of an era.

The man from the SP Services came at the appointed time to read the meters and turn off the water and electricity. Then that was it.. I walked out the door and closed it behind me knowing I would never cross the threshold ever again. Wow! that was weird. I had lived in that place longer than any other in my whole life and I simply. locked the door; a door I had locked a thousand times before knowing I would never do that again.

Without the support of so many friends I could not have done this. Jeremy always there with a sensible suggestion  - -and a really strong helping hand - especially with the bags and boxes; and Melanie for emotional support and coffee - this has been such a big part of my time here and more than the bricks and mortar. It is all the people - too many to mention--  who have  been around me that I appreciate beyond comprehension. I will miss you all, really and truly I will.

Dairy Farm is the whole world - literally the whole world lives at Dairy Farm. It was designed by Tay Kheng Soon way back in the 80s - This man builds communities - not just homes and with Dairy Farm he achieved this on so many levels. May it live long and become a protected building for nature and the residents.

I should really devote at least a few sentences to the monitors, monkeys, colugos, cockatoos, barking owls, boars - an endless list of amazing wildlife that is slowly being squeezed out of its natural habitat because of the pressure the government is putting on natural green spaces. For now these creatures have a home of sorts within the confines of this condo. It is so commonplace to see these creatures almost daily that it is easy to forget how special it is and what a privilege to be able to live this close to nature.

Of all the wildlife, it was the monkeys you didn't like. I think they frightened you and lurching at them didn't make things easy for your relationship with them. A long time ago you hid in the kitchen when a monkey came into my bedroom. The kitchen was the furthest point from the monkey. You are a 36kg Rotweiller X and you tremble when faced with a long-tailed Macaque.. You, Marmite, are a WIMP of dog.. really! I love you for that. XXX

A whirlwind day that disappeared in a blur

Hey Marms

I was wide awake before 4am this morning in anticipation of the fridge being collected at 8am and the packers arriving at 9.

These men burst into a frenzy constructing boxes and clearing my stuff until by 4:30 the place was totally bare bar a few fluffballs.

It was a really exhausting day. I could imagine you giving them a cursory sniff and then retiring to some quiet corner while they got on and did their bit.

Should you find yourself in a similar position where you need to move countries- particularly here in Singapore- I will recommend Classic Movers. They have been thorough  and communicative from start to finish...

As for pets, if you had been with me, you might have found yourself boxed up with the rest of my stuff... God forbid

www.classicmoving.asia

My other Great Love!!!

Dear Marms

When I disappeared and came back looking a bit dishevelled and rather sweaty you never asked what I had been doing. You probably felt a little relieved that you weren't part of the action.

I expect you remember coming to watch me play tennis sometimes on the Dairy Farm courts. You would lie down on the bench with your chin on your knees and one paw hanging over the side - my friends would pat you on the head on their way onto court and have a brief chat. Those were happy times.

Those weren't my only tennis times. I had a tennis life beyond those courts and often  came home almost too exhausted to talk to you.

The reason I am telling you this is  that my team had the last WITS  match of the autumn season yesterday and it was another big thing that measures time running out for me here in Singapore.  We, the Can"O"Balls were playing "Having a Ball". All good friends and great rivals!

The British Club has been a big part of my time here and without it, the tennis, the Wednesday night quizzes and free bottles of wine, life might have been far less rich.

Tennis is as much about the people you play with as it is the game and the tennis players at the club have been a wonderful bunch without exception. The lunchtime champagne yesterday is case in point!

The big box my team gave me for my leaving present brought tears to my eyes - mostly because I couldn't put it on my bike - that bit was a joke - I might be leaving without you but I have got an elephant to take back to the UK from Singapore and he shall be named Marsiling as I worked there for a time.

Don't be jealous.. You will be travelling with me in my heart.

Love you always

XXX

My "Green" credentials are slipping

Dear Marms

The house is nearly empty now and you would hardly recognise it. The rug you always put your legs under and used like a blanket will be gone by the end of today and there is very little esle left.

About three years ago I set myself a New Year's Resolution to thow out, give away or recycle something every week. I have kept to this for all this time but even so near the end I still have stuff I am not too sure what to do with.

I organised a "sell it" pile and Ling from work has been amazing helping to clear that; a "give it away" pile - mostly for the condo to help themselves; a "recycle" pile and the "throw it" pile. The trouble is with just two days before the packers turn up I am doing things I am not proud of. I put an empty jar from the anchovies into the rubbish without rinsing it.. It won't get recycled  - I know - but I'm living with the guilt of not putting the effort into sorting things like that in a mindful way. I think my hopes that nothing is really wasted goes to the heart and that is why it has taken me so long to get to this state of empty-houseness.

Last weekend, a friend took an IKEA standard lamp for a walk.. actually she took it to her apartment and on the way she said it had a "Marmite moment". It sat down heavily and didn't want to move. I know you know that feeling.

These pictures are of the lamp walking along the Pang Sua canal - our regular route for a morning walk.

A Big Change of Plan

Dear Marmite,

I am sure you will be resting between meals/walks/hugs so I'll unburden my troubles on you. As you know my plan was to go home to the UK overland wih the highlight being the Trans Siberian Railway. Well that is not going to happen. Everything is booked to Hanoi and that is where I come unstuck.

I need a visa to get into China and another Visa to get into Russia. The Russian visa has to be sorted before the Chinese one, as I need an exit from China before I can go in. It is the Russian visa that is the big hitch. I can't get a visa more that 30 days before travelling and I will be leaving Singapore on 4th December but not getting on the train in Beijing until 4th January 2020. SOOOO annoying...

In addition to my troubles, I will no longer be resident in Singapore as I have to give up my card when I finish work. You can only get visas from your country of residnecy so that is a massive drawback...

So what do you think to my new idea?... I fly from Hanoi to Istanbul and stay there for a week. Then I get a train to Bucharest and then do the equivalent of the Orient Express back to UK... stopping off at odd places. It will be an epic train journey and I can always do the Trans Siberian the other way in the near future...

Whichever way I go home, you'll be with me in my heart..

Thinking of you always.

I like to ride my bicycle, I like to ride it where I like...

Hi Marms,
Remember how bikes brought on those nervous twitches and how you tried to hide behind my legs everytime a cyclist went past. Then, I got a bike which I hung up just outside the front door and that certainly wasn't much to your liking to start with either. You gave it a wide berth each time you stepped out of the house.

Slowly you got round to accepting it though and I am pleased about that. I have to tell you the joy it has brought me over the last eighteen months. Singapore says it is a bike friendly city... this is not true. The majority of  drivers  are far too impatient and unaware of cyclists for Singapore to claim that.  I have been knocked off twice now -  the first time, I broke a bone in my leg as a result of being hit by a van.

Despite this, I still love cycling. Sunday mornings are my favourite time, especially. I commute to work alongside the weekend lycra clad brigade on their finely-tuned racers. These Singaporean cyclists are friendly - and this is something I will really miss when I set off on my travels in just one month now.

Today is a Sunday and it was going to be my last ever Sunday commuting to work. Unflortunately, last night I blew the back tyre when I hit a bump while cycling at top speed over a sleeping policeman. My bike is now at a friend's place, the back wheel is under my desk at work and I am using public transport.. If only I hadn't been so keen to see the Rugby finals...

Anyway, not all doom and gloom, the wheel is fixed thanks to my favourite shop in Cuscaden Road - Treknology  - and I shall once again head up to the British Club tomorrow morning for tennis training on my bright red bike with go-faster stripes. Yay!

A long list of last times! The Colbar

When you see the pictures, Marms, you'll know exactly where I am. I am sitting with a rather large glass of cider at the Colbar. This place was one of your very favourite destinations. For you it meant a car ride, not much walking and on top of that, the likelihood of being fussed by strangers. Nirvana!!

It is also Nirvana for many others too - a great place for an extensive range of unusual beers and ciders and if those don't take your fancy, The Lims are happy to let you bring your own wine! The menu is to British Army tastes and the chicken curry is top of my list for great things to eat.

It was originally situated in Jalan Hang Jebat and then moved brick by brick to its current location at 9A Whitchurch Road where it thrives in an historic area of old British Army barracks and tropical trees.

For me, this will probably be the last time I come here before I depart Singapore in December.
Luv U Loads, Marms... Thinking of you always XXX