SPRUCEY BRUCEY...

Traditionally Amanda and I have bought a Sprucey for my house on the first weekend in December and had an evening in decorating, most probably eating Tacos, drinking rose and watching X Factor! I think over the last 5 years the only time we've not done this is when we celebrated Christmas in Australia. We actually had our Annual Sprucey Brucey weekend booked into our diaries a while before I left for Singapore. So, this weekend, I swapped the cold, and wet trip to Homebase with Amanda, for a very hot, sweaty, and very entertaining trip to Ikea to buy a bed. Yes, we actually went to buy a new bed. But, stumbled across real Christmas trees in Ikea of all places. Despite it still being November, I am sat in the living room of our apartment, writing this entry admiring our first River Place Sprucey Brucey. A six foot tastefully decorated in red and gold "Swedish" tree. 

Liam and Arlene had a lovely house warming BBQ yesterday evening so I spent a few hours there and then went to meet Jill and a few others on Clarke Quay to watch the Welsh match. I had a $50 bet with one of the lads that Wales would win, as I always have confidence in them, and after staying up til 1.30am to watch the match was very disappointed as you can imagine. Not only was I extremely tired, I was also $50 down. I recovered from my hangover by the pool before a few hours at a Thanksgiving celebration. We seem to have met quite a few Americans so it was nice to celebrate with them today. 

So. What's happening this week? Well, tomorrow I will mostly spend the day wishing I was in Wales helping mum celebrate her birthday and mum and dad celebrate their anniversary. Work is going to be quite busy this week I think so that should distract me. And I'll certainly have a drink for them in the week because it is also Rachel's birthday this week! I love you both and miss you loads! Massive hugs.

ENCHANTING ORCHARD ROAD...

It seems that Christmas in Singapore is going to be a more magical time than I first imagined. There has been a great build-up which started mid-November and even though the temperature doesn't quite fit the season, this week I was blown away by the effort that has been made on Orchard Road.

The Christmas light-up is in it's 25th year and simply is "enchanting" and I spent last Thursday evening wandering down the road taking in all the fairy lights, multi-coloured ornaments and huge Christmas trees up to 15 metres tall. I don't really now where to start and how to explain how spectacular it is, but I'll keep on the theme of chocolate! Ferrero Rocher chocolates are probably the most popular and versatile gift you can give or receive at Christmas. I'm sure mum and I have consumed a fair few over the years! This tree, made of Ferrero Rocher balls, stands proud on the corner of Orchard Road and Cairnhill Road. It's pretty impressive, shame they're not real edible chocolates. The certainly would be one hell of an Ambassador's reception!

My favourite shopping mall on Orchard Road is ION which has been described as the "centre of gravity" in the retail scene here. Over eight levels, four above ground and four below totally 66,000 square metres. It's an impressive building with an impressive celebration of Christmas to match! Right outside the entrance there are huge lit up musical instruments. The tree on the bottom left hand side is open for people to go inside. It is huge! And full of fairy lights, litearlly covered inside and out. So so pretty.

Tangs on the opposite side of the road have gone for a more modern approach. Giant, brightly coloured baubles and hundreds of fairy lights hanging around the whole outer of the store. 

I should have counted how many trees I saw on my walk from Orchard MRT to Somerset. I would say well over 20 and it's only a 10/15 minute walk! They really have made so much effort. It certainly put me in the Christmas mood and I spent a few hours wandering around the shops and even made a start on some Christmas shopping picking up my Christmas cards from one of my favourite shops Kikki.K. I can't quite believe that sat here writing this Christmas Day is only 26 days away! 

THANK YOU OLLIE!

This week, Ollie made my day by sending me a special delivery of Wispas! My favourite chocolate bar! I was so disappointed when I had a Dairy Milk the other day. Chocolate here just isn't the same. It doesn't melt in your mouth. It isn't creamy. It's flakey. It's flavourless. Actually I would say the only thing that's similar is the shape of the bar. It's imported from Australia mainly and apparently tastes different due to different amounts of cocoa solids used as well as variations on the type of powered milk that they put in. Anyways, I won't have to buy chocolate for a while now as I have a stash of my favourite bars chilling in the fridge. I have been sharing though. I felt mean just eating one to myself, and my team in work have never seen a Wispa bar before...they were impressed! Thanks Ollie, it was very thoughtful of you! You are a star.

THE LAST WEEK...

...has been a lot more chilled than last week. A week ago tomorrow we celebrated Jill's Birthday. As a special birthday treat and a thank you to Jill for all her efforts in the lead up to us moving into our apartment I bought her a cake from The Patissier. Recommended to me by the boys in work, The Patissier are a singapore-grown patissierie that "takes the very best of traditional French baking techniques and translates them into innovative and original sweet indulgences." Mum, you are going to love this place! The cakes are like works of art, always freshly-baked with the finest ingredients. It took me ages to decide which one to go for with so many to choose from! I decided on the Cocoa Napoleon. Mascarpone cheese with chocolate-flavoured mousse juxtaposed against a crunchy chocolaty crust. Delicious!


Check out the website to see all the other amazing cakes they make! Lauren there is a wedding cake section if you are interested : http://www.thepatissier.com

I had last Friday off work and spent the day be very lazy! It was so sunny...which I usually get annoyed about as I'm always stuck indoors when the sun is out, so I spent a few hours in the sunshine by the pool. Enjoying the peace and quiet whilst all the children were in school. Saturday was pretty much the same again followed by my first experience of Zouk. One of the oldest and most popular nightclubs in Singapore it has won the Singapore Tourism Boards "Best Nightspot Experience" award 6 times and is also ranked number 10 on DJ Magazine's list of Top 100 clubs in the world 2010. It certainly was an experience like no other! Meeting with Hannah and her boyfriend Liam, who are travelling the world together, the evening started relatively quietly...and got progressively worse when we moved into the club. Some local friends of Hannah's ordered the drinks and handed me a straight Whiskey...yuck! Followed by shots, which I can't even tell you the name of! I left before it got out of control. I wanted to catch the Bridgend girls whilst they were all together at Lauren's baby shower. Lush to speak to you girls! 

With mum's birthday and mum and dad's anniversary approaching I'm feeling a bit "homesick". Being so far away from them on their special day always makes me so sad. It seems like I'm never there for the special occasions. I always miss Mother's Day too! It probably doesn't help that as I'm sat here Jill and I are watching "A Very Annie Mary", which brings back lots of memories of home! Works quieter this week compared to last week. A few of you have asked what the studio looks like. So...now that we've had our "feature wall" put up, which features a Magnum Gold?!, here is a sneak peak at where I spend most of my time!

I'LL HAVE THE CHRYSANTHEMUM PLEASE...

Jill suggested Japanese for dinner last night, and after a long day in work it was called for! We decided to try Ichiban Tei which is directly across the river from the apartment so not too far to walk. I don't think I've ever been to a proper Japanese restaurant before, only having eaten sushi from the supermarket or small sushi train bars. So you can imagine my excitement when the "sushimi" came with a tiny chrysanthemum garnish, which Jill told me I could actually eat! I wouldn't normally have believed her but Chris had bought me a Chrysanthemum White Tea at lunch so I figured if I could drink them I could eat them! It was horrid! As you can probably see from facial expressions below, I was excited to eat it but couldn't swallow it quick enough. Never again! They look pretty, but taste foul. Mands...fancy trying this when you visit? I know how much you love fish ;)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WISHES...

A few "Birthday Wishes" from across the ocean this week. Happy 12th Birthday to Georgia! Hope you have a great day and enjoy your trip to watch Harry Potter on the weekend. Happy Birthday to JW! Hope you have a great day and Darren spoils you. My housemate Jill...Happy Birthday my lovely! I'm looking forward to our dinner out on Thursday night. And of course, enjoy your trip to Bintan! And last but not least, Miss. Sarah Norvil. Hope you have a great day sweet and I'm sure that you have wonderful plans for it, so enjoy yourself and I'll look forward to hearing about the celebrations soon. I have a feeling some cocktails in Echo might be on the cards. If so, mines a Strawberry Mojito!


Not really a lot to report from me this week as I'm having a very busy week in work. Worked the weekend and although it's bank holiday here tomorrow...I'll be in work! Not that I'm complaining, it's great to be busy and be working on some really great projects. I'm just so tired at the moment.


It's getting really Christmassy here now and I'm getting more and more excited about spending Christmas in Thailand. Followed by New Year Celebrations with Mikey, as he's stopping off on his way back to Australia. I have a feeling 2011 is going to be even better than 2010. Firstly my trip home in February is going to be a great fortnight. And we heard recently that Nick has booked Ironman Singapore in March, so will be joining us here for a while, and of course mum and dad head out at the end of April. See you all in 73 days!

iLIGHT FESTIVAL...

So, in amongst all the fun I've been having this weekend, I also managed to fit in something cultural. I've been wanting to get along to "i Light Marina Bay" for a few weeks now without getting the chance to. Saturday night before the rugby, myself, Tom and Rach headed down to the new resort to check out Asia's First Sustainable Light Art Festival. 

The 26 light artworks are scattered around across 3.5km of Marina Bay and span The Helix Bridge, The Floating Platform, Esplanade (mum and dad...this is where you will be staying when you visit) One Fullerton, The Promontory@Marina Bay all the way to the City Gallery at the Waterfront Promenade. Unfortunately it was raining, so we didn't get to do the whole circuit. But what we did get to see was really impressive. It's free to walk around so you get to go as fast or as slow as you like and as the exhibits are spread out you don't feel like there are lots of people around and each artwork is accompanied by a sign so you know what your looking at. One of my favourite were the giant potted flowers. I thought of Lauren instantly...she would love them! 

I think "Positive Attracts" was the best artwork for me though. This lighting sculpture explores the belief that the optimism of our mental state of mind (4th dimension) can effect a positive outcome on your physical state. It's a dream-like reinterpretation of our modern day wishing well. My favourite quote was Walt Disney. "If you can dream, you can do it". I really felt emotionally touched by this as I don't particularly dream a lot, but I did "dream" that one day I would work abroad. And here I am, and I have proved that, yes, I can do it! 

UKE GOT TALENT...

One of my bosses, Steve and his wife Erica, both play the Ukulele and invited myself, Tom and Rach along recently to support them both at "Uke Got Talent" night. It's basically a ukulele open mic night and gathering of ukulele enthusiasts. Sounds bizarre but is actually great fun. Each act gets to sing two songs so you don't get stuck listening to the same person for ages. Steve and Erica were great! Will definitely be going along to the next one.

HAPPY HOUSEWARMING...

Another long weekend here (as Friday was a bank holiday) so we decided that it was the perfect opportunity to have a housewarming and invite all our friends around to see our new place. We rented one of the BBQ pits on the river and the party ran from 6pm til 1am here. I then decided (in a drunken state) to head out and meet the guys who work with Tom on Clarke Quay. I got in at 5am Saturday morning. What was I thinking!


I was really pleased that all the guys from work came along. Mum's been asking who everyone is so these pics show quite a few of the team.
From left to right:
Vicky in the red, is Claudio's girlfriend who only arrived in Singapore on Thursday. John with the swoop neck t-shirt is a Designer in the studio, originally from Manilla and very sweet! Lisa in the middle is an Account Executive. Claudio at the front, a freelance designer, from Newport who has been with us for 3 months but left us on Thursday. He and Vicky are off to Cambodia tomorrow to explore before heading back to the UK in a fortnight. Behind Lisa is Celeste and Account Manager and there's Rachel, who I'm sure everyone knows! In front of Rach is Chris, another Designer in the creative team. Chris and I love to talk about shopping and shoes! Originally from Jakarta, I'll be sad to see him leave in a few weeks time. In the red, Richard, who is my Creative Director. The guy above my head...well that's Dan, who actually doesn't work with me at all, he just wanted to be in the pic! At the bottom, on my left is Valerie, another Account Manager who I work really closely with on lots of my projects and Celeste again, on my right. Hopefully mum that will give you an idea of who's who when I talk about work now!

Just a quick entry as I need to get ready to head out. This weekend the Singapore Rugby 7s are being held at the Cricket Club. We're going to head there for the day. I'm slightly disappointed that Wales lost yesterday. Watching it here just isn't the same! For starters a 2.30pm kick off there is a 10.30pm kick off here, so as you can imagine, after a very late night before I could barely keep my eyes open towards the end. I've also been very cultural this weekend visiting a light festival on Marina Bay, which I will post at some point this week.