June is over?

Hi,
June is over... when did that happen? No one notified me that the month was ending. Well, that's not true, the bank sent me the standard e-mail that my statement is ready. I just can't believe that it's already 29 days past my birthday, 336 till I celebrate another one.... I'm starting to count down.

Let us look back on June with fond memories. What did I do for that whole period? I got 1 year older on the 1st. That was fun because we were in Singapore. Since it was across the International Date Line it doesn't count (in my books) so I'm still going to be 51 for another year.  Just try and argue me out of that idea.

I have taught 38 swimming classes in June. No one drowned but a few swallowed more water than they should have. Blech! My swimming gig is going stronger than ever. Usually this time of year everyone disappears to the Jersey shore for vacation and business drops off. Not so this year, at least not yet. I have a full roster of students plus a new 'Adult' learn to swim class. My class consists of 4 East Indian women who are total non-swimmers. We do a little swimming and a lot of talking about Indian cuisine. They have taken to bringing me 'treats' every week. Since I show so such an interest and love for Indian food, they are trying to one-up each other by cooking their specialties and bring me a serving. I'm in food heaven! There is nothing better than home cooked Indian cuisine for my money. I think they are feeding me so I won't make them put their faces in the water and blow bubbles but I am not so easily bought off. They are learning to swim quite nicely and I am getting fat on fresh butter chicken dishes and spicy peppers with cumin. Swimming never tasted so good.

We joined a local CSA, community supported agriculture farm. That's delicious too. Every Thursday I go down the road to Snipes Farm and pick up our share of fresh picked veggies, herbs and coming soon, FRUIT! We get an assortment of :
Broccoli, Carrots, Brussels Sprouts, Scallions, Tomatoes, Cauliflower, Chard, Peppers, Cabbage, Asian Greens, Cucumbers, Escarole, Summer Squash, Lettuce, Zucchini, Spinach, Turnips, Onions, Radishes, Napa Cabbage, Potatoes, Kale, Peas, Escarole, Beets, Kohlrabi, Eggplant, Dill, Sweet Corn Turnips, Cilantro, Basil, String Beans, Fennel, Parsley.... it's amazing! My colon is so happy.
Later in the season we get blueberries, strawberries, apples, melon... and a whole assortment of pumpkins. They also sell farm eggs (expensive as hell, $4/doz) and some chickens... I'm going to pass on that.

This about wraps up June. I have promised my friend Joel to post more often. He complained the other day that I have become lax and lazy about my blog. Sorry about that, I thought no one cared... I guess I was wrong. Back to work.

xox
m

from the far side of the planet

Hi,
guess where I am?
Right now Marshall & I are sitting in the business class lounge of the Changi Airport in Singapore. How cool is that! I knew you'd never guess so I just thought I'd go ahead and tell you anyway.

We are at the end of a wonderful week of sight seeing, shopping, eating and meeting new friends in Singapore. I'm about to start my long ride home to Philadelphia, Marshall is traveling on to China for the rest of this week, back home by Friday.

Singapore is a city/state that is 4.5 million people in on an island smaller than the whole of Calgary, Alberta. It is spotless clean everywhere, easy to get around and totally quirky. Everyone speaks English, usually with a heavy Chinese accent. Road signs are in English and some Malay. You hear a lot of 'Singlish' as you walk around the streets. A combination of Chinese, Malay & English. It's entertaining to try and figure it out sometimes.

Once I figured out how to get off Orchard Street (the main drag filled with malls and high-end shops) I found Singapore to be quite interesting. Chinatown and Little India sections of the city are charming, full of small merchants and great food stalls. We spent time with K.H. Chen, who works at Tyco and his wife Jennifer. They are native Singaporeans and they showed us their neighbourhood of laksa stands, open air markets, prawning spots, local Indian temple complete with high priests, the eastern beach full of huge shipping boats... all the stuff that is truly Singapore.

Cara has a friend who lives here, Super Dave, and he really was super. He took us to the zoo for the day and was a wonderful guide. I think he was just as thrilled to have a fellow Canadian to spend the day with who he could talk about Toronto with. We did love the Singapore Zoo. It's a wonderful facility, well laid out, very interactive with the animals. You haven't lived until you've been nose to nose with a friendly lemur or within arms length of a very large simian.

As for food... well, I haven't stopped eating. There is a mix of Chinese, Indonesian, Thai, Japanese and Italian... they throw it all together and call it Singaporean. Laksa is my new favorite food. it's a local mixture of fish broth, coconut milk, noodles, cockles, tofu, lotus root, chilies & spices that is so yummy. The other local favorite is spicy crab, a large crab stewed in a spicy sauce/broth and served with small butter buns for dipping in the sauce.... it's all good. The outdoor food stalls are the best place to find anything to eat and once I figured out how to get to them there was no going back to the over priced western style restaurants. For $3 to $4 Singapore dollars you get a huge bowl or plate of excellent food. Don't ask what it costs on the main drag, it's criminal!

Now it's time to head back to reality but I'm planning to learn to make laksa and spicy crab at home.
Anybody hungry?

xox
m