The End.

So here we are, at the end.  What a journey it has been.  Do you even remember the beginning?  I'm struggling to.

I'm sitting at the Singapore airport trying to go through all the events on this jaunt.  I guess I could just go back through the blog, but that would be cheating.

I want to send out a big thank you to everyone who came onboard to make this journey so memorable.  You know who you are.  If it weren't for you, my trip and this blog would have been post after post of selfies and maniacal banter of me talking about myself in the 3rd person..... so thank you.

Each time I venture away from home I like to make sure that I bring something home (apart from the obligatory fridge magnet) that I can learn from.

10 Important Things I Have Learned on This Journey:

1. If you carry an umbrella with you - that is a guarantee that it won't rain.

2.  If you see something that you fall in love with - buy it, even if you have to carry it in your hand luggage for the rest of the trip - you'll regret it if you don't.

3.  Always pack more underpants than you think you need.

4.  For every uncultured thing you do, do one cultured thing and then everything balances out.

5.  If you're unsure about packing that dress/top/shorts/skirt that you never wear at home - the chances are that you'll never wear it when you're away!  Take it out of the suitcase now......case closed - literally!

6. No matter how many shoes you think you'll need, you're wrong.  Take out 3 pairs and make do.  This makes more room for the underpants!

7.  It's important to take time out for yourself when you're away.  There's nothing wrong with just having a PJ Day.  Give yourself a break from doing 'something' every single day.

8.  Marmite is not Vegemite, but it is a satisfactory substitute when you can't get your hands on the real thing.

9.  You should always make the effort for people who make the effort with you.

10.  You can never apply too much SPF30+

It's been great having you along for the ride.  Until next time faithful readers...... 

xxx

Oh My God - STOP!

Have you ever had a massage that was just so bad that you had to ask the masseur to stop?  

You know I have!

My last day in Singapore and Jodes and I thought we would treat ourselves.  She knew of a local place although she hadn't been there before and when it comes to massages I trust Jode's judgement as she herself is a qualified masseur and Chinese Medicine Practitioner so she knows her stuff - even if she hasn't been there! (NB: not that I'm blaming her at all)

We arrived and asked for a 60 minute body massage and then a 40 minute foot massage.

I was excited.

I laid out on the table and placed my face thusly into the hole.  So far, so good.  When my lady came in, it appeared that she didn't speak any English, only Mandarin, which is fine as Jodes is fluent enough to get by after living in Shanghai for 7 years and also, her first language was Mandarin and we didn't really need to speak to each other except when I needed to ask her to stop.  She understood 'Stop'.

She started with a light rubbing of my back and when I say light rubbing, think of the motion you would use to ruffle a young boy's hair or perhaps drying a wet dog.  It wasn't relaxing and it didn't feel good.  I thought that perhaps this is just how she started and that maybe it would get better.

I was wrong.

The light rubbing was followed by some random patting, banging, slapping and poking.  All of which did not feel good.  If she could see my face, which was firmly in the hole, she would see that I had an expression of both pain, and confusion.  But I laid there in the hope that it would get better and that I wouldn't have to ask her to stop.

Through my mind ran broken Chinglish conversations with me explaining that I didn't want her to go on and then trying to explain, without hurting her feelings, that what she was doing was pure torture and that she should perhaps think about a different profession.  I then went through what types of professions she could go for..... just in case she asked!

I found that this train of thought took my mind off what was happening outside of that face hole.  Then I would click back into the now and think to myself that this can't go on, this is ridiculous and I shouldn't have to pay for this.  Then in a continuous round about way, my thoughts would go back to "but how do I tell her?"

She asked me to turn over onto my back and she started to do 'something' on my face, but it wasn't as this picture below would suggest.  It was a like a tapping motion coupled with a bit of slapping and skin pulling and that is what brought the whole debacle to an end..... or so I thought.

STOP!

"No, No, you'll have to stop that.  No, that doesn't feel good."

"Sorry Madam"

And that was that, but she did continue down my legs - poking and kneading and pinching. I longed to see my watch, which I had placed into my bag before I got onto this God forsaken table, so I could see just how much of this I was going to have to endure.  I mean, she obviously felt that I held a lot of tension under my kneecaps.  Have you ever had the underside of your kneecaps massaged?  It's not a nice feeling, not one you're likely to repeat.

I could hear Jodes in the next cubicle, as we were only separated by a thin curtain and she was chatting and laughing with her lady in Mandarin.  "Why?" I thought,  "Why me?"

Finally, it was over then it occurred to me that we had also booked a 40 minute foot massage that was to take place out in the 'foot area'.  Would I get the same lady?  Could I ask for a different lady?  Would that effect how she is paid? Did it really mean that much to me?  Should I just stop whinging?  Was it my right to ask for someone else?  My mind was in turmoil!

I came out and before I could make any decision about what to do next, I was sat down and left for a minute.  Jodes joined me a minute later and sighed deeply as she sat in the chair next to me.  "Oh, how great was that?" she said.   "Um........ it was interesting", I replied.  Just then the two ladies came back and started on our feet.  There was no time or opportunity to say anything.

I was quite apprehensive.

Then, everything felt good.  She was really good at feet!  When you do feet, you also do legs and she was surprisingly good at that too.  Had she redeemed herself?  Could she make me forget the last hour of my life - because goodness knows I wasn't get that time back!

40 minutes later and I was feeling good.  The only pain I had was now etched into my memory.  But I was able to walk away relatively happy.

Have I learned a lesson?  I'm not quite sure.  I'll continue to have massages and some of them will probably be from people where I don't know their skill level.  Will I ever speak up if a massage is not to my liking?  Probably not, because if I did, I wouldn't have had a story to tell you!

Now, drink lots of water and relax for the rest of the day.

Namaste

Singapore Sling

 A few years ago I went to visit my lovely friends Jodie and Andre' in Shanghai, but luckily for me, they have since moved to Singapore!

I couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit on the way home.

Jodes and Andre' have two lovely kiddies,  Jaxon, who is 6 and Remi, who is 5.  They are gorgeous little kids and were great fun.

This is Remi with her cousin, Mia who both fancied being ballerinas.

⬇

It was decided by all that we would spend the day at Universal Studios on Sentosa Island.  Somewhere the kids loved going and somewhere I hadn't been before.

Singapore was hot and humid, but luckily it was overcast and a bit rainy, which cooled everything down - a perfect day to trudge around the studios.

The Casson Family

Our first ride was Madagascar, a boat ride around lots of scenes from the Madagascar movie.  The characters talk and move.  It was quite good fun!  So much so that we did it twice! 

Then...... the Madagascar Merry Go Round.

Next, we moved to Far Far Away and the home of Shrek.

Remi and Jaxon were checking if he was home.......

And were quite happy when we wasn't there! 

Then to Shrek's Castle

There were a number of shows that you could go to like a stand up comedy show with Donkey which was hilarious and you there was a 4D show of Shrek and all the other characters going on an adventure.  I think sometimes the adults have more fun than the kids....... or is that just me?

Next - Jurassic Park

Remi and Jaxon went on a few rides with Andre while I watched...... I'm not a big fan of rides - especially the scary ones (unlike Remi!)

One show that Kevin Costner would be proud of was the Water World Show.

A show full of acrobats and pyrotechnics and fire and loud sounds and WATER!

They warn you at the entrance that the blue and green seats where the high risk seats for getting wet.  In fact, if you sit in the blue seats you are guaranteed to get wet.

So...... daredevil Remi went straight for the blue..... and dad had to go along with her.  

What a great dad hey?

I couldn't take anymore photos for fear of having the camera soaked.  After a few people had buckets of water tipped over them, Remi decided that sitting further back might be a better idea.

The show was good fun and LOUD.  There was lots of gun fire and explosions and people fist fighting and whacking each other with lead pipes - so a perfect show for kids!

All the scenery and props were really well done.  This photo shows the sheer size of the Egyptian dog things!  The ride for this section was a scary mummy ride - not even Remi wanted to go on that one, so Andre' had to go by himself.

The next section was the Sci Fi area.  Lots of people in funny costumes creeping around for you to take pictures with.

Then - my favourite part of the whole park - New York and Sesame Street.

We got there just in time for the Sesame Street residents to come out in from of the New York Public LIbrary to do a song and dance number.  All I could think was that the dancers must have been bloody hot in those costumes!

Probably who Ernie tried to kick that kid in the head!

New York street scenes.

We tried the Spaghetti Space Chase Ride which was very cute.  Obviously for smaller kids going on the size of the seats and safety harnesses in the cars!

On our way out we came across Kung Fu Panda who was happy to hug the kids.

 After a big day at a fun park, I like to hit the beach and down a couple of Singapore Slings with my gorgeous pals.