Apr. 25, 2006 - The Quest for a Swimming Top

Kenzie had a lovely birthday.  The Night Safari was excellent and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves all agreeing it was a well worthwhile trip.  Our favourites were the Malaysian Fire Dancers and the Creatures of the Show where we came extremely close to a friendly 10 foot boa constrictor.  We arrived back home at about 10.30pm, all exhausted except for Maddy who had drunk a lime slushy and was sky-high until after 11. 

On Friday I received a call from a lady I had met at church the previous week suggesting we meet for lunch that day.  We went down to the mall and she found us at Macdonalds.  She had her two sons with her who are 7 and 5, so similar ages to the girls, and relaxed companionship ensued.  After we’d eaten, we headed out to one of the districts in her car, to an indoor playground.  This was a real blessing, and was the first time the girls had experienced an opportunity to play with other children, or run around and climb and scream for weeks.  They got really tired and thirsty (I had bought no water with me) but it was the highlight of my week to have conversation with someone else, more than just the surface basics.  She is a kind hearted lady who was extremely generous with her time and friendship.

On Saturday we ventured off to the Jurong Bird Park, as it had been highly recommended to us by several people.  However, the day was the hottest yet, and it nearly annihilated us as we milled around with swarms of Indian and Korean tour groups through what we thought was a pretty average facility.  Admittedly neither of us are bird freaks, so that in itself did not hold a lot of wonder, but the grounds were run-down and slightly shabby, the crowds immense, and by the time we got back to the apartment we all felt sick and grimy.  We had hired a wobbly, dirty stroller for Maddy (in retrospect, without that we would have gone insane) and took in the Bird Show crammed in with thousands of others, particularly Koreans tourists, all wearing funny caps/hats, and the women clad in bright blouses and slacks, pantyhose, gloves and bright red lipstick.  The Show was ho-hum, I guess the usual a huge aviary would provide; a chatty parrot, flocks of pelicans waddling past, macaws having tiny cycle races and flying through hoops and a presenter whose screechy voice set our teeth on edge.

We took the mono-rail around the park, but to be honest there was nothing to see except wire cages below us.  The highlight would have been the very high man-made waterfall, and the flamingo lagoon where we ate lunch.

Then after a while back at home we decided to go for a swim, except my togs seemed to have vanished into thin air.  Big Problem.  Very Big Problem!  So I went hunting for a new top while Greg took the girls off to swim without me.  My hunt took me to Orchard Rd as there was little downstairs in the way of clothing stores in my shape and size.  However, Orchard Rd had not a lot more!  Three hours later I staggered into the apartment, absolutely beyond it.  It was purely my own fault, as I did not stop to rest as I walked along, and did not drink anything either.   I felt very odd indeed with having been on my feet for so many hours in the heat, and after a bath, I crawled miserably into bed.  The good news was that I had managed to find a top that fitted me, and after hilarious antics squeezing myself into completely ridiculous swim suits offered by helpful Chinese woman, in XXXL, I grabbed the first singlet tog top that I came across that I could get on without passing out.  I have come to see that swimwear shopping for the average woman is a pastime that deserves great respect, as it is a soul destroying, ego bruising, humiliating experience.  It should only be undertaken in extreme cases of emergency (like living in the equatorial tropics), and only then with a good friend (fat if possible, and also needing swimwear) and followed by hot chocolates and cake.  After all, you have managed to burn off a few thousand calories with all those squirming gyrations.  If I had not been alone I would have screamed with mirth, as it was, the faces I was making in the mirror nearly had me in fits of giggles.  

Today we went off to church for the second week, and Kenzie was suffering anxiety butterflies at the thought of going to children’s church.  She needn’t have feared: they threw a birthday party in her honour, complete with party hats and cake, and gave her a lovely present of a bible facts book written for children in humorous rhyme.   She beamed when she came out and found me at the end, no friends (mostly boys there) but still a good time had.  We headed home via Orchard (much to the regret of my still sore feet) as Greg needed a new wallet, and ducked under a pavement café roof for lunch as the heavens opened and it teemed with heavy rain.  We enjoyed watching the passing pedestrians go by in the rain, some with shopping bags perched vertically atop their heads, sheltering their heads in an extremely unsatisfactorily fashion, and bound to wreck their hairstyles anyway. 

We are feeling okay and enjoy the bustle and excitement of this vibrant city, its people, cultures and geography.  We do miss home intensely though – it pays not to dwell on home too much lest we start feeling negative about the huge blessing we have been given to spend some time in this part of the world.