Lists, lists, lists

I keep saying we are going to have a day without making lists of things to purchase but I don't think it has happened yet.  There are always new hooks, cleaning cloths, power boards etc not to mention this week we went looking for a toaster and came home with a vaccuum as well.  I thought I could manage with just a broom like the amah in Penang did, but the dirty floors are driving me mad.  And that's when Eric reminded me she used to sweep and mop every day; that's not going to happen here.  I can't believe how many long black hairs I still keep finding on the marble floors of the apartment when my hair is so short and Eric's is the wrong colour.  He insists there is no young Asian beauty meeting him here and unfortunately there is no amah. With the vac I'm pretty confident I'm going to see the last of them soon.
Our workouts in the pool and gym continue and now I have managed to pump up the gymball.  That took some doing because the air pump at the service station a km down the road didn't have a connection and I couldn't borrow a bike pump. Fortunately there was a balloon pump at work that did the trick - and I figured I was getting a workout just pumping it up one small puff at a time. See image below of how to improvise when you don't have dumbells. I have since bought a set, another item ticked off the list.

Being week 5 of term it was testing week.  Every student, bar the 3yr old nursery class, completes a test which can take up to 90mins to complete.  For the Nursery kids I just completed a checklist of what they can and can't do yet, while conducting a regular session.  This week it was the letter 't' and we made painted paper-plate tiger masks which was a challenge since we have no running water in the place for cleaning up afterwards. I always swore I would never do a child's painting for them (like the KSA pre-school mums used to) but this week I was  holding the child's hand that was holding the paintbrush for fear of a spill or splash on the fabulous outfits some of them wear.  I've also been told I have a new enrollment for one of my Yr 4 classes who has dyslexia, so more challenges ahead.  
Eric's major challenge for the week has been re-arranging the electronics in the apartment.  Between Aust connections and Singapore connections we have a minefield of plugs and sockets to connect everything at the same time.  I think I mentioned in an earlier post that we purchased an entertainment system that includes dvd player and ipod dock and connects through the tv that was already here.  He also has a speaker system now for the laptop and I have now bought a small printer (another thing on the list).  All that, together with the phone and modem makes for a tangle of cables when you decide to switch the furniture around which we did this morning.  Oh, and I haven't mentioned the phone and ipad rechargers.  My goodness life was simpler without all these gadgets.  The upshot of all this is that we can now fit a sofa bed for visitors under the windows (another big list item).
This week we joined the MAE walkers on their Monday morning walk which was up Bukit Timah, one of the largest tracts of primary forest left on the island.  Singapore really only has one hill and we chose this week to make it to the starting point.  We met for breakfast and then 5 of us managed to scramble up the 163m climb and back down again.  There is a formed road to the top but Peter, our intrepid leader and Principal of MAE, took forest paths when the opportunity was there.  These have the most enormously deep steps so my knee was soon protesting.  I took the easy route up the road instead which was still not that easy.  Beats me how the short-legged  Singaporeans do it. Felt good to get to the top.  

All 3 others in the photo trekked to Everest Base Camp last December.  Peter has been there 3 times now, in all he has trekked in Nepal 10 times and this next Dec the trip is to a village where he is sponsoring a school.  We are keen to join him if he thinks my knee will cope.  It will mean many more trips up and down Bukit Timah in the meantime which I can do so long as I avoid the deep steps.  On the way home we missed the bus stop that connected with our train line but by chance wandered past a secondhand furniture store.  These are few and far between in Singapore.  We are keen to get a sofa bed but don't want to spend a lot of money if we can avoid it since we won't be bringing it home.  They had 2 options but both were so narrow you couldn't sleep 2 people on them so we came home empty handed. 
You would think that was enough for one day, but no, we had a quick shower and went to Orchard Rd.  This is the first time since we have been here that we have ventured to this mega shopping district.  I was after some comfortable work shoes (Ecco, Merrell, Naot etc) which I had been searching an outlet for on the web.  We exhausted ourselves walking first all the way in the wrong direction, and then all the way back.  Why is walking in a shopping zone so much more tiring than walking in the rainforest?  Anyway I came home with 3 pairs of shoes, though in the end not any of those brands.  Hopefully my feet and knee will respond to the investment now I've crossed that off the list.
We took the MRT from Orchard to Harbourfront in the evening to dine at a Food Hall on top of Vivo City.  This is positioned at the beginning of the Sentosa boardwalk which we will do one day, but not this day.  We are weary.  We ate dinner surrounded by walls hung with hundreds of old doors recycled from original Singapore buildings.  We wondered what sights had passed by them all those years ago when traders plied their wares on the streets and up the river.  What conversations they would have overheard!