Last Tue night we met up with some colleagues at the Blu Jazz Cafe on Bali Lane in Bugis. The lane is lined with graffiti-painted and quirky shop-houses with interesting art designs which is rather unusual for Singapore. The cafe apparently boasts being a vibrant nightlife scene with live bands playing pop-rock and jazz. Not on a Tue night though we discovered, just recorded. Liked the mosaic bar though.
The working week seemed to be progressing as normal until Saturday morning when I had a new student enrol in K1 (the level up from nursery). He just couldn't manage the 'mother child separation' thing so started crying, it moved on to tantrum and finally full blown hysteria. The toys and music made no positive impression so about half an hour in I found myself positioned on the chair barricading the door and trying to read a story to the class of 10 other students sitting on the floor. He had positioned himself in the corner, and I was kept busy making sure that as the class edged ever forward (as little kids always do when you read a story) they stayed far enough away from this little chap's feet so they were not being kicked. Desperately trying to come up with a new plan for the next hour and a half, or an escape route, I was rescued by the Deputy Academic Director who offered to remove him. Her class couldn't work with all the noise going on anyway. Thank goodness the mother was able to take him off our hands. I'm not expecting him back this week, they probably think I'm the devil incarnate, but who knows. That gave me a crushing headache for the rest of Saturday and all I could think as I worked through the next 2 sessions was that he was probably home having a lovely sleep. I was looking forward to a vodka but ended up falling asleep on the couch before that.
On Sunday most of our branch made it to after work drinks, see below how they serve beer to a bunch of thirst Aussies and Kiwis.
On Monday I enjoyed a massive sleep-in and we spent most of the day reading papers and generally relaxing at home. Haven't done a lot of that since we've been here. Then I got motivated to look at the online classifieds for second hand furniture. Found very few sofa beds and what I could find were very narrow. Then I found one that was worth sending an inquiry. Turns out the company this Ignacius works for is moving him to Jakarta and he has to hand in the keys for his apartment this very afternoon! I can have it for half the advertised price if I can arrange to have it picked up in the next hr or so. To cut a long story short Eric found himself being hustled out the door, soon to be collected by Bala, our courier man that moved us here a few weeks ago. Between them they got this fabulous, as-new, Ikea sofa bed in the back of the Hiace and installed in our place about 90 mins later. Can't believe how lucky we are to pick up this bargain (and you will all benefit when you come for a sleep over) although the color is probably not my first choice!
As you can see the tones for the rest of the place are pretty neutral.
This 'weekend' we've also managed to nut out the travel dates and accommodation bookings for the end of term trip to Laos. We'll have 8 days to visit Vientiane, Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang. We are both looking forward to that. Next weekend we are off to Bintan with MAE colleagues who are feeling like a few social days away. It's an Indonesian Is, just a short ferry trip off shore. We leave on the Monday morning and return Wednesday in time to get to work for the 2 o'clock mtg. Bianca (from TEGS) will be here when we get back, so looking forward to catching up with her next Thursday.
Hi Lib and Eric - great sofa! You look as if it's very comfy.
ReplyDeleteCornered by a distraught youngster - can't think of anything much scarier. OK. A large crocodile would do it. You sure earned that beer. And I hope you cashed in the vodka credit.
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