WTA back in Singapore

After work on Wednesday night, we were eating at our local hawker stall when Bernard the florist turned up with a number of fellow students and a teacher from his schooldays at St Gabrielle's. They had all been out for dinner together in the city to celebrate the birthday of his ex Principal and they were dropping by for a last beer (or two or three) before retiring. Turns our Bernard graduated from studies in art and sculpture. An unusual choice of career path in this society. They were keen for us to join them which we did after eating. Conversations ranged from good bird watching sites, to the threats by Malaysia to turn off the water in days gone by, the British handover where they left only one aeroplane to run an airline and such restrictions on the port that made it almost impossible to attract custom, Singapore's military might, difficult neighbours that refuse to sell granite and sand, etc, etc. Essentially, Singapore is mighty and their neighbours are all jealous. We just agreed with everything said. One piece of good news is that they all believe the haze will be gone at the end of the month because the monsoon season will arrive and the winds will change direction. I hope they are right. 

During the night my legs began to itch with sand fly bites. I must have been bitten when we walked on Coney Island. I slathered them in Calamine Lotion but it didn't really help much so in the morning I went on a fruitless search for an aloe vera plant. The other thing recommended was ti tree oil. I did manage to buy a lotion at the supermarket but have found my ti tree underarm deodorant is the best balm.  That and keeping cool. If I even walk fast and get a bit warm, they flare up again so no housework this week, that always leaves me in a lather of sweat. Must be something good about this situation. 

Had a lovely long email from Adrian in Alice. He is keeping very busy, has bought himself another guitar and is continuing to write and make music with innovative equipment. The latest is a beat box he fashioned out of timber and an old number plate. He now has a forklift licence and a pay rise compliments of Bunnings! He is off to Melbourne soon to watch the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Apparently it's mixed martial arts where people from Olympic wrestlers to karate or judo test their fighting styles against each other. He doubts either of us would be interested, and he's right.

To celebrate the end of another working week we went to 5 Drunken Rabbits, a bistro in Pasir Ris park, on Sunday night. It is a lovely setting but we chose to sit indoors to avoid 

the filthy haze which has been bad for the last few days again. Others at work have taken our lead and headed to Bali for a brake as we did a few weekends ago. Robert, Heather and their mother Pat joined us along with Sally, June and Peter. It's actually very close to his new school and he did some preparation there earlier. It would be nice to come here after a bike ride around the Park and have lunch. You could just sit outside and watch the visitors coming and going in this beautiful park.

On Monday we enjoyed what felt like a luxurious sleep-in because this week's walk was

scheduled for the evening. The day was filthy so we were trapped inside once again for most of the day and had to cancel the walk. We cleaned out the fridge (which was well over due) then I got out the sewing machine and made a pair of mopping slippers from some airline slip-ons and $2 window washing mittens. The result is effective but I have discovered a design flaw. I am not expecting the uppers will survive more than a few circuits of the washing machine since they are very flimsy. And who wants to hand wash? The whole idea was to reduce housework. It was obviously time to break free of the cabin fever so I went with Eric to Clarke Quay where he was holding his last social club mtg for the year and I browsed the shops. A few of the walkers joined us later and we had dinner at Wine Connections in Robertson Quay. On the way we enjoyed somewhat lower haze conditions and the lights over the river were as enchanting as ever. 

The best women tennis players in the world are here again to contest the WTA Finals. We went on Fri last year but had to leave the early session to get to work on time, even before the first match finished, so this year we went on Tuesday and had tickets to both sessions. You get a good idea how hazy it is from these comparison pictures taken from the National Stadium, looking across to the city. The one on the left was taken earlier in the year and I don't need to explain the one on the right. It makes you clear your throat just looking at it, doesn't it. 

The Indoor Stadium is a great venue for the event and they players are treated like rock stars. That is Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario being interviewed in the Fan Zone and the chap on the right is an illusionist with a glass ball as pre match entertainment. 
Our opening match was between the third ranked Chan sisters from Taipei and No.2 seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova. Although the final scoreline was 6-2, 6-2 in favour of the Chans, it was a very entertaining match with all players showing great hand speed at the net. 

Next up was Flavia Pennetta (7), playing the last tour event of her professional career, who rallied to beat Agnieszka Radwanska (5) in a close match after twice being a service break down. We saw Radwanska play last year and we both felt she looked tired this year. 

During the break we went to the practice courts to see who was warming up. It turned out only Halep was in action. My she is toned! The second session opened with a legends doubles match where Martina Navratilova paired up with Marion Bartoli against Tracy Austin and Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in an 8-game pro set. There were lots of laughs enjoyed by both the players and spectators. Martina is the event patron. 

Then Maria Sharapova (3) held off an inspired second set fightback to defeat Simona Halep (1) in a match which, for the first 45 minutes, was dead even on serve. She raced ahead in the second only for Halep to fight back. Really good tennis with amazing power.

The final match for the day was the Spanish pairing of Carla Suarez Navarro and Garbine Muguruza (8) against Caroline Garcia and Katarina Srebotnik (5). Seeded 8th, the Spanish pair are only here because Australia's Casey Dellacqua and her partner withdrew. They were eventual winners but we had left by then as the standard of play in the first set just wasn't up to what we had seen earlier and we had spent a long time in the stadium already. 

So, it was a day for the underdog as the lower seeded players outdid the higher ranked opponents in every match. 
The good news is we awoke to lightning in the early hours of Wednesday morning and the skies have been much clearer all day.