My birthday!

It's my birthday today!  Mom and I went to Singapore's Botanical Gardens with my new buddy, Ralph and his human, Louise.  Lots of good smells and squirrels and birds to harass!  We got caught in a rain storm and hung out in a gazebo for a while.  The Gardens are beautiful - it takes over a half hour to stroll from one end to the other, and includes at least two good-sized lakes.  A van with petmobile.com dropped us off and picked us up!

Birthday Party!!!!

A new buddy, Tumble, had a birthday today - he's 2!  (Big goofy yellow lab.)  So his human baked a bunch of doggy goodies, and invited a bunch of other buddies and had a party at the Katong Park dog run.  Yippee!  It was fun!  Except I guess I played with my ball instead of sniffing butts.  Mom says she's gonna leave my ball home sometimes, so I can be more "social", whatever that means!.....

Chinatown adventure

We needed some noodle bowls, so I went to Chinatown where Sia Huat is located, a restaurant supplier for anything needed by restaurants - dishes, cookware, gadgets, and many unidentifiable widgets that we never see in Western cooking.  It was fascinating.  Amazingly, there was a limited supply of noodle bowls, except in melamine, which I guess makes sense, as one usually sees dishes made of that material in the local restaurants.  But, they had just about everything else!  A whole wall of woks - wok wall.... ha!  And another wall of just cleavers, those big rectangular-shaped knives.  I had wanted a bamboo steamer, so picked one up, as well as a few other things.  Then, next door, found a couple noodle bowls for everyday in a porcelain shop.

On the way back to the subway station, I was lured into a Chinese medicine shop by Ruth, a very enthusiastic seller of Chinese herbs and tonics.  These shops are all over Singapore, displaying bizarre-looking dried plant and animal items, beans, and seeds, spilling out onto the sidewalks.  I followed Ruth into the shop where an elderly Chinese lady sat, who, according to Ruth, was a long-time established Chinese medicine doctor.  She felt my pulse for a few minutes and told me a few things about my health, or lack there-of, and prescribed a bottle of pills..... for S$168 (US137).  I choked on the price, so ended up with a good-sized bag of dried shiitake mushrooms for about the amount I pay at Costco.  It's made me think, however, as the symptoms she saw in me, tho easy to predict at my age, were most likely spot on - may go back for a half bottle and see...  In the meantime, the mushrooms are apparently good for cancer-prevention and cholesterol reduction (this was corroborated online), and they were delicious - had some in my miso soup last night.....

A word about comments...

A few of you asked about not being able to comment.  And, frankly, I think this format is not that clear in that area.  But if you click on "n comments" below the post where n = the number of comments so far, it will take you to a comment creation screen.  So, if you are inclined, have at it!

Got the keyboard!

Ricky here:  Got the keyboard, and two beautiful rugs, so the echo is starting to go away.  Actually the keyboard doesn't echo, as there are no speakers - don't want to piss off the neighbors, so I just have my headphones with me - is OK.... but I may have to break down and get a small speaker....  It's a Roland 300NX keyboard, and feels and sounds like an acoustic piano.  Have already over-practiced - the arm is sore - it's a good sore!


Purchasing the rugs was an interesting experience.  It was a combination of finding this place on the web, and then having it recommended by a local, saying "Mohammad is the guy you want to buy rugs from".  His shop is in a warehouse structure in the middle of Singapore, and is a cavernous room with piles and piles of gorgeous rugs mostly from Iran, Afghanistan and India.  We were a tad intimidated....  however, I had been looking at examples from different regions online, and the tribal rugs from Shiraz (Southwest Iran) were the ones that resonated - fortunately, they did for Chris as well - we saw this one and loved it.  And it turns out that Mohammad Ali (yes, that is his name) was born and raised in Shiraz, so it felt like more of a personal transaction, and he reveled in telling us about this area of mountains, desert and his city of Shiraz.  So we grabbed that one, and a beauty from Afghanistan (Mazar-e Sharif).  At the end of the day, what I thought was going to be a chore, turned into a wonderful experience!  


More about tribal rugs:  A tribal rug is often used by the family who made it, before it is sold, and the design is created as the rug is woven.  ("City" rugs, on the other hand, are planned from beginning to end.)  Muhammad thought ours is about 40 years old and was woven over a long period of time, as the background color from one portion of the rug is different than the rest, as if they remixed that color at a later date, and it turned out differently.  The placement of symbols and animals changes as well.  Gives it "character".  Sorta like us.... characters that aren't too fancy..

This is Lucy.... I like the red one (from Afghanistan) - it's comfy, yet cool on my tummy...

Getting settled

This is Ricky - Lucy's letting me do a post.  We are slowly settling in - actually, the condo is just about fully furnished.  Combination of a few teak pieces, some bed stuff and finds from the Expat Auction - wonderful company, where expats leaving Singapore can sell stuff on consignment, and folks like us arriving can find some cool stuff at bargain prices.  Thanks to my friend, Christy, who has lived here several years, I found out about this place ahead of time.  So, we went to our first auction 3 days after we arrived.  So, the place is starting to feel homey!  Just need some rugs.... and a keyboard!

Hanging out at home...

So, it's Sunday, and we've gotten into a weekend day routine of getting up early and doing  a walk in East Coast Park, about 10 minutes from home.  Lotsa walking, jogging and bike paths, lotsa grass to roll in, and then there's the ocean, or strait, or whatever.   Today, it was a nice, sunny day, so we had to beat cheeks to get out early before it got too blazin' hot and humid!  Here's a pic of me hanging out near the beach, and a video that mom took.  Wish we could do this every day!