Saturday 17 May 2014

if i could drive....i would be the original hipster...

I never learnt to drive.

It never bothered me much before, this lack of driving ability, except recently.  Living in Singapore one doesn't need to drive, as public transport is excellent and affordable, even with overcrowding and recent train breakdowns, its still an excellent means of getting around the island.

However, the lack of a vehicle and the means to operate said machine, has made me a bit frustrated at times.  I cant just plan a route to several pit stops through out the day to purchase stuff or just to browse through places.  Its limiting my weekends in that I am unable to fulfil my wanderlust.

my dream.....
If I could drive however what car would I see myself in.....
I think of that alot
The mini is definitely the car I would drive, its small, its easy to park and manoeuvre and I am sure it wont be too hard to zip around in that.
I of course always wanted a Vespa....instead of a motorbike.  yes the romanticised version of the motorbike is probably my favourite form of transport.

This morning in the papers I saw my dream vehicle.  A vespa with a side car!!  How Brilliant!  me thinks perhaps I should go get my licence just so that I can go buy one of these.  There even is a guy that customises them  ( See an article about the guy here)

Something to add to the bucket list...........

Wednesday 14 May 2014

Recycling the Singapore way

I was,  until a few months ago extremely lucky in that I had people come to my doorstep to collect my recyclables.  No big deal you may think but I live on the 13th floor in a block of flats.

I just had to leave my paper, glass and plastic outside my front door and some little lovely elf would come collect it and leave behind the bags I needed to use for the next 2 weeks collection.

That all changed at the end of February.

Due to manpower shortage, they were no longer able to go house to house to collect the recyclables and were going to be providing recycling bins at the lift lobby.  All good, no problem, we could go down and sort our own recyclables and put them in the appropriate bins.......
well that didn't quite happen.

the recycling bin
We got one bin for everything, and it was left out in the elements where rain would of course damage all that paper.  So I did the normal thing I do, I wrote in to ask what the hell was going on and where were the proper recycling bins...
I sent them the picture on the left and asked if this was what they thought was an effective way to recycle.
To their credit they rectified part of the problem by placing 2 bins, on another side of the lift lobby but they couldn't put a bin for each category of recyclable.
I was told to put the items in a plastic bag and then place that bag into the recycling bin.

the irony was obviously lost on them.....

Monday 12 May 2014

sharing my space

With A telling me that I was only good for sex ( well he did put it a bit better than that but....) I was quite determined to not let sex be the drive that makes me start a relationship ever again.

Lust was put in a box and buried in the garden. and frankly it hasn't been that hard to abstain.  Perhaps its because I haven't wanted any other man to touch me.
These past few months I have been seeing P (Ice Cream Man, so named as our first date was meeting for ice cream) on and off and taking it very slow.  We hang out and enjoy each others company and he is quite happy to not force or cajole me into being intimate before I am ready.

P chases marathons, yes this man likes to run, and he was planning to run the Great Wall Marathon in Beijing on the 1st of May.  He asked me if I wanted to go along, and I said no, too soon.  Then a few weeks ago I said yes, I would go.   Two days before we left I changed my mind about Beijing ..... And I told P it's best we don't see each other anymore.

Any man would run screaming from me, I seem to be dragging all my baggage, an overweight  baggage allowance at that, with me  and can't seem to move on from A.  I don't know why, even with A telling me he only wanted a sexual relationship and not love......... Shoot me now!

So instead of being with P in Beijing I was here, alone with my camera.  But I needed that time alone, I needed to address the imbalance.     I spent the days doing things I loved, at my pace with no pressure from anyone to give any part of my time.  I regained some of my balance and realised that my space, as in my me time and the physical space was very important to me.  P still wants to see me...............

I have to think carefully as I don't want to play with emotions or hurt anyone.  Am I content in my own solitary world or can I let someone in.  I always said I wanted to share my life with someone but how much of that am I willing to share.  I like my own space, so  can I stop being so selfish to allow this man in?

 I am going to try and who knows it may not end up as the perfect relationship or P and I may find that we just cant let go of our respective baggage.  But we are going to be patient with each other and give it a go.

Fingers crossed...........

Friday 2 May 2014

my art deco fantasy

you can see the guards sitting there..... and on the right the
new roof of the new stadium

Thursday I went to the Kallang Airport, an Art Deco airport terminal built in 1937 or so.   I love Art Deco buildings... so this is probably the first of my art deco posts........



The Old airport still stands and with the development of our new
stadium, which is a stone throwing distance away, they are going to redevelop the the old airport terminal as a lifestyle hub.....horrors!  One hopes they don't gut the grand old dame and 'refurbish' the building and interiors.
looking through a hole in the hoardings
I wasn't expecting to find the gate open and did walk straight in but a couple of guards sitting under the porch of the building blew their whistle at me several times ( as I ignored the first few times) and waved me away....lazy bastards I should have continued walking to see if they would leave their shady respite and haul me off but being the good citizen that I am, I left.  Most of the perimeter is boarded up but I still walked around the whole plot trying to get a good shot.  I would have liked to get pictures from the inside but oh well....perhaps another day....
the old dame locked away with progress in the background


wanderings

last couple of days I have been wandering around alone taking pictures.  On Wednesday it was in the Botanic Gardens and I took so many pictures and enjoyed my day so much that the Gardens deserve another post.....
the old Pagoda

old bungalow, was a French restaurant









The botanic gardens balanced my equilibrium and put me at peace with being me.  I had slathered sunblock and happily spent all late morning and early afternoon wandering the gardens and taking pictures.  I walked the entire length of the gardens, looking to find my favourite spot for future picnics.  I found art in the gardens too.

I saw the gardeners working in the gardens, saw men in trees, saw a little girl chasing butterflies, and try to stomp on it, much to the horror of her mother.  I saw families, tourists, students, people intent on exercising while looking at their mobile phones, forgetting to look up and appreciate the peace and tranquillity of the gardens.
by the swan lake...seriously that's the name of the little lake
spot the man in the tree