One stuffed bird!

So Christmas in a hot country....does not feel like Christmas, but I have still had the most amazing few days!!! Singaporeans don't drink and they don't do mince pies so last day in the office was a bit of a wet squib to be honest, we force fed them some bucks fizz but the day was all a bit ordinary, other than my santas little helper trip to Lloyds. I am now a minor celebrity in Lloyds Singapore having donned a Santa hat and a sack of chocolates and visited every office singing Ho Ho Ho, they all think I'm mad, but I think the sentiment was appreciated. After work I popped to a little French bar to catch up with my secret crush and a few mates and got successfully rained in, therefore forced to continue drinking until 3am (technically I think it had stopped raining at 6pm but why let that spoil a good story), the night was a bit of a blur of Christmas cheer and cheese platters but I know I was drinking red wine because I woke up with streaks all down my legs, then recalled wearing a glass courtesy of an over zealous Christmas jesture from a friend. So woke up with a very unwarranted hangover (it wasn't my fault it was raining and my road was flooded!), spent the day with the rest of the masses searching for last minute secret Santa pressies...decided I couldn't play the 'run over the Singaporean' game with such a bad hangover so i bought myself the most amazing sparkly shoes and went for a manicure and a massage. Having recovered, the amazing sparkly shoes and I went for cocktails overlooking the Singaporen skyline at a friends house party and so the next morning started off in a similar fashion.... Woke up with a hangover (warranted on this occasion I admit) realised it was Christmas day, so called a friend and went round with champagne and coffee, it was felt that both were required to get into the Christmas spirit and cope with the day ahead. Then proceeded to spend the day with 16 very lovely friends, a full christmas spread, a lot of champagne and a swimming pool...had an amazing day, and laughed until my sides hurt. You know how this works by now....woke up with a hangover, called a friend who was equally distraught about not having bubble and squeak on boxing day, so we went for an amazing alacarte meal and bottle of wine...we didnt know anywhere that would do bubble and squeak! And now, unlike all you lovely peopl at home who have tomorrow off, I will have to drag this hangover into the office tomorrow, so some sympathy please..... Miss you all incredibly, I am having so much fun but it's not the same, it really isn't. Merry merry Christmas! Rouge x

A week of two halves

What an exhausting week! Came down with a stomach bug on Wednesday. Under normal circumstances, by which I mean Singaporean circumstumstances, that would mean a trip to the medical centre, a bag of prescription drugs that would make any heroine addict happy and signing off MC (that's sick leave out here), but I'm British and like to suffer, not to mention that it was the christmas party on thursday and jaeger bomb night in Mogambos on Saturday, so I think I may have found a new cure for stomach upsets....partying till 3am on a concoction of vodka, Martell, sweet green tea, karaoke and jaeger bombs. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it but it's Sunday and I'm still alive to tell the tale and a whole lot thinner as a result! Having said that, today has been a total wash out....literally. Planned to actually do something decent with my day and visit the botanical gardens, and I decided to do it by public transport. It was a typical grey drizzly afternoon but I had my umbrella, figured I'd be fine...! Waiting for the bus and the sky dumped enough water to wash Bangkok away again. So I scrapped that idea and got the tube to Orchard for some shopping. Brilliant...finished my crimbo shopping list off, got a few bits for the house, had a spot of hawker grub and went to get a taxi...oh dear god, I've never seen a queue like it, coupled by the fact that taxis turn into the Scarlett pimpernel when it rains (very annoying when it's the bloody monsoon season!) I decided to take the public transport option again. Fine....until it came to walking home from the tube station. Just like taxis go into hiding when it rains, Singapore seems to lack certain levels of common sense...I'd been given paper carrier bags! So juggling an umbrella, heaving paper bags of goodies, whilst wearing a not so cleverly thought out outfit of white linen trousers and flip flops I make my move into the tropical rain storm, I lasted all of 5 mins before the first sodden bag broke, I slipped on some leaves and so the journey went on! But next week is Christams week and with the stomach bug behind me I say Ho Ho Ho...wish I was with you all to celebrate! I will be in spirit (vodka, Martell and jaeger bombs probably) Rouge x