Yep, UK's too cold

Andy Roxburgh and Paul Johnson sent these two photos to the Beeb, in late November. As I mentioned earlier, it is recollections of such things that remind me why I avoid UK and prefer warmer parts of the world. When Alice and I were living in UK, quite some time ago, we had a few jaunts around the country, and she was a little disturbed in the Yorkshire moors by the lack of people and habitations. Eventually she got used to this but the bleakest that we saw was in heavy rain. Notice here how the snow has built up on the wires. A great photo that confirms Christmas in Singapore is preferable! And the above photo is also great, very clearly recording both the nasty chill and the interesting bridge. This type of bridge may not be immediately recognisable by non-Brits, and indeed in this late (and debased?) century, perhaps not even always by the younger ones among us.

In fact this is a canal pathway bridge, horse drawn canal boats would be towed along the canal with the horse on the path at canal side and a bridge like this would allow the horse to spiral up, walk over the canal and come down on the opposite bank ready to continue without problems to the tow rope.

I am very fond of such elegant yet simple (once the brain works) solutions.

Winter is here

I recently woke up in our usual cold (air-conditioned ) bedroom, and for the period of day-dreaming before my morning shower turned the air-con off. Imagine my surprise to see that the clock settled down to tell me that it was but 77 degrees (or 25 to the modern amongst us). No wonder I was cold. In fact, of course, the weather here has been pretty damn rainy recently and Alice has missed her tennis on more than one occasion.

The good part about this is that although chilly we are not suffering like UK, where they have had early snow and blocked roads and various other such problems. I do feel that being here is far preferable to being there. My sister has the opposite problem, she cannot bear heat, elegantly collapsing in a very Victorian faint (she is entitled to do so, she suffers from some unfortunate illness) when overheated. But I am very definitely happy to be in hotter climes and concur with the guy who so eloquently expressed his feelings thus.

It's UP!

Well, in spite of my protests, as I said earlier, our tree is up and ensconced in the window. However you can see from this photo that the lights do have a little competition from the sky. Just to make it clear perhaps I should point out that there is no flying saucer up there, just a reflection in the window of a light in the living area! Sunsets like this may not arrive as regularly as the ones I viewed when I was looking out over Manila Bay (I used to like sitting on the balcony of a suite in the Euro-Nippon, until it burnt down, viewing the beautiful sunsets) but it is surprising how many days we get a sight like this to lift our spirits at the end of a long day.

However you can also see that probably the decoration is to our benefit alone and that from ground level the tree is probably hardly noticeable. Obviously the flashing lights will be visible, but the full glory will be seen only by us in the Condo. But so what, we are (or strictly, Alice is) doing the tree for our pleasure and it can certainly give us that.

Now we have that horrid problem of getting some presents together to put under the tree for opening after lunch on Christmas Day. I suspect that Alistair is going to be the one to benefit most from this exercise! (and I must try and remember to call him "George" as he prefers - at the tennis tournament that he was in yesterday I noticed that Alice and I were the only ones to call him Alistair!)

Too early, surely

While phoning the charming Alice yesterday, from work, I found she was engrossed in putting up the Christmas tree in the condo window; although as we are on the 36th floor I am not sure how well it will be seen from outside.

Every year I complain at the earliness that the tree goes up, but I have learnt it does no good at all. The first free moment after mid-summer's day (or so it seems) the damn thing goes up. There was one good thing, as the day darkened, I ambled up to the window and saw that over the other side of the pool there was a tree in another condo window also with sparkling lights.

So my biggest concern, that we would be the first to put up the tree and turn on the lights, is no more. Next comes the big fight on 12th night, since this marks the official downing of the tree - everywhere except where we are, that is.

But let's all hope for that other well-known Xmas sentiment, which is held by all sensible people of whatever religion and, one hopes, throughout the year and not just at certain times.

. . in the grass, and elsewhere

Remaining on the subject of toilets, something we are all interested in at least once or twice during a day, I came across the photo on the left. This reflects the sort of nightmarish thought that passes through my mind as I quietly move to the loo twice a night, trying not to turn lights on or otherwise disturb Alice. I always lift the lid with some trepidation! This aging business is a pain and I suspect that the prostrate stuff that I take could do with a review. But that is by the bye, the real reason for this post is just to show a few shots from Malaysia on the lovely snakes that abound.

There are times when I feel a shade concerned about the fauna around the place. Long wriggly things are not my most loved animals.

Although in the past I have shown photos of my family very casual around snakes I am rather less enthralled with the creatures, how some-one can be as relaxed as this charming lady I cannot understand.

I suspect that this is her son taking over the cleaning duties.

As for me I am the usual wimpy westerner with my own fears and I have no intention to become a meal for anyone. I recently saw a photo of an exploded snake which had tried to swallow an alligator. While I suspect anything eating some-one as wide as me would have the same problem, I note that the alligator also died so I feel I would prefer to avoid such tribulations.

Dental Woes

In my long life, due to shifting countries regularly, I have had quite a few dentists. At least one or two have been quite good. This charming lady has actually had me laughing in the chair, no mean feat I can tell you! Yesterday I only had half my support team in place, Alistair having backed out to frowst indoors over games and cartoons. Since I am undeniably the most fearful of dental patients I was unhappy about this. But at my great age it is hard for a youngster to understand that the more family are in the room with m the better I feel and hence the less likely to hide in a corner, snivelling.

However it was only a check, clean and polish, so my whimpering soon ceased and we shot off to Brewerkz for lunch, where Alice had, last week, repeated her Manila Hardrock performance and sampled two beers. Today was a Tio Pepe and wine occasion though and we had a splendid feast, and a good laugh together. This latter, of course, is not at all unusual.

Slut Spungen & Super Sid

I believe that it was in the "New Paper" (I do like to read the high class papers, for the in depth reviews and analysis of the world happenings) that I saw an article that mentioned that in Singapore the love location of choice is the loo. This came as something of a surprise to me, having reached an age where comfort is a necessity.

However I was always a fan of the Pistols, and I recalled this photo of Sid and Nancy, which made me realise that it's the love that matters not the surroundings. When Alice is with me I look at her more than at anything else, she takes over my mind - but whether it could remove all thoughts of the surroundings in certain unsalubrious Asian toilets is rather a moot point.

Anyway, turning back to the Sex Pistols, most years I buy myself a film (on DVD) as a present for myself. On Christmas Day there is the sock first thing in the morning, and after lunch there is the ceremonial handing out, and opening, of the presents under the tree. This is usually followed by the family watching of my annual film. In the last few years this has included "Hellzapoppin" and "Some Like It Hot". Obvious really if you look at my profile. Anyway this year I have ordered "Genevieve", but now I think I will return to the Ezydvd website and also order "Sid and Nancy" for my personal pleasure.

It's surprising what influences our actions, is it not? Is it for such fortuitous reasons that people strap on explosives and kill themselves and others? The BBC website is my main source of real news and this morning there were reports of further numerous suicide bombings in Baghdad. No wonder I turn to other sources for lighter relief.

New hope for the Aged

Sometimes things seem pretty bleak and then improve to be going great and suddenly things change yet again. How I enjoyed my holiday, and I went back to work full of the joys of life, with some strength left on return home (it is quite a long day from 7:30 in the morning to 6:00 in the evening). Then the dreaded nasty, and even though I am extremely pleased that we seem to be getting things sorted out and I do not have cancer, yet the good things in life seem to be a bit of a dream.
Not only that but I have to go to the dentist tomorrow, however at least she is a good humoured sort and has, in spite of my incredible fears and need for the support of both Alice and Alistair while in the chair, managed to make me laugh on more than one occasion. Amazing! And I hope we will be at Brewerkz for lunch following that, where I intend to stay off the many beers and stick to Tio Pepe, a bottle of wine, and a final port, after all I am on a diet!

But the best will be if Alice and I can get a walk together on Sunday morning, how I hope the body lasts out.

A good news day

Talk about good news! I'm not just on the mend, but also no nasties coming for the future. The tests showed neither cancer in the growths nor bacteria (you are aware that many ulcers come from bacteria, I am sure), so no big nasty and neither do I need long antibiotic treatment. Hardly any pain remains and so work again beckons, on Monday I'm back to the usual slog. Oddly enough this is far more appealing than being in A&E in rather a lot of pain.
Simplistically the consultant said that they are now completely sure that this has arisen because the most effective painkiller the docs found for my stomach pain has a known bad effect on stomach linings, and I have used it intermittently for just over five years. So I guess I have been lucky not to have been affected earlier. Anyway nexium should get rid of the ulcerations quite quickly and a change of painkiller will prevent further ulcers.

Of course the downside is that the alternative painkiller offered had previously been tried and found not quite as effective. Never mind generally pain comes less often these days and I am sure all will be well.

Belly Up Again

It had been my intention to write a little about our holiday in general, but something of more immediate importance arose. On Thursday evening I had the usual pains strike in the belly. I took the normal drugs and hoped for the best. No diarrhoea arose but the pains kept increasing. Seven hours later, at 2:00am, Alice was driving me to A&E at Mount Elizabeth.

Two injections later, one in each cheek, to prevent jealousy I suppose, the pain began to diminish. Bloods were drawn, more damn needles, and I was hoping we were finished. However they did not want to let me go. Neither could I get full admission due to a bed shortage! So I spent the night there, finally persuading Alice to go home and get some sleep.

Next morning after dropping Alistair off at school she was back to be the greatest nurse ever, as all caring wives are to their husbands. I was (as Arlo said) injected, inspected and detected. The gastro consultant I normally see organised a scope down the throat, through which he discovered an incipient ulcer and certain growths, which he excised. I forgot to ask him if these were withdrawn or left to be digested. Withdrawn I suppose, since later today I should get the results of the urgent tests being done on the damn things. He did not seem unduly worried, so I suppose they are unlikely to be cancerous, but I will be glad to get the result whichever way it goes. I prefer knowing rather than being left in uncertainty, however horrid the news.

One of the drugs I have been taking for the last five years can affect the stomach, regrettably it was one of my most effective painkillers, so that has been changed and I just have to hope the new one works as well. Yet more drugs, to make the ulcer go away, have been provided and I am back home, extremely tender around the middle and waiting for the test results. Unfortunately I am initially barred from that most effective painkiller which I prefer above all else. Oh well, such is life.

Return To Singapore

We had a reasonably early breakfast and hit the road, at first it was looking like it would be a dreadful journey, however past Seremban the roads cleared and we had a good run. Due to the free booze in the Horizon Club I had not drunk all of the beer bought to keep in the room (who pays the hotel mini-bar prices?). So Alice took over the driving and instructed me to finish off the Carlsberg Specials we had bought in Malaysia, this seemed a very reasonable idea to me and so I had a very pleasant ride with no fears for the Singapore customs. And so we hit Singapore roads once again, easily distinguished by rather more lane discipline than that generally shown in Malaysia.

We decided that once we hit the condo we would not want to go out again, so we went to Tony Roma''s for ribs, carefully ordering sufficient so that later meals were assured. Alistair offered a most sincere kiss to show his appreciation of the holiday but for some reason it did not attract me to any great extent, I trust he will improve in his approach as his occasional crush on a girl at school develops into greater things.

Singapore is a grand place and we are pleased to be back, but KL has so much to offer, if somewhat less organised and indeed safe as Singapore, that we would visit again or return to live there with great pleasure. This is of course at least partially due to the wonderful friends that we have there.

Fresh Unique

After my unpleasant pain attacks two nights running a quiet morning was essential, but we were still at the fine seafood restaurant by midday, one very noticeable note being the new false ceiling preventing any further sightings of the occasional rat strolling over the support beams. The tanks of fresh seafood remained the same and we pigged out deliciously.

Alice is extremely fond of crabs (my preference being lobster) so, it being the right season, ordered hairy crabs, but that's not all she also had salted egg crabs. To add, we had marmite prawns, as a Brit I obviously love marmite but until trying the Fresh Unique had never thought to consider prawns cooked in it, and scallops and peas (in the peashells naturally), ostrich with ginger and naturally choy sum. A great feast and since we were remembered I had staff trying my puzzle ring - still not successfully - and getting out every last morsel of hairy crab for Alice.

We then drove round and had a look at our old home, deciding that the garden did not look as good and the general air was not quite as it had been. We could not see the small swimming pool from outside but are fairly sure it no longer had an enormous blowup shark protecting the house.

Back to the hotel, where I rested and the A's visited Sungei Wang again, for final shopping, leaving me in peace. Having eaten so much my final meal in a hotel famed for fine food was a couple of free sandwiches & fruit up in the Horizon Club. But I was tired to the extent of not having a free alcoholic drink, not like me at all! In spite of her own tiredness when Alice got back she was good enough to do the majority of the packing so we could get away earlyish in the morning.

Yet more Pals & Barbies

Alice had organised a meeting with Becky for morning tennis at the hotel; although this is an old picture taken in Singapore when she visited us, since my pains last night had made my usual snap-happy finger fail. So I left the playing to them and afterwards we lunched in the Zipangu, where they did that female thing of both talking at high speed and yet picking up what was being told. The only disappointment for me was missing Don, Becky's husband. But we were running out of free time to organise that; never mind, we will certainly be back in KL sometime.

I then took a rest while the family visited the mall with the rides like a sort of mini Alton Towers. This was apparently a great success for Alistair and a little less so for Alice, who is not a fan of being turned upsidedown at speed.

And then time to head off for another barbie with Kirby and Lulu. Here I very quickly put my foot in it by asking how her nose job had turned out. With my collapsing body I tend to forget that some people have operations for reasons other than need; of course Lulu does not, as you can see, require beauty treatment. However some time ago Lulu had her sinuses done, something that I have been contemplating in view of my daily need to spray my nose. However my fears of further ops, even relatively minor, have been putting me off the idea. Once we had got this straight I got good advice but am still dubious about letting anyone carve further bits of me around.

Although this photo had insufficient flash and in order to see it at all I have had to "blah" the colour saturation, you can see Kirby above on the left followed by an old pal, Cesar, then Bernie's brother, whose name escapes me temporarily, and the usual fat lump on the right.

It was a great time for me since it is ages since I saw Kirby last and he is not only a really pleasant guy but also just converted from an employee to become an international consultant. There is something nice about hearing firsthand of nice things happening to one's friends, although since he is not the type to boast and this was obviously a result of his hard work he was reluctant to expand too much. What a pleasure to sit and chat comfortably (with a drink in my hand) with old friends. Of course with a high Filipino percentage the karaoke could be expected but tonight we were so far better off, here you can see a musical director getting the team organised, a close look will show that Kirby is playing the guitar and desperately trying to get sight of the music book.

Then, far too early the stomach complained and we found we had left my painkillers at the hotel. In spite of them searching the house and giving me what they found we were still heading back quite early; I am not pleased at regularly having to leave fun and friends but of course I am lucky still to be alive so shouldn't complain. And in spite of it being cut short we had a great time.

Pals and Barbie

After a good night's sleep we were ready to attack the following day, me perhaps a little less than the rest due to the aging body, but we had agreed I should take a certain amount of time off and laying around (see the book stack on my side of the bed!); not this morning though, we left Alistair playing computer games and set off for a view of our old home in PJ, passing Sogo we were surprised that it was open before 11:00am and by the volume of traffic. So we diverted there, and were very glad that we had since the crush got worse and worse. This was a vital part of the holiday since Alice was in dire need of a new handbag. My wonderful shooting stick came in very handy as she deliberated for what seemed like hours before choosing two, one for immediate use and one for wrapping for Christmas. Now all three of us know what will be under the tree for us!

Back at the hotel Alistair and I shared a pizza and the A's left me to doze and/or read while they attacked the Sungei Wang. This allowed me to recharge a bit before heading to Mark and Lily's. Although I had met Mark one evening in Singapore, on his peripatetic world travels, we had seen neither Lily nor their house since our move.And what a great job she has done on the place. The garden is wonderful, a pleasure to sit in, especially with friends, an apparently inexhaustible flow of barbie, and other, food and plenty of drink. I had brought Mark a big can of Amsterdam Maximator, well it started out as more than a single can but by the time we were leaving Singapore it had somehow reduced to a single can. Of course Susan-lah was there, still a Daddy's girl and, in spite of having looked forward to seeing Alistair for some days, suddenly overcome with shyness and retreating variously to father's lap, her room or face down on a settee!

The neighbours all observing Ramadan strictly we relaxed inside until eating was permitted and then sat out in the garden, where Lily endeavoured to ensure we should never feel hungry again! Although I had warned them of my body I was enjoying things so much I really thought for a while that I could stay to a reasonable hour, but to my deep disappointment the belly started to give grief and I was back on the "blue ones" and going back to the hotel much sooner than I wanted. They suggested we extended the hols by one night and spent it with them, which would have been a wonderful idea, except that we would all run out of clean underwear and hit some bad traffic going back. This, if still permitted, may be done some time in the future since they can then still benefit from the company of Alice even if I have been driven to bed.

So we drove back to the Shangri-La and filled me with the painkillers and placed a hot water bottle on my stomach and all was well. A rather poor end to the day as we could all have happily stayed chatting for considerably longer.

Lafitte dominates my day

The A's fired off to meet Lulu for tennis and I, old fogey that I am, laid around in the hotel. Alice returned alone as Lulu had allowed Alistair to stay for a sleep-over, with her son Paolo. A while was spent hearing of the pleasures of the tennis and even more of meeting old and new friends.
So we were in a dilemma, where to eat with Lafitte looming in our minds? So, partially in view of the weather, we dropped by "The Pub" in the hotel. My sausage and mash was great and Alice raved over her Irish stew. I should have guessed that a place so known for its restaurants would make sure even the quick pub meals would be up to their standards.

But soon Lafitte was calling and we took pleasure in getting a bit dressed up, One thing for me is that the jackets can be cut to disguise the huge stomach as much as possible. Alice dressed in silk with enough space to allow for plenty eating and looked stunning. When we arrived our old acquaintance Husa ushered us to our usual table and described the chef's recommendations but we went, as we so often have previously, for the sampler menu. This gives seven courses (with or without specially selected wines) and changes daily. It was superb, and of course I got to drink Alice's wines, helped by the fact that she got the giggles soon after after arriving, strongly blamed on a half glass of wine upstairs. I did my best to ensure the fit could not end, but she eventually went off to the loo, where she calmed down, as least to the amount shown here; coming back to blame me for teasing her - can you believe that of me? Then we settled down to the wonderful meal, superb service, food and wine. What more could a man desire, other than having Alice with him, of course! Alice is such a busy girl that sometimes I feel the only quiet time that I have to talk to her is over a dinner table, which of course does not upset me too much but does not help my diet in any way at all.

I seriously believe that Lafitte is the best restaurant in the Pacific Rim.

Breaking in Gently

A quiet day, we went to the Horizon Club for the free breakfast after a bit of a lie-in. This meant that only two hours before the major lunch date Alice was steaming through a huge plate of mixed Asian and western breakfast foods. I thought it was good that she was not planning her tennis with friends today!
At midday we were sitting in the Lemon Garden, awaiting our friends, and how nice it was that we were able to see them, and at such a wonderful eaterie. I am not a fan of buffets, but I do like the Lemon Garden, the wide choices, the way only small batches of things are put out so constant replenishment of freshly cooked items is the order of the day. My beloved belly can react rather nastily if the food has been hanging around too long, so this is perfect for me.
As was seeing our friends. Alistair and James were immediately paired off, Alice and Sherri started a nonstop gabfest that meant the lunch lasted for some thing over four hours, Cheong and I discussed horrid illnesses and sorted out the world, and Jasmine joined in the chat of either the ladies or the men at will. Well, not quite true, the speed of information transmitted between the biddies meant she was forced more to us. Not that that was a problem, she is becoming a remarkably sensible young lady and, in spite of my dislike of youth in general, was a great pleasure to be with. For some reason she considers herself non-photogenic, and as you can see has developed the fastest hand in the world. Even if Annie Oakley had been in town I would still have put my money on Jasmine as the faster draw. In fact she later allowed a couple of group photos, but I omit them in view of her feelings concerning her being on public display.
They were kind enough to take Alistair back for a while and Alice and I did nothing, but the lunch had taken so long it was soon time for free drinks and things again. We could not manage much to eat and I retired to bed having enjoyed somewhat too much alcohol and also the great pleasure of a long, long lunch with extremely charming people.

Changing Cities

A reasonable drive up the north-south to KL got us there at one o’clock, which enabled us to hit the Megamall. An interesting diversion from the direct route since Alice said, loudly and repeatedly “go off left here”. I said “it’s the next one”, she said “the sign says Bangsar” (which is not all that far from Megamall). Since we did not want to go to Bangsar I hesitated, but remembering I was only permitted in the driving seat on occasion I followed her order (she later said that it was just advice – well it sounded like Angry Annie the Axe Assassin giving advice, advice that if very, very carefully obeyed might lead to your only losing a limb or two rather than your head). So I followed it and we had the interesting experience of being lost in a city we had lived in for ten years. The Malaysians do like to build new roads in KL and yet somehow the traffic chaos never improves.
Oh well, we found Megamall given time and even a parking space and headed for Chilli’s, where we ate fairly decently, I don’t quite know why I can enjoy two baskets of their drummettes, but really they go so quickly! And then the day went wrong. I had previously bought some cockroach brooches, lifelike enough when worn on my baseball cap to fool some people including, to my great amusement, a doctor I visited in Singapore. But since not everyone has the same esoteric tastes as I, the stall was no longer around and no-once could tell us if it had moved to another place or just given up.
Things looked up again as we checked into the Shangri La, a couple of free evening drinks; Alice being almost teetotal and also liking free things, was the drinks mixer, which lead to G&Ts and Jack&Cokes with the spirit/mixer balance reversed. Personally I found them much improved in her mix! Then to Zipangu, a brilliant Japanese, where I feasted on Sashimi (so much better than the ricey sushi). Replete this was followed by, as Pepys said, “and so to bed”.