life in the tropics

I am posting less than I would like, because I still have a sore wrist. It is getting better.
This is all so new for me. I am an immigrant. I need resources and I don't have them. I really don't know where to begin to get better, or I should say, find help to get better. It is slow but it is moving. I certainly don't want this to be  a blog about my rehabilitation, but until I get myself in order, this is my life. Bear with me.
I have been getting massage a few time a week. She has been doing deep tissue massage, and spending a lot of time on my right arm. I was saying I have to start to get some exercise, she said she had a friend who did pilates. I called her and she said she would want someone professional to see me before she would work with  me. She knew a physiotherapist, so I called her. The chain.
I have had 2 appointments, and other than being very expensive, (out of pocket $160 an hour), she is great. She says it is nerve damage, probably from my shoulder. I am glad I loved my career, because my problems started with a ski fall on a very over-used right shoulder from 25 years of bass playing. So 20 years of on again off again trouble, and the last few years of  total neglect and no exercise. Then the big move in December and huge demands made on it. So she is working on settling the nerves down. She says 3 months. Do I get time off for pain already, and start the count from when it flared? That would give me a good month already. So instead of a wrist brace, I wear a compression glove. And she said lots of ice, and to rest it from gravity, which exacerbates it. So in the water no swimming, just give my arm up to the water. And sleep with  pillow under my arm so my wrist  is "up". It certainly seems to be working. The acute nerve pain is gone, in 2 days, and now I will work on regaining range of motion. And then there is the strength training. I told her I had this idea that  I would come here, get in killer shape, and do a half marathon for my 70th when I get home. She has taken on the challenge to get me back. At this point I am doing a little bicycle and treadmill in the gym. A start. Nothing with the arms yet.
Isn't this fascinating reading? Bleck!
It is interesting living in the tropics.
We are 85 miles from the equator.  I have no sun tan or burn. Few people do. White skin is highly valued here. For the first time in my life my white skin is not the bane of my life. (my curly hair is!). I rarely put on sun cream. It is because if the sun is out, you stay out of the sun. There are so many trees that you can seek shade just about anywhere. And if you can't, you don't go there! Downtown has shaded sidewalks, if not with trees, then with covers.
I saw an advertisement on the bus, to take a supplement to "whiten " your skin. (vitamin "C"and "E").
At the end of a very hot day, I went swimming in the pool and the water was hotter than the air. It had been a full sun day and the water was warm. Swimming, putting my face under water, it was warm water like washing your face. That is new for me.
I have learned that you put dehumidifiers everywhere. I'm glad I learned before I had mould! You buy  a product called "thirsty hippo" which is a desiccant that pulls moisture out of the air. So you put these little hippos everywhere, in drawers and  closets, and try to keep air moving. These little suckers (a grainy powder), grab moisture like crazy (and turn to gel) and need to be replaced every 2 weeks or so. We could close the place up and use AirCon more often, and might do that every now and then, to dry the place.
Our apartment is big. It is 2000 sq ft. It has a large LR, DR, (in which we have no table and chairs yet), kitchen, powder room and 4 bedrooms. And 4 bathrooms! The master has an ensuite. At night we close up our room, put on the ceiling fan and the AirCon to 24, and the room is great. We sleep under a light "quilt". But to get up in the night and go to the bathroom, you open the bathroom door and are hit with a wall of humidity. OY.
There are 2 other fairly ordinary bedrooms that share a bathroom (that has a tub, a big deal here, I think). Then there is a fourth bedroom that is interior. It is about 10'X10' and opens on to a little balcony on which is our washing machine. It is tiny, does only cold water wash, and no dryer. The room has a bathroom off the balcony. Yes, not access from the bedroom, but from the balcony. It has a toilet, and a shower head, and a drain in the floor. A hose from the washing machine on the little balcony goes to the floor of the bathroom, too, so the machine drains directly on to the bathroom floor! I can assume that this 4th bedroom would be for the maid. I'm waiting to find out! At present we have a drying horse for clothes and an ironing board in that bedroom. It does a have a door to the balcony, and a window, that is slatted glass that opens to the balcony. The room is small, dark, and minimal.
I wash clothes in cold water. That is fine, but I bought "Tide+Downy". The second wash with this product smelled a little mildewy, so I googled, and found that mildew loves cold water wash with a liquid soap with fabric softener, in a hot humid climate. So I have a big jug of Tide that I will not use. To dry the clothes, I have a "horse "to hang stuff on, and leave in this 4th bedroom to dry. It takes a day or two. I wait to do towels until a sunny day. Then I put them on another drying rack that I have on the balcony of our bedroom. It gets full sun, and if Tim has the AirCon on in the 2nd bedroom (that he uses for studying) the AC unit is on our bedroom balcony and blows out hot air. So it helps to dry towels. Nancy, who has a dryer in her apt. has said I can come over to dry my towels. I might take her up on it. My towels need washing and it is a humid and rainy today!
So we have a small balcony off our bedroom, a tiny balcony where the washing machine is, and a wonderful balcony off our LR/DR. I will try to attach a photo. It is beautiful, big, with a view of the ocean and the container ships anchored in the Straits, waiting for berth to unload in downtown Singapore. In the background is Indonesia. The view is beautiful. We also see the skyline of the city. We spend as much time out there as possible. If it is not raining, or full sun, that is where we are.
As to clothes to wear. I have trouble getting my head around it. Very light cotton top, quick dry pants, sandals. EVERY DAY!!! I have a suitcase full of my summer clothes that I will not wear here. Even t-shirts can be too hot. So I have a few linen shirts, one light cotton top, and that is it. Tim's tops are too heavy. I have to find him light weight golf shirts. His tops take days to dry. He brought long sleeved uniform shirts, because he is diligent about sun exposure (and UV is very high in the cock pit). But long sleeves just are too much, so I will take his shirts to a tailor to have them lopped off to short sleeve shirts. When I take the MRT I take a shawl. The AC on the MRT can be very cold. Also in some stores. And even on the sidewalk downtown where some stores have their doors wide open and the AC pouring out. It does male it inviting to come in!
I had visitors at the front door the other day. "Mosquito Patrol". Two uniformed officers, who came in and checked for potential mosquito issues. Standing water. Plants on the balcony with standing water. Toilets flushed every 2 days. The life cycle of the mosquito is 3 days, so we have to flush every 2. We had never even been in the 4th bathroom, and never use the 3rd. So I must remember to flush these lonely bowls every few days.
Then in the tropics, there are the animals that love food. (cockroaches). No sign in the apartment, but I saw a mother of a roach down at the recycle bin. Like 3". So you are to spray the opening to your garbage shoot very few weeks. I hadn't seen any at our garbage shoot - the other side- not in the apt- until I went to spray , and there was the big brother of the one I had seen earlier. Ugh. But life in the tropics, eh?
Do love to hear back from you, who ever is out there.........
HA! I got the photos to attach. I did it again. Have no idea how!
THE balcony, THE  view, the cityscape,

Off to ice.