Hi, I'm back. Remember me?

Well what a time I am having. That cement between the bricks of friendship, has been attended to. It is absolutely wonderful.
Went to TO and spent an afternoon with Elizabeth, watching her prepare her lunches. 22 lunches! for one day. She is working so hard, does it so well and I am so impressed with what she does. It was a treat to see her in action. Lilly's Lunches.
Had lunch with her, and Heidi was able to join us. I was like a cheshire cat, my two girls and I out for a spontaneous lunch together. It doesn't get much better than that.
The four of us, Alex, Heidi, Elizabeth and I went to Stratford. We saw Much Ado about Nothing at the Festival Theatre. It was fabulous. We then  went to the Avon for You Are a good Man Charlie Brown. First time ever I have been bored by a Stratford production. As I was looking at my watch to see how long to intermission, I saw the others were too. We left at intermission. Very disappointed. No story line at all, just musical dance numbers, miked way to loud, and I just hope the little ones in the audience were happy. We had a visit at A&H's in Kitchener, but we were all so tired we didn't stay long. A&H had driven from Ottawa to the 2 p.m. performance in Stratford.
They are so busy now. Alex is working on the by-election in Waterloo, and they are moving this Saturday to TO. They had driven to Ottawa to see Jill, Heidi's Mom, who was in from Fredericton. Then drove to Stratford for the matinee Sunday. Busy times. It is a good thing they are as young as they are.
I have been back up to Bala. The weather changed, and it was quite Fall-like (hence the pic of the red leaf) but I have been in  swimming every day. One day I got in to my waist, it was cold and the wind was blowing. I said to myself this feels like October, I don't need this. But as the sun set, the wind went down, and I went in. The weather has turned back to like late July, warm in the day, and not dropping much at night. It is glorious.
I had my book club up, overnight. I think we did spend a few minutes on the book. Not sure! And friends have been visiting.
I am happy. Muskoka, friends, beautiful weather. It is a good combination.
(One photo is me showing off my Au Xai, from Vietnam, to my friends)

I am in another paradise

I am in Bala. It is wonderful to be home. I don't think I ever want to eat again!
We have been so busy since arriving July 29.
We saw our daughter Elizabeth our first night here. Friends, Val and Steve picked us up at my sister Marnie's , where we stay in TO, and we went down to the pub "The Victory", (where she works, to pay the rent.) It was wonderful to see her, and to see what her work involves. The next morning we met her for brunch. Can't get too  much of her. We then drove to Bala (2 hours north of TO) and had 24 big hours here. Seeing sisters Judy and Marnie, and quick hellos. Then my Judy lent me her car for 10 days! One sister gives me her home, another gives me her car. WE picked up a rental car for Tim on our way in to the city. Pretty nice, eh? La?
To TO Sunday night. Appointments for both of us, running around, dinner at friend Jane Morgan's, running around, slushy party with old Connaught Circle neighbours, I had high tea with girlfriends at The Windsor Arms, shopping for bathing suits , saw friends at Wellspring for literally 5 minutes. Wednesday off to Kitchener to see Alex and Heidi. They could not get in to TO. So a lovely evening out, a good meal, sleepover, and from there to Bala Thursday a.m.. Friday prep for Mom's Celebration of Life Sunday. Made my chocolate cake for 100. Kids came up for the weekend. Bala Regatta Saturday, always fun, have gone every year of my life, I think. Not to participate every year , but maybe when we are back!!!!
Mom's Celebration was amazing, as I have already told you. We figure about 100 people. Mom always said no one will come to her funeral, they will all be gone. Well she was the grand Matriarch, and many came to see her off. It was a superb day.
It has been crazy since.
Friends has d a dinner party at Sherwood Inn.
We had a potluck bbq for BC ski buddies from Ontario area. 30 odd came. We had a ball. Such wonderful people,who bring the most wonderful pot luck! But they bring hostess gifts with no label. These lovely little prezzies but I don't know from whom!
Next day we drove to LOB, Tim's family place, and had 30 odd for a pot luck bbq there. Again, a huge and wonderful group of friends.
Next day back to Bala because Sunday we had cake ( bakery cake with a photo of the Tiger Airplane on it , thank you Dave Sherk- Haddon Press, and Katie at Bala Bakery), about 25 people.
I took Tim to the airport Tuesday. He is home , arrived 3 a.m. 78'!
As you can see it has been not stop party. But I am thrilled. I hosted all these parties, because I wanted Tim to see as many friends as he could, only being here, (and here is Bala, mostly) for 2 weeks. Well, we did it. I am exhausted. It was wonderful. Memories of these weeks will get  me through the lonely nights in Singapore.
I am a people person, and friends and family are the most important thing in my life. Being back to Canada, to cement those relationships has been good. I would like to take a blog to wax poetic on this aspect of being in Singapore. But right now, I am revving too high.
I am off soon for coffee at my cousins, with sister, sister-in-law, cousin/friend Ro, and other women. Oh, those hormones fed while chewing with female friends. I so need that. Yum.
I am feeling better. I am sleeping better. I am moving better. Is it time passing? Is it the cool and dry? Is it the endorphins being fed? I still have a ways to go, but it is definitely better.
I have 3 more weeks here. Lots to do. Re house, re renting it, re dealing with Mom's belongings, re re re . But I am in Bala, I am in Muskoka, I am happy.
Next weekend Stratford with the kids!

I am one happy camper

I am sitting at Bala Southwinds.
Mom's Celebration of Life was yesterday. It was perfect. I put the weather in Mom's hands. Well, the probs were 80% chance of thunderstorms.
We had a little service at the grave site. She was inexperienced, after all it was her first,  and had to do a little tweaking. We had some of the morning's rain blow on some of us during the service. No big deal. But she got the hang of it and our party at the house was perfection. Muskoka royal blue sky, cooling breeze off the lake.
At the site, we put her in the ground and we all could put a handful of dirt in to her. Well, we number 50, just Mom's children and off-spring. The great grand kids apprehensively approached and did their thing. The cemetery guy didn't show to finish the job, so my dear brother-in-law, David Sherk, whipped home to get a shovel. But he also picked up a crossword puzzle, and a sharpened pencil with a good eraser, and a jigsaw puzzle to put in with Mom. (She did both endlessly.)  So sweet, Dave. The great grandkids got the idea of covering GG and we really didn't need the shovel. Mom was smiling down. It was truly lovely.
Then there must have been 100 friends and family come to the house for the afternoon, and we served supper to those still there later. Beef in a bun, Mom's fav, and my chocolate cake which she loved. Taking the 2 hour drive from TO, and from further afield, were friends from high school, from the orchestra, friends from book club, from my  whole life. It was perfect timing for me to see these near and dear, having felt so far away from EVERYTHING for the last 7 months. It was glorious.
Then of course I had the weekend with my chickadees, and their partners and saw ALL my sibs and family. What a perfect weekend.
Tomorrow the sale of Mom's home becomes final and Southwinds changes hands. It is packed with emotion for me, and I am sure for my sibs. I am so excited, of course, but it also confirms things have changed and we move on to a new life without Mom. This place is so packed with memories of a life time, but particularly the last two years looking after Mom. Bittersweet it is.
I am  having a wonderful time, being with people who are so important to me. That is what life is all about. Singapore is great, the adventure is great, but this is where it is at. 1 1/2 years to go!

sunset

I thought I would tell you about my evening the other night.
It was hot. We now have summer at the equator! (I am glad I am heading back to Ontario summer.) The days are up to 90'. The humidity is 75%. The sky is clear so the sun is damn hot. It hardly drops temperature at all as the sun sets.
Tim was at work.
So I went to the pool.
It was that magical half hour before sunset. I went in the pool, barely a few degrees cooler than the air and floated on my back for half an hour. I looked at the turquoise sky of just pre-sunset. The towers of our complex framed my view. The moon arrived, a sliver. The same moon as you. The stars started to come out as the sky got darker.
I was the only one in the pool. It was idyllic.
A lovely evening.

Tim and I are ships in the night

It is 7 a.m. I have just got out of bed.
Tim just went to bed. We did get to say hello as I got up, and he went to sleep!
He went to work at 6 p.m. last night- to Perth, Australia. It is a six hour flight. The turnaround got him home at 6 this morning. Flew all night. Yikes!
I am up for the day and may not see him. Out and about, yoga, acupuncture, while he sleeps, and then he is off to work again tonight at 6- to Bangkok tonight, home at midnight. We might meet tomorrow morning, but he will need to sleep in because he goes out that night for another all nighter.
They work these guys hard. They do long hours back to back. Do they forget that Tim is 60? Not as easy to miss a night's sleep at 60, as it was at 30. But he loves it. It means time off is spent sleeping, and napping. He does try to get in a bike ride,  swim, or a workout in the gym. What I miss is having a meal together. But you know what? It means I do not have to cook. lol.
My doctors have said my body needs better sleep, to get better. I sleep terribly, about 4 hours a night of deep sleep, with the aid of a sleeping pill, and then surface sleep, or none, for the rest of the night. This has  been for about 2 years. So I have been doing acupuncture every day, to try to  get a better sleep. Progress is minimal, but I persevere til I leave for the home IN THREE DAYS, for the month. My Singaporean (Chinese) doctor is adorable. We talk a lot during treatments. I am learning all sorts about Singaporeans, Singapore, TCM. As he is about Canada, Ontario, BC, Muskoka. It's fun. Singaporeans speaking Mandarin, or Singlish, say "la" all the time. Okay-la. See you-la. I said they are like Canadians- Is that right -eh? How are you- eh? Not that I ever say eh, -eh? They also say sorry all the time. He puts in a needle that hurts a little, and says sorry. He comes in to the room after I have been resting, and says sorry as he turns the light on. I say he is quite Canadian.
Today I am taking my massage therapist from the salon there, to meet him. She wants to study TCM massage with him. HA. I am connecting two Singaporeans to meet. I guess I have arrived.
I have had emails asking me to continue my blog while I am home. So I will. What part of my palette is Bala? I guess a pretty big part! I had said that I was astounded at the number of hits on my blog. I think I said 78 a week. The next time it was 85, and has not been under 100 -  ONE HUNDRED!!! a week since. Wow. I love it. I think I am leading, and telling you about, my ordinary life here, (of course with some pretty exotic trips away,) but I am glad you keep coming back and reading. Still, it is my link with my family and friends back home. I am so glad you are out there.
We plan that we will get a stand-by flight on Lufthansa to Frankfurt Thursday night. It is a 12 hour flight. We are stand- by so we never really know until departure time, if we are on. It will be an overnighter for us, because it is 11 p.m. departure. Then arrival in Frankfurt, with time change, is very early Frankfurt time. A 5 hour (I think ) lay over and then again stand-by, AC Frankfurt to TO. 8 hour flight. So with the crossing the time zones, we MIGHT be in TO midday Friday. Looks not bad, eh? (EH!!!! ) 11 p.m. leave here, arrive what seems just  15 or so hours later in TO. But factor in the time change - 12 hours-. It is awful. But it is home!
It is all stand by. But the price is right. Positive vibes from all of you!!!
I am beside myself with excitement. A kid a Christmas. 3 more sleeps. Then an all-nighter sleepless in the air, and then HOME.
YAHOO

HCMC/Saigon

We had a great time in Saigon. I use trip advisor, go to a location , and read reviews of hotels. I picked The Majestic Saigon. It was a lucky pick.
Built in 1925, and added on to, and renovated, it has kept it's French Colonial style. Our room was gorgeous. Not a river view, which I had requested, but a quieter room looking over the central court yard (so French) that has a pool and bar. So you look down 5 stories, to this lovely aquamarine water and palm trees. Out off a wrought iron balcony. Lovely.
The room was all antiques. Rooms. A sitting room, and a bedroom, huge, and a monster bathroom with polished brass fixtures. Not lacquered, but hand polished!
We arranged with the front desk for a city tour, with a car, driver, and guide. The tour was fascinating. We went to the War Museum. It was unbelievable. They warn that it could be upsetting. I was to the point of nausea. They show the atrocities of war. On both sides. It was truly grizzly. I thought it would be very anti-American. Of course they call it the American War, as we call it the Viet Nam war. Viet Nam has been fought over since time immemorial, I think. Being tiny, vulnerable, sea coast, Chinese, Japanese, French, American have vied over control of this tiny "S" shaped coast. And yet they seem a happy people. The American war jump-started their economy, for sure.
Some how pics ended up mid entry....
The pool in our court yard 5 stories down:

 We have traversed the 10 lane madway and are in front of the Chinese Junk for our dinner cruise

Entertainment on the boat- Viet Namese beauties playing music and teaching us to click teacups to accompany them. The girls were exquisite. The food was good too.

 The view of Saigon from the river.

 I am not sure what their legislation is about wiring. This is some cluster!

 A work crew working at an intersection, well protected by their bikes! Miraculously the congestion of traffic is absent from this photo. Very untypical!

We did a second tour. To the Cu-chi tunnels. (koo-chi). The tunnels that drove the Americans crazy. About 60 miles north of Saigon. VC  tunnelled themselves underground and lived in the most appalling conditions. But they managed to drive the Americans out! Tim went down a tunnel and said it was so small, some less than 1 sq meter, and humid, and smelly. And it was not filled with VC! Disguising entry points, deflecting cooking smoke, booby traps for the American soldiers, the ingenuity of the Viet Cong is truly amazing. A very moving trip.
You certainly know you are not in Singapore. (No other city in Asia is like Singapore.) The streets were dirty, filled with street hawkers, beggars with indescribable disabilities, women on bicycles balancing a pole with a huge pot of steaming soup on each end, riding on streets of unbelievable chaos. But it seems to work. The sidewalks are almost non-existent, with mud everywhere. (It was raining).
We went for a dinner across the street from the hotel, on a river cruise. They said they would send someone to help us cross the street. !!! Well, you could see why. 10 lanes of chaos. Motorbikes, bicycles, cars, trucks, ALL honking and weaving in and out. No stop lights, no break in the flow. It was daunting. They sent this little pint-size waiter to take us across. I took his arm. I figured we were safe because we were paying customers, and were about to spend our money at their restaurant. And bad for business if we don't make it safely. Well, Tim said "no, I can't do it" "You mean you can't cross for dinner" "No I can't". "You mean you are not coming for dinner" "No".I thought we were going to have to cancel our dinner plans. I said "just hold on to him", which he did, and we got across. I lived in Manhattan for a year. I know about j-walking. Tim never j-walks. You have to set out, not stop, just keep going, finding the little breaks, and do nothing suddenly. We are here to tell the story. There just about was no story to tell. They escorted us home after dinner-which was great fun. Viet Namese food, entertainment, and on an old wooden Viet Namese ship.
We love to visit Art Galleries. We went to a big private gallery "Apricot"!!! There was a photo of Bill Clinton, who had bought a painting. He is a hero there, because he lifted the trade embargo that kick started VN economy. We could have bought several paintings, but luckily, they were huge, so no where to hang them. I did buy a designer top. A VN woman, who escaped  by boat to Australia as a child. Mai Lam.  Is back now in Saigon, a very successful designer. The piece is a lovely variation on the top that the VN woman wear.
Tim would go back in a minute. I think there are too many other cities in Asia to visit.
A blank palette is starting to get some colours!

I don't get it

I think I have said that before.
It is summer here. We are just above the equator. Just. It should be hot. I only whispered that, though. Be careful what you say!
This is the nicest weather we have had since arriving in January. (OR I am now used to it!)
It is a lovely 26' in the LR with the ceiling fan going. It is like a breezy perfect day at the lake. Now the humidity reads 72% which for here is low. (The laundry on my clothes horse dries in a day in 72%.)
It really is glorious.
I have come a long way, eh?
I thought I would try to describe some little things of my day that might be different to back home.
In the morning we leave our air conditioned room and step in to the apartment that has not been ac'd. It might be very hot and humid. But I go to the LR and  open wide our sliding doors. We have 2 sets. 3 panels wide each. So two panels open which  makes for big openings to the balcony. It seems at this time of year we have quite a breeze across our balcony. Which is wonderful. The apartment is filled with a lovely 25' breeze. I must say, as well, filled with  the inevitable dirty air of a city of 5 million. Our tile floors get filthy, and I could dust the floors, but instead just run in to the shower and rub my feet clean on the wet tile floor. I do that many times a day!
I turn on the radio to BBC news. It is great to get news of the world. More than just the U.S. election. In fact none of that. Instead Africa, Europe, Greece....
An interesting anecdote. I hope I am not repeating myself on this one. I received an email from Elizabeth that she was going to a concert in TO. I should listen to the band on this link she gave me. I did. Then I  turned on the radio and Toronto made the World News BBC. The stage had collapsed at the ACC Centre. I emailed Elizabeth to ask if she was alright. She answered back yes. This all happened within an hour! From her email, to the news, to her answer back. I didn't feel SO far away right then.
After breakfast I either go to yoga or physio, or the gym. The gym is in our complex. It is good. It is AC'd to about 22'. It has everything I need. Treadmill, bikes, ellipticals, mats, machines etc. It also has a doodad that you stand on the scales. It reads your weight, computes your weight without clothes, you enter your age, sex, height, amount of exercise you do (1 hr, 2 hr, 3 hr a day!) and it pumps out your BMI, % water, muscle fat, and your metabolic rate. It is a great measurement, and a carrot for me. I am very curious every time I go.
I've talked of the yoga studio. It is fantastic. I go to yin or restorative classes. Also pilates now.They have the walls filled with wonderful art. They have an honour system library. Bring a book, take a book. I took a book in to the shelves, then realized I was leading it for my book club when I get home in August! It has been taken out. I check regularly to see if it has returned. Maybe I will be leading without having a copy of the book! They offer retreats. I have signed up for a day retreat in Singapore next September. More about that later. And a week long retreat in Lombok Indonesia in October. The location is supposed to be out of this world. I'll let you know.
If I grocery shop, I take a bus to a mall. I then take a cab home with the groceries. Cabs are inexpensive, (S$ 6.00). I try to get a lot in our little store here in the complex. It is like a 7/11, but amazing what it carries, and the prices are competitive. I have discovered a on-line delivery that is free if you order over $50. That is easy to do with canned goods, etc.
I am getting very used to taking cabs. Remind myself, that a car really is a luxury. And here to have a car, first you have to drive on the left/wrong side of the road. And you pay a huge fee to own a car - like $30,000. To drive on the wrong side of the road? I don't think so.
We are off to Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday. A city trip. Tim's first. I did Chiang Mai way back in February.
18 days to home. But who's counting