Rawa Island = Paradise???

I am so excited for this long weekend trip to Rawa Island!  Well, it won't be until August 6 - 9, but that is how far out I had to booked to get a room!  Must be amazing!  We have book two chalets that are connected, fitting up to 12 people, so this should be fun! I think we will need to do a boys chalet and a girls chalet to avoid any snoring at night! 

http://www.alangsrawa.com/

It will be a much needed weekend for Jamie and I when we do go as we will just be getting back to Singapore after our July trip home which is totaling 21,165 miles in a course of 2-3 weeks!!!  We get back on August 1st, work 5 long days then off to a three day weekend on the beach.....ahhhh Rawa.....I hope this place is as good as everyone says it is! Knowing the group that is going, I doubt that we will get a chance to catch up on our sleep! Probably not, but at least we will be on the beach!

Rawa Island, located in the South China Sea, with steep jungle clad slopes embrace the sweep of powdery white beach from behind and land meets water in smooth ripples of soft sand and gently lapping waves. At the far edges of the palm-dotted beach, jagged rocks lay strewn in the sea at the bottom of straight cliffs.

Remote island paradise does not have to be so remote after all. The swaying palms, heavenly beach and island breezes of Rawa are within four hours of Singapore and less than 45 minutes from Mersing on the mainland of peninsular Malaysia.

The crown jewel of the Seribuat Archipelago, Rawa is a private island, fittingly owned by family of the Sultanate of Johor.

Dolce Vita Brunch

Last Saturday we finally took our good friends Jon and Anya to a very very belated THANK YOU for getting us to Singapore champagne brunch at Dolce Vita, located at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.  After a year of moving, stress and getting associated with our new life aboard, we owe Jon and Anya a HUGE THANK YOU for housing us during our first 6 weeks in Singapore (which we could not have taken the risk on this move with out there help) and not only that but introducing us to there social groups and it was Anya who helped me get my job at the ST Regis Hotel, which then gave me a visa that enabled us to rent our home, get our phones and so on.

We had heard so many good things about the food here and we were so excited to stuff our faces silly with food and champagne! This is only the second brunch we've done since moving to Singapore almost a year ago, I've forgotten how fun they were, we MUST do this again!  Every weekend all of the hotels host a free flow champagne brunch with an all you can eat buffet of what I would call "home" food!  Can't wait until the next one!  

the boys

cured meats and roasted veggies

assorted apps

Appletini's!

Tasmanian rock oysters on ice with traditional condiments

Wild forest mushroom soup with truffle and Parmesan cheese

Fillet of barramundi with braised artichokes

Pan-fried breaded veal chop with tomato-arugula salad

Homemade potato gnocchi with a sauce of hand-selected cheeses

Tenderloin of Australian beef with pan-fried foie gras,

roasted potatoes and black Piedmont truffles

Mango, Green Tea and Raspberry Sorbet

Jamie, about 8 glasses of champagne deep along with a bloody mary and screw driver....stealing my sun glasses and stretching them out

and ditto to this tiddle dee too

this would have been a great group photo if Jamie didn't look so.....well.....not sure what to say here.....

Thank you Jon and Anya for all your help, we really appreciate it and look forward to many more fun and blurry brunches!

Singapore Bike Ride

Yipee! Our bikes are here and finally after a year of not riding, I actually missed it!  Jamie and I went out for a nice ride last Sunday, up along Singapore's East Coast on the PCN bike trail.  The PCN is the Park Connector Network  which offers a variety of recreational opportunities. Currently, over 100 km of park connectors have been developed all around Singapore, with another 200 km to be built by 2015.

The trail literally takes you around the island and is a great way to see Singapore. It is also quite nice as its not near too much traffic, which makes me nervous!  After an hour of biking we stopped at one of the sailing clubs along the coast and indulged ourselves in our new found Mexican restaurant.....Nachos....DELISH!  

I've learned now that when I'm hungry and see a place, we must stop, as last time I went on a bike ride with Jamie, we biked 55 km on heavy rented mountain bikes (mind you we had not biked in a year) and we kept putting lunch off to see what else could be up the trail.  Needless to say by 4pm and having no food in my tummy since 10am, I was one cranky wife!

This trip was much better, from now on our bike rides will be planned, mapped and I will have a granola bar with me on hand!  

Looking forward to exploring Singapore every weekend on the PCN!!

White Collar Boxing

This past weekend IFS (International Financial Services) the company that I work for had there bi-annual White Collar Boxing Charity Event Night. Where twice a year about 1000 people buy tickets to a 4 course dinner and free flow wine, beer and assorted liquors along with a boxing match that consists of high powered CEO's, VP's and Managing Directors that get into a rink and well........box each other! I'd have to say the best fights were the battle of the banks, where the CFO of Dutsche Bank fought the MD of Credit Suisse.  All of the proceed go to a provincial hospital in Cambodia that helps fund surgeries and needed medical care.  To start off the 2010 year, this one event raised over $175,000 that has been donated already....with plenty more to come!  Enjoy our photos of our FIRST Black Tie Event! 

Jamie fitting into Grant's tux...not sure how but the suite was "very fitted" on Jamie, how the heck does Grant fit in it?  Sleek and slimming :)

After a busy day of unpacking (as all of our belongings arrived 2 hours before we had to head out for the event.......needless to say it was a busy busy afternoon!)  I wore a cocktail dress to a black tie event........shame on me!

My dad and brothers would LOVE this, Freddie Roach called in to personally congratulate IFS and the event for hosting the charity and raising for a cause.  For those of you that do not know who Freddie Roach is....SHAME on YOU!  He is the unbelievable trainer that is not only training Manny Pacquiao (the BEST pound for pound boxer in the world who reigns from the Philippines but also his mentor and a former Hall of Famer! If you don't know Manny....OMG you tube him.....he is the Philippines Pride and Joy).  Can you tell that I am a fan?

Looking good in the tux

The fighters getting ready

Round 1.....keep in mind these are big wigs in the corporate world that are boxing! Very entertaining!

Yum the main course!  Lamb!  The first course as a platter of cheese and seafoods (scallop, salmon), second course was truffle mushroom soup, then the LAMB followed by an apple tart with almond ice cream

What a FUN event!  Thanks to my boss Gary for gifting us the tickets, we had a blast! Jamie is now wanting to join the event and will be signing up to be in the next set of fights......I of course as an avid boxing fan am encouraging him to do so, unlike most women who would probably say NO WAY, I say, GO FOR IT!  I can be your Freddie Roach!  Looking forward to getting tickets to the next one in October! 

Our things are in Singapore!!!

After 14 months since packing up our life and moving them into boxes we finally received our shipping container in Singapore! It was a busy busy day for us full of excitement and anticipation for our delivery to arrive. We couldn't help ourselves and dove right into unpacking the second the movers rang our door bell. Finally our home, feels like our home! Funny how photos, rugs, couch and kitchen gear can make the world of difference. These are small things in life that really make us so happy. After living in Singapore for 11 months.......I can finally say it's starting really feel like home I can't wait to continue to fill our place with new decor!

Check out our house! It's all coming together!

hugging our bedding and linens that we got from our wedding and have never had the opportunity to use!

our wedding stickers!

jamie packing in deodorant from home, it's hard to get good deodorant here!

ahhh our haven collection king bed linens.....amazing!

the official arrival of THE COUCH the custom made couch that we had ordered a month before deciding to move to Singapore. AND, instead of selling it back home, jamie insisted that we ship it over across the world because it was specially made for him. Hmm was it worth the wait?

our wedding photos!!

it's time, the couch cutting begins! keeping in mind that after 14 months we still had NEVER seen our couch. We could not remember what color we ordered either, I bet brown, jamie bet green

the unraveling

I win! brown it is!

starting to feel like home!

photo's galore (in the background)

the wine fridge! thanks Don! fits perfectly in our kitchen and now we cannot wait to fill it with wines and beverages!

and finally, our bedding! Ohh can't wait to go to sleep tonight in our incredibly soft linens!!!!

Easter Weekend

As Easter is typically spent with family and most of our close friends in Singapore are on the same boat as we are with family being "home" we decided to all spend Good Friday together over a wonderful BBQ dinner at the Hyatt Hotel. From 6:30 to 9:30 we dined over an all you can eat BBQ feast along with free flow wine and beer.

Following the BBQ we headed off to Club Street to one of our favorite bars the Screening Room. Club Street is a quaint street off of the busy roads of Singapore, full of shophouses (heritage houses) that have been converted to restaurants, bars and offices. Screening room is an old building converted to five difference floors each with its own unique feel, two of the floors can be rented out to show movies but with lounge chairs and champagne rather than the standard theater with soda. Our favorite place to go is the fifth floor which is the open air roof top bar with views of the Singapore skyline. What a great time friends and start off our holiday weekend!

Jamie and I outside our condo

Grant and Jamie

Jeffery and I

Philipa, Anya and Jaimie

Grant and I

Jamie, Kyle and Anya

Anya, Me, Sonia, Kristina and Philipa

Jamie and Phil

Anya and I