Weekend in Sibu - September 8th to 10th

An afternoon walk along the beach of Sibu Island

http://www.siburesort.com/
We literally had the whole island to ourselves- well to the staff of CIS. Approximately 80 staff members- with a tendancy to enjoy mixed drinks, beach volleyball, and rounds of euchre- went on the weekend trip to the island off the Malaysian coast.
We spent our days lounging in the sun and our nights keeping the bartender busy! It was a most relaxing weekend. The only drawback: SAND FLIES! When, on Sunday, I commented that "the sand flies weren't that bad, I don't see what the fuss was all about", a teacher who has made the trip to Sibu before said "Give it a day or two". Sure enough, it's been a full week now and we're still itching bites on our feet, ankles and legs. We'll get over it though and looking at the big picture and the fun we had, we'll take the sand flies and will be back to Sibu next year!
The picture on the left is Craig sitting outside of our cute cabin and below is a picture of me also sitting outside of the cabin (Craig took the picture from inside, looking out). You can see the diving shop in the background. We opted out of the snorkelling trip, but will make it a priority when we go to Krabi and/or Phuket. The photo on the right shows the bar and restaurant in the background. The owners kept tabs of the drinks ordered throughout the weekend and collected prior to our departure. Our final tally was a considerable 350 RM (Malaysian Ringitt = $150 SD) which was dwarfed by several of the the more exuberant younger staff topping out at around 1000 RM.

Womad Festival - August 25th to 27th

WORLD OF MUSIC ARTS DANCE
http://www.womad.org/

The weekend of August 25 to August 27 found the annual Womad Festival at Singapore's Fort Canning Park. The park is a 15 minute walk from our place so prior to the event we had about 20 or so concert-goers over for pre-festival festivities. Contrary to many beliefs, Singapore is very lax on several fronts as we were allowed to bring beer, wine, and even assorted cheeses into the park. It was a great concert and featured bands from China, Brazil, dance troupes from India and South Africa and was headlined by Jimmy Cliff of Jamaica. The concert was one of the many highlights of the first month. The transition to Singapore has been very easy as we have reconnected with old friends as well in the process have made several new friends from around Canada and abroad.

Exploring Singapore - The First Month

Here we are exploring Clarke Quay by night and Boat Quay by day. In the background is the Singapore River and the skyscrapers of the Central Business District (CBD). The path along the river stretches from the Theatre District and the Esplanade to Robertson Quay. Robertson Quay is a short 5 minute walk from our condo and has several nice restaurants, winebars and even a chocolate cafe. It is much quieter than the more popular and crowded tourist spots of Boat and Clarke Quay. Boat Quay offers extended happy hours and great views of the skyline while Clarke Quay has numerous contemporary and trendy bars lining the Singapore River.

South of the CBD lies Chinatown - Singapore's largest ethnic group. A generous CIS teacher named Pat welcomed new staff to Singapore by treating us to Dim Sum: a traditional Chinese brunch. We enjoyed steamed dumplings and buns and a variety of pork, shrimp and vegetable dishes. The colorful bridge to the right leads from our condo to Chinatown - a bustling community not too unlike the Chinatown of Toronto. We pass this bridge along Robertson Quay every day from our walk home from the bus from school. From here we are about a 10 minute walk to Chinatown, and a 10 to 15 minute walk to Clarke and Boat Quay respectively.