Laura in Singapore: 2020

Sunday, December 27, 2020

Happy Holidays with Bears, Beards and Balloons!

Happy holidays from Shoes and Booze which now has a sign! We have been very festive.

Barry has finally embraced fashion masking, and I embraced the mini-side Santa hat.

This is because my parents mailed us Christmas cookies. This took 10 days. My packages to Canada took 1-3 months.

In fact, 2 decent pictures were taken of us this month, which is extraordinary.

Glitter crafts were made.

Barry turned 46, and got a special visit by the Shangri-la bear. (Yes, the bear is wearing a mask. Ours are removed for bar drinking as per the rules, which are currently easing somewhat in Singapore due to very few cases).

We tried to embarrass Barry, but I'm not sure it worked.

Singapore got all lit up for the holidays, with seasonally confusing snowflakes. Also, you can see that the staycation market is doing well.

We realized that the lights represent things. This one represents 2020 spiraling out of control.

These lights show how it can be raining even if it's bright, which is a message about mental health.

The lights sponsored by Haagen Das show what happens to my gut after consuming delicious ice cream.

Monday, December 14, 2020

Harvey for your Holidays?

Well, we accidentally fell in love with a cat again, and this time it's entirely Barry's fault, despite his allergy.

This is Harvey. He loves everyone, but asks for very little in return.

When we were missing Moose, Barry had the ingenious idea to go visit the local community cats. Then we found Harvey in a sad state in a dirty box. He was very affectionate, but had a mouth infection.

Let's take him to the vet, Barry said. He'll get better once he's indoors, the vet said. And that's how another cat came to visit. We think he enjoyed the rest, soft surfaces and being dry and clean for the first time since kittenhood.

Luckily Mark and Alex were cat angels who are now fostering Harvey, and saving Barry's lungs. Harvey loves them extra lots of most!

So now we're trying to find a nice home for the Harvster. Please follow @Harvey_the_cat_sg on Instagram to help us to raise his profile. Feeling lonely and considering a cat who is quiet, calm, doesn't climb, is happy cuddling or just chilling? Reach out (DM me here, or Harvey on IG)! Help us to find some more love for the holidays! His full profile is on ARKC here, which is like cat tinder.

Here are some wonderful and festive videos that Angel Alex made. I'm not sure how this will work in blogger, where the UI is always painful, so let's put them here:

Saturday, November 21, 2020

We can go Anywhr on this Island!

We've been finding more new ways to pass the time. Matching masks, a do or a don't? And are sloths now overdone? Oh look, Barry has a kayak, thanks to Anywhr "daycations", which are now a thing!

That's right, we went fishing! Despite being Canadian, I've never done a thing to a fish before.

But I caught the prettiest fish! (No fish were killed and all were returned to the ocean). Also, this is technically the first time I've left the island in 2020, after returning Feb 1.

Luckily, we did not have to manage oars (easy) along with fishing rods (hard), since I sometimes turned the twirly-bob the wrong way.

What else have we been doing for fun?

That's right, Chinese tea tasting. Stuck on a tropical island, so it's time to try new things!

After appreciating many other types of beverages, it was time to learn about the leaves.

Barry got to pretend to be the tea master.

So did I, but the shadows make it look like I've been rained upon.

Our conclusion: Tea is still not our thing, but there was learning, and tiny pots, so fun was had.

After this, we went to the Intan, which is a private Peranakan (mixed Malay/Chinese culture) museum featured in the Singapore Airlines safety video. We were star-struck.

Alvin Yap showed us his collections, cooked for us, and even played piano, all of which was spectacular! (No pictures, you have to go see for yourself!)