Well here we are in Singapore at the cricket. Yippee. What fun. This is the perfect opportunity to catch you up on what we've been doing so far. Beats watching these blokes anyway. Actually one bloke just told me that the "box" he got out of the bag wasn't big enough!! And heaps of other blokes keep putting their hands down their pants and readjusting themselves. I don't quite know where to look.
A chronological account of the journey so far. This is a long email so sit down and take your time.
We left Brisbane at 2pm Monday and arrived Singapore 7 and 1/2 hours later; 8pm local time. Collecting baggage and clearing customs was easy; we caught a bus to the hotel and had a mildly amusing French guide giving us a running commentary on the 25 minute journey. We were on the 14th floor with a nice view of the big wheel and boats on the harbour. I was pretty keen to contact the kids and let them know we'd arrived but Gibbo's phone wasn't on global roaming (even though he'd been assured three times before leaving that it was) and the hotel didn't have wifi. I finally got a call through on the room phone and woke Meg up about midnight. We are two hours behind.
We ended up at The Long Bar where I had a Singapore Sling, Gibbo had a Tiger beer and we snacked on the tiniest peanuts I've ever seen. My drink was $25, Gibbo's was $18, I bought a long, tall SSling glass for $18 then they add a 10% tax and then another 7% tax! One Australian dollar equals $1.12 Singapore dollars. The room was all dark polished wood, automatic leaf shaped fans swirled the air and it was very atmospheric. Chris Walker had told us to go to the front of the hotel, stride past the doorman as if you own the place and head for the Writer's Bar - except the guy on the front door was an enormous Indian looking fellow with a turban and a very regal looking uniform, totally reminiscent of The Empire days, and the sign on the front said "Guests Only past this point" so we didn't try. You can just imagine what it was like in its' heyday.
From there we caught a taxi for a half hour ride to a cold storage facility on the other side of the island where AAco meat is stored. Singapore is not really very big (it's an island, a country and a city) so it never takes very long to get anywhere; and the taxis are cheap. We were met there and shown around the freezer and looked at our meat in boxes. We (ie Gibbo) talked a bit of bullshit then we caught another taxi to a place called Dempsey Hill where AAco meat is sold in a boutique delicatessen. You can buy it to take home and cook as well as buy it to have cooked there in the cafe. We travelled 6000km to eat our own meat. Priceless. And we paid for it - $28 for Gibbo's wagyu burger and $24 for my 1824 steak sandwich. Hello??
We jumped in another taxi and headed to Boat Quay where we walked until we found a bumboat booth where we bought a ticket then spent half an hour looking for toilets. Gibbie has a weak bladder. The cruise took about half an hour up and down the river, past lots of skyscrapers, the casino and the big lion. Wouldn't that look good in the garden at Aronui? We headed back to the hotel and I had a nice hot bubble bath then we met up with the rest of the group downstairs. We headed to The Singapore Cricket Club for dinner. This is a rather prestigious establishment (apparently) for which I had little respect (due to my lack of appreciation for the gentlemen's game). We had a buffet dinner with some bottom burning curry that made Gibbo sweat profusely; there were speeches and presentations. The touring team lost the game and Gibbo roasted them all night - paid out on them severely. There are fines handed out all the time by the tour leader/s (or anyone really) - I got fined $5 for getting G's dessert for him; he's been fined for sledging. He got fined today for not listening to me. If I instigate this tactic at home, I could be rich.
The night dragged on. One man at our table talked about the camaraderie of cricketers all over the world and the fellowship that ensues upon meeting a fellow practitioner of the game. Apparently, you all sit around and tell funny stories about cricket. Hello?? Funny stories? Cricket? Oxymoron. The night dragged on some more. Men retold boring stories of the ball that cut in "like you wouldn't believe"; so and so hit the biggest six you've ever seen; I remember when I played in New Zealand in 1978 and hit 120 etc etc, Riveting stuff. I nearly burst out laughing a couple of times at the position I was in. Then, a local stood up at his table, balanced a half full glass of beer on his head and proceeded to sing a song (which I can't remember one word of). He then called on the captain of his team to join him - so they both sang the song and balanced their beers, bobbing up and down as they went. Of course, they then went around the room - the winning team had to play their game, then the losing team - THEN THE WOMEN. My worst nightmare. Singing a silly song in an Indian accent, balancing a glass of liquid (water, that's all I had on the table) on my head and bobbing up and down. We must have looked like a right bunch of tossers but at least we were all tossers together. By then I'd had enough of the excitement and was ready to leave but Gibbo was still working the room, sledging as he went. Of course, they all love him; one of the tour leaders told me that someone like Gibbo is good to have on tour because he gets everyone to join in - and he actually has some talent (cricket). I didn't tell him that though; no need to massage his ego any more than it needs. We finally left about 11pm and walked back to the hotel.
This morning I slept in a bit; we had breakfast, another team meeting then Gibbo and I walked to Chinatown. We wandered up an alleyway and made a couple of small purchases then found a temple with some extraordinary statues and carvings. We visited a tailor and Gibbo bought the most disgusting shirt in the shop. He asked me if I liked it; I told him "Yeah, I love it and I'm gonna make you wear it everywhere when we get home". You kids will love it too. He also bought a long sleeved, two tone shirt; both shirts are silk; they'll cling really attractively to his curves. We wandered and browsed; he bought himself a pair of shorts; he disappeared into another shop, I found him way down the back, buying a pair of Raybans; he'd already texted Drew to ask if he wanted a pair but Drew prefers Oakleys! We spent a couple of hours wandering - there was so much to see and look at, almost too much for me - and just before we left, we went to Dr. Fish - where you pay $10 to sit on a bench seat and put your feet into an aquarium full of fish - that bite and suck and nibble your feet. It tickled and was kind of nice but also kind of disgusting. On the way out of the centre he stopped in a shoe shop and saw a nice pair of black walking shoes; he asked the attendant for a pair in his size but they were women's shoes. Then he found a pair of men's shoes that he quite liked but they didn't have any big enough left. They were white; I thought they were a bit homo looking so I was a bit relieved when they didn't have any. They would have gone really nicely with the lovely shirt though. We could have really hung shit on him then. He was funny; he wanted to shop in Singapore and he certainly did that - and got exactly what he wanted - some shirts, some shorts and some Raybans (thank god he didn't get the shoes though).
So we met up with the rest of today's team and caught taxis to the Ceylon Sports Club for the game. How exciting. I've spent the whole time trying to get the ipad working and typing this up. Gibbo retired not out 35 and the team made 176 for 30 overs. Now "we" are fielding. The two guys batting for the other team don't look a day over 20; they're a couple of ring-ins definitely, same with yesterday's game. Think we might get rolled. At least Gib can keep sledging because he made some runs.
Someone has brought along a stuffed duck that quacks; it's sitting on Gibbo's shoulder in the team photo we took before the game. He cops plenty of stick himself because he gives so much of it out.
There's a couple of interesting travellers in the group. Most men have their partners with them; maybe 8 or so don't. Everyone is getting along well although it's early days yet! One of the team leaders told me that they had identified a few potential problems before they left but I don't think anything has surfaced yet.
We leave Singapore tonight at 11.30 and have a 13 hour flight to Frankfurt, arriving 5.30am local time. There's a five hour wait then we catch the plane for Dublin where we arrive at midday. I was told that the two nights entertainment in Dublin will be in pubs so I might see that Irish band after all Peter.
I'm really keen to send you some photos; hope I can get the wifi sorted on the next leg of the trip.
Better go now, got a good book to read. The cricket will be over soon, hopefully.
Love to you all,
M
PS: Gibbo just got fined for dropping a catch off his own bowling. Duh.
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