Monday 19 December 2011

Happiness is just like peeing your pants...

Team Taylor Deportation/Repatriation Countdown 

Days left in Singapore: 4

Days left until arrival in the Queen City: 11

Family,

And a good evening to you from across the globe after another GREAT DAY in the Lion City.  The Bull got up early this morning and got back over the "Mendoza line," rolling 5 miles in the drizzle that has become a constant feature of life on the Equator.  Seriously - it has rained 46 of the last 48 hours in this city, and I have no lie to tell - I am OVER IT. 

Notice the Dim Sum Dollies at the top of the
poster - I'd always wanted to see them, and
that's what convinced me to buy the tickets.
Yes, yes - you really have to live here to
understand.
We've spent the evening finishing our packing (both shipping and for the flight), as the movers come at 9 AM tomorrow.  Muffin Puffin has been a force of nature today getting things organized (despite a 3 hour power outage when our condo shut down the electrical switchboard for maintenance), and dare I say I think we're finally ready to go.  Between the movers and our "leaving do," tomorrow really will feel like the end of an era.

And whilst tonight has been quiet, last night did feature an activity worth mentioning.  The Bull and Striker left the friendly confines of Fraser Place to walk over to the Esplanade Theater for the 4th annual "Crazy Christmas" show, billed as:  "a little bit of naughty and a whole lot of nice."  We decided to walk there (show started at 8), and so we left casa de Taylor at 7 PM in the midst of a "light drizzle."  BIG MISTAKE. 

10 minutes later (into our 35 minute walk, mind you), it is BUCKETING IT DOWN.  I didn't see pavement cracking, but I feel certain that it wasn't far off.  I was COMPLETELY soaked - my sleeves were 100% drenched, my socks could have doubled as nalgenes, and you could have squeezed enough water out of my jeans to create a sixth Great Lake.  Muffin managed to fare somewhat better - perhaps my fat ass just doesn't fit under an Asian umbrella all that well.  Details...
The warm-up act - the Christian band who didn't sing
Christians songs - long live diversity.

We did arrive a bit early to the theater, but that was fine as there was a warm-up act covering Christmas carols.  The group billed themselves as a "cross cultural Christian band," but the only songs we heard were "I'll be Home for Christmas," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," and "Santa, Baby."  That being said, I definitely got more than a twinge of homesickness at "I'll Be Home for Christmas," as this really will be the first Christmas where I'm not with family.  But I remain firm in the decision, as odds are good we won't pass this way again - haffa make it count!

As to the show itself - I am REALLY glad we went.  The show was a truly unique experience for us - a cast of Singaporeans doing "Singaporean" humor speaking in Singlish, and I can DEFINITELY confirm that there were plenty of instances where we had NO IDEA what was being said.  This tranny named Kumar came out to promote "World AIDS Day" and was speaking in English, but we only got about 50% of what he said.  However, we did get the quote of the night (which is the title of the blog):  "Happiness is like peeing your pants.  Everybody sees it, but only you feel the warmth."  I could NOT stop cackling. 

There was also a stand-up comedy segment by Broadway Beng, who was dressed in a pink Santa suit.  This in and of itself was funny, but the most AMAZING thing was the fact that his ENTIRE SEGMENT WAS IN HOKKIEN (think Taiwanese - it's a dialect of Chinese), and EVERYBODY in the crowd understood it.  I thought the guy beside me was going to have a hernia from laughing so hard.  I'm pretty sure at least one joke was "look at the Ang Mo beside you who doesn't speak Hokkien - laugh at him."  Santa did say at one point, "Now I know that there are some of you out there who don't speak Hokkien.  But don't worry - I do."  Fair enough - good on you, I say.  Now I really MIGHT stab one of you on the metro this week. 

The music (brought to us by the a capella group Vocaluptuous and the Dim Sum Dollies - who really can sing and were the original reason I bought the tix - they are a famous trio here in Singapore, most recently for their MRT "please queue" ads - it's best if you don't ask...) was stellar, and we definitely had more than a few laughs.  Through in great seats, some good Christmas music, and a pair of pints at the Archipelago Brewery, and you have a recipe for a PERFECT night. 

And speaking of perfect nights, tonight wasn't bad either, as we had a little Korean wine, went out for a pizza at Mondo Mio (little Italian joint by the house), and are now almost 100% finished with packing.  4 MORE SLEEPS!!!!!!  4 MORE SLEEPS!!!!!

Okay, that's all the news that's fit to print.  Chat tomorrow!

Love,

Sam and Jenny

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