As island fever sets in, the Taylors begin selecting CRAZY weekend activities...

Family,

And a good Sunday afternoon to you all from across the globe in the midst of a GREAT DAY in the Lion City. The last 24 hours have been a very productive one for Team Taylor, beginning with leav

ing the flat for lunch after we last spoke. What started out as a disaster ended up working out GREAT, and things just got better from there.

Given that I'd had 7 miles already crossed off the to-do list and that both Muffin and I are used to brekkie now, we were STARVING once I finished chatting with you. Consequently, we made the logical conclusion for Team Taylor - GO EAT A HUGE ENGLISH BREAKFAST. Where oh where could we find one of those, you ask? Well, HOG'S BREATH, OF COURSE! Only there was one teeeeeny weeeeeensy problem with that plan - HOG'S BREATH HAS JUST GONE OUT OF BUSINESS.

Seriously - we JUST WENT THERE a week ago, and there was NO SIGN of the place doing anything other than a thriving business. I couldn't believe it. I mean, WHERE AM I GOING TO GET MY $5 TIGER MUGS?!?!?!?!? Serenity now!!!!!!!!!!!! And what's worse? It's been replaced by A WINE BAR that will be called "Sketches." That's right - not only did we not get a sports cafe with chicken wings in there, but we got a bloody WINE BAR that you KNOW won't be able to compete with Wine Connection. Oh, make no mistake about it - I will have my vengeance...

But every closed bar has a silver lining, and thanks to this little hiccup, we actually discovered a new (and even better) place for brekkie - Boomerang, baby! That's right - we settled down for some GUUUUUUUUUD eatin', complete with a nice iced coffee for Pumpkin (she's become a real fan out here) and 2 flat whites for the Bull. I will say that Flat Whites over here are WAAAAAAY better than in London - I can tasty the velvety milk....so guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuud (peppy cheekies). For those Americans out there - Flat White is basically coffee with milk, but it's prepared "Aussie style," where they whip the milk somehow and then pour it with a flower design on top (check out the pic). I'm not totally sure how it's different, but it does make it tasty.

After lunch, Muffin went into TRAVEL BOOKING OVERDRIVE. Seriously - to all those who laugh at the number of vacations we take and how much we spent on travel (so basically...EVERYONE WHO READS THE BLOG), you would have MARVELED at Muffin's epic performance. We booked 4 trips in about 90 minutes, even making time to clear off fraudulent activity, check weather forecasts, and even amend the now famous "Team Taylor Travel Calendar" (it's even got formulas now thanks to Muffin Puffin - insert OSC and Des-X saying, "Well OBVIOUSLY thanks to Jenny - it's not like you could have done it, Taylor...").

The evening was a lot of fun, as we rolled down to Wine Connection and met Sarah for some cheese, ham, and olives (even though I ordered the basalmic onions first - details...but seriously, if the section of the menu is entitled "Olives" and you notice that there are SIX different olive dishes listed, wouldn't you assume that the TOP LISTING, which features a food item starting with "o", would be an olive? Just sayin'...

After some guuuuuuuuuuuuuud eatin', Team Taylor crossed off a new item for Singapore - the Tanjong Beach Club in Sentosa. We went there for an event called "Internations," which is basically a monthly gathering of expats, where they can meet each other, network, and see a different venue in Singapore. We'd never been to this spot on Sentosa before, and I gotta say - it was niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice.

There was a very cool pool, it was right on the water, and the lights from the ships out to see were very cool. We found a recliner right on the water (that's the first shot on the blog up top), and we just took it easy for the better part of 3 hours. We did meet 3 new peeps, but I spent most of the evening hanging out with the Angels and taking it easy (it was a "cool" night, but the jeans I was wearing did get a bit toasty).

The funniest part of the night was when, OUT OF NOWHERE, this little gal from the group next to us just runs over and says, "Can I have my picture with you?" I thought she was just kidding, and THEN I thought she wanted me to take a photo of the group since I was already standing up and holding a camera. But OH NO - because of a dare, she needed a photo with Whitey. But since turnabout's fair play, Sarah said, "Now you should go and get a photo with all of them." And sure enough - check me out with 7 of my new best friends...

On the way home we did what any proper Americans would do - PICKED UP MICKEY D'S, BABY!!!! The fries were hot and excellent. The fat filled, bizarrely sauced Teryaki chicken McGrill, however, was....well, intriguing...

Today has been a good one as well, with Team Taylor sleeping until noon. In truth, I was sleeping like a BABY until 9 AM this morning, when suddently 59,000 DECIBELS OF DRUMS BEGAN BEATING ON THE STREET RIGHT OUTSIDE MY WINDOW. Seriously - if I'd been in a warzone I would have slept better. It was CRAZY. The drumming (and I can only believe some chanting and a Lion Dance) went on for TWO HOURS - good thing I didn't have a shotgun.

Other than that, we had a nice brunch at Epicurious, and I also rocked over to Novena to buy a camelbak and some more goo for the upcoming long runs. Muffin, however, has become an ANIMAL and is currently BACK at Sentosa, doing a 5K run followed by a 1 hour open water swim! That girl just signed up for an Open Water swim in July - she's an animal!!!

Truly, I find it remarkable to compare the activities of a Sunday in London with a Sunday here. In London, we'd have 7 pints each, consume a MASSIVE curry at the Doot, watch some TV, and then pass out. Here we spend 2 hours exercising, have an AFD, get up earlier, and don't even know the TV is in the condo. It's AMAZING the difference.

Part of it very well could be "island fever," as you do find yourself constantly looking for ways to stay busy and active. Couple that with the price of everything, and sporting activities suddenly become a very cheap proposition. Case in point, I'm actually planning on signing up for a 1/2 marathon trail run as well - something I would never have even entertained in the US or Britain.

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

Love,

Sam and Jenny