How exactly do you say "Taylor" in Chinese...

Family,

And a good Saturday morning to you from across the globe after another GREAT DAY in the LION CITY. IT'S THE WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!!!!! The last 2 weeks have been EXHAUSTING, and so the Bull was thrilled for the lie in this morning. Muffin Puffin, however, didn't get the luxury of a lie in, as she's about 5 minutes away from falling backwards off a perfectly good boat into the ocean off the coast of Malaysia. Jenny's got 3 dives today (which is AWESOME), but last night all she was offered was 4 hours sleep on a moving ferry and an 8 AM brekkie. Her sleep tonight will be EPIC.

So Friday was great on a lot of counts save one. Tomorrow the Bull goes for his 18th half marathon - the F1 Rainforest Romp. I have heard that this will be unquestionable the toughest race I've ever done, but under normal circumstances I wouldn't be remotely concerned. However, for the FIRST TIME since being abroad and for the first time EVER in his history of races (this will be my 29th half or longer), the Bull is sick. Now granted, I feel better today, but there's still no denying the fact that I've got a head cold. I think it's just from being run down, as we're not as young as we used to be (as evidenced my how PUFFY MY FACE LOOKS EVERY MORNING WHEN I GET UP - WOW, I'm old and ugly), and so week nights that always end after midnight and weekends and involve early and late travel catch up with us eventually. But hey, gotta make it count, right! Plus, I still managed to shovel down pasta for lunch and dinner, so I know that the carbs are in there. However, so is all the mucus and slightly weak feeling. Parents - DON'T WORRY. I'm in the best shape I've been in since 2008, most of the race is shaded, and I'm going in with a backpack, fuel belt, and all the salt tablets and goo a man can carry. I will look and feel like some character out of the book "Born to Run" (which is EXCELLENT, by the way), just minus the actual stamina and speed.

As for the rest of Friday, I am pleased to report that once again Money and Dan are in the Sing! Big D's got his 3rd (and we hope final) interview on Monday, so I've told him to go with the tried and true strategy of telling them: "Look, clearly you want me. Clearly I'm the best candidate. And clearly you need me a lot more than I need you. Why don't you just hand over a half a mil now, give me a month to relax, and then I'll make all your troubles go away." For some reason, however, he seems skeptical. I can't imagine why...

The classic moment from work today was when we were discussing names. I found out that Nancy doesn't have a legal middle name (but has a Chinese middle name, which for some reason the US Government just can't process - she could be Triad...hmmmm), and I found out that, in Singapore at least, folks of Chinese descent that don't have "Christian" names can just apply for them with the government. Case in point is Tiffanie (works with me - she was the one who said, "Dan Deets is what Asian girls dream of" - I'm still shaking my head...), who's real name is Ching Ching. So we start talking about this, and I say, "How do you say Taylor in Chinese." Of course I get the stock response of "TAYLOR," but I press on with, "Yes, I know, but what about if you translated the sounds of my name into Chinese - what then?" Tiffanie and Nancy both think about this, and then Tiffanie says, "Tay-loh! It would mean 'too hot.'" All I could respond was "You DAAAAAAAMN RIGHT, IT DOES." But Tiff is quick to shoot back, "No, Sam - not in that way." OUCH. All the same, you can expect plenty of emails to now be signed "Too Hot" - I am thinking of joining a boy band now that I've got this unexpected piece of new found knowledge.

In the evening I shrugged off the sickness (as you do :-)) to meet up with a work mate from Hong Kong for a few drinks. We hit up Brotzeit, were one can get a Paulaner Munich Lager on tap (that is SO GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUD), and I enjoyed 2.5 of those little droplets of ambrosia before rolling back to the flat and hitting Bella Pasta with Money and Dan (Muffin - I got the Farfalle with Salmon - SO GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUD...peppy cheekies). And then, plenty of pasta down the chute and the fatigue from the illness weighing me down, we all crashed about 10 PM. I did have some trouble sleeping and woke up intermittently (MAN I miss Nyquil), but on the whole I do feel a lot better. Now it's a day of sitting in the shade (DID SOMEONE SAY CASINO?) and relaxing before the run tomorrow. I am excited - just have to be smart about the whole experience. But when the race organizer is someone named Lexxus Tan (tell me that isn't a porn star name if there ever was one), what could go wrong, right?

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

Love,

Too Hot and the female Jaques Cousteau