# 8 piccies from Singapore

my absolutely gorgeous little cousin Stella. together we are the eldest and the youngest of the Presswell grandchildren.

Suzie and Rosco, pre-party.

Suzie and Kate mid party….. the guy on the left was the birthday boy’s father and pretty much the only person i spoke to at the party. we definitely solved the problems of the world but neither of us can remember the exact strategy now… imagine that.

#7 the mother of all hangovers….

am suffering beyond belief today. went to a party with Suzie and Rosco last night and ended up hitting the clubs afterwards to check out Singapore’s nightlife. the mix of champagne/ red wine/ vodka/ sambuca shots/ and bourbon and coke did not help my state this morning. have only just started to feel like a human being with the help of Suzie’s yummy pasta. my saviour. lucky it was only 1 night on the town…. 1 vodka cost me $11 (Singaporean dollars though… divide that by 1.37 for USD). i terrorised at least 2 taxi drivers during the course of the evening and ended up in a smoky gay bar with some very funny characters. shame to leave Suzie and Rosco tomorrow and am having thoughts of sneaking Stella in my hand luggage. she’d fit! she is just the cutest happiest funniest little girl. will miss them.  

#6 Fictional Frameworks

my internal processor is not being very swift at churning through the information backlog in my brain accumulated over the last 6 months or so. am taking yonks to get to sleep and have become a bit of a bug-eyed zombie. i just came across this conversation in the book i am reading: ‘sputnik sweetheart’ by Haruki Murakami and think that i too am adjusting to a new ‘fictional framework’! 

“what in the world’s happening to me?”

“you’re asking me?”

Sumire nodded.

I took a sip of my cold beer and gathered my thoughts. 

“i think right now it’s like you’re positioning yourself in a new fictional framework. you’re preoccupied with that, so there’s no need to put your feelings into writing. besides, you’re too busy.”

“do you do that? put yourself inside a fictional framework?”

“i think most people live in a fiction. i’m no exception. think of it in terms of a car’s transmission. it’s like a transmission that stands between you and the harsh realities of life. you take the raw power from outside and use gears to adjust it so everything’s all nicely in sync. that’s how you keep your fragile body intact.”

 

i liked it a lot.  it could be something you need to see in context, but i thought it made sense as a stand-alone. 

 

just finished reading ‘The Road’ by Cormac McCarthy. i agree with the review from the Sunday Times: ‘What really elevates the novel from its slough of despond is the sheer, terrible beauty of the writing’. it leaves you feeling ill in the stomach at a few points but without high drama which somehow makes it worse. he creates the desolate scenes so poignantly you love reading them despite how tragic they are. he is they guy who wrote ‘No Man No Country’.  

#5 nothing’s shabby in Singapore

even the litter is high end. the only rubbish we walked past today was an empty bottle of Chivas Regal. not bad eh! Singapore must be a top playground for the rich kids. you could go a bit nuts here if you had lots of dosh. as it stands i am still traipsing around the streets haggling with the vendors to my hearts content. this is also lots of fun. went to little India today. colourful and busy as you’d expect (and not surprisingly full of Indians too). plan to splash out and go on the Singapore Flyer – like the London Eye but here. it’s a one stop ‘i’ve seen Singapore’ deal so i’m all for that having only 4 nights here. am still getting used to streets having traffic lights which people obey, and everything down to chewing gum disposal being regulated. you don’t want to muck about in Singapore. think it’s probably as far from life in Kenya as  you can get! have been reading ’1 fish, 2 fish, red fish, blue fish’ which i found a great deal more entertaining than Stella. have also discovered ‘there’s a wocket in my pocket’ on the bookshelves. excellent if nothing else i am easily entertained. hope all’s well. x