Bibi died :(

Bibi died unexpectedly yesterday.

She was only 5 1/2 yrs old. Very rapidly progressing heart failure. Very sad.

Singapore

Made it to Singapore last night yay. At the airport at Heathrow, the queue for security (this is after having checked in) was so huge that it extended OUTSIDE the actual terminal! the queue outside was at least 100 ppl long. Everyone was freezing because they had all checked their coats with their luggage too, not expecting to have to go OUTSIDE again. took ages to get through. when there was about 10-15 mins left of the queue i got randomly selected for a full body X-ray to check that i was not concealing anything on my person. I assume they check for drugs and stuff hidden internally. Maybe i look more and more like a gun-toting drug-mule these days? But it was good, meant i got away from the annoying lady behind me who kept sucking her teeth and got sped through to the front of the queue after the Xray. I assume they didn't find anything! Be funny if i had swallowed a coin or something random like that :)

This morning we went to the markets to do Tony's shopping and i got a photo of the black chicken ("for soup". everythign is for soup!) and Tony's "Chicken Aunty": We've decided Tony could never have children. He says yes to anything i want him to buy! we got mango pudding like at yum cha from the supermarket. and more mushroom crisps!! I also said he had to buy a steamer so next time i'm here we can steam pork buns and dim sims hehehe. Anyway it's so hot here. Not as bad as my last visit, but a big difference from Dorset! It's also very hazy. Apparently its been like that for the last month because in Malaysia they are burning the rainforests. Or somethign equally bad for the environment.

went to Raffles hotel for "high tea" with tony. Very english! With little sandwiches and the crusts cut off, scones, tarts etc. After that went up to the 70th floor of the swiss hotel to the new asia bar for the famous view of Singapore. unfortunately due to the illegal rainforest burning in Malaysia there is a thick haze over Singapore, and the view was limited by this. Very funny in the bar though, the tables and stools were covered in pink sequinned material! they do it every 1st sat of the month... Tacky! That night we went to a graduation show by the dance faculty at the uni Tony works at (he heads the musical theatre faculty). It was very modern, and i didnt really get it, but interesting!

Left sunday afternoon (very annoying at the airport with no markers for queues etc) and arrived home early on monday morning.

i'm an idiot

Tony smsed me in the middle of the night last night so when i woke up this morning i reread it. Simple enquiry - what time do i land in singapore? so i actually checked my ticket and guess what? my flight is TONIGHT!!!!!!!! i thought i departed heathrow at 10pm FRIDAY night, not THURSDAY!!!! i was still down south in Dorset this morning! The plan originally was to go with Sherry to Poole/Bournemouth for her lecture, i would wander around the south English seaside then at lunch time collect my bag and catch the train back north to London. So instead Sherry dropped me at Poole station after 9am and i caught the train back to London. I arrived about 1230pm giving me about 5 hrs before i have to leave again to get my plane tonight. Just enough time to buy a case of beer for chris (who i was meant to take out to dinner tonight as thanks!!), repack EVERYTHING and check my email. i'm an idiot.

Anyway yesterday Sherry took me to Stonehenge. It was FREEEEEEZING. i think it was about 3 degrees when we got in the car!! Great to see though. Next we headed to Salisbury and i saw Salisbury cathedral. I went into the Cathedral too, but of course no photography inside. Very impressive and a cute little town too. A couple of hours was spent there, next stop Dorchester. Here i went to the Tutankhamun museum. It was pretty good, although it is full of replicas because the originals are too delicate to transport out of Egypt, or even display at all in some cases.

The Dorset area is typical English countryside with sheep, cows, free range pigs, green fields, hedges, deer, rabbits, thatched roof buildings, tiny stone cottages lining streets barely wide for two cars to pass etc. It was great to visit and get out of London.

Overnight last night there was a frost and this morning all the plants, fields and houses (and cars!) were covered in ice. It was beautiful. Sherry thinks the cold is great! i could do with out it... my ears like to be pain free.

Here is another pic of Sherry's house, with the bell tower:
So i had great plans for tonight, i was going to take Chris out for dinner, then have a few beers with Tracy his exhousemate and maybe Nick fromtour. Then sleep in, leisurely pack tomorrow and head off! As it turns out i now wont see chris before i go because he's working til 7 tonight. Nor will i see anyone else except Linnea (another of his housemates) who is home today.

So to revise.... I'm off to Singapore tonight (not ready for the 13 hours flight!), leaving singapre sunday night and arriving in Sydney mon morn.... are you ready for my return?

Dorset

I last left you in an internet cafe down the road from Chris' place. Sat night i went out with a couple of people from Haggis tour (Nick and Dave) and some of their mates. Managed to only take one photo unfortunately! Good night, took the Americans to Walkabout, one of the Australian pubs in London.

Nick (note the Magners) and a couple of his mates Marie and Davi

On Monday I caught the train about 2 hours south west of London to get to Sherry (my mum's friend) 's place in Dorset. I arrived last night after dark so didn't get the impact of the area i'm now in til this morning. I'm in Pulham a small village in Dorset county. I think there's about 6 houses and 1 pub! This is ultimate English countryside with green fields, cows and old buildings.

view from an upstairs window

Sherry's house is actually over 300 years old, and used to be a school house. There is a bell tower, and the bell was made by the same people that made the Big Ben! The place was let go before they got here and is quite run down. They've only been here a couple of months but have great plans for the house!

the side of the house, seen from the garden