This week at RDA I had a new horse and rider assignment. My horse was a female Appaloosa named Fraggle who is three years older than me and has been working with RDA for some time now. The rider I’m now working with is named Sun Ling. Sun Ling was very talkative as I was told she would be - so, naturally, we worked well together. After warming up on the horse we went on a “jungle ride” which is a ride on an outdoor forest trail. On the rides inside the arena, the riders are challenged with games that help with stretching and coordination. But with the jungle ride, riders are asked to enjoy the scenery and then to ride with their eyes closed which helps build a trusting relationship with their horse, sidewalker, and leader. I thoroughly enjoyed the outdoor ride and my new horse/rider assignment. I felt as if we were very well matched so I look forward to working with Sun Ling throughout her course.
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| Fraggle, the horse that's older than me |
In the evening on Monday, Mark and I went to watch football with friends at Dan and Jessica’s place. We met Dan and Jessica, who are from Houston, pretty soon after our arrival into Singapore and have enjoyed getting to know them. Since they are now headed back to Houston after a two year assignment here, we were happy to help them say “goodbye” to their place with a last football party. An added bonus for Mark was getting to help them drink the last of their homebrewed beer! Monday night was Mark’s last time to see Dan but I was able to see Jessica one more time before she left when Jessica, myself, and several of her other friends got together on Thursday for a Farewell dinner in honor of Jessica. We all met at a place called Blu Kouzina in Bukit Timah near Jessica. Blu Kouzina is a Greek restaurant where the décor is all different shade of, you guessed it, blue. Overall, I really like the atmosphere and the food, I ordered the Kotopoulo Psito which is grilled chicken breast served with roasted and then chilled vegetables – very good!
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| Delicious food at Blu |
During the week, the weather was pretty terrible with lots of rain since the rainy season is now starting. Aside from just being sloppy, the rain poses some major challenges for Colt who is having nervous/anxiety issues with the weather. Colt now refuses to eat or go outside until it stops raining. He demonstrates this refusal by not moving from the couch or floor when I call him and by also becoming “deadweight” and not even allowing himself to be budged. Two days this week he would not eat or even go outside until after noon, when the rain had stopped. This wouldn’t be a big issue since he doesn’t have accidents in the house except he takes his frustration of not being outside out on my shoes! Case in point is below. And I know my Mom is reading this so I would like to clarify that I did not leave my shoes out. Colt sought them out!
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| This WAS a shoe |
Luckily, the weather turned around in time for the weekend and Scott’s (Scooter's) arrival on Friday morning. Since Mark worked on Friday, Scott and I ran some errands and did some sightseeing. First on the agenda was picking up Scott’s F1 race ticket for Saturday to avoid what would have surely been a long line. Next, we went to Raffles Hotel to get some poster souvenirs for Scott’s nephews and since we were already there we decided to enjoy the famous Singapore Slings at the Long Bar. Scott had already been with Mark the last time he was in town but I was pretty excited since I had never tried one. We decided to branch out a bit and tried different variations on the traditional Singapore Sling – Scott’s was called to Courtyard Sling and mine the Winter Sling. After our drinks we headed for lunch close to the condo and to the store to make sandwiches for dinner since Scott doesn’t get cold cuts in Chennai, India.
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| Scooter and his Courtyard Sling |
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| Niki's Winter Sling at the Long Bar in Raffles Hotel |
Once Mark was home from work and the three of us were feed and dressed, we headed out to Black and White Bar which has become Mark and I’s favorite bar (highly recommend to anyone living in Singapore – the service is awesome and the drinks are great AND reasonably priced!). After spending much of the night hanging at Black and White and chatting up our favorite bartender/owner and friend, Jay, we went to Clarke Quay. After arriving at Clarke Quay we went to a place called Highlander where Scott became the “Dancing Machine” for a few hours. Then, after a fun night we headed home.
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| Jay, the owner of Black & White, Mark, and Scott enjoying some refreshments |
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| Mark and Scott at Black & White |
The other big events of the weekend were the F1 festivities. The actual race was on Sunday but Mark and Scott on Saturday for the Qualifying. They saw some restored cars, a Shakira concert (who was performing at the event), and the F1 cars racing. Overall they said they had a great time!
Sunday while Mark and Scott watched sports, I went with a friend to check out a vet for Colt and a pet shop. Of course, I couldn't leave empty handed so Colt got a few new toys and some treats!
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| Colt Playing with one of his new toys! |
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| Happy Colt sitting for a new treat |
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