Before moving to Singapore I was quite proud of the fact that I didnt own an umbrella. It's kind of a badge of honor to be umbrellaless in Seattle, which is known for its constant rain. Things are very different now, when it rains in Singapore it POURS and without a car around to save me I finally had to re-evaluate my stance on umbrellas.

Last week we had another torrential rain, which I was able to capture from our living room window.

This rain lasted for about 2 hours yet managed to flood the pool

I had to walk in the rain (with new umbrella) through this mini-lake to get to the train

I have witnessed this horror a few times but today was the worst. I had just finished grocery shopping and knew that I had too much stuff to carry home from the store. So I awkwardly carried my brimming bags to the taxi line which was pretty long because I had managed to time my shopping completion with the dreaded change of shift for taxi drivers in Singapore. During this 30-45 minute window of time, taxis are no where to be found. This turns a typically orderly city into the wild west. However, as crazy as things get the aforementioned unspoken rule is not to be broken. After 30 minutes of waiting in miserable heat watching my groceries melt I finally made it to the front of the line.

At this point these two women walked up to the front of the line and stood casually right next to me as if they were waiting for the next taxi as well. Wanting to give them the benefit of the doubt I quickly asked if they were by any chance waiting for a taxi as well, when they said yes I very nicely directed them to the back of the taxi line. At that point things turned hostile and I suddenly realized I was dealing with taxi thieves. They gave me an evil look and then proceeded to walk about half a block up the road and flagged down MY TAXI and, before I could gather up my withered groceries and chase them down, they were gone...with my taxi. The level of anger and self-pity I felt at that moment was intense and if I hadn't had the rest of the taxi line staring at me I probably would have sat down and cried. I finally made it home apx 10 minutes later than I would have been home if my taxi had not been stolen. Worst of all I am seriously contemplating purchasing my own cane, I just need one small enough to fit in my purse....

In 60 minutes we flew in China, Hong Kong, London, and Cape Town

Carmen arrived late friday night for her second visit to Singapore in the last 2 months. I am so fortunate to have a friend who is willing to fly 22 hours to spend a long weekend with me. I was incredibly excited to pick her up at the airport! Saturday morning we started our adventure fabulous weekend bright and early. Our mission was to conquer Sentosa, a man-made island right off the southern coast of Singapore which is a strange blend of Miami beach, Disneyland, Vegas and the Amazon rainforest all rolled into one. Our goal was to do as many bizarre and unusual activities as we could fit into one day. Our first stop was the Luge. When doing the Luge you travel to the top of this hill via a chairlift and then proceed down a 650 meter winding racetrack where you reach speeds of up to 40km/hr. Carmen and I are pretty competitive so when she challenged me to a race we both pulled out all the stops to get to the bottom first. I was leading the pack for the majority of the track but got caught behind some crazy lady who had her brake on the whole time and was weaving back and forth along the track. Carmen somehow managed to inch past her in the final stretch and beat me across the finish line. I'm still a little bitter...

on our way up in the chair lift

Our next stop was the mega zip which is the longest zip line in Asia. We had the Singaporean boy scouts in line in front of us so we were given detailed explanations of all the potential hazards of the zip by the scouts before we harnessed up.

We then took a short break for lunch and observed the segway "off road adventure" tour which was one of the activities we decided to pass on and I'm glad we did. The off road section of the trail involved taking the segways off the freshly paved sidewalk and onto the beach. A few priceless moments were captured on video.

Our energy renewed, we tackled the trapeze where we harnessed in and were taught how to do knee hangs and somersaults 10 meters off the ground. I would humbly say that in this activity I really stood out. Carmen might have had slightly more natural ability, but I had more flair. I even ended my routine with an impromptu somersault off the safety net.

Our last, and most exciting stop of the day was the riding "the barrel" at the wave house. Just to give some history, this activity requires 6 pages of consent forms and is only recommended for "advanced surfers". Somehow Carmen talked me into believing I was qualified for this activity and....WOW... was I ever NOT prepared. In fact, I am writing this a day and a half later and I still cant turn my head or shoulders without pain! Carm was a natural with her background in wake-boarding and snowboarding...however, my wipeouts were better. Carmen also had a secret weapon, she sings to herself while she boards (notice the head bobbing in the video) which puts her in "the groove" and calms her down. I wish I had known that trick before we started. An hour later, I felt like the coolest drowned rat ever...dude! I think Carmen had the time of her life and had the barrel rider not been closing due to a world cup game, I think she may have stayed all night.