Universal Studios Singapore 'n' getting some my time back

lots and lots of smiling at...

http://www.rwsentosa.com/Attractions/UniversalStudiosSingapore

We have visited one time before for 'little boy's' Birthday so this visit was for 'big boy's' Birthday. Our day was chosen with precision and happily we got it just right so not much queueing at all :-)  Tickets booked on line and printed along with Universal Express passes...super easy and efficient. Be there for the gates to open, 'movie park' staff scan the 'print out' ticket and off you go, ready to enjoy your day filled with lots of fun.

My boys were really excited, and to be honest so was I, for our first go on the new Transformers ride. All we knew was that it is labelled as 'the ultimate 3D battle' so not really knowing what to expect made the experience even better.  After our fifth ride (!) we knew what was coming but the ride is still 'pretty damn awesome' :-) I've tried posting a you tube vid here I found on line but not sure it does it justice...if you get the chance take a trip to Universal and try it for yourself...I promise you will not be disappointed :-)

not me but I 'want' that calm ;-)

Ah...some well earned 'my time' :-)  Yes, yes, of course I love my kids to bits but to have them back to school is wonderful :-)  does it sound selfish to need regular 'my' time?  Maybe, but without some 'my' time I really would be insane!

So, this week we are back into the school routine day.  This means being washed, dressed, breakfasted and leaving the house by 8.15am...I'm back home and out walking my dog before 8.40am.  I love walking with my dog and listening my ipod, it is one of the most perfect 'my' times and a fab way to start the day. Off we go by the Kallang and Geylang River and along to the Gardens by the Bay which is super well kept and has amazing views across to the city.

I'm off now to transfer some ipad tunes onto my pc without erasing everything...viewing posts about this on the Internet seems to suggest that this is more difficult than it sounds...heck !

kisses 'n' smiles from me xx :-)

geocaching 'n' nail art

Geocaching...OK, so this really will not be every ones "cup of char", but my 3 men enjoy it and when they are happy 'n' entertained...I'm smiling :-)

I'll not go into the 'ins 'n' outs' of what Geocaching is (check out the wikipedia link here and the official geocaching site here). My men discovered this during our summer hols in the UK, kind of treasure hunting for big kids! We had fun (in the British rain) following trails through North Yorkshire fields full of sheep, great exercise up 'n' down the hills and my boys were kept smiling by the promise of pirate loot or booty at the end :-)

The trackable made me smile :-)

My men were lucky enough to locate a trackable geo tag in Lancashire...these are extra goodies with unique id numbers which are tracked on the official Geocaching website. Of course, we brought Signal and his friend the lion back to Singapore and have recently checked him into the Trackable Hotel located in the National Museum of Singapore - sure he'll keep me smiling as we follow him on the website to see where he travels to next.

Even as I'm writing this post, Mr Man and my boys are out on their bikes and visiting the site of another great Singapore Cache. They'll be searching to answer clues to the cache coordinates and I'm sure they'll have fun at Marina Barrage and the new Gardens by the Bay.  I highly recommend Geocacaching to get the men in your family smiling as they do some treasure hunting :-)

Now to something different and much more 'girly'!  'Nail Art' is very much making me smile ;-)

I really did not think I would get into this, my nails are always cut pretty short I'm often caught chewing and biting them...very ladylike in deed! Krikey, not so long ago I got a Gelish manicure done (not even going to tell how much I paid for that!)  Gelish were obviously not thinking of me when they said it would last for 3 weeks...within 3 days I had flicked, chipped and pealed at this thick Gelish substance. Of course, this stuff does not come off with regular nail varnish remover...I had to sit in the salon with foil wrapped nails for 30 minutes, $30 for the trouble.  This certainly did not make me smile!  I will not be recommending Gelish to anyone who cannot avoid fidgeting with their nails.

There are so many fab nail art designs :-) I'm thinking a design with candy cane stripes or snowflakes for the festive season. Sure, they'll not last much past Boxing Day but neither will the imported Christmas tree :-)

If anyone has found iTunes Singapore to do anything other than boring podcasts and university related books , you are better at locating these than me!  I'm now going to log into iTunes UK, hopefully get a preview of the new Rihanna album and I might well buy the odd music video and download a bit of Pitbull too ;-)

I leave you with the beautiful Rihaaaaaaaaanna singing one of my faves (the song never came out as a single so the link is a bit of a 'tacky You Tube - lyrics on screen special' but the music is there) Fire Bomb enjoy :-)

Kisses 'n' smiles from me xx ;-)

Nī hào...

This cute box arrived yesterday :-)  I will set aside some time today to enjoy the 'opening ceremony' and will be reviewing the products within...little bit excited about the very first Bellabox

"Wǒ bù dǒng hán yù"...but I'm learning!  I'm only on my second 'Chinese Made Easy' lesson and it is so much fun - I'm loving it.  Of course, yes, it is soooo difficult but my teacher is fab and makes it relevant to how I can practice day to day (courage required!)  It's not really 'necessary' to speak Chinese here in Singapore...English/Singlish is spoken and understood island-wide but for those trips around China it will come in useful.  Anyway, for the last 4 years I've been saying "I would really love to learn mandarin" so here I go.  Apparently, one of the traits of my star sign which is Gemini is a love for and success with languages ;-)  I agree with the love for! 

Living in France for a total of 9 years definitely developed into a success with French.  Without French I would not have had such great friends or amazing experiences there...I promise to do a topic about living in France and the French language and people (bien sûr les noms changés pour protéger les personnes concernées :-D Yes, you'll see living in France wasn't always with a smile but I did have lots of smiley times ;-)

They say music can alter moods and talk to you...I totally agree with this.  Everyday, twice a day, I walk my lovely dog and pop in my iPod - it is filled with a real mix (Take That - with and without Robbie, Rihaaaaaanna, Cold Play, Eminem, Cheryl Cole, Air, Ke$ha, Enrique, Taio Cruz, Pulp and other crazy choices) with the iPod on shuffle the music really does 'set' my day.  A song that is really making me smile right now (constantly on the radio), I will find it on iTunes, is Enrique featuring Pitbul ...I like it ;-)

Zài jiàn - later...

kisses 'n' smiles from me xx ;-)