Have you fed the fish?

We have this small pond (or whatever you may call it) by the front door of our unit in Darwin and we bought a few fish when we arrived. The daily ritual was to ask each other if we had fed the fish. Unfortunately, I am temporarily alone so I can't ask: "Have you fed the fish?" but I surely enjoy the company of my 5 little friends who come to suck on my finger if I put it on the surface of the water. Sadly, in a week time they will be left to another tennant. I hope they will be cared for as much as they are now. They seem to have acclimatised quite well to this environment that surely offers them more space than a tiny glasswalled aquarium.

Shrimp on the barbie

Coming back from work before it is dark tonight I had the opportunity to actually enjoy the view from my balcony for a while. In fact I quite enjoy the view from my Geylang appartment in Singapore as I can see as far as Batam Island but being in a villa in Australia as opposed to an appartment and directly fronting the water is also quite nice. It is just a shame that it is a tiny bit too hot for me to enjoy it fully. I will still try to have a few barbies in the open air though since the equipment is here and the environment seems ideal for it.

Bamboo Poles

One the specificity of Singapore is that accomodation is widely subventioned by the State. It is estimated that 80% to 90% of the Singaporean population is currently living in HDB flats (I also hear that rents go as low as 40 SGD per month for 3-bedroom appartments and some unscrupulous tenants rent them out for 50 times that amount, that's a ridiculous profit!). As a result, suburban style highrise accomodation towers compose the main landscape of the City-State. All the HDB come equipped with pole holders to enable their users to dry their linen. Rows of windows with (originally) bamboo sticks are therefore also part of the Singaporean image.

Purvis Street

I have started to look for a place to live and I certainly want to be Central. Unfortunately the prices went crazy over the past months and I have seen ridiculously tiny apartments (30 M2) going for well above 2000 Eur! My dream place would be a shop top like these old buildings in Purvis Street, Unfortunately, they are not for rent and if they were it would be still be a bit difficult as they usually do not come with A/C. Oh well...