OFF TO THE RACES & A VISITOR FROM TOKYO

Wow...am I behind in putting things on the blog! I have no idea why I've not done this...oh well, here it is. Last Friday night Debra and Barbara from work, along with Debra's husband, Sam and Barbara's friend, Jason and I went to the Turf Club...a horse racing place. It's similar to the US, but a bit different. The races only run certain days during the month and you actually pay to go to the races. There was outdoor seating for $3 SING, indoor seating for $7 SING (this means you had "air con" or as we'd say, air conditioning) and for $58 SING you can have air con and dinner in an elite area. We went for the $7 SING area....and Jason was so kind to buy my ticket. By the time we got to the races it was the third race...everyone was reviewing the book on the horses etc....well, being the big gambler that I am (oh, NOT!) I looked at the silks (shirts) of the jockey and picked a horse...John of Arch...I went right to the window and bet my $5 SING ($3 US)....we watched the race...and shazam...I WON $17 SING ($11 US). Well, the bug bite and now I'm thinking I'm pretty smart...not really...I knew it was beginner's luck. So I bet $5 a race for the next 6 races and didn't win one more penny...but it was fun!!! So, I went home having spent $35 SING ($23 US) and won $17 SING ($11 US) so I came out spending only $18 SING ($12 US) for an evening of fun and took in a different culture at the same time. Pretty cheap evening!

Here's the front of the Turf Club.


Pictured below (left to right) is Debra, Sam, me (pretending to eat the food....of course I didn't eat any of it) and Barbara. Jason was taking the picture as he didn't want to be in it. I thought it was odd that in the food court you had to stand up to eat. No sitting anywhere but at the windows by the races!


This past weekend Sandy hosted a fellow co-worker from the Tokyo office. Her name was Yoko and Saturday night I met up with them. They were eating at an outdoor restaurant (of course, most of the little restaurants are outside here) and they had some noodle something or other...okay, so I haven't picked up that lingo yet! After they ate we went walking around and had some good laughs. It was a fun evening.

Pictured below are: Sandy, Lynn, Yoko and well, there's me!


I forgot...last Friday morning I had to be in the office by 7:00 to cover for Sydney. When I walked in this was the view I had of the sun rising. I thought it was a neat picture since there was a high rise on either side of my view of the harbor. Oh, it's so beautiful!