Nelly opens Restaurant in Singapore

It took Nelly less than 36 hours to open his own Restaurant that is already causing a stir amongst the Singapore fine diners. It took Paula less than 36 seconds to order a Singapore Sling in Raffles and about the same time to drink it.

It was agreed that stopping off in a very hot and sticky Singapore was well worth it and although the 'Long Bar' seemed to me to be no more than a theme pub these days, Raffles itself was an enjoyable experience invoking memories of a bygone age.

Coats at the ready we set off for NZ where our first taste of Rugby World Cup fever was at Brisbane Airport where we saw a very relaxed looking Scotland squad on their way to Auckland and 8 frenchmen dressed in berets with dreadlocks and rugby ball shaped corks on the end. Stylish as ever.

Christchurch is clearly still hurting after such awful events earlier in the year with so much visible destruction evident around every corner and a story to be told at every opportunity. Linda the school teacher who lost her gymnasium and now teaches in a makeshift marque and who witnessed with her students parts of the school crumbling around them. A construction worker who huddled with his family in a bedroom and feared the worst until it finally stopped. Rugby is undoubtably part of the fabric of this city but even that has had to be put into perspective following such tragic events. As a local shop keeper said "We have taken the punches and now we are trying to move on"

In trying to move on they are desperate for the All Blacks to finally fulfil their potential and win the Rugby World Cup in the modern era. For some you get the sense that they are already preparing for the worst yet again. Who is your money on by the way?

Exciting news- Future Blogs will report on our van prediction league where you predict the score of every game and score 5 for a correct winning team, 3 for being only 3 or less out in the margin of victory, 7 for predicting the exact score and 7 for predicting a draw. Go on start your own and let us know how you are getting on.
Even more exciting is the van 'Owzthat' game that Greg has introduced. The  game and still in its original tin was found in a market in Totnes. We will be playing all 5 tests from the 1980 England v West Indies series with Greg and Paula representing England and Annie and John representing the West Indies. Look out for updates on the great Geoffrey Boycott, Ian Botham, Joel Garner and Viv Richards and  hope  that the weather plays less havoc on this tour than it did in 1980.

Oh and finally we nearly needed to take the patio doors off our apartment as the Snowbike that arrived earlier in the day fell against them after we locked up and prevented them sliding open to get back in. Its a long story but.......................