2 months...

Wow! 2 months have passed already and I have not kept up with this blog as I intended to... No excuses, time just flies as crazy when you are having fun... And all the fun is not over yet!

So, a short update: after Beihai I went a few days home to Shanghai. Then of I went to Singapore and Indonesia (Sumatra) to visit my dearest friend Rain. (A Canadian who's husband is working on a big pulp and paper mill on Sumatra. We got to know each other when we lived together in Rizhao) I have been to Singapore before, quite exactly 20 years ago, so it felt like the first time again! What a city. Multi cultural and very interesting. We sampled food from all over the world, got henna tattoos, enjoyed a splendid orchid botanical garden, drank some wine by the river, and the best of all: saw Wicked the musical! After that we took the ferry over to Sumatra, flew to Pekanbaru and spend a week together in Rains home. I did not want to leave.

That is one of the best and worst things about living this 'expat life'. You meet new beautiful people, get to know them, and then you have to leave them, or they leave you to go to the next place...
This time I am lucky however. In a little more than a weeks time I will fly home to Finland to meet friends and family there, and then we will spend christmas and new year together with Rain and her husband in Vietnam and Cambodia. So I really am a lucky 'gal', you know!!

Studio update: I have a lot of new things going on, however I can not show all of them to you as they are commissions. Or not yet I should say. As soon as I have finished and shown them to their new owners I will share them with you as well! I decided to start painting all my commissions that have accumulated over the years. Yes, you read it right, years!! I am apparently not good at doing commissions... I get artist block and a completely empty head even if it by all accounts should be easy... Easy in the way that non of the commissions are outside my comfort zone or what I otherwise would paint. Go figure. For the moment I am optimistic though. Maybe because I other wise have so much program with all the travelling, that it gets easier to get work done when my time in the studio is more limited than before this autumn...

Enough talk for today, I will leave you with pictures from Singapore. Next post will be studio related. Or maybe the pictures from the Netherlands that I promised long ago... lets see what I feel like in a few days! =D

A dear meeting at the airport in Singapore!

A big city doesn't have to be dull and grey...

The view from our hostel roof. 

A 'must do' in Singapore, visiting little India. Great food and lovely shops! Another 'must do' is China town, but since I am living in China for the moment it did not feel necessary to go there...

Henna tattoos. I bought some of the henna myself to try at home. It isn't as easy as it looks, but it isn't too difficult either. I just need to practice!

A memorable night! This musical was 'wicked' good!! I would go and see it again anytime!! Thank you Rain for taking me!!!!

Marina Bay Sands. The new 'icon' building of Singapore.

Inside the Marina bay sands.

The metal tree garden with light shows. Most beautiful in the night.

Singapore from the ferry to Indonesia.

For some reason I did not take almost any pictures while on Sumatra. I do have this one though, Rain's cat Franky. He was a very gallant gentleman and kept me company every night...

Some colourful tiles I admired.

Back to Singapore and some of the best French food I have ever tasted. One word: Truffle ravioli!!! (ok, thats actually two words, but who is counting...) No words can describe it! 

The Raffle Hotel in Singapore, famous for creating the drink Singapore sling.

Of course we had to taste one. I do not think I have ever bought such an expensive drink before. But you paid for the place more than the drink I expect...

The place to hang out in the evening!

And last: for those who felt energetic; Zumba in the square!!

I wish you all a wonderful weekend!