Today I picked a little local foot spa and went in to have 1 hour reflexology massage and calf massage and a 30 shoulder, neck and head massage. Well it was tougher than I am used to and I had to tell the girl a couple of times , with my face scrunched up accordingly "pain"; so she held back a tad. Those deep tissue massages are certainly an experience. I looked like I had been through the wringer when they were finished, but back felt great the next day. Calves still sore!

After this very Asian experiece we headed out to the 'burbs to visit our friends Ardene and Theo and their 2 kids, Arkie and Georgie. They have both been teaching at the Australian International School for about 15 years so knowSsingapore well. They live in a 3 level terrace house ( a rarity here)in great spot right next to the 'compound' pool and a park so the kids can roam quite freely, rather than 99% of locals who live in high rise blocks which stretch on for as far as the eye can see.

We did loads of catching up and enjoyed a massive thunderstorm with teeth jarring cracks of lightning and it literally poured for 2 hours. Very tropical..a bit like Darwin we presume. The kids are the same ages and got on brilliantly so we had a great evening.

Dan had worked out how to get to their place via the extremely clean, punctual and easy to use Metro system. You never have to wait more than 6 minutes (at the most) for a train and there are many people around at all times of the night. The kids, especially Josie was generally a talking point for other travellers on the trains because she is so fair. appararently blond hair means good luck to the Chinese.