6 Year High School Reunion

It’s now been 10 weeks since I landed in Singapore and it seems that time has just flown by, especially since I’ve had a few visitors to look forward to coming and spending time with!  First Niles was able to come for just over a month, then it worked out for Amber to make a quick stop between finishing teaching in Thailand and heading back to the US.  And most recently a friend from high school reached out to me to let me know she’d be stopping in Singapore for a few days with two friends and wanted to meet up!

Bekah and I went to elementary school together, though didn’t get really close until we started spending 45 minutes together every day for 7th period in the bassoon section of our high school concert band.  That’s right!  I used to be a bassoon player and after reminiscing with Bekah on Sunday, we both agreed that not only would our fingers not remember where to go or which of the 5 left thumb keys to press but our cheek muscles would definitely not in shape to play a bassoon.

I met up with Bekah and her two friends, Jason and Sarah, at the Botanic Gardens.  We met around 2 and in typical Singapore fashion the sun was blazing.  We headed through the gardens, stopping to take in the greenery which they hadn’t had much of where they are living outside of Bangkok.  We made our way over to the orchid garden which is just so beautiful and for $5 entrance fee a great spot that you can go to more than once without breaking the bank!  And with so many different types of orchids to see it’s not boring taking in their beauty.

Of course a highlight of the orchid garden is the cool house which everyone loves to go see the interesting rain forest type orchids….ok really its just a reprieve from the heat, but the pitcher plants are still really neat to see!  A light rain storm came down while we were inside and continued for a bit as we kept walking around.  We haven’t had much rain in Singapore lately so it felt nice to have some to help cool us off for just a second.  But a mid-day rain storm only means that it will be accompanied by some intense humidity.

Jason saved the day with his brilliant idea to get a cold treat and have a sit down somewhere.   A good man knows how to get 3 girls away from flowers is to bribe them with ice cream!  We found a great place right near the MRT station called Island creamery.  I enjoyed two scoops, one apple pie and one burnt caramel.  They were both delicious but my only wish would have been to have more apples in the first one!  We sat in the cool shop for a while as we had time to kill before meeting up with Jason’s friend.  It was a day of reunions as Jason and his friend haven’t seen each other in about 7 years!  We met him and his wife for dinner at an Indian restaurant (pictures and more talk of the new food I ate will come on Friday’s post).  Dinner was delicious and it was decided that ice cream would be a good treat, yes ice cream can happen twice in one day!

We headed over to a place called Udder’s which was filled with wonderful puns and more importantly had delicious ice cream.  Not sure I’d go back for their regular menu items which included plates with pancakes French fried and burgers, all together, but the ice cream was tasty!

Bekah and I had a wonderful time catching up on what we’ve been doing the past 6 years and remembering old classmates and teachers.  One thing held true and that we both felt so fortunate to have gone through a wonderful school system filled with teachers who truly gave all they had to the kids.  I treasure those teachers I had that I could stop in their class any time and get their advice on whatever big issues I was facing as a teenager.

There’s about 10,000 miles between Ipswich and Singapore and its incredible to think that our lives crossed paths on the other side of the world.  But I am so thankful for my hometown and the wonderful people, such as Bekah, who also come from there.  Nothing beats having someone to understand your yearning for White Farms Ice Cream, a hot cider donut from Russell Orchard, a perfect cup of coffee or tea from Zumi’s, or the view from Crane Beach.

It was so wonderful to catch up with you Bekah!  I wish you all the best as you continue on your journey teaching art in Thailand and fulfilling your passion to teach abroad.  Bassoon buddies for life!

Any Ipswich grads reading, I’d love to hear what you’re up to!  Leave a comment or reach me on facebook!