Thank God for valium! I had been having a serious battle against jetlag the first 4 nights, which drove me to the edge of desperation. It seems crazy to me that I had such a tough time adjusting given that I had no problems with the 7 hour time difference from the US to Mali. Mali to Singapore was only a 6 hr difference but I could not seem to shake that off. This meant that I have tossed and turned most nights until usually around 3 or 4am before falling asleep. I’ve been unable to get any good runs in as a result (it’s too hot here in the day time). I finally saw a doc and got a prescription for valium on Monday, which appears to have done the trick… at last, zzzzzzzzzzzzz!!

Meanwhile, Marc arrived in Singapore yesterday AM, and was able to with just a few hours rest delve straight back into work. We had a lovely Dim Sum lunch with my mom and a family friend and then off to NUS for meetings. These next few evenings will be busy with meeting up with family and friends as well, and so we will have to be productive work-wise during the day. We head to Phuket for a real vacation on Monday!

We've been fortunate to have been able to catch up with a number of friends albeit briefly and have a packed schedule for the rest of our time in Singapore. It's always great to come home and reconnect with childhood and JC friends..... somethings never change, but it is somewhat amusing to see peers married, about to get married or having babies! I guess I'm a source of amusement for some of them too --- who would have thought the underachiever of the class would wind up in graduate school and now work in a university? well, perhaps the saying is true for me... "those who can't do, teach" (or in my case, research)!

~ Shuwen