Rain, Rain Go Away

December is monsoon season in Singapore and it seems like this season has been worse than others. Case in point: we've been trying to go for a bike ride for a month. At least.

It all started on November 13 (happy birthday, Daddy!) when we decided to go for a bike ride and to hike Mount Faber. The plan was to bike to Kyle's work, let him do his experiment (I mentioned before that the past few months have been very hands-on with the science), and then head to Mount Faber.

We were almost to the lab when it started raining, so we took cover under a palm tree.

Those things are amazingly efficient at water repelling. We didn't even get that wet. We waited for a break and biked the last distance to the lab in drizzle.

Once Kyle was finished with work we left the bikes in the garage and decided to take a bus to Mount Faber and hike instead. (I hadn't been entirely sure about biking and anything called "mount" anyway.) By the time we reached the bus stop, it was really coming down.

It cleared up again when we actually got to Mount Faber and the hike up wasn't bad. But at the top it started again. There was a cable car on display near the active cable car station. We ducked inside for some cover, and ended up staying there for a good 20-30 minutes until there was a break.

We passed the time by taking silly pictures and posting them on Facebook. As you do.

Between then and now we've made one more actual attempt and tried a few other times, but have been thwarted by the rain each time. Water on the road and traffic just don't lend themselves well to biking home in December.

Our most recent attempt was on Saturday. We intended to get up, get to lab to do a quick experiment, and get on the road. Our plans were derailed almost immediately. First, the subway was down and what should be a 40 minute trip took two hours of bus+walking+train. The science went quickly, but then we went down to the garage to get our bikes and Kyle's tire was flat. By this point it was drizzling again, but we decided to at least walk/ride to the bike shop to get a new tire. We only made it to the end of the block before the monsoon began. We hung out under cover for a while before giving up and sloshing back to the garage. This time Kyle was much less smiley in our "stuck in the rain" pictures.

Now it's Christmas week and we're not sure when we'll get the bikes home again (if ever). It's very sad. And soggy.