Pictured is Joycey, my grandmother, who came to visit me in Singapore. She could only stay 36 hours as she was on her way to Budapest to get on a cruise that went through Austria, Germany, The Netherlands etc. As you do. She is enjoying a Singapore Sling (the first of many that day I’d like to point out) at the famous Raffles Long Bar.

Working as an Osteopath in Singapore was very different to working in Sydney. In Sydney the average person at least knows what an Osteopath is for example. And in Sydney you have a wide variety of health practitioners whereas in Singapore there are only about 25 Osteopaths (which is why no one knows what we do), a handful of Chiro’s, some locally trained Physio’s (not that there’s anything wrong with that) and a plethora of orthopaedic surgeons. So most people who came to see me had been suffering for 5 or more years and were about to have their 3rd operation or 15th injection. Seeing people like that made work very challenging but also very interesting.

I did a lot of things that I hadn’t done previously, like write articles for magazines and websites, and give talks to groups of new mums, sporting associations, and schools. It was really enjoyable and I got to see the value of building relationships with a wide variety of people, and got to see how sharing information can take you from helping someone one-on-one to helping a large number of people at once. It’s something I hope to do more of this year.

And being one of only a few people in town who did this type of work meant I was put forward a couple of times to help out some more famous clients, including a Formula 1 driving world champion and a Hollywood A-lister.

We were lucky enough to be able to do a lot of travel to some amazing places. It’s so cheap (we once flew to Pnohm Penh, the capital of Cambodia, for SGD$10, which is about AUD$8) and everything is so close (Indonesia is a 40 minute ferry ride, Malaysia is just over the bridge, Koh Samui is 45 minutes etc) that you have to take advantage of that. I think Myanmar and Cambodia were probably my favourites, but Vietnam and Thailand are fantastic as well.

The food. Oh. My. God. In Singapore I was just the biggest glutton ever. The hawker food is outstanding and when it costs about $3 a meal you kind of let loose a bit. It was even better in other countries – in Myanmar you could get a banquet for $4 and in Thailand and Indonesia the seafood is so fresh, usually caught just off the beach you’re sitting on, scaled and gutted and steamed whole on the spot. I’d like to say I became a better cook over there but I think I just became better at eating. Luckily it was so hot I was able to sweat a fair bit of it off.

I have already had a lot of questions and yes, my lady and I are going well. We went over because of a great work opportunity for her and after totally killing it she has scored an even better job back here. We really enjoyed our time there and made some great friends but now it’s fantastic to be back in Sydney.

Chris.