Being Social

Ugh. When we woke up, it was POURING - not just cats and dogs. Nope, I'm pretty sure I saw an elephant fall from the sky. I started calling for taxis the minutes I rolled out of bed at 5:30 to no avail. Amazingly, Tom found one right outside the complex! We got to school on time!

I dreaded trying to figure out how to get back home and then lo and behold...one of the moms from Maisie's class invited me to join her and some other moms for breakfast downstairs. There are certain advantages to having a school in a mall! I'm so glad it rained! I got to meet some really lovely women. None of them were American which made me as happy as a lark. It was so nice to meet people with different perspectives. That's kind of the reason I want the kids to go to a local preschool. All of them raved about WeeCare making me all the happier that I found this school.

Then I booked it out to Dempsey Hill, once again looking for trinket to take home - something from here. That's a tall order since hardly anything is made here. Singapore is a conglomeration of Asia with very little original stuff. I finally found something that I like - something LOCAL. It's a pair of decorative archways from an antique shophouse here. Now I just have to decide if I like 'em enough to make the schlep home with them.

I always get to school a little early for pick up. I adore watching the kids come out to find their mothers or helpers. Hudson is usually the happiest to see his mommy, by far - but not today. Turns out, he had a bumpy day at school. He was so wound up that he was hitting the teacher and others. He got a time out - as he well should have. He had to stay 15 minutes late and then moped his way out to me and then just sat their sniveling over and over. It was pretty cute. When he got home, he took a 2.5 hour nap! Maisie had a fabulous day - which means I also had a fabulous day.

Tonight, Tom went to a reception that basically included everybody in the coal business in Singapore - a perfect way to wrap things up. Me? Fred and Typhaine invited me to join a dinner party they gave for their neighbors and another friend who might be moving here. We obviously had a great time because we didn't make it home til 1:30! Holy cow! Cheryl made a fabulous sweet & sour fish. It's nice to entertain with a helper. She does all the work so Fred and Typhaine could actually interact with their guests. How lovely! I really do like those two.

Their friend Christina works in advertising and explained something cool to me: the reason Asians like skin whitening products is because a tan means they work in the fields. We're the opposite. A tan means we have the money to hang by the pool.  Fascinating!