The kids have slept 12 hours for the past three nights (though Tom and I are still struggling with jet lag). Tempers are beginning to settle. Routines are being established: up at 7, Life is starting to be a bit more normal - well, sort of.
I'm not sure what normal is here, but I know it's not the run, run, run that we've been doing. I decided if I'm trying to decide if we can live here, I need to have a few more normal days. Plus, the kids just need a rest. Hell, so do I!
So today we got up and instead of rushing off to some tourist spot, we leisurely poked around the flat. The kids played with toys. I checked emails and wrote a bit. At 10:45, we headed out to run errands.
I love running errands in foreign countries. To me, nothing makes you feel more away from home than the grocery store. I love walking down the aisles looking at all the stuff you can't get at home - only here's the catch: most everything I see, I CAN get at home!
Sure, there are things that I've never seen before. I adore that stuff. I was thinking today that maybe I'd buy one new food every time I go to the store. Not only are there new-to-me Asian foods, but foods from Europe and the Middle East that I can't find at home. The only thing I can't find so far that I really wanted to buy? Hot dogs that look normal. The couple I have found are filled with nitrates and MSG so that's not an option.
Some things are far more expensive - like cheese. Remember, Singapore is an island so EVERYTHING must be brought from abroad. If you're curious about prices, here's a site to check out prices: http://www.qbfood.com.sg/path/index.php.
The one thing you won't see here is chewing gum. Nope. It's against the law. There's a $500 fine if you're caught with it!That's because they want to keep Singapore the cleanest city on Earth.
The pharmacy is equally interesting. Two tidbits: Advil, Tylenol and the like are only available with a prescription. I read that before we left so I brought my own. The other really odd thing to me is that while we have all these lotions to give us a glow or tan, here they have "whitening" lotions! People always want what they don't have!
I think this disdain for tans is why so many Asians walk around in long sleeves - even in this heat! Cheryl told me she is afraid of the sun!
For dinner, we've asked that we have some kind of Asian food every night. Tonight, Cheryl made us a Thai curry. Yum! And she taught me how to use a rice cooker. It's not very hard, but I've never used one so.. now I have!
You know, I may not quite know how to handle the whole "help" thing, but I do love the fact that she cooks every night!
