Day three: Maisie continues to be in a good mood! Even so, our downstairs neighbor banged on our door this morning complaining about the noise - this time happy sounds. Sigh. Poor guy. He won't win on this one. Kids are kids and no matter how I ply them with early morning TV and electronics, they are loud. I feel sorry for the poor fella. Tom hates him.
With Maisie in a good mood at long last, I now can turn my attention to more important matters like what my weight is doing.
I eat Asian food primarily which means I'm eating lots of noodles and rice. Yummy! I have no idea what the calorie count is since I don't even recognize half the ingredients in my meals!
On the other hand, I walk everywhere for hours on end, often pushing a double stroller loaded for bear with 50+ pounds of kids. I also swim every afternoon though not lap-swimming, but rather play-with-the-kids swimming. All of this while dealing with the heat. Surely, combating the heat is burning up calories, don't you think?
Yes dammit, the heat is still here - worse than ever. I'm seriously considering buying some gel packs for my bra. You know the kind? The ones nursing moms use to give up breast-feeding? Yup - I'm thinking they'll cool me off and give me added cleavage to boot. Maybe I should patent that idea and sell it to Victoria's Secret? Surely there are other hot women in the world willing to try anything to cool off?
I took the kids around the corner to the Curry Puff for lunch. They both wolfed down Chicken Puffs which are like moon-shaped chicken pot pies. They are far easier to eat than our version of the same. The friend bananas, however, were not a hit at all. Stunner. Maisie wanted a croissant for dessert, not a chocolate croissant, just a plain one. It's her new discovery and she asks for them daily.
Then since Maisie was in such a good mood, I decided to visit Tom's office. What was I thinking?
Financial areas are not meant for kids. Negotiating the street with a double-wide ain't easy - nope - ain't easy at all. Heck, just FINDING the lift is a challenge. Tom? He walks a couple of blocks (more like gimps since his GOOD Achilles is hurting him!), rides the MRT two stops and walks two minutes to his building. The same 20-minute trip took me frickin' forever! When we got out of the subway, Maisie said, "Mommy, we're in New York City!" For her, any place with really tall buildings is NY and I guess it all does kind of look the same - except there are far more plants here.
Tom works on the 40th floor of the Ocean Financial Center near the Raffles Hotel. The front lobby is very sleek and the area where folks eat lunch is pretty cool. He has a tiny closet for an office. Of course, his office is far bigger than Cheryl's bedroom. Even so, I think he can literally touch the walls with his arms outstretched. The worst part is there's no window. That's a shame because he COULD have an amazing view of the bay including the Marina Bay Sands Hotel (that cool boat-on-top place) and the science center. I walked along the bay and tried to get a cab. No luck - just more frickin' heat. FINALLY I found one and the guy took us to Sentosa because he totally didn't understand me! That's like saying you're on the Upper West Side, ask to go to the Upper East Side and end up at Battery Park. However, folks are really nice here and he took me where I'd asked without even batting an eye or charging me anything. Yesterday, my cab broke down on the way home from Joy's and my cabbie jumped out and got me another one. In the subway, there are uniformed people to help you navigate your trip. Imagine!
I give Tom a lot of credit. He's here trying to make contacts which is a slow-going process. He's gone from a very busy, transactional day surrounded by friends in a very jovial office to sitting alone in a box hoping people will return his phone calls. He works incredibly long hours dealing with both Asia and the US. If he pulls it off, he'll be a hero. I really admire him for braving something new. Some days are good. Some days aren't so good. Today was interesting. He dropped his new cell phone down the elevator shaft 29 floors. So now he's already on his second phone in two weeks!
We stopped for ice cream. I think the ice cream is throwing the noodle/walking ratio off. Maisie danced for everybody in the middle of the mall and then we ended the day like we end most days... with a swim. Both kids are now swimming with just float belts and want very little help from Mommy or Cheryl. Bad news since - for the first time EVER - I ran out of swim diapers and Hudson was paddling around the pool today diaperless. Yes, it happened. Hudson pooped. Dear God! At home, they close the pool and shock it with chlorine when that happens. Oh the shame!
Time to eat some more of Cheryl's yummy cooking...some kind of noodle concoction! Tomorrow, we'll take a ferry for a weekend in Bintan so there may be a delay in my blog. Stay tuned!
