What's up, Doc?

NOTE: BUMMER! I've tried and tried, but the pictures keep replacing themselve with the same photo. The site management folks are working on things. Bear with me! 

It finally happened. I finally ate something I hated here. Not bad when you consider I’ve been here for a month now and I make a point of trying something new every single day!

The culprit is called Nasi Lemak. It LOOKED good, a banana-leaf wrapped bundle advertised as one of the house specialties. I’ve had other banana-leaf wrapped delights so I was all excited - until I opened my pouch!

 OH MY GOD! Quick - wrap it up! Wrap it up! It smelled to high heaven. There was some sort of dried fish (complete with head!) under some rice with a weird sauce (shrimp paste perhaps?) 

When I went back to get something else, a patron nearby came over concerned. “Is your rice not hot enough? They’ll heat it for you.” “No, sorry. I just don’t like it.” She looked hurt and stunned.

I’ve had food at this place before - a chain called “Toast Box.” They’re known for something called kaya toast which is a favorite here in Singapore. Basically? It’s white toast with the crust cut off, slathered with some kind of jam and a SLICE of butter. Now that was good!

 

Two things really impressed me about this place: the man making the coffee prepared it a bit like the Moroccans make tea. He poured steaming coffee from pot to pot and then did this massive pour - from way up in the air. What fun to watch! Though the guys in Morocco add another two feet of air to the pour.

 

The other thing took my breath away. I saw it and said, “Oh Uncle Jim!” Why Uncle Jim? Because nobody I know in the world likes butter like my Uncle Jim. This butter (margarine actually) was a mound at least two feet high - maybe more! YUM!

 

Today was interesting, too, because I had to take Hudson to the doctor to get his Hep A booster. It was too soon to get it at home before we left. The practice was recommended to me by Typhaine and was actually kind of... dare I say...serene. The waiting room was like a specialist waiting room in the U.S. There was nice furniture and a few toys. Outside in the front yard of grass sat a small playground. The doctor I saw only just moved here from the U.K. last year. She spent a long time with me talking about Maisie primarily.

Maisie has sensory integration disorder and qualifies for a lot of therapy. A big part of the reason we live in Chappaqua is because they have some of the best free services in the country. Next year, she’s supposed to get OT 2x a week, speech 2x a week and a SEIT (special therapist who works in the classroom) 5 days a week.

As I already pretty much knew, it’s going to be hard to match that here. Very few schools offer therapy at all and I am now in touch with all of them. I can possibly arrange to take her to one of two hospitals who offer services. Maisie could probably be fine without therapy as I think she’ll eventually test out of services, but one more year of therapy would definitely help her.

So that’s a big thing to consider when we make our decision about moving here.  

Hudson? Oh he wailed and wailed - until the nurse gave him a Starburst :-)

We're driving to Malacca (or Melaka) Malaysia tomorrow so I'll miss a day or two of blogging. Also, please note that I have figured out why my pictures were repeating (user error!) and now all the  photos SHOULD be right!