Food and Passports

All of Singapore is under construction. Truly. Everywhere you look, you see bulldozers and cranes much to Hudson's delight. The city is growing by leaps and bounds. Most days, it doesn't bother me, but today they're doing construction near - or perhaps in - our building. The whole apartment is shaking and there's a loud, constant growl. Just our luck we're stuck inside because of rain. What fun.

I started the morning at the US Consulate getting pages added to my passport. Thank goodness we can do that! It's so civil here! I made an appoinment online and arrived at 9. After going through an incredibly thorough security screening and checking my cell phones, I went inside and waited til my number was called - about 5 minutes. I handed over my passport, paid and left. I pick it up on Monday. Done. 

Our embassy is by far the most forbidding of the all resembling a fortress of sorts. I guess it has to be in this days and times. I will say, however, that I have not once ran into the anti-American sentiment I've felt other places. 

The embassies are all massive structures. Ours sits between the Australian and British embassies. I'm not sure if they're all there or not as those are the only ones I saw. They're in an area called Tanglin.

Tanglin is on the other end of Orchard from us. Orchard is the main shopping drag - the Fifth Avenue of Singapore, if you will. Lots and lots of expats live there. I'd heard that the Tanglin Mall has all sorts of things I can't find in other grocery stores like Cold Storage or Fair Price. So I went to check it our for myself.

The store is beautiful - cleaner and neater than any store in the US. All the grocery stores I've seen so far are beautiful. This pix was taken at Cold Storage. I love all the "weird" fruits and vegetables you can buy here. We've tried a few like Jambu (bell-shaped, red fruit that is sort of like an apple) and mangostein. The mangostein is very sweet, a bit like a mango meets a kiwi in flavor. Yum!

I'm astonished at how many familiar foods are in the stores. Yes, there are things I haven't seen, but the arra of American foods available is staggering. True to what I'd heard, Tanglin Mall had even more Western foods and I was able to buy Maisie's favorite pizza, Amy's organic spinash pizza (or as we call it, "Dragon Pizza") as well as all sorts of other American favorites. The mall also had a lot of nice stores i'd like to visit for clothes and furnishings! I need to make a trip back!

If it was just me, I'd be buying new-to-me Asian food and call it a day, but kids can only be asked to eat "weird" stuff just so many times a week. In truth, they're doing pretty good with the new food thing, but comfort foods are comfort foods.

Unfortunately, comfort foods here cost and arm and a leg. So do diapers. It costs about $20 for a week's supply! I went to Tanglin Mall to specifically to hunt Hudson's diapers. The other stores have Pampers, but they're not like the Pampers we get at home. They have a weird, water-proof-like outside layer. Today, I found Pampers Cruisers which are our favorites, but they only go up to Size 5 here whereas at home, you can buy a Size 6. Either, Asians potty train faster than we do or they're just smaller in stature. Then again, Hudson is only in the 40th percentile in the US so it's not like he's a bruiser. Unfortunate because he has no interest whatsoever in potty training. Oh sure, he likes to sit on the potty - in all his clothes. Once in a while, I can get his clothes off, but it's a struggle. He is definitely not ready. Bummer.

The one thing I have yet to find here though I've searched high and low is a rubber bath mat. They simply don't sell them here. Poor Hudson falls down in the tub or shower almost every night. I tried a couple of other things, but nothing works as well as a real bath mat. Incredible. 

The kids and I ventured out to the post office and lunch where Hudson screamed his head off the entire time. It was about to pour so we headed back home where we are now stuck watching okto, the local version of Nickelodeon. You can get Nick here, but you have to pay.

Okay -must tend to my cranky kids before Tom and I head out for date night with Penelope and her husband!

Comments

[sari shaw]

Shocker that another country would be more civilized than ours!
Happy to hear you are settling in. Hudson will come around to potty training. They all do!