Expat Living

I'll admit it. At first, I was jealous. In all the years that I was a network correspondent, I never got to ride out a hurricane, only cover the aftermath of storms like Katrina, Charlie and Floyd. Tom is in Shanghai tonight, scheduled to return Thursday morning. There's a typhoon hitting there tomorrow. It's not a big typhoon - from what I can tell - but a typhoon just the same. Their measurements are different from ours, but it looks like it'll be a Category 1. No biggie, right?

Then I started really thinking about it. Hurricane Irene hit the East Coast last year. I was there for thatand rode it out at home with Tom and our friends the Goldbergs. By the time it hit Chappaqua, it was only a tropical storm and we still lost power for five days - and we were in the US! What in the world will happen in China? They've already been dealing with (and badly dealing at that) flooding in Beijing.

So I've gone from envy to pure worry. Tom will be fine. He knows how to take care of himself, but still... Tom doesn't seem worried in the least and in typical Tom fashion, he's out to dinner with clients as the storm is hitting.

Our day here was pretty much the opposite of a storm - surprisingly so as Maisie got up at 1 with a nightmare and got very little sleep. I finally put her back in her own bed at 5 and Hudson woke up at 6:20. Lucky me. So much for staying up to watch the Olympics! They finally had something on at a normal time last night that intereested me: diving. I expected a day of meltdowns, but there were very few. Want to know something funny? Cheryl didn't know there was a winter olympics? Why would she? They have no winter sports here!

We took a taxi to the Tanglin Mall - known as the expat mall - where we grabbed grub at the food court and I had my first Indian food since I've arrived. Yum! Then, we walked around a bit hoping Hudson would fall asleep in the stroller - and he did! Cheryl hung with the kids while I shoe shopped - a short-lived experience. 

Did I tell you the news about my feet? They've grown! I already had size 11 and was teased my entire childhood about them. I suspected things had changed after I had babies. When the 20-year-old, pimply shoes salesman at the Westchester Mall gave the news that my feet were now measuring a size 12, I burst into tears. Poor guy didn't know what to do. Size 12's are pretty much impossible to find in the US. Thank God for Zappos. Here? Well, Asians don't have big feet. I will never, ever be able to buy a single pair of shoes in Asia. I find myself wishing my mom bound my feet when I was a baby.

I wonder if Asians still think small feet are beautiful. Eegads..

I had planned to look at clothes with Cheryl there to watch the kids. I didn't try on a single thing. I dunno. I think Cheryl's too good of a cook and I felt icky - and tired from the wakeful child marathon. So with nary a shopping bag in hand, we took a cab to meet Lisa and her 4-year-old son Grady and 2-year-old son Seamus.

How do I know Lisa? Well - this is complicated: stick with me. My best friend growing up was a girl named Cathy. Cathy had a little sister name Christie who saw my post on Facebook that mentioned I was moving here. Turns out, one of her best friends lives here - a woman named Barbara. Barbara said, "Oh I have a friend who has kids your age" and put me in touch with Lisa. Ta da! She moved here from Brooklyn two years ago and is absolutely lovely. She'd have to be to invite a total stranger over for a swim date.

Lisa lives in an area called Tanglin which is known for its expat community. It's not far from the other end of the big shoppig street called Orchard. There are lots of different living arrangements there: landed houses (individual homes with property), semi-detached homes, apartments, the works.

Lisa lives in a 3-bedroom apartment building and has it furnished with all sorts of things I really like. She says she gets a lot of it at a place called Galanga Living. I have to go! Her complex is far bigger and older than the one where we're living. The pool is a traditional rectangle where the kids had a ball all afternoon. The community also has a playground.

We all had a ball and it was a good way for me to start checking out new locations. Lots to decide!