Homesick - and Heartsick

My Uncle Jim had a stroke yesterday. I don't know much more than that. So for the first time, I'm really, really missing home. If I was in the US, I could drive to Albany and be with my family - give them hugs, make them food, distract my cousin's daughter. Being on the other side of the globe right now is pretty tough.

Uncle Jim was my mother's brother and he and his family lived only a block away when I was growing up. He is truly the nicest human being on the planet, bar none. He's witty. He's charming. He's a gifted writer. He is the walking definition of kindness. He and my aunt are the two most in love people I've ever known. He was a fantastic brother to my mother.

Jim and his wife Georgann traveled from Midland to Albany so he could have a hip replacement surgery. My cousin Dana is an OT and has relationships with all the doctors in Albany so Uncle Jim (who is absolutely terrified of hospitals) had finally agreed to the surgery in Albany. I think his hip pain had simply gotten too bad. The surgery was scheduled for yesterday, but he had a stroke a couple of hours before he was due at the hospital.

Prayers. Please send your prayers.

Sitting around staring at four walls was simply a bad idea so we headed to Suntec City, yet another giant mall here. I'd heard there was alot of kid stuff there. True, but not necessarily the quality of the others. Look at me! I'm getting so picky!

We started at Carrefours, the French Walmart. Wahoo! Then we hit an outdoor playground on the roof. Bleh.

Back inside, we started looking for food. I was thinking food court, but Maisie heard the word "buffet" and was all gung ho. Japanese buffet, however, may not have been quite what she had in mind.

In fact, the only thing that either kid ate was fruit. I will give Hudson a big round of applause. He saw my salmon sashimi and begged to try it. The table of ten Japanese people next to us watched with baited breath and broke out into mad laughter when he licked it then shuddered from head to toe. We were the only Westerners in the whole place.

I was happy to have my first sushi in Asia, but I ended up eating mostly all the stuff I'd collected for the kids to try. Sigh. The one thing I did eat - that I LOVED - was a tiny eclair. I only got it because they're my Uncle Jim's favorite. 

 

Then we went to Hokey Pokey, another indoor playground for kids. This playground was a bit like Royce's - filled with lots of toys - only not as many toys. Most of the kids were under two and - again - we were the only Westerners in the room. Everybody else was Asian, mostly Japanese I think. The plus of going by myself with the kids is that I really played with them versus talking to other moms. Outside of the usual cars and trains, Hudson was fascinated with a workbench and tools. Maisie liked the big Barbie head with hair to style. The nice things about these places is that they give you an idea what kinds of toys your kids might like.

It wasn't my favorite day, but we saw a new place and that's the key. Even more important, I kept myself busy. I rushed home for an update, but none was waiting.

Prayers. Prayers. Prayers.

Update on Tuesday, August 21, 2012 at 8:55AM by Melinda Murphy Hiemstra

I spoke with my cousin last night and I feel much better. Uncle Jim is doing as well as can be expected. They caught the stroke in time so he qualified for a surgical procedure to treat the clot. He's regained much of the use of his arm and leg and seems to have all his cognitive skills, but he's still not out of the woods yet. He's had a seizure since the stroke and is absolutely exhausted and scared. The stroke affected his left side. The hip replacement was to be on the right hip so he's got a long road ahead of him. Surprisingly, he still wants the hip surgery, but obviously, that is on hold for now. Time will tell. 

Keep those prayers coming.

A Day of Feasting!

"What the heck am I supposed to do with that?!"

I'll admit it: I looked at Long Beach Seafood's famed Chilli Crab with anticipation as well as a little bit of fear when the server put it in front of me. It was gorgeous - sure - but I really had no idea how to eat the darn thing. It was huge and still in it's shell as well as buried in a lot of messy, red sauce. I was more than a bit relieved when she asked me if I wanted her to take it out of the shell. Wahoo! Thank God she did it because to do so, she had to wear not one, but two layers of gloves!

The chilli crab is a famous Singaporean dish and was supposedly developed at Long Beach Seafood. It was yummy - a bit spicy, but not too much so. Yup - yummy! However, if I'm being completely honest, I'm not sure it's worth all the hype. 

I had no idea that Long Beach Seafood was next door to The Polliwogs when I suggested to Glenn that we meet there. As a reminder, Glenn is a journalist and a friend of Yasmin. He has a lovely wife and two kids. Katie is 6 and Max is 3 and we've been tryin to get our kids together for weeks now. I'm not sure they'll want to see us again since Maisie stomped on Max's stomach. What the heck? Honestly, they're the nicest darn people on the planet. They treated! That's the second meal Glenn has bought me. He doesn't even know me and my kid stomped on his kid.

Glenn and his family got a sea bass which was somehow fried and then covered in a sweet soy sauce. It was far tastier than the crab if you ask me. The kids all shared fried rice and something called cereal prawns which was medium-sized shrimp fried somehow in a crispy cereal-like substance - maybe oatmeal, maybe granola - I wasn't really sure. Maisie liked it, but Hudson LOVED it! He coudn't shovel the stuff in fast enough. I've decided he's really bored with my basic kid food. This kid is a gourmand!

The kids loved the giant tanks holding all the fresh seafood. They're common at the seafood restaurants here showcasing all sorts of things I've never seen before - things I'm not sure I want to try!

This was my first trip to "East" which refers to the area along the East Coast park where a lot of folks live. It's a long, skinny, nice park that runs right along the Singapore Strait complete with beach, biking and walking tracks. 

Today is a national holiday here though Tom had to work. It's called Hari Raya Puasa and it marks the end of Ramadan, an Islamic month of fasting. That means today was all about eating! The park was PACKED with locals having giant picnics and BBQs. I didn't quite realize that The Polliwogs (which wasn't as big and nice as the new one at Robertson Quay) was RIGHT on the park. I didn't bring the proper clothes to really enjoy the beach so the kids and I just strolled along for a while. Okay- they ran and I screamed "freeze" every few feet. 

I have never, ever seen so many ships offshore. Tom says many are waiting to refuel. Whatever the case, there were hundreds and hundreds of ships on the horizon much to Hudson's delight. The ships are of all shapes and sizes each with a completely different purpose - fascinating.

East Coast is a Sg$10 cab ride or so from where we live that takes maybe 20 minutes. Apparently, you get a lot more space for your money there, but it's far from everything including mass transit - everything, but the beach.  Hopefully, I'll get a chance to see a couple of apartments when I head out with the realtor on Friday.

The Istana!

 

From Wikipedia: The Istana is the official residence and office of the President of Singapore. Meaning "palace" in Malay, it is where the president receives and entertains state guests. The Istana is also the working office of the Prime Minister of Singapore. 

Five times a year, The Istana is open to the public. That's it - five times! Luckily, today was one of those days and it just happens to be about a 20 minute walk from us. So we got out the door bright and early - which actually didn't go all that smoothly. Imagine two, screaming, hungry kids who wanted nothing, but to watch a movie and eat breakfast at home. The neighbors already hate us, but after this morning with the kids hollering on the porch, I'm pretty sure they're plotting our demise.

On the way there, we stopped at this coffee place around the corner from us: Killiney Kopitiam. It looks like an absolute dump - very bare bones -  but the joint is always packed with locals and is apparently quite a Singaporean institution. The one near us is the original, but there are many more locations now. We ordered what everybody else eats for breakfast: two incredibly - and I mean incredibly - runny eggs, kaya toast and coffee with condensed milk. I'm not even sure the eggs are all that safe when they're cooked so little, but hey, peopel have been eating them that way forever here. Actually, Asians eat a lot of eggs: fried on top of rice, hard-boiled in many noodle dishes and runny. The kids got french toast. For good measure? We also got their famous version of Laksa which some folks eat for breakfast here, too. Yummy! I'm happy to eat good laksa any time fo day.

We made it to The Istana by 9 and after going through security and shelling out $1 each, we strolled right in without any kind of wait. When we left at 10:30, the line was incredibly long. Wahoo! Getting up early paid off - despite ticking off the neighbors! There were very few westerners all told though Tom actually ran into somebody he knows - an Aggie! There are a LOT of Texans here.

The grounds are absolutely gorgeous. It sits on 106 acres smack dab in the middle of Singapore, a country on an island where real estate is incredibly pricey. I can't imagine what this place is worth. 

No pictures are allowed inside the house. I even looked on line so I could swipe a few for the blog, but nope - I couldn't find a one. The rooms are very grand and tastefully decorated with massive chandeliers, or as Maisie called them, "princess lights." Most interesting perhaps was the room full of gifts given to Singapore by other countries. There was an incredible collection of blades - some silver, some gold, all stunning. There were sculptures out of wood and teapots out of silver - I mean - some really gorgeous, extravagant gifts. The US? I only saw a dinky crystal elephant, probably about 8" tall. That's it! The other countries have lavished gifts on this country and we have given that? I guess it's good. We're not wasting our money on stuff that sits in glass cases. I guess you don't have to give fancy stuff when you're the biggest and most powerful country in the world.

The lawn also had all sorts of activities for kids: a giant playground, face-painting, bird exhibit and more. The birth rate is very low in Singapore so they are constantly trying to promote how kid-friendly this place is (and it is!) The kids had a blast running like wild dogs across the grass.

Afterwards, we went to the local mall to run some quick errands, grab lunch at yet another interesting food court and then came home for a big swim. 

Tonight? Tom has figured out how to play movies on our TV that he's rented on his iPad. Tee hee!

A Full Day!

We've been thinking that maybe we should put the kids in school while we're here. At first, we thought traveling and adventuring would be enough of an education, but it's very hard to fill their days. More so, they need friends! I think they're a bit lonely though they really enjoy each other. Plus, with them in school, I can do a few more types of adult exploring. 

Today, we took a quick tour of a place called WeeCare which is where Mason goes. I've heard about it from several people. They also have a program for kids with special needs like Maisie who has sensory integration disorder. The school was very nice and they even have a rooftop playground. A lot of the preschools are in malls wihtout any outdoor space! Both kids would have instruction in Mandarin, too! Ha! The only thing is they already have 3 special needs kids in the 4s so the principal wanted to talk to the teachers first to see if they'd agree to take Maisie. Fingers crossed. I've also contacted several other schools. It's hard to find a good program that will take us for just a couple of months, but that also has special needs knowledge is next to impossible to find. 

This week, they're doing a special unit on firefighters and they had different areas set up: a place for dressing up, triage area, a building where they can pretend to fight fires as well as a craft table for making firefighter hats.

I need to look at all schools though - just in case we come back for good. I think it might be best to put Maisie into a preschool if we come back rather than one of the expensive private schools even though she's old enough to attend. The private schools generally won't take special needs kids. Getting into the American School and some of the others is very, very competitive. Afterall, the schools here are considered the best in the world. She'll probably test out of therapy by the end of next year which means she can then attend any of the private schools. 

After we looked at WeeCare, we took a taxi to Holland Village, an area where lots of expats live. I had high hopes for it as the houses are larger and it's not all that far from the center of town, but there's only one street with shops and the subway station is kind of far from the homes. Oh well... we'll keep looking.

Tonight we had quite an adventure without the kids! 

We met Penny and Mike at a place called Din Tai Fung. The New York Times called it "one of the best 10 restaurants in the world." I wouldn't go that far - not even close, but it was pretty special. It's a Taiwanese cafeteria for lack of a better description. There are lots of them around the city. In fact, I think there are some in the US even. Surprisingly, the restaurant was not filled with tourists, but rather locals - a sure sign of yumminess!

Din Tai Fung is famous for its pork dumplings. No wonder! They are spectacular! Truly! They are unlike any dumplings I've ever had. On the outside, they are gorgeous, twisted into little works of art. Inside, they have tiny pork balls suspended in a broth. When you bite into them, the liquid squirts into your mouth. 

As you wait for your table, you can watch them making the dumplings. It takes 5 guys! One makes the dough, one cuts it, one rolls it, one stuffs it, one twists it. Amazing!

We had other things, too... all equally yummy. 

After dinner, the real adventure began! We took a taxi to Night Safari!!! The Singapore Zoo was the first in the world to open a special section featuring nocturnal animals. Being in the zoo at night was really cool! I felt like quite the explorer, walking down the torchlit trails peeking in on animals you normally don't get to see active all while sipping my first Singapore Sling in the country. 

I took a couple of pictures before I realized that you're not supposed to use your flash! In fact, the flash can blind the animals! I felt TERRIBLE once I realized that! Oh dear God. I couldn't figure out how to turn off my flash so there aren't a lot of photos. 

We saw "The Creatures of the Night" show, took the tram and hiked all the trails. The best part of the show was the reaction of the two audience participants: a little boy with a critter sniffing his hands for a grape and a full grown man wrapped against his will in a giant boa! They also pretended an animal was loose in the audience! Such fun for the kids!

My favorite exhibit was perhaps the bat area. I've got a soft spot for bats since I did a story on them at CBS. These were giant fruit bats hanging maybe - oh I don't know - two feet away from us?! 

Yup - the Night Safari is definitely a cool thing to do here - maybe my favoriate thing yet!

Thinking Outside the Box

Used to be, I loved waking up to the sound of rain. There was something so peaceful about the gentle pitter patter of the drops announcing the start of a lazy day ahead. Now that I'm a mom of two toddlers in Singapore without many toys in the apartment nor a car to escape the four walls here, the sound of rain sends shivers down my spine - with good reason as it turned out today. It didn't help that I woke up on the wrong side of the bed and never quite found my way back. When Maisie is cranky like that, we call it Bombaloo after a book we read about tantrums. I was Bombaloo today and wanted nothing more than to crawl out of my skin. I needed to get out and about! I figured out too late I forgot to change my hormone patch today. Thank God there's such thing as hormone replacement otherwise, I'd be coming apart at the seams after my surgery. As anybody who knew me during all my fertility treatments, I'm not so good with changes in hormone levels.

The morning was an ugly one. The rain showed no signs of stopping. We watched the same old videos that we brought, played some games, did some art and then just kind of stared at each other. FINALLY, the rain let up and we headed out with Hudson wailing because he wanted to walk on the busy street. Letting him walk to the fireworks the other night was a huge mistake because all he wants to do now is walk, but it's too dangerous for him. Sigh. The trials of an independent toddler...! He also insisted on wearing his heavy raincoat even though the rain had long stopped!

With Hudson napping, Maisie and I had a mother/daughter lunch at a place she suggested: Charlie Brown's. That kid has an amazing memory of things she's seen in passing and - yet more impressive - remembers exactly where she saw them. I think she might be able to walk home by herself from a whole host of places. She is frighteningly observant.

Afterwards, we did nothing important - bought some more videos (thank God!), visited the local indoor mall playground and ran general errands. The kids at the playground were ALL wild! I mean - out and out madness had taken over each and every child, screaming and running with all their might. Maisie crashed into another girl at full speed and busted her lip. NO biggie. It actually gave us a great excuse to leave. On the way home, we went to the grocery store and - for once - Hudson didn't wail - well - not too much. Wahoo!

Since our day was so blah, let me talk about TV. It's been a bigger part of our life here than it ever was in the U.S. which is a huge shame. There is one, free, kids channel here that doesn't even start until 9AM. If we were living here for good, we could pay for Nickelodeon and a couple of other channels, but for now, we have to watch a lot of videos. At home, we could do view-on-demand of just about any kid-friendly show on TV. Darn! I need TV to keep the kids quiet early in the morning so the neighbors don't freak. Otherwise, they run acround screaming and chasing each other. The floors here are paper thin.

When we're not out and about, we do a few arts and crafts, play some games and read some books, but they eventually end up in front of the TV. That means we've now watched the same 20 videos a million times. I can almost recite them by heart. Rah. That's why we bought some more today!

I feel fairly confident this TV-thing will change when we get back to New York. If we move here permanently, we'll have lots of toys, school and activities so TV will be less of a crutch. I'm longing for the time when rainy days don't automatically mean TV.

For me, TV is less a part of my life on this side of the planet. There are a zillion different channels in just about every language: English, Mandarin, Malay, Indian - you name it. All of them are very different from what we would consider prime time fare. Some channels have subtitles in both Mandarin and English. There's very little of the picture left to see! Often there are English subtitles even when people are speaking English because there is such a wide variety of accents here. 

On the Chinese channel tonight, there was some weird show that had these frightening, yet comical characters in a sci-fi setting. The creatures were going to eat a monk, but the monk turned out to be an evil pig.

On the Indian channel, there is apparently some kind of American Idol for little girl dancers. 

The news aired a story about Muslim fashion models.

We do get CNN and several business news channels. Business news is king here.  In general, Asian television news programs sucks. The production quality is frightening - almost on par with college stations. Seriously. The most well produced of all the news channels is Russia Today, an English language channel primarily focused on Russia. All Asian news is far more international in scope. The big $US 337M jackpot in Michigan made the local news here tonight. There are very few Americans on TV (if any) so while a part of me thinks it'd be easy to parlay my vast news experience into a job here, the other part of me isn't so sure. I know very little about Asian affairs and perhaps even less about business news. That doesn't bode well for me not only as a reporter, but also as a producer.

Having worked in morning television for years and years, I always at least watch the morning headlines at home. I've seen them twice here - and that was this week! The anchors are quite likable, but again, the show has no production value. It's very bland. How I miss my morning news!

While it's fun to see what's on all these channels, at night, there are very few channels of interest to actually watch. Gone are my favorite episodic shows. What's going to happen on "Grey's Anatomy?" "Breaking Bad?" Oh the drama! I better darn well be able to watch them on view-on-demand when I get back! You'd think I'd be reading more, but I'm writing this blog and crashing generally. The heat just sucks the life right out of me.

The only type of American TV I've seen here is "Minute to Win It," "Wipeout" and a couple of other prime time game shows. For a while, "30 Rock" was on every night. They had a preview week of a slew of HBO channels which was oh so exciting! Now it's back to all the food shows as well as "smart" TV like BBC Knowledge, National Geographic Discovery, TLC and Animal Planet. I'm learning a lot of interesting things here! 

If we move here permanently, we'll have to investigate things like iTunes movies and slingboxes. I can only learn just so much after a day of mothering toddlers!