Speedracer

 

Maisie cracks me up. She often tells our taxi driver, "You're going too fast. Slow down! It's dangerous to drive too fast."

Of course, this week it's been practically impossible to even get a taxi because the roads have been blocked off for the really fast drivers. The entire town has been getting ready for this weekend's Formula 1 race. Singapore's race is the only night version of the Formula 1. The cars race all through the downtown area, near the Marina and right by Tom's office.

For a couple of weeks, make-shift stores have cropped up on Orchard and a few other streets, hawking all sorts of race-related stuff. Cars have been on display for all to see. Everybody kept talking about the race and where we'd be to watch it. Tickets for the grandstand can go for more than $1000 though the ticket includes a view of the concerts. Last night at the qualifying round? Maroon 5 played. Tonight after the big race? Katy Perry was up. 

We were going to buy tickets for something called "The Walkabout" where you literally kind of wander about the street with access to this and that. I get the feeling you wouldn't see all that much (though Typhaine says otherwise), but it'd be fun to be in the middle of all the commotion. By the time we decided to fork out the $125 for last night's ticket, the darn thing was sold out! Walkabout tickets for race night are $168 so that was that.

Luckily, we'd already planned to spend tonight at Connie and Joe's fabulous 54th floor apartment overlooking the track. What a very civilized way to see the thing - high up and air-conditioned! Of course, part of me wanted to be on the ground watching the cars whiz by and feeling the sound pound my chest. I really wish my brother-in-law Jeff was here. He loves this stuff and could have explained it all to me a lot better. It'd be fun to watch it with somebody who really enjoys it.

 

The track was on the other side of the bay from us (see the brightly lit "stripe" above) but we could still see a lot of the race, including the one, seriously hard hairpin turn. We could watch the race on TV and then look out the window and see it as well. We all ran to the TV to see details about the one, not-so-serious wreck. More so, we could HEAR the race, all the way across the bay on the 54th floor. Cheryl said you could hear the race in our apartment and that's saying something!

The food was great and the company fabulous. Joe works for Exxon so we were the only non-Exxon folks at the party. It's a very weird thing hanging with Exxon people because most are from Texas. We all say "y'all" here in Asia!

One man there lived here in 1990. He explained to me that none of what we were looking at was here back then. Literally, everything we saw used to be the sea. I've explained this before, but Singapore didn't have a fresh water supply so the government created the bay and an intricate water drainage system across the island. Every time it rains, water then runs into the bay and forces the sea water back into the sea. The freshwater in the marina is actually the water supply for the entire country. Yes, we can drink the water from the faucet though it's not the best tasting water I've ever had.

Sadly, if we move here, we won't get to enjoy the company of most of these folks as Exxon is sending almost everybody back home in March. This is probably the last time we'll see this view at night, though Wednesday, Connie and Joe are having a third birthday party for Michael so we'll see them - and their place - one last time before we leave in a couple of weeks.

Afterwards, there were fireworks which we caught from the ground floor this time. They do fireworks here a lot - National Day, Race Day, New Year's, Chinese New Year's. I just love that! And for National Day, they rehearsed the fireworks for several weeks prior!

As for the kids, we played it very low key today. Our big accomplishment was going to the grocery and going swimming. Hopefully by tomorrow, they'll be all rested up for school. Legoland wore them out! I did pop over to see Typhaine, Fred and Emeline. What a cute baby! Of course, I'm a sucker for babies. I hadn't seen their apartment since we've been here. It's very nice and quite a lot bigger than ours. with lovely views. Their lease is up and now they're eyeing one of the ones I saw and posted on the blog. Hysterical!

Legoland!

When I was correspondent for CBS, I was assigned a story about a place in Enfield, Connecticut where they design all those cool "people" for Legoland. In typical CBS screwed-up style, the link combines two, different stories I did at CBS and put them into one story. Uh... wrong. 

Actually, that's kind of fitting because the story itself was a bit of a mess. First off, I had a brand, new producer working with me named Alison. She later became one of the strongest producers I know, but like all of us, she had to learn the ropes. She didn't research how long the drive would be, figuring anything in Connecticut is an hour or so away. Big mistake. This turned out to be a 3-hour drive so we were running very late. She'd planned a "walk-and-talk" through the facility. Unfortunately, the woman we were to interview was crippled and walked with braces and two canes. We were off to a bad start.

Believe it or not, things only got worse.

One of the designers walked out of his office with his brand new creation, Kobe Bryant's head. "I JUST finished it. I haven't even glued it together," glowed the designer, obviously quite proud of what he'd done. And why not? It looked exactly like Kobe Bryant. I mean, it was a dead ringer.

Our freelance photographer picked up his camera to get a shot of it and somehow hit the thing and it went flying into the air. It seemed to be moving in slow motion, end over end, and I swear I could hear "Chariots of Fire" playing in the background as we all tried to grab it to no avail. The head crashed to the floor and Legos flew every which way. The designer said, "It's okay. I can do it again," as he fought back tears. I was mortified.

Ever since, I've had a hankering to see all those designs at Legoland. I finally got my chance today!

When we told friends we were going to Legoland, everybody had something to say, none of it too positive. "You're crazy!" "It'll be a madhouse!" "All the rides won't be open yet." 

That's because Legoland Malaysia's grand opening was last weekend. Truth is, we wanted to go for the grand opening, but the bus service from Singapore wasn't all that operational just yet. So we waited and gave it a whirl weekend two. 

Verdict? Wonderful!

Amazingly, the place wasn't crowed at all. The longest we waited for a ride was 15 minutes, though we skipped the one long line for one of the boat rides. Maisie drove a car, rode a plane, a boat and so much more. By the way, I am now officially terrified of Maisie getting a driver's licences. She is a terrible driver! 

Maisie's absolute favorite part of the day was riding these "jousting ponies," goofy Lego-like horses that went around on a track. Our horse-loving girl rode three times in a row because nobody else was waiting! 

Maisie's absolute favorite part of the day was riding these "jousting ponies," goofy Lego-like horses that went around on a track. Our horse-loving girl rode three times in a row because nobody else was waiting! 

Daddy did most of the rides with Maisie (bummer for me), but Maisie and I did a thing where were were supposed to pump our rescue truck from one end to another, get out, put out a fire, get back in and pump back, all the while racing against other families. We came in dead last. I'm pretty sure ours was broken. Heh heh.

Tom and I each separately did The Dragon, the big roller coaster (short, but fun), because there was absolutely no line at all. 

Hudson was too little for most rides, but luckily he napped while Maisie did some stuff. There were a few rides that he could do, too, and he loved it as much as she did. There were several really great playgrounds including one fashioned like a big boat and one like an old fort that they both absolutely adored. I think Hudson's favorite part of the day was the giant room where you get to build your own Lego car and then race it down a ramp against other little kids' cars. He wailed when it was time to leave - until he was the next fun thing to do. He also got to play in a fountain while Maisie did the boat/water ride. 

We rode in a car that went in a "cave" slowly making it's way through display with all these glow-in-the dark Lego creatures. We all got laser guns and were supposed to use the lasers to hit the green lights. That made it fun for the adults. The eye candy was supposed to be enough for kids, however, Maisie was pretty scared even though it was the mildest thing I've ever seen. She later told me, "It was dark and slimy." She did say that she wants to try it again and try not to be too scared next time. Yea for her!

I was a little bummed because I was hoping to do this big boat splash ride, but both kids were too little and the line was incredibly long. That's because it was really hot there. All the great shaded areas and air-conditioned rooms just doesn't take that away. Amusement parks are exhausting no matter what. Add in the heat and I feel like I played football against the NY Giants.

The major difference between this Legoland and another? The heat is bad. Some of the toilets are the kinds where you squat and wash yourself with a hose (though they had Western toilets, too). Miniland was only Asian buildings like Angkor Wat.

I really loved Miniland which is a "town" of a bunch of Asian architectural wonders made out of Legos. I actually saw some things I didn't know existed and would like to see in person if we move here for good! I still find it absolutely amazing that people can make all this stuff out of little tiny toy bricks. Unfortunately, the only shot I got was from a distance, taken from the train. Wah! Tom, however, got a few shots with his phone. I've tried to upload some of the images and, hopefully, they'll work on this site.

Of course, the kids came home with the obligatory Lego toys: Maisie got one of the new "Friends" toys designed just for little girls. Hudson was psyched to get a firetruck.

Getting there was a bit of a pain. We took a bus service which was actually incredibly organized. While Legoland is only 20 minutes into Malaysia from the Singapore border, you still have to go through the border which means two different stops - one through the customs in Singapore and one through the customs in Malaysia. At each, you have to get off the bus, go inside, get in a long line, get your passport stamped, reboard the bus. An hour drive because two hours.

Sadly, I took my little camera and it broke half way through the park. That'll teach me to travel light! The only picture we got of the family is the one above - where Tom is cranking Hudson's head around and Maisie is giving her best, weird smile. Tom nabbed a few pix on his camera so that helped some. 

Even so, I think our first foray into the world of amusement parks was a great success.  (UPDATE: The next day I was sick as a dog. Tom thinks it was food poisoning from Legoland! Oh no!)

And in case you're wondering, the answer is no - I never saw Kobe Bryant.

A Day for Me - sort of

First and foremost, happy birthday, Uncle Jim!! He's home at Dana's house now, getting daily rehab and doing really well. It's a pretty special birthday for him - for us all really.

As for life here....sometimes Mommy needs a time out as much as the kid does.

So today while the kids were at school, I headed to Chinatown for some retail therapy. I didn't buy anything fancy - a few little gifts, some shoes for Maisie's Halloween costume and a nice, silk Chinese lantern. I know. I can probably buy a lantern for even less in China (though this one was only $16!), but since we're here for the Mooncake Festival, I wanted my lantern to be from here. 

I got there at 9:15 figuring the stalls wouldn't open til 10 or even 11 like many of the stores here. Uh - no. They were all already hawking their wares. My guess is that it's because of the Mooncake Festival, but I was still surprised to see everybody at work already. Yea! 

I did a bunch of other errands and picked up the kids at 12:30. Man - there is something just so nice about having some me time. I'm sure it'll get old, but for now, it's pretty cool.

On Fridays, the school sends home a packet of stuff they've worked on the past week. Hudson came home today with his first Mandarin book! I'm pretty sure it's a book about numbers. I'm probably supposed to review it with him, but I have no idea what it says! Hudson, however, sat on the floor making Chinese-like sounds so maybe he'll end up teaching me. I have visions of our kids talking behind our backs in Mandarin. Hmmm.

We had plans to go see the Turtle Farm with my Australian friend Heather and her son William, but this afternoon was not Maisie's afternoon. I was proud of her though. She said, "I need some time for myself," and went to sit in the hall alone to cry. That's huge! That means she's figuring out how to manage her own emotions. Eventually, she agreed to a nap - that lasted - get this - 2.5 hours! She woke up all reset and in great spirits.

Tonight was my time, too - Daddy took Mommy out to dinner at a very cool restaurant called Le Tonkin on Club Street - or near it anyway. Club Street is very near Chinatown and is a street with restaurant after restaurant after bar. It's a very fun area. Our original plan was to take a cooking class, but enough people didn't sign up so... we had delicious Vietnamese food cooked by somebody else instead. It was just nice to be out just me and my man - and to talk about what our plans are. We need to start figuring stuff out, eh?

 

The cool thing is that we got to see the lanterns in Chinatown all lit up as we made our way to dinner. Beautiful! Photos simply don't do it justice. We also sampled a bunch of jerky-like meat, a delicacy here. Yum! IN the photo below, you can maybe make out these thinly sliced pieces of beef stacked on top of each other. I really love the stuff.

Cheryl sat for us tonight, a luxury since Typhaine, Fred and Emmeline came back today! They've been gone since MARCH! Cheryl was so excited to see them! I know she's really missed Emmeline. Her first day working for Fred and Typhaine was the day Emmeline was born! 

Tomorrow we're heading to the BRAND, SPANKING-NEW Legoland. It opened last weekend in Malaysia. Yes, we're crazy, but what the hey!

A Possible Plan

 

At almost every expat thing I attend, the conversation inevitably goes the same: where are you from, how long have you been here, how long are you staying, where does your husband work, where do you live and... did you bring your stuff. The advice is ultimately the same: bring your own things. Singapore will feel more like home if you surround yourself with your own stuff. 

After more than two months of living in Typhaine's apartment, I'm starting to really crave my own things. It's not like we have anything all that nice, but hey - it's ours. Whether it's sleeping in our own bed or sitting our own couch, I just really miss my furniture and silly things like cupcake pans. I'm glad we've had these three months because I know that for me (and apparently Tom, too) we need to bring our own things.

Still, there is a definite need for inexpensive, good-looking furnishings for many expats who brought just a few things or nothing at all. Apparently for many years, that was a huge problem. The only furniture here was really expensive just as is everything else in Singapore. Now? Well, there's something called Expat Auctions where repatriating expats sell off their stuff. There's also Taylor B's, a store launched by American women just four years ago which now takes up two giant warehouses. Those gals are brilliant - and no doubt loaded now!

I've been hankering to check out Taylor B's for weeks now. Luckily today, the AWA had it's monthly meeting/coffee at Taylor B's. Holy cow - there is a ridiculous amount of furniture, lamps, art, pillows and the like in that place. The gals shop all over Asia and bring stuff back here to their warehouse right on the docks. I've heard from several people that the quality is pretty bad and I got that feeling myself when I was walking around. Yes, there were some really great pieces that would last a lifetime, but I'm guessing about half of the stuff that's there is something that would last just long enough to get you through an assignment here. There were several items that I've seen at Restoration Hardware (we even own some of the chairs) which are definitely nice stuff. Lots of it is reproduction, but some seemed to be the real deal. Quality or not, it was fun to visit with my friend Carrie and all the other women I've met. If we stayed, i'm sure I could find a few things to buy :-)

I actually teared up at the meeting. Over some great deal? Because I found the perfect piece? Uh no. Rather a few weeks ago I met this nice woman named Paula, a retired teacher from Texas. I asked her some stuff about Maisie. Since then, she met a woman who specializes in helping families with kids who have issues find schools here in Singapore. She remembered our conversation and got the woman's card. She's been carrying it around ever since, just in case she bumped into me again. How kind! These past few days I've been feeling at the end of my rope about the school stuff and Maisie's behavior - and then this lovely woman comes out of the blue with a resource for me. It's always darkest before the light, right? People here are really nice. She's also a Texan.

Because I was at the coffee, Hudson had his longest day at school yet. While his classes end at 11:30, we've arranged for him to stay until Maisie leaves at 12:30, but we're slowly getting him there. Today, he was there til 12:15 with nary an issue. Maisie had a rougher day. In fact, she's had two really bad days at school.

I had a long talk with the principal today whom I quite like. She has a lot of experience with autistic children. She has come up with some brilliant strategies for dealing with Maisie, including assigning an intern to watch out just for Maisie, somewhat like Chappaqua's SEIT program - though SEITs in the US are trained therapists. I was up front with the principal about my concerns for Maisie and the schools here.

Denise is pretty blunt as many Chinese are. I actually like that. She said that she feels quite certain that Maisie has a very strong chance for being "normal." In the US, we say she has a clear indication that she'll test out of services. Every single person seems to agree on that which is wonderful news for us all. 

In the meantime, she needs help. Everybody also agrees on that. Not only does she needs help with therapy, but she is also having a hard time socially. While she's incredibly friendly, her outbursts frighten the other kids and make them less likely to approach her. She can also stalk kids here at the pool, desperate for their friendship which makes them want to run away. It's like watching a girl throw herself at a boy in high school.

So the principal thinks she needs to take a social skills class, a suggestion I've been given before since moving here. They don't have social skills classes in the US to my knowledge though her SEIT in class is supposed to help her with this. Turns out, not only are her tantrums sensory-based, but there are many that are also behaviorally based. Simply, she's testing us. I was already aware of this. It's often hard to tell the difference. Neither is fun.

Otherwise, she recommends Maisie staying at WeeCare, a smaller school with the expertise she needs. She'd be there for two years with the goal to get her ready for the international schools in August 2014. By then, she should be able to apply as an average kid without any concerns - therefore getting in as opposed to probably not getting in now and having a flag raised on her future applications.

It seems to be a good school. Outside of my own impressions, another mother there told me her older child was far ahead of the Eton House kids when she transitioned to The Singapore American School. Most of the kids are Chinese and Chinese moms have incredibly high expectations. That also bodes well. So if nothing else, we have a good back up if not the plan itself - IF we move here. The jury is still very much out on that one.

This afternoon, we met Carrie and her daughter Hannah at Royce's. The girls played really well together (and so did the mommies. I really like Carrie), but when it was time to leave, Maisie had her biggest public tantrum maybe ever. She bit me, pulled my hair, kicked my groin - I mean it was quite a scene. Hudson reacted to her fit and started to cry, too. The workers at Royce's had to help me get them out the door. These public meltdowns are always so depressing - and a bit embarrassing, too. Transitioning seems to be getting harder as of late no matter how many of the "tricks" I apply.

Within minutes, she was back to her pleasant self. It's like a switch goes off and on. We then wandered down the river so the kids could look at all the lantern floats. They were a big hit! Both of them were yelling, "It's a rabbit! It's a horse!"

But again, on the way home, Maisie had another giant tantrum, this one because Hudson was sitting in my lap in the taxi. That tantrum? 45 minutes. Then she turned into a wiggle worm.

Bedtime couldn't come fast enough. I'm in need of a bottle of wine.

Art?

I used to wonder if Tom didn't have a tiny bit of guilt that I was still up washing dishes and doing laundry long after he'd retired to the couch to play "Trade Nations" or watch TV. Now that I have Cheryl, I know the answer is no. Of course, Cheryl is paid to do all that and I'm not, but here I sit typing away while she scrubs the kitchen after making yet another amazing meal and I don't have an ounce of guilt.

All to say that I got to do lots of stuff today because once again Cheryl did all the mommy/wife stuff I hate: she picked the kids up from school, did the laundry and ironing, cleaned the house, bought a few groceries and made dinner. I love her.

What did I do with my time? Well, after EASILY (read "no tears!") dropped off the kids, Wendy the realtor picked me up at school and shuttled me off to see three apartments. All of these apartments were smack dab in the middle of town, just off Orchard and on the all important last bus stop before heading up to the Singapore American School - a school Maisie probably won't get into anyway.

The first place was called 6 Claymore Hill which is a very old building for here - maybe 40 years. The first floor is an HSBC bank. The elevator is ugly and there are no facilities...oh, but the apartment is fabulous! 4500 square feet of beauty. The living room is massive and there's an en suite guest room on the first floor. The kitchen is completely new with not one, but two side-by-side refrigerators IN the kitchen! We don't even have that in the States! The helper's room is a real room where say somebody my size could sleep. Yup, there's room for more than a toddler bed! Upstairs, there are four bedrooms and a landing that could be used as an office or TV space. What's the problem? Well, the view absolutely sucks. The entire living room faces a very, very ugly parking garage. The saving grace besides the size is that the building is literally next door to The American Club so while there are no facilities, there is access to the city and the club which is the fanciest of the private clubs here - for hefty membership, of course!

The next apartment is called The Claymore, a newer building with full amenities and quite nicely landscaped. This 2680 square foot apartment was very nice, but there are only three bedrooms. I really think we need four. The kitchen here was pretty neat - blue wood.

The last apartment was The Tate Residences, also a 3 bedroom, but only 1984 square feet. It was very shiny and sleek, but far too small. The nice thing? It is literally next door to the Eton House preschool.

So.... I'm definitely getting a feel for what is here. What to do about it is still confusing. I'll admit - there are plenty of nights I look through the listings back in Westchester, too.

After apartment hunting, I did something pretty cool: I painted a painting. In the States, particularly in the South, getting together with your girlfriends and painting is all the rage. Some smart soul opened up a similar place here called ArTEAstique! I went with a bunch of Exxon ladies courtesy of an invite from Connie and Heather. We got there and started to paint - whatever we wanted. Uh, hello? I thought there was going to be an instructor there. I wanted to paint something to remind me of Singapore so I found a very cool painting of shophouses and tried to replicate it. See, it's cool. 

Mine, not so cool. Okay - let's face it- I suck. I'm SO creative, but I just cannot paint for the life of me. Maybe I should just buy the real thing. Oh well.. it was still lots of fun. Connie liked my shophouse idea so much that she did shophouses, too, but hers were good.  

I should have done blue lines on a canvas like Heather! She thought Mason might like it in his room. Brilliant!

I saw Heather and Connie later, too. We all went to Joy's to celebrate Andrew's third birthday. The kids had such a good time. Hudson was thrilled because Andrew has a MILLION cars and trucks. My little man literally holed himself up in the playroom playing with toys while the other kids were eating cake in the other room. They'll both be so happy to get back to Chappaqua and their toys.