Life Goes to the Movies

Imagine you're at a state fair. Every single thing you eat is on a stick and most of it is fried. I know because CBS once sent me to the state fair with a family and our job was to eat everything there. No wonder I miss that job. It rocked - in a disgusting sort of way.

The Asian version might be Old Chang Kee, a local chain that displays a couple of dozen different fried foods on a stick in the window. I got the kids fish and gyoza as well as these curried chicken pot pie pocket things and a weird little apple pie like desserts called Yam Feel'in. The filling is sweet and purple - and I guess yam. 

Hudson gobbled it up. He seriously couldn't get enough of it. Maybe he's a gourmand and has simply been bored with my very plain, slap-it-on-the-table cooking. Then again, what child doesn't like fried food?! Maisie ate her fair share, too.

Thank God Hudson is back to his happy self. I think he's been getting his two-year-old molars. My mother-in-law says I always blame his teeth when he's cranky, but I'm usually right. He's had an off-and-on runny nose and has had his fingers in his mouth for days. Today, no runny nose. No deep throating his hand. Happy boy. Happy mommy. Unhappy sister. I can't win!

I'm kind of bit blue, too, though I'm not sure why. I'm sharing Cheryl today and will do so for the next few weeks. Another friend of Typhaine is staying in their apartment - the one in which they actually live. So Cheryl has to divide her time between them and us. I am back to being a regular Westchester mommy, only in Singapore. I had to cook breakfast and dinner! Oh! My! God! The horror! :-) 

I don't think the helper-sharing is the culprit. Rather, I think my funk stems from feeling like things are getting more normal and mundane - less exotic and fun. That's what it means to live some place, right? Plus, it's getting harder and harder to entertain two toddlers without school and outside classes to help. I'm letting them watch too much TV, I fear. I feel lazy. Worst of all? I feel fat today. Lazy and fat. Ha. Nice combo.

Amazingly enough, the weather was actually lovely this morning thanks to a nice breeze. It was the coolest day yet! 

To eat up some time, I took them to see "Ice Age 4" today. Going to a movie here was a little bit of an adventure. I read online that Golden Village Cinemas are the nicest and indeed the theater was beautiful. It was situated on the top floor of a mall called Plaza Singapura. The ticket booth and concession stand were on one side of the atrium while theaters 1-6 were on one end and theaters 7-10 were on the other end - up some hellish stairs (the ticket-taker helped me carry the stroller!)

We got three tickets for US $12 for - get this - assigned seats (though it seems nobody stays in their assigned seats when the theater is mostly empty like it was today). I went to get popcorn. The guy behind the counter said, "Sweet?" I said yes then asked him what he meant. Turns out, they sell caramel corn or salted popcorn. The last thing my kids needed was sugar in the movie!

Maisie was TERRIFIED of the film and wanted to leave the whole time. Hudson was very excited about having his own seat which made him a total wiggle-kid. Odd because Maisie saw "Brave" which was far scarier to me and she absolutely loved it. Go figure.

To cheer her up, I let her have a StickHouse treat while Hudson napped in the stroller. They're basically popsicles sold in these storefront windows. They're all natural and yummy. There are a million things you can buy to eat walking down the street here and all of them are beyond tasty.

I think she stayed up too late last night. They re-telecast the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. I was thrilled because the live broadcast was on - literally - in the middle of the night here. Maisie loved them and asked all sorts of questions about the Industrial Revolution. I was thrilled, but in retrospect, maybe that lost of hour of sleep was a mistake. Her brain is full. Her fuse is short. Live and learn. 

Time for their bath! It's an on time bedtime tonight!

Missed the Boat

Man, I'm getting spoiled. Sunday is traditionally the helper's day only day off. (If they work for a Chinese family, they don't get any days off). Cheryl left first thing this morning to do whatever she does on her days off. I think she hangs out at a mall called Lucky Plaza with all the other Filippinas. I made breakfast - French toast - for the first time in weeks. Afterwards, we thought we'd head out for a walk and a big brunch on the river.

Getting lost can be kind of fun. Oh sure, when I have some place to be back in Westchester and I'm running late, I HATE being lost cursing under my breath at each and every wrong turn. When I travel, however, it's kind of cool making wrong turns because you stumble upon things you might have missed. We didn't exactly get lost today, but we went the long way around and there was nothing really fun about it - well, not as much fun as we'd hoped.

We were on our way to Robinson Quay (pronounced "key") which is the closest cluster of restaurants and stores on the Singapore River near us. We'd planned to have brunch there then take a boat tour up and down the river.  Uh - maybe not.

We arrived at the far end of Robinson Quay so we kept walking along, ending up at the next quay called Clarke. We found a lovely Thai restaurant and the kids gobbled up all sorts of new foods (I'm so proud of them!), but Tom was super blue: he wanted brunch food. Silly me. I didn't get that. To me, any time I eat out around here I want Asian food. Western brunch food didn't even cross my mind. 

More than anything, I think he was hot. Tom has spent weekends outside with us, but most of that has been at places like the zoo or the bird park. He hasn't really just pounded the streets in the middle of the day too much. That's basically what I do all week. The walking isn't so bad, but the heat is draining. Pushing a stroller up and down the sloping hills doesn't help. No wonder I am totally wiped by the end of the day, each and every day.

After the kids finished their tidbits, we tried to take a sampan river cruise. A sampan is a traditional, flat-bottomed wooden boat. I believe they're Chinese of origin. Most here have "eyes" painted on the front to help the captain spot danger and steer clear. A century ago, sampans were laden with gunny sacks of rice and other riches, loaded and unloaded on the steep steps along the busy riverbank, an important port of traders back in the day.

The river is closely tied to the rich history of Singapore, something I learned more about at the museum the other night. It's a pretty amazing story involving peoples from all over Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

The river area is no longer a port per se, but has been cleaned up and renovated into a beautiful walk in the same spirit of the San Antonio River Walk - though it's far different in personality. Each quay has it's own unique personality.

Boat Quay is closest to Tom's office and is kind of the South Street Seaport of Singapore. People who work in the "downtown" area meet at Boat Quay for drinks after work. Clarke Quay is the pastel-painted, party place in the middle. Robinson Quay is more of the family neighborhood joint area and the one closest to our apartment.

To take the boat, we crossed a bridge to the other side of the river which has a totally different flavor including a sidewalk paved in bricks. We went down an alley even - something I never do here. The city never smells despite the heat because the trash is all in the alleys in almost all cases. It was an interesting just because you could see all the AC units. The older buildings don't have central air. Heck, our brand new building has central air married with room units in the bedrooms. I was told to bring lots of sweaters with me because everything is so over air-conditioned (I've yet to use a sweater, by the way!)

We made our way to the sampan dock and, while we waited for a boat, Tom ran to his office to pick up his laptop. He is going to Shanghai this afternoon for several days on business. Anyway, I paid for tickets. The boat came, but no Tom. We waited for the next boat only this boat took a lot longer to arrive and so we didn't get to take a tour. Instead, we settled for a river taxi - also on a sampan. It was an 8-minute ride. I really wanted to hear about all the sights, but perhaps another day.

We expected it to be kind of steamy, but instead, there was a lovely breeze inside the wooden room. The kids loved it. Maisie thought the guy driving the boat was Captain Hook. Hudson screamed, "Boat!"at every boat that floated by us. After our ride, we grabbed a regular taxi and rushed home so Tom could get to the airport.

You know what that means? I'm on my own with the kids for the first time in weeks! No Tom. No Cheryl. No nap! Maisie had two cranberry juices this afternoon and is crazy with energy. Fingers crossed! 

TWO HOURS LATER:

On the ferry home from Bintan, a Danish father sat behind us traveling alone with his two, very small children so his wife could have a girls' night out. The baby sobbed and sobbed and then promptly threw up all over him. I felt so bad for the guy! Now I know how he feels, only nobody felt bad for me.

We were out of Hudson's organic milk. He goes through it like water. By the way - organic milk is shelf-stable here and come in boxes! Anyway, I loaded up the stroller and headed to the grocery. The second we turned into the store, Hudson started to WAIL! I've never heard him like this, except when I try to go to the Vietnamese joint around the corner. He didn't want to go into the store and was screaming, "That way! That way!" pointing down the street. The fact remained we needed milk so I marched on inside. Big mistake. He just wailed all the harder. Asians don't tolerate misbehaving children. Nobody looked at me with the kind eyes Mr-What-a-Nice-Husband man got.

I picked him up and tried to navigate the double stroller, grocery basket, well-behaved older sister and sobbing starting-to-tantrum-two-year-old through the narrow aisles. Glares. All glares. 

Finally, I made it to checkout, milk in tow as well as blueberries, apples and Maisie's request for dinner: pepperoni pizza. That's when it happened: Hudson threw up all over himself and me. He wasn't sick, just so upse that he'd made himself sick. More glares. I'm talking serious glares. People here are germophobes. A toddler throwing up? In a grocery store? 

We paid and the SECOND we walked out the door, Hudson started to laugh and clap.

How long will Cheryl and Tom be gone?!

A Day for the Birds

 

My father-in-law really loves birds - the kind of birds in his backyard - nothing fancy. He knows everything about them. So all I could think today while I walked around gaping at feathered friends like I've never seen is, "Boy, I wish Jippe was here!"

Since he's back in New York, we went with some folks who are kind of, sort of from home. My childhood friend Tim's in-laws just moved here from Houston. In the spirit of "Hey, it's Singapore. Let's be friends," we met for the first time at the Jurong Bird Park, a big attraction here. Since their daughter Emily is 13 and son Ethan is 11, I figured all of us could enjoy it there. I was right. The best part is that our kids absolutely adored their kids. Maisie held Emily's hand and refused mine! Ethan watched over Hudson as though he was his own. Adorable.

I remember seeing a bird show at Six Flags in Arlington as a little girl. I thought it was the best thing ever. I kind of expected the same kind of show - and it was - only on steroids. The thing about the Jurong Bird Park is there are so many birds that I've never seen before - gorgeous, stunning birds each more fascinating than the one before. 

We started with the "King of the Skies" show. Holy cow! I've seen an eagle here, an owl there, but there were LOTS of birds or prey - flying overhead from trainer to post back to trainer, buzzing not-all-that-high overhead. At one point, they had five different kinds of owls out. A half dozen or so vultures also crowed the arena at once. One was massive in size, the kind you see in a cartoon. He was giant and pretty, darn ugly. Maisie liked the guy in native garb riding around on horseback holding a bird.

We got to our second show pretty late so we had to stand in the back. It was the pretty, fancy birds - macaws, cockatoos and the like - flying over the audience, going through hoops, playing "basketball" and the like. 

We wandered around looking at other exhibits - nothing too out of the ordinary except that there were birds I haven't seen like I said. Then we stumbled upon the Lory Loft. It's the biggest bird enclosure I've ever seen, several stories high and equally as wide. When you go in, you can purchase cups of food (some kind of nectar,-grain slosh) and then feed the lorries. You are at the treetop level so the birds swoop up, sit on the rail and lap up the liquid like a dog except that their tongues are going a million miles an hour! It was hysterical Maisie loved it as did Emily and Ethan. Hudson? Well... once again he preferred to watch. We wandered around the suspended bridges while birds climbed all over us hoping for some more slosh. 

When we were birded out, we hit yet another water park. There are a zillion of them here. Our new friends took off before we donned our bathing suits. Lucky them... but once you promise toddlers they get to go to a water park, they get to go to a water park. You know what i liked about this one? Adults supervised the park so I didn't have to get sopping wet chasing my kids! As usual, the kids had a ball. 

Last night was also interesting. I braved the POURING rain (worst I've seen since I've been here) and took a subway by myself. Wahoo! It's the first time I've been in the MRT system without the stroller. What a breeze! Nosearching for a lift. It was also incredibly crowded with rush hour craziness. I met Tom at his office and the two of us walked under one umbrella (in other words, we both got sopping wet) to meet my new friend Penelope and her husband Mike at the Asian Civilization Museum. We'd all heard it was a great museum and it really was incredible. There is art from all periods and all areas of Asia - some of it absolutely stunning. Best of all, it's displayed perfectly with amazing light and video guides. I learned a lot. My guess is I could spend a few days there and learn something more every time.

Afterwards, we went to the attached restaurant called Indochine: pricey and just okay. It was the nicest restaurant we've been to in Singapore. For me, it was just fun to have a night out, enjoying yet another benefit of Cheryl. It's also fun to trade war stories with other newbies. Penny and Mike only just arrived in May. They have a 2-year-old and baby - where we were two, short years ago. Since the restaurant was situated on the Singapore River, we strolled home along the water. Lovely!

Now we're listening to the planes practicing the flyover yet again. National Day is Thursday and they've been practicing every Saturday night since we got here - even the fireworks are rehearsed! I can't wait to see the real thing later this week! 

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!

Worlds Apart

It's a big day here in Singapore. Feng Tianwei won Singapore's first individual medal in 52 years! Imagine! 52 years! Granted, she's Chinese-born and only became a Singaporean in 2008, but hey - she's from Singapore now and she won!

Unlike the US where "The Today Show" got in trouble for announcing final results before the network aired the time-delayed contest, the networks here had a crawl going across the screen ALL day "Feng Tianwei won a Bronze Medal in Women's Table Tennis! She had made Singapore proud! Watch TV tonight at 7:30 to see the semi-finals and finals." That's not the exact wording, but close. 

So while all of Singapore sits glued to the TV watching ping pong, I'm excited because HBO is offering free previews all week! A movie! In English! The kids are sleeping. Tom is out for drinks. Cheryl is on a walk with her other helper buddies, something she does regularly. That means a night to myself!

Cheryl is pretty amazing. Being away from her children is so hard for her. She does it because she wants them to have money for nice things - and most importantly - college. Her sister and husband raise her kids while she sends money back to support them. All she really wants is a better phone so she can communicate better with them. She doesn't know it yet, but Tom is planning to give her the one he bought when we leave. It's not the phone she wants, but it's better than what she has. 

Their first house had a dirt floor. Now they have a cement floor, but "it isn't finished." There's no power. Water comes from a deep well. It's "primitive" as she calls it. I thought as much because she often squats on the floor rather than sits on the couch. It's what she knows since she has no furniture at home. Her life is easier here in some ways, yet conveniences also cause complications.

Her situation is the ultimate working mother dilemma: you want to provide for your kids, be your own person and be with them. Most moms can manage to juggle all that in varying degrees. For helpers here, it's all or nothing.

Our kids love her. In the morning, Hudson comes in and says, "Hi Mommy. Whatcha doing? Where's Maisie? Where's Daddy? Where's Cheryl?" They both kiss her good night. Hudson wears her hat. She is part of our family - at least for now. While I adore her, it's very odd for me to have to share my space. After the pool today, the kids and I took a shower together. She walked in to ask me about dinner while I was stark naked. Awkward! Of course, an hour later, the kids were fed and my fabulous lettuce wraps were waiting as well. It's a trade off.

I think her story is quite similar to the other helpers here, but I'm not sure her relationship with us is typical. It's hard to say what's typical because I don't really know, but she's the only helper I see getting in the pool with the kids she watches. She saw that both Maisie and Hudson wanted to swim without their safety belts and it's too hard for me to watch both so without a word, she got into the pool despite the fact she doesn't even own a bathing suit. I think it's fun for her. I know I appreciate it beyond words. Maisie started swimming across the pool today all by herself. That wouldn't have happened without Cheryl watching Hudson or letting me watch Hudson.

Thank God we have a pool in the complex. For starters, we're finally meeting some of the neighbors and their kids. Maisie even met a four-year-old Aussie girl! Wahoo! Plus, it was really hot today. I'm talking fry an egg on the sidewalk hot. Only here, you could probably hard boil and egg in the air since it's so water-laden. When people who have lived here for years complain about the heat, you know it's hot.

Heather and Mason picked us up this morning and drove us to West Coast Park for a play group, another set up by the AWA women, this one for kids Hudson's age. There were maybe ten, two-year-olds there total though I hardly got to talk to any of the moms because - as usual - Hudson was the one, single child doing dangerous things like trying to slide down the fire pole by himself over and over. Maisie was interested in the balance beam since she's been watching the Olympic. The "good stuff" is on during the day here!

I finally got to talk to Heather and one other mom named Karla over lunch at McDonald's, the only place to eat in the park - and one of the biggest McDonald's I've ever seen. Get this: Karla is friends with Typhaine, the woman from who we're subletting! Small world! Karla is cool. She's about to leave on a camping trip in Mongolia.

West Coast Park is near another area where a bunch of expats live, not far from Sentosa. The park is near the water and the huge container loading docks were visible in the distance. It was a cool park with the usual play equipment though more areas than normal, some for much older kids. Even so, I didn't like the area much. That's one area I can cross of my list.

Now that I've been playing tourist for a while, it's time to get down to brass tacks and start looking at life here. It's my time to work. I need to look at apartments and schools in case we do decide to come back to stay. Ugh.