A Museum For Everybody

I'll admit it. I'm a bit terrified to take my kids to a museum. Let's face it: Hudson is two. His mission in life is to seek and destroy. Maisie has sensory issues. All the cool things to see sometimes over stimulate her which means she is a total wiggle worm. ADHD kids have nothing on her.

At the same time, I want my kids to grow up appreciating things different from what they know. A big part of the reason we're here is to the kids can soak up culture. Hudson may not remember it, but I still think this trip will become a part of his soul - or I hope so anyway.

Today, we found the perfect museum for kids - and adults, too. I mean - PERFECT! I'd read about it, but - as I already said - I was scared to take the kids alone. Tom called the shots today so out we headed to one of Singapore's must-see sites: The Peranakan Museum. 

The Peranakans are a unique cultural group here in Southeast Asia. Long ago, rich traders came from other countries like China and India. Some traders stayed behind and married local girls. These blended families created a new culture famous for it's stunningly beautiful clothes, furniture, jewelry and even pottery. I desperately wanted to take pictures, but my flash wouldn't stop going off. Tom took pictures with his phone for me, but they don't want to download. Wah! So... I suggest Googling Peranakan Museum, hitting images and taking a gander. You'll like what you see.

Yea, yea, we've all seen cool museums with fabulous clothes and awe-inspiring jewelry, but never before have I seen a cultural museum with so much emphasis on children. For starters, the kids' admission was free and when we first arrived, Maisie and Hudson were both given a paper wheel of colors. Each room had a press-type stamp. Maisie had a ball rushing from room to room looking for the stamp machines, putting her paper down and then imprinting a stamp. Even Hudson got into it!

Some rooms had special exhibits with holes in them for little hands to reach inside so they could touch things like metal belt buckles and wooden carvings. 

While the kids had fun, Tom and I actually learned something! We were both really impressed with the quality of the exhibits. They even had a wedding procession complete with a dozen or so mannequins each dressed to the hilt. A Peranakan wedding lasts for twelve days. Silly us, we worry about our four-hour affair. Imagine planning twelve days of events and clothes! The museum also has a wedding bed, an ornately-decorated room of sorts. There were plenty of other clothes, furniture, pottery and the like. My favorite is always the jewelry. I am my mother's daughter after all.

There was also a place for anybody to dress up and record themselves acting a scene from "Emily of Emerald Hill," a very famous, one-woman Singaporean play about a woman's journey from Peranakan newlywed to matriarch. We got Maisie to recite one line from the script. She giggled pretty hard when she saw herself on tape! Hudson just liked climbing on the inlaid chair.

 

The kids favorite part of the day was hands-down the craft room. One or two Sundays a month (we picked the right day totally by accident!), the museum does a craft for kids. Today - in honor of the Mooncake Festival - we made a Chinese lantern. I say we because it was a complicated process. Maisie did very little of it while Tom and I spent a good half hour constructing the thing. The final product was a pretty cool lantern - mostly pink (duh!) - that we'll take with us to the lantern walk the final night of the festival.

 

Also in the craft room were a bunch of dress up clothes. Maisie LOVED this! She got to dress up like a Peranakan little girl and felt like a princess. A girl's outfit includes a sarong held up by a metal belt, beaded or embroidered blouse, three pins, beaded slippers and flowers in the hair. Somewhere she must have seen Asian women putting their hands together and bowing because that's what she kept doing. She really cracks me up! Hudson and Tom? They each wore a batik shirt. Hudson wanted to wear the beaded shoes, too! 

Poor Hudson!He started out having a ball at the museum, but by the end, he was not a happy camper. He is sick as a dog tonight. He's had a cold for the past few days. Actually, we've all had a cold and I've even had a low-grade fever. This afternoon when we got home? Hudson was hacking up and lung and crying non-stop. After I gave him some honey, Advil  (thank God I brought some as they don't sell it here!) and food, he cheered up dramatically. He didn't eat much for lunch so I think he was mostly hungry. I'm praying that he'll have a really good night and can go to school tomorrow. It's his first day - EVER!!!! Fingers crossed feel like going!

HouseHunters International, Part 2

I spent the afternoon looking at apartments yet again. What fun! I saw six all told. Whew... exhausting! I'm learning so much about real estate here - like rentals are highly negotiable. January is the best time to rent as a lot of expats complete their contracts in January. Lucky us! Brand new buildings are the most negotiable because they're desperate to fill the space. Unlike buildings in New York owned by a single developer, many buildings are built by the government. Each apartment is purchased and then rented out so the various owners of each, individual unit are competing against one another to fill the apartment with a renter. The rents online are FAR pricier than the prices the realtor gives me.

All new apartments are required to have a bomb shelter. The government decided after the Persian Gulf War that the world is unstable and wanted to protect it's population. Most folks use the bomb shelter as the helper's room and some are so small that the helper has to sleep in a toddler-sized bed! If there are both a bomb shelter and a helper's room (rare!) then most people use the bomb shelter for storage. If something was to happen, I doubt anybody could actually get in the shelter because of all the junk in them. Nobody - I mean nobody - has "supplies" in case there's an attack.

Asians absolutely do not wear shoes in the house so there is always a big to-do at the front door about where shoes can be left. Most people have entire shoe closets for the entire family's shoe collection. A lot of times, these entry ways are also littered with stroller, scooters and bikes.

Apartments on the lower floors tend to have mildew problems because of the tree cover and extreme humidity here. The key to no mildew is to be above the treeline. 

Many of the helper's rooms are outside on the back balcony with no AC, just a fan wired into their room. Also on the balcony are things like the washer/drier, extra sinks or a gas cooktop so she can cook without the heat and smell going into the apartment.

As anywhere, location is key. Location! Location! Location! The closer to Orchard or a desirable MRT (subway) stop, the more expensive the square footage. The newer the building, the smaller the apartment, but the better the amenities like gym, pool and playground. Pools and health clubs mean instant friends and playdates.

Also, the +1 refers to the helper's space - not bathrooms - when looking at listings.

Of course, none of these places will be available in January if and when we come back. The idea is to get an idea what's out there to help us decide if we want to stay and get a leg up on the search if and when we come back.

The first place I saw was definitely the best location: Leonie Gardens. The condo is kind of half way between Orchard and the river which means easy shopping, commuting and dogwalking. It is older, but has been refurbished with a fabulous pool, health club - the works and, oh man, is the place nicely landscaped. So what's wrong with it? Well, for starters, it's next to a giant construction site. Of course, most of Singapore is next to a giant construction site. Heck, the place we're staying right now VIBRATES from the pile drivers next door. The view is also pretty lousy, but the with 2540 square feet of space, this 4+1 was perfectly livable. The outdoor space is definitely nicer than the indoor space. This place had an updated kitchen and bathroom, but they were still pretty ugly.

The next place was Teneriffe, a cluster house in Bukit Timah. Bukit Timah is maybe 15 minutes by car from Orchard, but of course, we won't have a car. I believe there is a shuttle to the MRT, but that defiitely adds to commuting time. The nice thing is that there is a lovely green area for walking dogs. The 5+1, 3121 square foot house was FAR cheaper than the ones on line. The cool thing about cluster houses are that they are individual homes. You have a car park and a small yard, but you get all the amenities of a really nice building - pool, health club and the like. 

The condo itself was REALLY nice. While the main living room wasn't all that big, the place was incredibly bright and immaculately updated. The 5th bedroom is most often used as a TV/playroom. There was storage galore with a helper's room, bomb shelter and extra storage in the car park.

The downside? Well, besides the location, the house is a massive bunch of stairs. We did that in Bronxville and it got old fast. Of course, the kids are older, but not quite old enough. I think this one is a no go even though it may be one of the nicest we can afford.

 

Maisie would have loved Gallop Gables, the next condo, simply because of the horse motif everywhere. This condo, also in Bukit Timah, is an older complex, but the apartments have been updated and there is a nice pool and playground. The 3+1, 2196 square foot apartment was simply too small though it did have a real yard, albeit tiny. Again, the first floor means mildew. 

Waterfall Gardens is not quite Holland Village and not quite Tanglin. I'm not quite sure where it is exactly, but it's not too far from town and the Botanic Gardens are fairly nearby. This is a gorgeous, fairly new complex. The 4+1, 2200 square foot apartment isn't any bigger than the apartment at Gallop Gables, but the space is used much better. The kitchen is fabulous and the bathrooms downright beautiful. There is both a helper's room and a bomb shelter as well as storage in the basement for each unit. Bikes can also be parked at the basement carpark! Wahoo! The facilities here were out of this world. The health club is like a gym you'd join and the pool is maybe the length of two Olympic pools. The views were also really lovely. This was one of my favorites though it's not exactly the best location. 

The Trizon is brand, spanking new as in they are still finishing the place. Wendy hadn't seen it yet so this was a first for us both. WOW! I mean - WOW! It's a bit of a distance from town kind of between Holland Village and Bukit Timah - no where near town really - nor a MRT stop. So there you have it - the BIG downside of this place is the location. The amenities were absolutely amazing and included two pools, two playgrounds, a basketball court,  a fabulous gym looking at water and outdoor massage tents! 

We saw a place on the 18th floor with two amazing balconies with views of the ocean (sliver view!) and the entire downtown area. The living room was small, but possibly usable. The kid's bedrooms and guest bedroom/playroom were small, but usable. The bathrooms were nice and the kitchen was lovely, though not all that large. There wasn't a lot of storage in this place. 

The selling point? The master bedroom. HOLY COW! This was a corner unit with FOUR STORY windows! FOUR STORY! The bathroom as the coolest I have ever, ever seen. There were two sinks with steps between them that led down into the tub. The shower also walked down into the tub. The view? Looking out the four story window at the city. Holy cow! If we didn't have kids and we had a car.... 

The Regency Park looks like an old space ship. It's an old complex, but pretty nice with a lovely pool, playground and HUGE green space for the kids or dog to run. The location is also pretty darn good, fairly close to Orchard. This was the biggest apartment of the day, a 3+1, 3175. I really wanted a 4 bedroom so there'd be a separate play area and guest room, but this place had a sunken living room with balcony, a large dining area and family area off the dining room (that could be a great playroom). The kitchen was huge and updated. The master had a walk in closet and dressing area! It was massive - though definitely old feeling. The views weren't too nice either. Still, if we could find the right renovated apartment, this might be a good choice.

Flyin' High!

The first time I ever felt Maisie kick was in the Sahara right after I got done riding a camel. That was in Morocco. Ever since (and probably before, too) I've had a great love of Moroccan food. Turns out, our kids like it, too!

Today, we went to the Arab section of town which sits in the shadow of the giant Sultan Mosque. The main thoroughfare is lined with shops and little cafes. The shops hawk rugs and gorgeous material as well as other Arab-type trinkets. We ate at Deli Morocco. I'd read about it on Tripadvisor. Apparently, I didn't read the reviews well enough because we thought the place was pretty bad. The kids, on the other hand, couldn't shovel in the food fast enough. Hudson was high on couscous. 

I'd heard that Haji Street was the place that young fashionistas go for unusual clothes. Um... I should have paid more attention to the word "young." Ah... if only I was 25 again.

The afternoon was a totally different high - the kite-flying kind. Singapore's Kite Festival is today and tomorrow down near the Marina Bay. What fun! THOUSANDS of people turned out to hear the live music, watch the performers and - of course - see the kites!

 

All told, there were about a half dozen street performers. The kids' favorite by far was this woman who blew these GIANT bubbles. Maisie was on Tom's shoulders, Hudson on mine. Finally - both kids finally got their hands on one, popping with great relish!

While there were professional kiters there with MASSIVE kites, the majority of kites were flown by average sorts. In fact, they handed out free kites to everybody there!

Hudson? He flung his around for a couple of minutes and then preferred to RUN wildly about the great lawn with me chasing him like a wild woman. It did nothing to help my really bad cold. Maisie, on the other hand, tried and tried to get her kite up in the air and even managed to do it for :30 here and there. She sweet-talked her daddy into buying a mermaid kite for $10.

Ten dollars didn't seem like much until we got home, greeted by an incredibly excited Cheryl. I've never seen an adult so excited. Truly. For THREE years, she's been saving up enough money to buy toys and finally send some stuff home to her children. She was on her way to her sister-in-law's house to pack the box. This is the first box she's sent in the entire time she's been here. Granted, she always sends money, but never before has she sent toys. The most expensive toy? $20. It made me feel so ... I dunno ... like my kids are the most spoiled souls on the planet. It's a little embarrassing that Maisie has gotten a Barbie and a big My Little Pony since we've been here. Yes, it was for her birthday, but in three years, Cheryl hasn't been able to save up enough for one Barbie. 

It definitely made me stop and think. It kind of took the wind out of my kite.

Snow!

Our first week here, we took our helper Cheryl with us to see The Gardens by the Bay. When we were in The Cloud Forest dome, she asked me if the mist was snow and she giggled when she put her hand in it. She told me being in that room was the coldest she had ever been in her life. I'd never really thought about it, but of course. I mean, we're living in a freakin' rain forest. It's not like they have blizzards here (though the stores do all have winter clothes!)

Also that first week, we hit the Science Centre Singapore, a big hit with all three kids, mine and the biggest kid of the bunch - Cheryl. Associated with the center is Snow City, an indoor place that makes snow and let's folks from this incredibly hot part of the world experience the cold. When she saw it, Cheryl again asked me all sorts of questions about snow. So I made up my mind long ago that I'd have to take her to Snow City.

Today was the day.

First, we started with the Imax theater there and saw a show called, To the Arctic. I figured that was the perfect introduction to snow. Like all Imax films, it was beautifully shot with some truly amazing photography of polar bears, including underwater shots of them swimming. We all really liked the film though honeslty, by the time it was over, I was a bit depressed since it was really all about the melting polar caps. The theater alone was cool to Cheryl and the kids since none of them had ever seen an Imax film. Maisie was a little freaked out as it may have been a bit much for her sensory issues. Hudson kept saying, "Oooo cool." Hysterical. 

The big moment had arrived: time to see some snow!

I wasn't expecting much since all the reviews online were terrible. Turns out, the reviews that panned the place were actually kind. It sucked. I mean - really sucked. 

Admission includes coats and boots. It's not like anybody in a rainforest owns a coat. I paid extra for us all to get gloves and waterproof pants, too. The coats were on coat racks in the lobby area. You just searched through them until you found one that fit. They were filthy and torn and smelled of mildew. Most zippers were broken. My boots? Honest to God, they smelled of vomit. I exchanged them for another pair equally disgusting.

The area of snow was about the size of a 2000 square foot apartment and that may be generous. The snow was actually chunks of ice about the size of 10 grains of rice stuck together. The worst part? It was kind of gray. In other words, it was filthy.

In the middle was a giant snowman, not made out of snow at all, nor was the igloo. There was a real snowmobile and cabin from a lift for photo posing. The rest of the room had a goofy Swiss chalet and a "hill" that was possibly two stories high. Bunny hills are far higher and steeper. 

To be fair, they're in the middle of renovations so maybe the place will get better soon - and there is normally a bit more snow for the kids. Even so, I was told by our realtor that Snow City is something that you only visit once.

As disgusting as it was, the price of admission was totally worth it to see Cheryl giggle over and over when she realized she could see her breath. Oh my God! Hysterical! She writhed around in the snow with the kids and gleefully went down the hill on a tube. Photography wasn't allowed (though I snuck some on my cell phone) so I even bought four wallet-sized pictures because I wanted Cheryl to have them. My guess is 1. they want to make yet more money on the photos they sell and 2. if anybody saw the photos before they went, they wouldn't pay to go!

On our way there, Maisie kept saying, "But Mommy, snow isn't supposed to be inside." Of course, once we started playing, the kids didn't seem to notice how disgusting it all was and were 100% happy. Me? I actually appreciated the cold temperatures. It made me realize more than ever that I'd desperately miss seasons if we move here. It was very depressing to leave the cold only to be greeted by a blast of ultra humid, hot air.

The kids didn't last very long. The gear was so crappy that their hands and feet got cold very quickly. I know Cheryl was disappointed to leave so quickly - and maybe a bit disappointed in the whole experience. "Snow is supposed to be more white, right?" Oh well... it was what it was. Folks here do get a flavor of what it's like to be cold. I guess that's something.

I spent the afternoon looking for apartments and went out for drinks with my college roommate's little sister. More about that in another post. Stand by... 

Some things just don't translate

Maisie has been bugging me for a new Barbie. While she has lots of toys at home, she doesn't have all that many with us in Asia. Still, I don't want to just give her toys all the time so I've been trying to come up with ways for her to earn a few bucks so she can learn the value of money. She gets 50 cents for doing things like clearing the table or making her bed. She finally made $10 total and we went to the toy store. There wasn't anything there she wanted for that price. What a great lesson!

Today? We did a lemonade stand out by the pool. I had visions of Maisie learning how to exchange money for a product, taking the coins, making change and earning money for her Barbie. Within about a minute, I realized not a single soul was going to pay for the stuff. 

You know why? Hardly anybody here knows what a lemonade stand is!!! The Brits and Aussies out by the pool were just plain baffled at why the wacky American woman and her kids were handing out lemonade.  The woman from Finland? She seemed mortified that I was plying children with sugar water. The French woman seemed the most alarmed of all. Nobody really gave me a chance to explain. The British boy in the pic below told me he once tried lemonade at his cousin's house, but he didn't like it. Otherwise, the neighborhood kids were enchanted.

Maisie didn't quite understand that she was supposed to get a coin for every cup of lemonade anyway. What a salesperson she was though! Without a bit of hesitation, she ran up to every single soul who walked by, "Do you want a cup of lemonade?" Then, she'd pour it - sort of - and give it to them. That girl will be good with cold calls some day! I can see fundraising in her future. I'm so glad she's starting school on Monday. She's hankering to play with somebody her own age.

Hudson wanted very little to do with the stand other than trying to eat the lemons. He was enthralled with another kid's scooter. Every kid in Singapore has a scooter and Hudson can already ride one quite well. Wherever we end up, a scooter is a must purchase now.

While the afternoon was all about Maisie, the morning was focused on Hudson. It was my turn to host the playdate with the two-year-olds. I had originally planned to have everybody over to go swimming, but it looked like rain all morning and we don't have backup toys in our apartment. I wimped out and arranged for everybody to go to Polliwogs. Dear God. It's a local school holiday this week so it was packed. 

Afterwards, Suzanne and her son Caden took us to a ramen restaurant. I didn't even know such a thing existed! Suzanne's husband is Japanese so she knew exactly what to order. Maisie gave it all a try. She liked the noodles, fried chicken and even ate the pork bun. Hudson? He was fussy, fussy, fussy - and he never got better. If yesterday was Maisie's tough day, then today was Hudson's. He fussed all afternoon even after they BOTH took a nap in their own beds! 

I was in heaven! Both napping? At home? I finally started working on the outline for a screenplay I want to write. Tee hee! Tonight? I'd hoped to watch part of the convention on youtube, but the Internet has been an absolute nightmare the past couple of days. No convention for me. It's bugging me that I can't watch the conventions here. I'm a news junkie. I love politics. It's funny what makes me homesick!