Christmas Time in the City

Christmas time or the Holidays (whatever religion you are) is a time for friends and family to get together and share a nice big dinner, exchange presents and enjoy eachother's company. Some go to more than one celebration, especially with divorced parents. Dustin and I would make our rounds from Christmas eve to possibly the day after. We probably had about four different places to go not including having my Mom over for Christmas.

This year was the first year that we had NO plans. None what so ever, minus the Grinches Christmas celebration at Harry's but that was on the 23rd. Now this celebration was just a whole bunch of Rugby Club members getting together, wearing the same t-shirt with Roadhouse quotes on it, and getting drunk. Basically kicking off the holidays with good fun.

During this time we were with our good friends of course, the ones who weren't going home for the holiday and we got invited by our American friends Clint and Meghan to go out to Outback for a Christmas eve dinner. We said yes and were excited to go, I couldn't tell you the last time I was at an Outback.

We all met on Christmas eve for dinner. The wait was unreal, no one made a reservation because last year it wasn't as busy. Our friend's flat mate (roommate) came a long as well, his first Outback experience and we were excited for him to experience the blooming Onion or as they call it here, the Typhoon onion. We got some apps (three different ones) and our main meals, some beers and had great conversation and great food. It was a Christmas Eve I will always remember. Both full and happy we came back to our apartment and watched a Christmas movie and a half (a half because facetime with our neighbor happened, and it's always fun to hear from him - Love you Jason) with some beer/wine and relaxed.

Christmas day consisted of us being lazy for a good bit. We had no plans to do anything with anyone. Dustin played COD and I read my book. We decided we wanted to go out to dinner, there was a new place across the street that we wanted to try but unfortunately when we got there it was closed. We did find a place and had great food. I tried Beef Cheek, yes the cheek of a cow. It wasn't that bad actually, especially mixed with pasta. Dustin had cab meat in pasta.

We cleared out and decided to go to Orchard Road. This road is like the Rodeo drive of Singapore. It's decorated with lights and fancy shops, just beautiful. On Christmas day they shut down most of the road and have what is like a float in the middle of the street, not going anywhere. There were TONS of people on this road. I couldn't believe my eyes, it was so hard just to get to where we were going which only took 10 minutes, now took 30. It was cool to see the lights but I was getting claustrophobic! After that dramatic walk we went to the bar at Orchard towers and had some drinks. After a couple of drinks we decided to head back to the apartment, but didn't want to go though the crowded street so we took a taxi.

Once we got back we realized it was Christmas morning in the states so we decided to facetime/skype/call our friends and family. This whole time it didn't feel like Christmas until we did call our family. I facetimed with my sister, brother in law and nieces. They were so adorable and it made me miss home so much, but that's okay. We talked to my parents, his family and we made some phone calls as well. We finished our movies and went to bed. and that was it, Christmas was over.

No traveling, no gifts to exchange, just being together and calling family. There was no stress to get gifts, the right gift, no stress about wrapping it perfectly, it was stress free and it was the most relaxing Christmas I have ever had. We didn't even have to clean up after cooking, because we didn't even cook.

I would write about new years eve, but Dustin is working until 10 so we are going to stay home and watch the fireworks from our apartment, nothing big.

I hope that everyone back at home, that your Christmas was merry and bright. We did miss you all and did miss our regular outings to see family and friends. We hope you have a wonderful and SAFE new year!

Bandit in the doggie ER :(

As you all know our Bandit Boy has been in the Animal ER for the past couple of days. I will start from the beginning.

Dustin and I wake up to our iPhone ringing and his work phone ringing, yes this was weird and we knew something was up. It was our neighbor Jason calling us. Seeing how he facetimed our iPhone and his work phone all at the same time we knew something was wrong. I call him back because we missed his calls and Jason has a look on his face. I didn't know what to expect and he tried to not give us bs and get right to the call. He told us that Bandit was in the animal er. I am sure my face looked shocked/worried and that was exactly what I felt.

As Jason was explaining what was going on I just started having tears in my eyes. He explained that Krystal (wonderful girl living in our house with D's sister) and her boyfriend let Bandit out and they noticed how swollen his stomach was, they contacted Jason and they took him to the Emergency Vet in Winchester. (after consulting with Bandits original vet) The vet said they were going to wait a night and see if he could pass the mass that was in his stomach.

Now Once Jason said surgery was a possibility I had to leave. I took my computer and went into our bedroom. I heard Dustin say something about a flipped/twisted stomach and I lost it again. Yes, I was thinking of Marley and Me and could not stand the thought of putting Bandit down while we were 10 thousand miles away. Thankfully, it was not a flipped stomach.

Being so far away is really hard. Thankfully we called the vet and gave them D's work phone number and said to contact us with updates. They said that Surgery was going to be a last resort. The good thing was that Bandit was passing gas and fluids. We waited about 12 hours and the vet said that the mass had not moved and that Bandit would need surgery.

Once again I got very upset but tried to stay calm. The Vet said that because he had fluids and was already there he would be fine. Of course, us being on the other side of the world the surgery was happening during our middle of the night. We told the vet to call us anyways and let us know what happened and how he was doing.

1 am we got a phone call from Jason. Jason updated me on how Bandits surgery went and that his stomach was full of dog food. His stomach was so full that the stomach could not pass the amount of food he ate. It was so full it would be like you and I eating 2 Thanksgiving dinners. Thankfully Bandit made it though just fine. He is now recovering, he needs to take it easy, no excitement for 2 weeks, if not more. The vet also called us and kept us and is keeping us updated on his progress. While the vet was doing the surgery she did a preventative procedure called a stomach tackt. This means that whatever she did it will prevent his stomach from flipping/twisting because in big chested dogs, at his age (8) it would be likely that his stomach would flip at some point. I am glad that she did this procedure so we don't have to worry about it.

During this whole time I was freeking out. Bandit is a member of our family, anyone who knows Bandit knows that he is a sweet, sweet boy. Even though I am sure I could not do anything there all I wanted to do was go home and be there so when Bandit did get out of the Er I would be there taking care of him. I know he is in good hands at home but for some reason I don't care all I want to do is be home with our boy. Am I crazy? I don't think so. But I will get over it and skype with him when he gets home ;)

I know what your thinking, How did Bandit get into the food. We don't know. His bag of food was new and not torn into (it was in the coat closet). The only thing we can think of is that the latch on his food by his bowl didn't close and bandit hit it and saw how to open it and eat. Bandit is a smart boy, he can open the gate from the deck to get down to the yard, so I believe that he saw once he nudged the bin he could open it just enough to get his head in there.

I believe that this probably could not have been prevented. There were probably times where I didn't close the bin all the way. When Bandit gets hungry he gets excited and nudges his bin. Who's to say that this would not have happened with us being home? Who knows, all I know that if Krystal and her boyfriend were not there he may have been in a lot worse trouble. I am thankful they did the right thing. Yes, it was a VERY expensive visit for bandit, but what were we going to do, not pay the bill and let a member of our family die that could have been prevented with surgery? No we would figure out how to get it paid for and we did.

Jason was so wonderful keeping us updated and his concern for our boy was great. He is also going to be caring for him for the first three days back home. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family to care for him (yes, Jason has become so close to Dustin and I that he is family). Thank you Jason, for everything you have done and for listening to us and calming our fears.

I am also surprised of how many people on facebook responded to my posts about Bandit and his condition. I am so thankful for the support from friends and family who asked what they could do or said that they are pulling for him. I am sure if Bandit could speak our language he would say thank you all, from the bottom of his stomach ;)

Volunteering at RDA

RDA stands for Riding for the Disabled Association. In the Special Education world (or world of the the disabled as well) This Association is well known. Over the summer you all know I worked, but only for three weeks. There were plans in the making of getting the kids involved in riding at the RDA in Purcellville VA. I wasn't there long enough to see the full experiance but I am sure the kids loved it and I have hopes that the program is still being used at our school.

When I got here I had some friends who volunteered at RDA for the day (some compinies require a day where the workers go and volunteer instead of working that day- I think that is wonderful and should be implemented back in the states). My friends, Meghan and Clint, introduced me to Sophie and told me that Sophie volunteered at the RDA once a week. I looked up the RDA and emailed them to let them know that I was interested in working there. For a month I had not heard them back. With encouragement from our friend Rich and with Sophie offering to introduce me, I planned on just going. The funny thing is, I have yet to hear back from the emails I sent, and today was my first day volunteering.

The word Disabled can scare a lot of people off or itmidate them. I know that before I worked in the speical education department at home I was a little hesitant when it came to disabled people. I worked for three years at H high school in the Special Education Department and over the years I have become more and more comfortable and really found that special education is my passion. (the funny thing is that when I was first there I didn't want to teach Special Education, and now thats all I want to do). Once I found out that I could volunteer at RDA I was truly excited and rightly so, the students are wonderful and reminded me of how much I miss my students back at home.

When I first got to RDA Sophie showed me around and I met a lot of nice women. This facility backs right up to the Singapore Polo Club, and if people are not busy, after the morning session they would go there for lunch. The Polo Club has also donated some of their horses to the RDA. The ring was covered so I didn't have to worry about sunbun and we didn't have to worry about rain. After I was shown the ropes I had to fill out appropriate forms and of course, I bought a shirt.

Around 930 the children came. I was not sure what to expect age wise but I did know that our first student was Autistic, but Sophie said that he was a sweet boy (9 I believe) and very talkative. The age groups varied more so in the second group than the first. The first boy, we will call him 1, came up to me and said hello. I introduced myself and he said "Hello Lauren" and went to shake my hand but put it on my stomach so I took his hand and shook it. Once his horse was ready and he had his helmate on we were to enter the ring. He grabbed my and Sophies hand and was very excited to get on the horse. (there are side walkers, sophie and myself were side walkers today and then a leader who would be leading the horse more or less depending on the student's ability)

The activities in the ring were varied. There was a mirror, where the students can go over and see themselves, posture and practice how to sit on the horse and how to raise up and back down on the horse. There are different polls where the child would take christmas ordiments (christmas trees that were wood) one of the side walkers would (Sophie and myself) would take the pool and rise it high so the student would have to strech and maybe stand in the sturups to reach and then put it down low so the student would lean over to grab it. This was to take up time because there was an obstical course in the middle of the arina

The students would have to pick up a candy cane hold it and steer the horse over polls laying on the ground to the bucket where one of the side walkers would pick up and the child would place it there (all the while saying walk on, woah, trot on, all the commands) Then the child would steer the horse though blocks, weaving left and right to the end where then he or she would get three soft toy balls and thow them though a hoop, once done they would trot the horse back to the start. The students were also being timed (thankfully I have a stop watch on my watch).

Student 1 was very active on the horse and loved racing the obstical course. The student was very loud with commands and focused when in the obsitcal course. When trotting back Sophie and I had to hold his ankles because he'd put his feet out instead of putting them against the horse and down. Other wise the student was very good. When he went to the mirror the student did all of the different exersises but the student really wanted to do the race again and beat the previous time. Such a ball of energy, it was hard to see that the student was Autistic. I had the biggest smile on my face at the end and so did the student.

Student 2 was also Autisitc. I read the info on this student and apparently very shy and not talkitive at all. Student 2 was just that, but that was not a problem. Student 2 was a great rider. When asked questions student 2 answered but we also had to remind the student what to say (walk on, woah, trot on) and we had to remind the student to tug back on the rains to get the horse to truly stop. The posture and form was great with this student, we didn't even have to hold the students ankles when it was time to trot. I believe the student didn't really mind doing the obstical course or activites but I think the student really loved to just ride. By the end of the session I still had a huge smile on my face and so did student 2.

After the students left we all sat down and filled out the progress reports on our students and then after that there was a breifing session, everyone had a turn to talk about the horses and how they acted and how each student acted as well. I will say our hourse was great on the first round but the end he was getting onrey and that continued though out the second session, not going where he was suppose to and trying to head to the gate. He reminded me of a particular horse that I have ridden before becuase this horse was also afraid of trucks or different things, the horse that it reminded me of my Ikabod (yes Emily Lewis' horse). Both students did great when the horse was acting up. They didn't freek out at all!

Over all it was the best volunteer day to date! I am so thankful that I was introduced to this association. The volunteers that I worked with today were all expats, and one was even from Chevy Chase MD, another from Texas. I had such a great day and am planning on going back. The unfortunate thing is their last session for the year is either Monday or nedt wednesday. If it is next wednesday I will get to go and then it's holiday break. I will be continuing to work there because it just warmed my heart. It will also be great to see the students go from day one to 'graduation'. (8 week course).

A big thanks to Sophie and everyone else. I loved it and had such a great time, can not wait for the new year!

Public Restrooms....

Being here for the length that we have it is inevitable for me not to use a public restroom. Back in the states it's always a gamble, but most of the time the public rest rooms are just nasty (this does not include restaurants/bars ect). In Singapore everyone knows it's illegal to litter, so as you all can imagine, the city is very clean if not the cleanest city there is in the world.

Because of this my expectations of a public restroom in Singapore was high. Most restaurants have bathrooms around here, and if they do have them they are decent. If the restaurant does not have a restroom (crazy I know) then it is in the building that the restaurant is attached to (a public restroom).

It was mentioned to us in passing by the NCompass agent that she was glad that most restrooms around here had 'western toilets'. I thought nothing of this, thinking that because Singapore was such a melting pot that the toilets would be ones I am use to, Wrong. They have what is called a Squattie Pottie (thetas what I call it anyways).

Some may know what I am talking about but if you don't google it or I can explain the best I can. It's a toilet that is basically a hole in the ground, it's not like an actual hole, its a working toilet but what would be the seat of the toilet it's level with the ground. There are little places you put your feet and you squat and do your business. (I have only ever used two because I had to pee so bad that I couldn't wait for a western toilet to open).

With this being said it made sense why there were signs in the western toilet stalls saying don't squat on the toilet, this included a picture of a person on top of the toilet seat squatting. Because of this note I look every time and there have been some toilets I go to and there are foot prints on the seat of a western toilet!

Enough about the squattie potties. I have to say that the public restrooms are NASTY here. For this being the cleanest city in the world I am very disappointed in how the upkeep of public toilets are. Some I walk in and the smell hits me like a mac truck, BLAH! The floors are wet, either with water or something else to where I have to roll up my pants if I am wearing pants (not usually, too dang hot).

I will say that the worst once I have used is at Orchard Towers because the Harrys at that location does not have it's own bathroom and I dread using the public one ALL the time. I love the bar, that is where the house band plays and the lead singer is an Asian Boy George (refer to my mobile uploads). Any MRT restroom is nasty and some mall ones are as well.

I don't understand it. The city hires a lot of people to take care of the streets and puts laws in place so no one litters but they don't take care of their public restrooms? Its bad enough that people walk around here coughing and sneezing out in the open spreading germs and crap, now I have to worry what I am going to contract by going in and using the restroom out in public! (Hand Sanitizer is with me at all times)

Day to day

We are on the third month of living here and it has it ups and downs. In the beginning I was having a lot of fun exploring the city and getting to know where to go and what to do when Dustin was working. Being here he works days, which in the beginning I thought was going to be wonderful.

It is wonderful to have him home every night, trust me I like that I don't sleep alone at night. But I didn't realize just how long a 12 hour sift is until here. He is gone all day, usually at home I would go to bed about four hours after he leaves the house and when I wake up he's home or going to be home. Here I have from 8am to about 10:15pm to kill time with out him.

Once we got settled into our apartment I was starting to run out of things to do. I have seen all I really want to see by myself around here. I would like to go to the zoo and things like that but I want to wait till there is a day when Dustin is off. We do have friends but they work as well, I believe all of them work a 9-5 five days a week job.

Can you see where I am going with this? The days Dustin works during the week (and sometimes the weekends) I can get really lonely. I know, I live in Singapore but there are only so many things I can do, plus I don't want to spend a ton of money just because, that is just stupid. Yes, I have started to volunteer but it's not every day so it does entertain me and I do enjoy it a lot but when I am not volunteering the days get long. I hang by the pool or go walk around by myself window shopping, the gym takes up about forty minutes of my time.

At home I would meet up with friends or clean the house while Dustin was sleeping or I'd do yard work, something. Here I find myself trying to do stuff but doing it by yourself gets old, fast. I know this won't last too long because I am hoping to pick up different volunteer jobs that take up the week and once the new year comes our travel time will start and we will start getting visitors for at least a week. But right now, holidays and things like that get me thinking which turns into being homesick.

I know I will get over this but just so you all know I am not living the life of luxury out here because I am not working, I don't think I fit in that life style anyways, it does get lonely but with support from my wonderful Fiance and my family keeping up with emails I will be fine.

Volunteering for SANA

SANA stands for Singapore Anti-Narcotics Association. When I signed up for the job at this office I was not sure what to expect. The job disruption stated that I would be archiving photos for the association that would help the general public and historical moments for the association. For some reason I thought I would be archiving photos that had to deal with drugs, I mean it does say Anti-Narcotics.

I took the 25 minute train ride and Lucky for me the building was right next door. I got into the office and was shown a computer and a ton of boxes with photos. There must have been five boxes just for me. There were three other people there as well doing the same thing (they had boxes as well). We were told we were going to scan in the photos and file them according to event. Easy enough, I have done this many times. They also said lunch and afternoon coffee was on them so again, I didn't mind.

I was to spend from 10am to 5pm scanning photos. At first I didn't think we were allowed to go on the Internet or anything so I was not entertained, but lucky for me my scanner was fast and there were card games on the computer. Once the guy in charge of us walked by he told me that I could go on the Internet and listen to music, do whatever to entertain myself while I was scanning, bonus! As I was looking at the photos, there were no pictures of narcotics, it was pictures of the past events that they had for volunteers and at risk kids, dating all the way back to 95' (yes I know not that far, but still)

For lunch they treated us to fast food, which I was less then pleased with but I just got a sandwich and coke light so I was set. Once we got back from lunch I hit a wall of being tired, thankfully coffee was on its way. The guy in charge had to leave early and told us that there was another person who wanted to talk to us about another volunteer opportunity.

Once the time came to leave we had a briefing of what this woman wanted. She explained that there was a camp where we would work with at risk children to help prevent them take the wrong path. Its working with younger kids and it's only one day, but it's all day. What they were explaining was doing activities with the kids, being like a big sister/brother and trying to get the word out about how using drugs is bad. This reminded me of the program that is in the public school system in Loudoun County, D.A.R.E - Drug Abuse Resistance Education.

This was in the elementary schools and an officer would come in and talk about how drugs were bad and we would do different activities with him and each other leading up to our fifth grade play about how drugs were bad (If you are reading this and you went to elementary school with me you know what I am talking about and thinking of that damn play, makes me laugh as I am typing this, god we were NERDS)

When I told the person who is heading this volunteer opportunity she was very excited because she was researching D.A.R.E on the Internet and told me what I just told her. So needless to say, I am going to keep my eye out for it on SG cares because for some reason they can't just put me on the list and I am most likely going to do this. I am looking forward to it and am sure I will meet lots of people.

I also volunteered to go back and help out with more archiving. I felt so bad because the guy in charge was so stressed and I told him that I didn' t really mind doing it and ensured him he does not have to buy lunch for me next time, or coffee. He was grateful and will be getting back to me.

I will also say all of the places I have volunteered at so far, I have been the only Caucasian person there. I find it odd but oh well, I don't mind it and get to hear all about different people and their lives in Singapore. One guy I worked with today, he is 18 and just finished his secondary schooling and is going to take his SATs. He asked me about the Virginia Military Institute and I got a little excited because my stepbrother is currently going there. In Singapore once the young boys are 18 and out of secondary school they must enlist in the military and stay for 2 years until they go to 'university'. This guy really wanted to go to the states but was not sure if funds would allow him. (sorry that was a side note I thought was interesting and something you all should know).

Again, this is such a wonderful experience and I am so thankful for each one. It gives me a new perspective :)

Dragon Boat Racing: Experiance and Spectating

Before Dustin and I got here we got information on a sport that I could try out, gets me out of the house and I can make some friends. Paddling here is a big sport. I looked it up on the website, and it didn't look that bad, kind of fun so I went to a practice awhile back when we first got here.

The team is Gaelic Dragons and they are paddling team that boats under the Irish flag. When I got to the boating house I was excited but didn't know what to expect. I knew it wasn't anything like rowing just by the pictures. I figured I could paddle because well I have paddled in a canoe, but not like this.

I got into my gear, stretched with the team and walked down to put the boats in the river. I was told that they were getting for the big race (Singapore River Regatta that we saw this past Sunday) so the practice was going to be hard. I had started to hit the gym I figured I would be okay and could keep up. BOY was I wrong!

We all get into the boat and for the new ones told how to paddle. We have to twist to the side (facing the inside of the boat) and have our arms straight, then pull the paddle with out bending your arm until you were lifting it out of the water. You had to use more than just your arms, you had to use your core. I was paddling lefty to see if I could do it but I was wrong. Half way though paddling to Marina Bay (from Kallang, look at it on a map its kind of far) I was tired and went to go down for another stroke when I had a ripping pain in my left shoulder. I can't, till this day, tell you what it was but I could not paddle with out almost bursting into tears. Luckily a sweet girl named Beth switched sides with me and I was a lot more comfortable.

I will say that the people on that boat were wonderful. They told me to stop paddling for a bit so I can rest up my shoulder. But I will tell you I felt like a coward so I sucked it up and said I was fine, and I was it didn't hurt to paddle on that side as much as the left side. We got back to the drop point and unloaded. After we got the boat back we had some 100 plus (like carbonated Gatorade) and then some beers afterward on the river.

I will say this, I had a lot of fun. (Minus my shoulder) But I felt bad because my paddling skills SUCKED. Like super sucked. I wouldn't have been so negative except the fact that the team was getting ready for a big race and I didn't want to bring the team down with me being in the boat, wouldn't be a very productive practice. So I decided to wait until there was a break in between races so I could get the proper coaching. Luckily after I talked to my friend Jax who is a captain on the team, I found out that it's the end of the season and next week they will be going back to basics, a perfect time for a beginner to come in.

I will also say that it takes a lot of endurance to paddle a boat. It takes a lot of strength as well. The next couple of days after that one practice I was so sore I could barley walk. I was surprised because I had been hitting the gym, I should have been fine. But I was wrong.

So the River Regatta was this past weekend. The team did great. They came in second in the final heat. I had so much fun. Dustin and I sat with our friends at the Penny Black (they sponsor the Garlic's and it's right next door to Harrys at Boat Quay) and I said hi to the team, had some beers and had a great time. I was amazed at the amount of teams there were at this event. It had gone on all weekend but Dustin and I only went on Sunday (the last day). We did get to see a boat flip, I felt bad for that team because it was right before the finish line, Plus that river is NASTY.

It was definitely a great experience to see the team compete and made me want to try this paddling thing again. I will be going next Saturday to try once more and see how I do, I have met a lot of good people on that team already and know I will have fun.

Stay tuned for updates, I will am sure it will be all about being sore! Also I don't have many pictures on my computer, they are on Dustin's and he has yet to post them, once he does I will post the pictures on here :)

Volunteering at the Institute of Mental Health

When I signed up for this volunteer job I was not sure what I was going to get into. It just explained that we were going to exercise with the patients and help the move. I figured it was to help the physically disabled get mobile, but I was wrong.

I took this job because back at home I worked in the special education department of a high school I really enjoyed it. I was in what was called adaptive PE and this was a PE class for the mentally and physically disabled. It was a lot of fun and I would do it again if I could. Once I saw this volunteer job I knew I would enjoy it.

When I got to the institute we were to meet in the main lobby. I got there and was expecting an older person in charge who has done this before. The person who was in charge was a boy who was about 18 years old. He had no experience at this job but was very positive. I told him what I was involved in when I worked at home and he didn't say much, just "oh well thanks for coming out today".

When we got into the gym the doctors and nurses were all there. There was also a group from a bank company that was there for the day doing volunteer opportunities instead of working that day (I do think this should be implemented back home for most workers). I was anticipating helping the patients exercise and working with them. The first activity we were involved in but we were just cheering them on, the nurses were doing the job I thought we were going to do, walk beside them and show them what to do. After the second person went, I decided to step up and join one of the patients and the nurse. The nurse was surprised and I said that I felt comfortable, so she let me do what she was doing. I was in my element.

The patients took a break, we passed out water and snacks and helped them open up the food packages and took their trash. After that we got time to sit down with some and talk and there was one man who was very sweet. His smile and the way his eyes lit up reminded me of one of my students (the man was older, about 65 years old) but the way he was cheering on everyone and being such a sweet man made me think of the kids I worked with back at home and it warmed my heart.

He said that he was there because his mom and dad died a long time ago in the war (didn't tell me what war) and that he had a daughter that moved out of Singapore to California US. I told him I was from the US and he didn't believe me, He thought I was from the UK. He told me that he had a hard life and he had no where else to go when his parents passed away so he went to the home (that's what he called it) and that he had plans to go to California and reunite with his daughter.

I am not sure what his disability was but I know it was something. He was so funny, cheering everyone on during musical chairs and when I got out he gave me a high five and told me I did well and to cheer on with him. I was just amazed at his personality.

After the activity were over I said my good byes and he wanted me to come back next time. I told him that I would if I was able to sign up for it though the program. He was very excited. One of the doctors came over to me as I was gathering my stuff and said that he noticed I was talking to the man I told you about. The doctor informed me that they don't really know his story, it changes every day. He said that they found out that the man does have a mother but she had recently passed and so the man has been depressed most of his time at the home. They say they see excitement in the man when he is at the gym doing activitys but when he gets to talking he starts to get sad and depressed and starts spouting off stories that were not true compared to the stories he told the day before.

The doctor also informed me that they need more volunteers to do arts and crafts and things like that. I may do that as well and go back for gym but the only reason why I would not is because this institute is so far away. If I had a car it would be different. It is about a 30 minute train ride, from the MRT station it was about a 15 minute walk. I don't mind the walk so much but it looked like it was going to rain and I was HOT! I did decide to take a cab back to the MRT station and only had to pay 3 sing. We will see I would love to go back, maybe I will just figure out if the bus goes there and take the bus from now on.

Volunteering at the Thrift Shop

As you all know in order for me to occupy my time here while Dustin is at work, I have signed up to volunteer. Dustin found the program SG cares. This program was designed to cater to all sorts of people, ones who are like me and don't have a job, ones who can only volunteer on the weekends or as little as once a year, the volunteers get to pick and choose when, where and what they want to volunteer for. They have a calender that is full of different opportunities every day.

The first job I did was volunteer at the HI Community Thrift Shop. The job descriptions explained that it was just going to the store, go though the different clothing that was donated and decided if it is worth keeping or if it is damaged. If the clothing is good enough to keep it is put out for sale. I don't know what I was expecting when I got there but I knew I was going to enjoy myself.

Walking to the shop I realized that I was in an area of Singapore that didn't see a lot of expats, it was 'local' and I was definitely getting some looks, I can only imagine what some were thinking. I got to the shop and was met by one of the paid workers and he showed me what to do. I was there with another woman who was rather young, I'd say in her late 30s early 40s. She was a business woman who had her own business and retired. She wanted to give back to the community and thought that the way to do it was though SG cares. We got to work and started to go though and arrange clothing.

Though out the shift there I was met by a lot of people and was introduced to what the HI Thrift shop really was. This shop was on a compound and I was told it was a rehab center for drug and alcohol abusers. In Singapore if you are cought with drugs, even marijuana, it's certain that you will get the death penalty. The rehab center is like any other rehab center and the thrift shop helps generate money to have social gatherings for the center and it helps the people at the center get reintroduced into life outside of rehab life.

One man I met was an older Indian gentleman. He was there as a councilor, but told me that he use to be a resident at that center. His story was very interesting, he said that he was hooked on heroin and was a trafficker of marijuana. He told me that one day he was very high and stumbled into a church for some shelter because it was raining (this man was also homeless). He said that he saw Christ on the cross bleeding, it was like Christ was right there in the flesh. Of course Christ was not but the man said that he wrote it off and went on with his day. He eventually got arrested, and had to do jail time.

Now I know what your thinking, why didn't he get death? Well the penalty for drugs back when he got caught was just a certain amount of strokes of the cane. He said he did his time and ended getting 3 painful strokes of the cane. He finally realized his ways were not good and decided to go to the rehab center that I was at. He told me that he found God there and really cleaned up his act but he did relapse after he was released. He was allowed to go back to the same center and stayed for longer and really got clean. He is currently 11 years clean and a very faithful Christian.

This man was the only one I got a story out of, the other people who came in and out of the store just passed me by. I did say hello and they nodded. I know they knew what I was saying because it seems that everyone knows some English. I am not sure if they were comfortable talking with me because they were not confident in their English or not. Either way I had a great time and really enjoyed myself. I was asked to go back and I am sure I will be going back soon.

Turkey Day

Thanksgiving is a day to spend with your family and friends. It can be a very eventful day, visits to see parents, grandparents, sisters, everyone. Back home we usually go to at least three Thanksgiving meals from Thursday to Sunday. Dustin and I have celebrated the day after due to him working EVERY Thanksgiving since we have been together.


This year was different. Thankfully Dustin was allowed to get off work early and spend the holiday with me and our good friends here. We did not host or go to anyones house. Thanksgiving is hardly celebrated here and you really have to hunt down the expat websites to find it or know someone. They do have turkeys here for the holidays, and they want 8.50 a POUND for them, so no, no cooking turkey for us this year. We went to a resturant that was a microbrewry. There was an American club there and had information on Thanksgiving and the story of why we celebrate it. I found it interesting, there were a lot of people there to celebrate, and not all were Americans. It was good to see that everyone was taking an interest and enjoying the food.

Now we all know what to expect when we think about a Thanksgiving meal. Turkey, gravey, mashed potatoes, green bean cassorole, stuffing, the works. I will say that this place had an alright spread considering. They offered soup, salad, rice, stuffing, veggies turkey, ham and pies. Of course, I skipped over the salad, and went stright for the carrotts, mashed potatoes and green beans. I was disappointed that there was not a green bean cassarole, it is my favorite part of Thanksgiving meal! The stuffing was alright, it was not stove top but home made, with big chunks of bread. It was good, but again, not what I was used to. Everything else was amazing. I did have pumpkin cheese cake and it just did not taste good, it looked like they cut a cheese cake and pumpkin pie in half and put them together. Oh well.

I will say over all it was a great time. We had good food, good beer and great company. There was one American couple that we have grown close with, Clint and Meghan, that invited us. Others were from the UK and Aulstralia. Some were there experiancing Thanksgiving meal for the first time and from the sights, they fully enjoyed it. Conversations were wonderful, talking about holidays, travel and who was doing what for the weekend. I really felt blessed last night to know that I have such a wonderful fiance and that we have met such good people here already.

I will say that this was the first Thanksgiving that I didn't spend with family. My whole life I have always seen my parents, all three (mom, dad, stepmom) and I felt a little empty yesterday. I did get to see my dad and mom on skype which was nice but it's not the same. I knew it was going to be hard to deal with, not spending time with family. I feel that it would have been a lot harder if we did not go out with our friends and if Dustin had to stay at work the entire time.

I hope everyone at home had a wonderful day, full bellies and great conversation. Know that we missed each of you and are so thankful to have you all in our lives. I expect to have a great Turkey day next year back at home with our friends, neighbors and family! Happy Thanksgiving everyone, we love you!

What comes with the food

Hawker stand or food court (which is considered a hawker stand) are mostly where we eat when we eat out. It's cheap and so good. Of course, we are in Asia and you can imagine we eat a lot of rice (we are okay with that!). If you really know us you would know that we eat a lot of rice back in the states, more so than anyone that I know.

What we have noticed since we have been here is that if you eat at the place, you get a lot of food. If you order it to-go or here they call it take-a-way it's a little less and they tend to charge a little more (by thirty cents). If we end up getting rice and some kind of meat, we not only get the meat and rice, but a fried egg, one cucumber slice, one tomato slice and a leaf of lettuce Now, when we order the food and eat it at the place sometimes we also get miso soup to go with it, when we order take away we don't get the soup. It's a lot of food for a little price either way.

At first I thought that the fried egg mini salad thing was only at the certain stands/food courts we eat at but it is not. If you want local food (not so much Indian) you will get at least a fried egg. I am not sure why fried egg is served with most things but I will say that it is good. There was a night when Dustin decided to cook up some rice only and then said to me that he was going to go local and fry up an egg, I thought it was funny.

You also get a choice to put sauces on your your meals. Dustin has been here before so he did tell me about chili sauce. You can get chili sauce at McDonald's, and he brought home some packets for me to try. At first it was spicy and I didn't really like it when he brought it home. He on the other and was in love with it. When we first got here and ate chicken rice (a common dish) I was looking for soy sauce, because I was use to putting this on my 'Asian food' back at home. Dustin, of course, put chili sauce on his food. I wasn't a fan of the soy sauce so tempted to try the chili sauce. I will say that it was VERY hot. I can't have very hot foods, it just messes with my system and gives me acid reflux. So to me this chili sauce was VERY hot, but now looking back on it, not so hot.

I then started to try the different chili sauces. Every place has their own version of it and Dustin usually trys it before me to see if I can handle it (such a good ficane). Over the past 2 months I have began to fall in love with Chili sauce, even the one from McDonald's. We were saving up packets of chili sauce from McDonald's so we could take it home and some friends/family members have requested it. Well, we went to Fair Price (our local grocery store) and bought the Fair Price brand Chili sauce. I will say that it is wonderful, it tastes like the one from McDonald's but a little spicier and I have found myself putting this sauce on everything. We have almost gone though the whole bottle and we have only had it a month! I will say that I expect to bring it home because I do use chili sauce in my amazing meat loaf and I feel that this fair price chili sauce will make it even better!

I will also say that since being here I have been braver about eating spicy foods. Don't worry, I shipped a huge bottle of tums with me just incase and it did come in handy the first two weeks of being here. I have been eating spicy food and now not relying on tums, I am sure when I get back home some spicy things that I neglected to try, I will try when we get back. But not all the spicy things, I am still fearful of some them (DOA wings from main street wings)

Television..

After being here for two months we have ralized that television is NOT what we thought it was going to be. Yes, most of the channels are in English and we are greatful for that, otherwise we would have to learn a new language and with this being a meltingpot, not sure which one we would have to learn.

Anyways back at home we all are use to current television shows, including E news. Here the do have E news Asia but are lacking on what is going on with the celebs out in the US. I hate to admit it but it is a guilty pleasure of mine, knowing what the celebs are up to but just though E news. We have found that the television shows on Singapore television is a little behind. The different channels show different shows that are mostly American based (per our cable package) but the shows are far behind to what we are used to. Some are behind only a season and others two or three seasons. This does exclude the news shows, I do get my CNN fix, that is current.

The channel I mostly watch are the Fox channels, but they are totally different from home. They have Fox Crime, proving to be the top runner for me to watch. This shows all the CSI's, Law in Order and the most West Virginian show or Redneck show, COPS (which puts me more in a negative light being from the 'country') The funny thing and annoying thing is, is that I see one CSI episode and it's on again in two hours. Reruns are the death of television over here. If it's not on in two hours, its on the very next day at the same time.

It is nice in the fact that we have discovered the show Dexter. We don't get the channel that it is on in the US so we get to catch up on it. But that's about the only nice thing. I will say that I am thankful that Dustin purchesed the Slingbox for our television at home. At first it didn't work on our computers, so we had to resort to our iphones. Yes I watched the first skins game on my iphone and I am proud of it. We watched a lot on our little iphones, annoying yes but we got our fill of our regular shows that we are use to.

Yes, I know what you're thinking, Your living in Singapore, why on earth are you watching TV? Well I am living, not visiting I don't want to see all of Singapore in two months, I have a year and we will take advantage of it. Also, we still have to do laundry, cook food, clean the apartment, all the domestic things we do at home. Also, who doesn't like a lazy day every once and awhile?
The other advantage for the reruns and behind the time episodes is that there are hardly any commercials, maybe two breaks in a half hour, which is something I am not use to!

We finally had the problem fixed to where we can now watch episodes from our slingbox on our laptops, apparently there was an error and the only thing that could reach our slingbox was our iphones at first, now it's all better. With that said dustin got a cord that goes from the computer to the tv so we are all set now. Sometimes you will see on facebook that it does not work. It's all about Internet connection, speed all that tech. crap that I don't understand so we will have to reset or wait a day and it works. The only thing that has yet to work, are my American football games, yes for some reason it won't work when I want to watch my skins play, no matter how poorly they are doing, I am a true fan and want to see them play but alas so far I have only watched one game since we were here and maybe it's for the best considering the skins current status...

Conserving some Energy

These days everyone is concerned about conserving energy. We have fuel efficient cars, energy saving light bulbs, energy saving appliances, heck I know we try to conserve water as much as the next person. Over here they are also aware of conserving energy and going green. This is down to the air conditioning units, outlets and switches.

We noticed, even in our hotel for the first month, that there are switches for everything. We have to turn on the switch for the water heater; there are three different water heater switches here, one for each bathroom and one for the kitchen. There are also switches for our fridge, oven, cook top, washer, dryer and dishwasher, not to mention for the lights. It’s all about conserving energy and I think it's great but question if it really works. Even on the outlets there are switches that cut off the power to them so if you are not using the outlet at the time, just flip the switch and the current will be cut off. Our realtor told us that he did that and he saved 7% on his electric bill.

It is also common for people to turn off the air conditioning units when they leave the house to conserve energy (the air conditioning units are turned on and off with remotes, one remote per unit). It is also common to only have one air conditioning unit on at a time, so currently I am in the living room and yes there are two units but we only turn one on, it works but while I am in the living room the air conditioning units are off in the two bedrooms. We turn off the living room air conditioning when we go to bed and turn on the one in our bedroom. We have forgotten a couple of times to turn off the one in the living room but hopfully after a month here it will become second nature. It’s very interesting, but we have yet to see an electric bill. Of course it is going to be less than what we were paying at home just because of the size difference but still I hope it is significantly lower, we shall see.

We realized that if we keep most of our shades drawn when we are gone the rooms are not as hot when we come home so it does not take much for the air conditioning to cool the rooms down, but that’s common anywhere. I will say that it takes some getting used to with all the switches. There have been times where I forget to turn on the water heater before I get in the shower so when I walk into the bathroom I realize I have to turn it on and wait about five more minutes, and then there are times when I forget to turn off the water heater from using the shower. Hopefully I will get better at remembering all of the different things I have to turn on and off!

Another thing, this has nothing to do with conserving energy but we still found it odd. There are no outlets in either bathroom. If I want to dry my hair it has to be done in the bedroom, and thank goodness we have a mirror in there. There is also not an outlet in the hallway. Also the switches for the bathrooms (this includes the water heater switch) are on the outside of the bathrooms, that is another thing that I have gotten use to, I do forget from time to time but not as often as we first got here.

The pictures (from the top) Switches outside of the bathroom, including water heater, air conditioning unit, Outlets, see the little switches? the orange line means that there is current going to that outlet, this one is by the tv so it is always on, and the last picture are all the switches in the kitchen, the one that is not labeled is the one to turn on the lights.

Culture, or something else?

Walking

One thing Dustin and I have realized around here is it seems like the people are just oblivious to what is going on around them. I have never seen this before in all my travels, granted other than this I have only traveled outside of the US one other time and went to Italy but still. This happens anywhere and everywhere around this country, on the streets, in the MRT station, stores, everywhere. People are walking and all of a sudden with no warning just stop, right where they are. I have run into them a couple of times because I wasn’t expecting them to stop so abruptly. Or you will be walking and then out of nowhere someone just comes from where they were standing and walk in front of you and then stop walking, for no reason! This happened to us a lot and one time Dustin and I were in a hurry and the person stopped and stared at us, dumbfounded and didn't move, we were letting them go by us and nothing until I got so frustrated I just told them with a firm voice (no not yelling) to go and waved them to move, and thankfully they did. Now in stores I can understand this, you’re looking for stuff that’s fine I am use to it there but not in the middle of the sidewalk or walking to the MRT at the station. If anyone can tell me why people around here do this, great awesome I want to hear about it because honestly, I just don’t get it.

People here, we have noticed, are really slow walkers. I know we all shouldn’t be in a hurry to get somewhere when really you don’t have anywhere to be but Dustin’s legs are long and so are mine and we are just fast walkers, especially compared to people here. You get behind a group of people more than three and you have a hard time getting around them. It was explained to me from our friend Andy that the reason why people walk so slowly is because of the heat. The faster you walk the hotter you’re going to be. I get that I do, I even gave this slow walk a try and yes its nice but my natural pace won’t let me go THAT slow, I could only stand about five minutes of walking lake that and I had to keep reminding myself not to get frustrated and not be in a hurry so much, after all, half of the time I have no place to be but out walking but I tell ya what I just can’t go that slow.

Utensils/napkins

The first thing I noticed the second day I was here was that most restaurants (local ones) don’t have knives. All they give is a spoon and fork. I was really confused how I was supposed to cut chicken and such with it until Dustin showed me how to do it correctly. I don’t know if this is a culture thing or not. Maybe everyone is just scared to give knives to people around here, but again this is a safe city and hardly any violence so why should that matter? If the place does not offer forks they offer chopsticks and a spoon. Now that was some kind of challenge. I do have trouble with it still but I am getting better at cutting things. I am happy that they offer chopsticks; I use them most of the time if they are offered. We also bought some to have here at the apartment and bring home with us. I love using them and am probably going to have great skills when I come home.

Most hawker stands don’t have napkins either. Napkins seem like a luxury. Even at McDonalds the paper napkins, you are only supposed to take one. Dustin saw me taking more than two and he told me not to take more than two there is no reason behind it, thats just how it is around here. There are older gentlemen who walk around the area trying to sell packs of tissues (considered napkins) and you can buy them from the older men but Dustin and I get them from the store and learned never to leave the house without a pack of them.

Local Slang

At the end of our tour with the guide from NCompass and our realtor they let us in on a few slang words we can use around the locals so we don’t look too American. They use the word LA a lot. So say someone comes up to you and wants to sell you something you say no-la and they will walk away. Or saying okay-la sounds good-la. There is also donwanla basically saying no you don’t want it thank you. The other one is Kan or Can, I don't know how it's spelled here. This one is a little hard to explain because it can be used to say yes I understand or yes, like yes you know you want to come with us to the movies or it's asking you if you able to do something.

Bless you?

I know growing up I was taught to say excuse me either for burping or going around someone, saying please, thank you, have a good day, covering my face when I sneeze or cough, being polite basically. I don’t know if it’s culture or not but I have yet to hear someone say bless you when someone sneezes. People also hardly cover their faces when they sneeze. They just sneeze right in the open and everyone will get the germs on them from that. I am not an ocd germaphobe but I am not comfortable walking in an area where someone just sneezed in the open. This also happens when someone coughs. They don't cover their mouth and I don't know why they think it is okay. They are spreading germs and most of the coughs I hear are just nasty and you know the person is sick. I fear that this expericne is going to make me a germaphobe like Howie Mandel or Donald Trump, espically dealing with all of this on the train where it has no where to go but around you.
I have also noticed that people don't say excuse me when they are trying to pass you they just push you aside. When I am in a store, and 90% of the time it is really crowded, when I can't pass though but need to I say excuse me and the people look at me like I have two heads. At least I can say that I tried to be polite but apparently it's not appreciated and that's okay, again this is not the states, it's Singapore, a totally different culture

What Singapore does Not have..

Surprisingly we have discovered that Singapore doesn’t have a lot of things. Mostly our favorite food items, but some other things too. When we got here, we found out that the phone Dustin had for work, the Samsung Galaxy S was not even heard of around here, they had the Galaxy S2 before they had it in the States. We thought that we would be able to get a phone case for it but the first store we went to looked at the phone and laughed because they don’t have that phone here in Singapore

(This gets a little tmi) They also don’t put exhaust fans in the bathrooms here. That is one thing I will never understand. The bathrooms have no air conditioning in it (there is air conditioning in the apartment, just not central air its sophisticated wall mount units, I will post a picture) so with the added steam coming from the hot shower and no air circulation it’s miserable! The master bathroom has windows in the shower so I open the window a crack (the window is frosted so no one can see in) and I leave the bathroom door open just a crack to make sure it doesn’t get too hot and steamy in there but our other bathroom has no ventilation what so ever so, no window no nothing. I haven’t showered in there but I can imagine when we have our guests over from the states it will be interesting. Plus when someone has to use the bathroom, in the states no matter what you’re doing in there, people usually turn the exhaust fan on, and most use it when they are in dispose so people can’t hear your business. With no exhaust fan there is no privacy, honestly you hear everything that goes on in a bathroom and it sometimes is just too personal. (I told you I was going to be honest about everything!)

There are a lot of food items that they do not have here. They don’t have goya Mexican seasoning.We usually put this with our rice to give it a little Mexican flair but no dice the only Mexican related food they have here is salsa, taco dinner kit (that is like 15 sing dollars), Taco sauce and mission brand tortilla wraps that are also expensive (Brand Name). They don’t even have an international food section and if they do I passed it. Worchestire sauce is something you would think most countries have especially because they have Food Network Asia and they have recipes that all for it. But no, the closest thing we found was worchestire steak sauce, which is totally different; you definitely can’t cook with it. They also don’t have one of the best and cheapest meals you can find, Mac and Cheese. They have macaroni pasta but they don’t have mac and cheese, they don’t even have velveeta cheese so you can make your own and I am not about to buy good cheese here and pay double what I would pay back in the states for good cheese just to satisfy my craving.

They also don’t have turkey here on a regular basis. We just saw an ad for one at the grocery store recently and they want around 50 sing dollars for a small bird and I think they are only doing this for the upcoming holidays in December. Dustin is working on Thanksgiving, and I know that it’s an American holiday but I’d still like to eat turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, and green bean casserole on that day for myself but I will have to nix the turkey because it’s just going to be me, I could deal with a turkey sandwich but they don’t have turkey lunchmeat. They don’t have the crunchy onions you put on the green bean casserole and possibly gravy. You better believe we are going all out next year!

One last and maybe one of the most important things they don’t have here are the flushable wipes. If you have not used the Cottenel wipes in the bathroom, you are seriously missing out on being fresh, and they are amazing. They don’t have them here and I hate that! Okay that’s enough complaining about Singapore and what they don’t have.

Some things I have learned in the past two months

Talking Elevators

We discovered that it seems like every elevator here talks to you. At first when we arrived in Singapore I thought it was just the hotel we were staying at because it was a fancy hotel, but I was wrong, it turns out to be every elevator in Singapore. They tell you when the doors are opening, when they are closing and what floor you are on after it says doors opening. I guess it’s so that you are aware that the doors are opening so you can prepare yourself to get out and when they are closing so you make sure not to get stuck in the doors, I don’t know it’s odd. Some voices were nice, all of them have an UK accent, but some of them can have an attitude or sound mean even. The one in the mall across the street from us, 313, was very demanding “DOORS CLOSING, DOORS OPENING” like it was yelling at me, but when it announced what floor you were on it was very polite. This is the worst elevator I have encountered so far.

Help please

As most know, Singapore is a true melting pot. I don’t know if it’s culture or if it’s just this area but people around here are very nice and helpful, especially in the retail stores. You go into one store, does not matter where or what time it is, there is always someone there willing to help you. At first they don’t ask if you need help, they see you walk into the store and walk to the place where you are standing (with some space in between) and then after about a minute, they come right up next to you and ask if you need help. If you don’t need help they still follow you around the store until you buy something or leave the store. It’s nice but when I first got here I thought it was weird. Now I am use to it but it took a while.

Auntie and Uncle, not what you think.

Back in the US when when someone is talking to an older person they are addressed as Mr. Mrs or Ms., whatever their title it was formal. We were told by a couple of people that the older people around here are called Auntie (for older women) and Uncle (for older men). Now I thought that this was weird, but when we were at Harrys we took a cab home and I called the guy Uncle and it stuck. I was also on the MRT and there was a very old gentleman standing, so I got up and said Uncle, and the rest of the women around me tapped him and called him Uncle and gave him my seat. Honestly I don’t think he would have lasted the ride to the next station but he wanted to try so at first he didn’t want my seat. The first jerk of the train came and he immediately went to the seat and thanked me. Now, I am not THAT old but I was at lacrosse practice and the guys asked me how old I was and it turned out that I was the oldest. Once the guys found out, they started calling me Auntie because they were all ranging from the ages of 20-25, I am only 27 I am not old enough to be called Auntie, unless I am back in the states and my friends kids or my actual nieces call me that, then it’s fine.

Flat sheets.

When you go into a store to buy bedding there are many sheets we can buy. On beds we usually find a fitted sheet, flat sheet, pillow cases and a comforter. We went to Carefore after we knew we were getting our apartment because we needed King size sheets and we walked around and found the bedding section. We knew we needed the works, including a comforter. We were looking at comforters for a little bit and bam, someone to help us. We told them what we needed and they handed us, what I like to call, the package deal. It had it all, comforter, decorative pillows, pillow shams, pillow cases and fitted sheet. There was one thing missing, the flat sheet. We told the sales person that there was no flat sheet and she took us over to the section of flat sheets. You know what they wanted for a flat sheet? 45 DOLLARS! I am not kidding you. I about died. I said out loud that I didn’t understand why the cheapest flat sheet was that much and the person who was helping us let us know why. She said that it is the culture around here because it is so hot that they don’t use it. So if they don’t use it then why is it so damn expensive? It is most likely because they are trying to cater to the expats, but who knows. I will never understand it.

Food items and the expense.

I have also discovered that it is a lot cheaper to eat out at hawker stands than going to the grocery store. Hawker stands are places where you can get local food for a cheap price. I can go around the corner and get sweet and sour pork, chicken and rice for 3 sing dollars, which converts to 2.30 us dollars! Dustin and I ate dinner for a total of 6 sing dollars which is 4 us dollars and both of us were full! There are certain things that are so expensive in the grocery store, it makes me realize how much I took for granted back home in the states. Anything dairy is astronomical. Milk is about 6 bucks, and that’s for a half gallon. I am afraid to see what a gallon costs! A ten pack of processed cheese slices (Think Kraft cheese slices) is 7 dollars; the Kraft brand is 10 dollars. Don’t even get me started on ice cream, yogurt, sour cream and ricotta cheese!
Ground beef and things like that are expensive as well, but here they call it minced meat instead of ground beef. They also don’t have a big selection of meats in general like we are used to back in the states. Pasta sauce, a small jar of it is about 8 dollars and if it has cheese in it, it’s even more! Salsa and things of that nature are expensive as well. Orange juice is even expensive, it’s almost as expensive as milk, and actually, it is as expensive! They have something called an orange drink, I haven’t tasted it but I am assuming it’s like Sunny D or Tang (think tang being sold already made).
The most expensive thing we have run into here is how much alcohol is. For wine that I don’t care for at home (yellow tale, sorry mom) is about 27 sing dollars. The cheapest bottle of wine so far that we have found is about 13 sing dollars which is about 10 us dollars. I am used to buying a bottle of wine for 6 us dollars tops! I mean when we are having company we buy wine around 8 or 9 dollars, but for normal every day wine, 7 tops.

Finding a place to live...

After about a week of me playing tourist we knew we had to look for a place to live. Luckily the company already had that covered and hired a realtor for us. Before that though, we were in touch with another company called NCompass that took us around Singapore and introduced us to the local culture. This was about the third week we were here. The first day we got to go around with a driver around the different areas of Singapore. I thought this was so cool because my Grandma (Dad’s mom) and Grandpa John came out here for a visit a long time ago and had car tour of the country as well. We got taken by different parts, hospitals, the US embassy, drove by the botanic gardens and also different markets.

Singapore does have grocery stores. The ones we were introduced to were Cold Storage and Fair Price. We know of another store that has food too but it’s like a super Walmart called Carefour. They also have different wet markets as well. Wet Markets are the real local markets that not only have clothing and things like that but the fresh fruit, meats and fish. It was definitely an experience. I didn’t really see many expats there but that could be that it was the morning of a week day but we were also in an area that had more locals than expats. We went from there to around the area we were staying we had lunch and coffee or as they call it here, kopi and got to know the area a little more.

The next day we met up with the woman from NCompass and our realtor to go around and see the different apartments they had in mind for us. We were warned that when we go into the different apartments we were not to speak to the landlord’s realtor, even if we had any questions about the apartment. If we had any questions during the viewing we were to write them down and ask our realtor after we got back into the car. We also had to take our shoes off at all the apartments we went to. It is part of the culture here that any home you enter you must take your shoes off either at the door or in the entry way. We also couldn’t take pictures of the place unless it was okay with the landlord’s realtor.

We went to about 16 different apartments and were really surprised in what we saw. There were some buildings that were older but bigger than the newer apartments. We went to The Sail apartments, now this complex was where we were supposed to live when we got here but the people didn’t end up moving. The complex and the views were beautiful, but the rent was at the top of our list and they weren’t furnished. Most of the places we looked at did not have the option to be furnished except for 2. At the end of the second day we knew where we wanted to live and thankfully it was literally across the street from the hotel that we were staying at. We told the realtor that we wanted The Metz, it had a great layout and high ceilings, unusual for any apartment that isn’t on the top. The view also had the famous Marina Bay Sky Park that puts on a light show every Friday night and it also is where the fireworks are for the different holidays so we could watch it from our home if we wanted to.

It took a while for us to get everything sorted and unfortunately The Metz was looking like it was out because the realtor for the place had yet to get back to us. We would have had to be in an apartment we liked but didn’t love. We waited for a little over a week and finally we heard something before our realtor had to start looking into our other options. We were upset because we really liked The Metz but knew that if we don’t make a move now, or we may have to start the apartment hunt all over again. We decided to let our realtor go ahead and write up an offer for the apartment that was second on our list. The very next day we got an email saying that we did get the Metz, we were relieved and stated that this was going to be the shortest move ever!

Fort Canning Park

I had heard about Fort Canning Park from Dustin and saw signs for it numerous times so I decided to see what it was all about. I know that there was the Battle Box there that I wanted to see. So I made my way over to the park and found that there were lots of art sculptures there. It was very interesting and of course I took pictures of them. It was like any other park with the exception of the ‘old married couple’ bunks and the Battle Box.

Now walking around, I didn’t have a map of the park so I was going off of sense of direction, and we all know that it’s not very good. I did find a map and luckily went the right directions this time. I found the box but I had to go pay to go inside it. I went to the window and made half of the movie that was playing about WW2 and Singapore. After the movie I went into the battle box and found it interesting. It was an underground command center during World War 2. It was also a bomb shelter.

Each room had different reenactments with manikins that had a scary resemblance to real people. It was very interesting, I would suggest going on the guided tour rather than taking one yourself because you find out what happened down there during the last days before surrendering. I did have to pay about 8 dollars and I thought that it was a little much to pay but that’s okay, I enjoyed it. So after I got out of the box I decided that I had seen enough of the park, again going alone isn’t as fun as going with someone else and bring some lunch with you and enjoying the park.

Chinese and Japanese Gardens

Now I heard that this was a beautiful place to go so I decided to hop on the MRT and take it to the Chinese gardens stop. Again, not sure where I was going to go once I got to the station but I was armed with my map so I felt I would be okay. After the 30 minute ride (which to most Singaporeans is a far ride and no one ever does that unless they have to) I got off and saw that there was an exit that showed the way to the gardens. It was a beautiful, hot day. Not a cloud in the sky and this is when I wanted clouds because the Gardens hardly had any shade/cover from the sun. I went on and walked around.

I don’t know what I was expecting but I saw observation towers and different trees and statues. Now when you hear the word garden you think, statues, trees, flowers, fountains. I only saw trees, some had flowers on them but not many and statues. It was by a lake and at that time there were boat races going on. So I was walking and in the Chinese part of the gardens I saw statues that dealt with the different animals that represented the years. That was interesting but I was getting hot and needed to find a place with some shade.

I walked around and found a turtle museum. I had to pay five dollars but it went to the care of the turtles so I didn’t mind. When I walked in I was a bit worried, the big ones were in just large tanks, with nothing but a concert floor and some water. It was cool to see the different turtles and then I went in to a room with a lot of tanks. All filled with a lot of different turtles. Once I have never seen before. The freakiest turtle I saw in there was the snake head turtle. Oh my gosh, when it moved its head it looked like a snake (hence the name) it was just weird. Anyways, I left and started heading my way out of the gardens. As I was heading out I went to one of the towers and took pictures of the view at the top. It was very beautiful but vertigo gotten the best of me and I headed back down and back to the MRT station. I am happy I went to the gardens but I really wouldn’t recommend going alone. It was beautiful and I would go back with Dustin if he wanted to go there and possibly bring a picnic lunch and have it down by the water but that’s all I would do.

Temples in Chinatown

After Dustin got up and left for work I decided to go to breakfast with my books in hand to decide where I was going to go. I didn’t want to go too far because I didn’t want to get lost and have an astronomical cab bill. I decided I was going to venture off to Chinatown. I have a love of temples and different places of worship, I don’t know why, I just do. So I set out on the MRT and headed to C-town. When I got there I wasn’t really sure what road to take. I stood there for a moment and wanted to pull out my map but I didn’t want to look too much like a tourist. So I looked at the different exits from the station and just decided to go right. Apparently that was the wrong way. I popped out on the street and was not sure where I was or what direction to head. Thankfully I was in Singapore and not a city like New York because I know I won’t get mugged here in broad daylight. This is the safest city in the world. So I started to walk when I realized I should probably get my map out so I know where the temple is.

I got my map out and discovered that I was going in the totally wrong direction. I started walking back the way I came and taking different roads to get to the first temple. When I got there I was immediately in awe of it. The building had so many statues on and around the building, and some of them had very scary faces on them. I was at the Sru Mariamman Temple, this temple was a Hindu temple and I know that this particular Hindu temple is the oldest one in Singapore. As I was walking up I noticed that everyone was taking their shoes off before they entered. Now, I know that it was because it’s a sign of respect because shoes are dirty and you don’t want to disrespect Gods house by getting it dirty, but I did wait until I got right up to the door. I don’t want to walk on the city sidewalk with no shoes one. Everyone was leaving their shoes outside, I did not, I put them in my purse with the soles facing each other. I did this because I didn’t want anyone to take my shoes. I know what you’re thinking, it’s the safest city and no one would take my shoes BUT my mind went to the Sex in the City episode where Carrie lost her shoes at a friend’s house because she had to take them off and someone else ran off with them. I was not about to walk around Singapore without shoes.

Anyways, there were things going in in the temple but I could not take part of because I was not Hindu. People who were would go up and wash their feet and their hands and meet. I walked around and took pictures and realized that there wasn’t much inside but still felt something spiritual about it. I didn’t stay long because it wasn’t a very big temple and there wasn’t much to look at but the different statues all around.

I walked around and once I was done I went out put my shoes on and headed in the direction of a Buddhist temple. As I was walking I saw the different touristy stands and I had to tell myself that I wasn’t going to be that much of a tourist, not until we get closer to going back home because I wanted to bring stuff back with us. Anyways, I was walking and got turned around and realized I wasn’t going in the right direction. I pulled out my map and looked at the street signs and figured out that I was only a block away. The temple I was looking for was the Buddha Tooth Relic temple and museum. As I got there it was breath taking. Without thinking I started to go into the ceremony room when I was stopped abruptly and told that I had to put on a shawl to cover my shoulders. I felt so dumb because I knew I had to cover my shoulders but I was in such awe of what the inside looked like I didn’t think. So as I was going to put my shawl on there was a monk who came over and told me that I was going tough the temple in the wrong order, we had to start at the top.

You would think that I would be hesitant going with a total stranger around this temple, but he was no ordinary stranger, he was a monk and we all know that monks can do no harm, especially in Singapore. We got up to the top and I realized this was the museum part of the building. It was full with different Buddha’s and statues. As I went around there were also gifts to the temple from different parts of the world. I never knew there were so many different Buddha’s and all had different meanings. There were also statues of the protectors of the temple. As I was walking along the monk was praying, and every once in a while his cellphone would go off. I was surprised; because I turned mine on vibrate for respect purposes. The monk also did his best to explain different things to me but there was a bit of a communication barrier, we both tried our hardest and got though.

We got though all the floors and then went into the ceremony room, or rooms, don’t worry, I had my shawl on and ready. There were thousands of statues covering the walls and before them were different offerings from flowers to oranges to incense. People were running around bowing their heads, hands in prayer form shaking their hands from their heads to the different statues saying something I couldn’t understand. All I know is that they were giving thanks to their protectors and Gods. Again, it was such an overwhelming vibe of spirituality in there; it was interesting and amazing all at the same time. Once I was done, the monk asked where I was going and I said home. He then took my shoulders and then started saying a prayer touching my head and saying things in a language I could obviously not understand, He then said that I was blessed and may go safely home. It was really cool.