Moving Out of the Orchard

Today we are moving out of our hotel room and into our apartment- Yippeeee! Our stuff doesn't come until tomorrow so some very kind people let us borrow some pillows ans towels. We don't have our internet or cable set up yet so it may be a few days until we have contact with people again. I am so happy to be getting out of this hotel!

Just Too Cute

Elyse kissing herself in the mirror.

Wonderful Weekend

This weekend was wonderful. We got to get out and experience new parts of Singapore. On Saturday Toby drove to IKEA. You may ask yourself why this trip is special. Well, this was only the second time Toby drove on the left side of the road. He did a great job. It feels weird enough to be in the passenger seat on the left side of the car, I can just imagine how hard it is to sit on the right side and drive on the left. So strange. Anyway, it was nice to be a t IKEA and look for stuff for our new apartment. We got a list of potential things to buy, but the only thing we left with were safety plugs for the outlets.

On Saturday night we went over to the house of one of Toby's co-workers. It was fun to hangout and we had some great food.

On Sunday we ventured out to Little India. It was all decorated for the upcoming Hindu festival Deepavali which was fun to see. We walked in and out of stores selling all sorts of things. There were clothes stores, flower stores filled with garlands, and many jewelry stores filled gold necklaces and colorful bangles. We were accompanied by Bollywood style music and burning incense.

We followed a walking tour map and ended up at a Hindu temple. We took our shoes off and went inside. It was filled with Hindus worshiping. Some sat, other knelled, and still others laid down in front of idols to worship. There was a man chanting and putting white power on people's foreheads. I'm not sure what that was meant to symbolize. I noticed that people brought food to offer to the gods and it seemed people paid money to go into certain areas of the temples, closer to certain alters. I know the basics of Hinduism, but from my limited knowledge I couldn't figure out what some of the statues were symbolizing. They we pretty scary looking. (look at the last picture)

After the temple, we walked down the crowded sidewalk to find a place to eat. We ducked into a vegetarian restaurant and ordered some dosai. Mine was filled with onions and chili peppers while Toby's was filled with potatoes. In the restaurant there was a sink to wash your hands right next to the dining tables since people ate with their hands. We really enjoyed it. After lunch we went back to the MRT. I got off at a mall to see if I could find some things we needed (I found a scrapbook store!!!! (although a piece of paper cost between S$1.50 - S$4.00) and Toby took Elyse back to the hotel for a nap. It was a great day.

VivoCity

After visiting the park the other day I was determined to find a playground for Elyse. I did a search online and one of the places I found was in the VivoCity Mall. I realized I had already been to this mall so I actually knew where to go. It took us about 30-40 total travel time to get there (walking and MRT). What we found when we got there was a playground and a water feature that kids could play in. I wasn't really prepared for Elyse to get wet, but it looked like so much fun so we improvised.

I found that I had a couple extra outfits and so I dressed her in one and planned to use the other as a towel. I also had some plastic bags that you usually put diapers in that I could use to put her wet clothes in after she was done.

After she was changed I let her play in the water. She really liked it for the most part. When the fountains started "spitting" or going in and out really fast, she wasn't too thrilled , but other than that she had a great time. After she played in the water, I changed her back into her original clothes and she went to play on the other stuff on the playground. A very successful day I would say.

A Couple Notes

Here are somethings that I have noticed about Singapore that I wanted to write down before I forget that they are different. (Does that make sense?)

• You get Chili Sauce with your fries at McDonald's
• You can get McDonald's delivered
• Instead of getting things "to go" you "take away"
• trolley=shopping cart
• lift=elevator
• pram=stroller
• When you get off the MRT, etc. you "alight"
• Free Flow=free refills (i think)
• Iced Lemon Tea reminds me of Sweet Tea
• a high chair can either be a what we call a high chair or it could be a small seat on stilts for a toddler to sit in
• grocery stores are in the basement of shopping malls
• Ovens are not standard in an Singapore kitchen (unless they are catering to expats) As one woman put it- "We don't bake cheese."
• You have to make sure you have a water heater in your apt (not a given)
• A bomb shelter/storage closet can be used as a maid's room and most often is

These are some of the things I have noticed so far.

To The Park We Go

Today Elyse and I did a bit of exploring. I saw that there was a park a couple MRT stations away and thought we should check it out. I'm glad we went, but it wasn't what I wanted to find. It was a green tropical area with a walking path through it. It also had a fountain/reflecting pool and a restaurant. I was hoping for grass and a playground. I will have to keep looking, although I have a feeling that the parks on the map are going to be similar to what we saw today.

Elyse liked playing with the rocks and the water. I let her play with them for a little bit, but I had a feeling that it would be "frowned upon" if anyone were to see it. On the way back we stopped at a restaurant that served local food. After a little while Elyse decided she liked the chicken dumplings and also had some of my chicken from my ramen. As always she got a lot of attention and a waitress even gave her a little toy to play with.

Our New Apartment

We found a place. It is in the Lakeshore complex. It happens to be one of the smallest places we looked at, but it has the best layout. It also has a great view of Jurong Lake and is right by the MRT station (Lakeside if you want to look at the MRT map). Although we had to make some compromises, this places seems to fit us the best. It has an open kitchen, a study nook and 3 bedrooms. The view is wonderful. I think that's why it doesn't seem small. Toby is going to put in our request and get the ball rolling. Hopefully we should be able to move in a week or two.

MRT

Today I rode the MRT for the first time. Some people met me at the station and helped me get to where we were going. I am glad they met me because once off the train I don't think I could have found the restaurant very easily. On the way back I was by myself and made it just fine.

{If you enlarge the map you can see where I started on the Red Line, Orchard, and where I ended up on the Purple Line, Harbour Front.} It confirmed the fact that I can get around the city without a car, it may take a bit longer, but I won't be stuck at the apartment.

These next pictures are just some I took while getting ready for our trip. The last one is after we landed.

Familiar Faces

Well, Jan and Jack left today...So sad. It was great to see them and they really helped us get accustomed to our new surroundings. We get to see them again in 7 1/2 weeks.

Although Jan and Jack left there are still some familiar faces in Singapore. There is a family we met while waiting for our plane in Houston (if there wasn't a delay we probably wouldn't have met). They have 4 kids with one on the way. we keep running into them. We saw them at a restaurant, at church, and walking around Singapore. I think God might want us to be friends with them, what do you think? I am going to watch 2 of their kids while the other two get registered for school. It is nice to see a familiar face on the streets of Singapore.

Elyse and I have been hanging out at the pool. On the pool deck there is a giant chess set. Here are a few pictures of Elyse playing with the pieces.

Living in Singapore

We have been in Singapore 4 days now and have been living at the Orchard Hotel. It is hard living in a hotel room but we are making due with what we have. We are lucky that our room has a dark hall way- this has become Elyse's room. The last couple days we have been looking around for apartments so we can get out of the hotel and start to feel settled. The man that is showing us around is very nice and full of information. We saw 7 places yesterday and 2 today. We have narrowed it down to 2 places. One is at Summerdale and the other is at a place called Lakeshore.

At Summerdale the apartment is a penthouse. It is large and has 2 floors and a beautiful terrace. It is newly renovated and the owner seems very proud of the unit and has put a lot of work into it. The only problem is that it in not very close to an MRT (subway) station. It is close to a bus station though.

The place at Lakeshore is smaller but it has a nice layout. It has a floor to ceiling window that over looks the pool on one side and out one of the bedroom windows you over look the open green area on the 7th floor. This apartment is very close to an MRT station.

Decisions, decisions.

As for our adjustment here, it is ok. The weather reminds me of Texas, but there is breeze which is nice. We are still not sleeping through the night, but we are sleeping more each night. Hopefully we will all be adjusted soon.

Here are some pictures of the hotel and some signs I thought were funny. On the cross walk one look at the very bottom section of the sign. I think you can Google the apartments to see some pictures. I am sorry I am not individually e-mailing, I am feeling a bit overwhelmed in that area at the moment, but hopefully will be caught up soon.

We Have Arrived

Wow- what an adventure. We have arrived safe and sound in Singapore but it took a long time. We got up around 6:15 am on Sept 29 to begin our day. We packed up the last minute things, fed Elyse and we were off (only 30 minutes later than we had hoped). Unfortunately we ran into traffic and it took us double the time to get us to the airport. That put us at the airport 1 hr latter than we wanted to get there.

After checking in all 6 of our bags we headed off to the gate just in time to board, or so we thought. We got to the gate and were all set to get on the plane when we found out it was delayed- not long, but delayed. Well, that 15 minute delay turned into an almost 3 hr delay. Elyse did fine as long as she could walk around. She made a lot of friends.

Finally we are on the plane- Elyse falls asleep and I try and get some sleep or at least watch a movie. About 15 minutes into the flight Elyse waking up screaming like I have never heard her scream. I am trying to calm her down when I see a bit of blood coming out of her nose. I start freaking out and all the worst possible scenarios run through my head. I stop a flight attendant and ask her for help. Big mistake. She basically told me that since I am a first time mom I don't know what I am doing. ( she continued to insult us with a smile through out the trip). The only thing that she was good for was to distract Elyse for a second because at that point Elyse stopped crying. Not the way I had hoped the trip would start.

The rest of the flight went better. Elyse and I walked the aisles and made friends. Elyse liked saying hi to everyone and played peek-a-boo with the very kind lady behind us. this first leg of the trip (13 hrs from Houston Japan) overall went well except for the lack of sleep and the beginning of the flight. Our growing concern as we approached Japan was if we would make our connecting flight. A very nice flight attendant was trying to hook us up with another family on the family headed to Singapore as well. This other family was in first class and because of that would be escorted to the next flight and we could then tag along. Unfortunately that did not happen.

We got off the plane and rushed to find our flight- we had just missed it so we had to find another flight. We were able to do this with little trouble. We even got bulkhead seat and met a very nice flight attendant who hooked us up with slippers, a paper, and kindness.

On the flight Elyse was in and out of sleep for about 3 hours- a little less than half the flight. I felt so sorry for her. Her eyes were all puffy and you could tell that she wanted to sleep but just couldn't. By the time we landed in Singapore it was 12:52 am on Oct 1, 11:52 am Sept 30 in Houston- exactly 28 hrs after we left the house. Crazy!

Because of missing our flight, we had a new problem to deal with. We were planning on meeting up with Toby's parents at the gate (who had flown into Singapore from Indonesia to meet us) but we didn't have a way on telling them that we were on another flight. We hoped that we would see them, but we did not. We searched all around the airport, called people in the States, but couldn't find them. We decided to go to the hotel and figure out a new plan.

As we approached the hotel I looked in the lobby and there were Jack and Jan!!! I was so happy. I jumped out of the taxi and ran inside. Hugs and tears were exchanged. we had arrived and found Toby's parents. Such a relief.

We got to our room settled in and were in bed at 3 am. Elyse woke us up at 5 screaming. We calmed her down and Toby stayed up with her for awhile as I tried to sleep. At 8:30 we began our day. Today we have napped, explored the area, been by the pool, and gotten a cell phone (can't receive calls from the States). Right now Elyse is asleep, Toby and his parents are at the pool and here I am blogging.

It was a rough trip but we made it. Thanks for the prayers and thanks for reading my rambling (I didn't proofread it). I will try and keep you updated on what's happening.