Dear Houston

Dear Houston,

As you might have heard, we are planning on moving back to your area next spring. I was hoping you could make the following improvements to make our transition easier.

Please have...
*a mass transit subway system in place
*affordable taxis
*tree lined highways
*on call affordable maids that will also babysit at a moments notice
*a grocery delivery system
*safe streets to walk on at any time of day
* doctors offices that have little to no wait 

Thank you,

Jenn Harkless

Toby's Home

Toby's home! 

Cozy

The other day all Anastasia wanted to do was get cover by a blanket. Over and over and over again. She looks so cozy :)

Random Pictures

Here are some random pictures I have been meaning to post.

Look at Anastasia's new kicks- I got them at the exchange table at MOPS about a year ago and she can now wear them!

Daddy and his girls. Safety Starts with Me!

Elyse doing a painting project.

One day Elyse asked me to turn on the aircon so she could get under the blanket and be cozy. Anastasia decided to join her.

Playing dress up

The girls reading together

Like I said...random but worth sharing :)

Pumpkin Patch

 Today the girls and I went to the SAS (Singapore American School) Pumpkin Patch. I wanted to get the typical pumpkin patch pictures, but Anastasia was not liking the hay at all. So, we tried some other things. Although I'm not really liking these pictures, this is what I got:

 The Singapore "pumpkin patch" has basketball hoops and palm trees. What does yours have?

 Elyse picked out a little pumpkin to paint. It wasn't until after she was done I began to wonder how I was going to get in home (in a taxi with 2 kids) without getting paint everywhere. What I wound up doing was getting a plastic bag form the bake sale and wrapping it in that. I think Elyse has forgotten about it and I'm glad because it is really ugly now :( That's ok. I wasn't really about the pumpkin, but the experience.

Although A wasn't a fan of hay, she did like the cookie we bought :)

 At home the girls changed outfits and I got some more shots that I like a little more :)

 For reference I included pictures from the past 2 years. The girls have changed so much!

Uncle Charlie and Aunt Janice

Uncle Charlie and Aunt Janice came to visit for a couple days on their way to Vietnam and Cambodia.We packed a lot into the 2 1/2 days they were here. On the day they arrived we walked around the neighborhood in the morning and then went out to dinner for some dumplings.

Then on day 2 we went to the Singapore Flyer in the morning with the girls and then we headed out for some adventures just the adults in the afternoon/evening. First we went to Little India and explored Tekka Market and walked around the main street to the temple.

Pictures from Tekka Market:

Little India all decked out for Deepavali:

The door to the temple:

A

One of the many gods all dressed up:

These men were making offerings for the gods.

For some reason I didn't take any other pictures of the evening, but after Little India we headed to Chinatown. Uncle Charlie and Aunt Janice went to the Chintatown Heritage Centre while I walked around. We then went to a temple and headed the Boat Quay for some dinner. It was a full day for sure!

This morning we hung around in the morning as they got ready for the next stop on their trip. I am glad that we got to see them! We love visitors!

Jenn Time

Over the weekend I had Mary come and watch the girls for a few hours so I could go out, explore and have some time for myself. I didn't have a clear plan of what I wanted to do with my time but I wound up going to SKS (a Christian book store), Lau Pa Sat, and Marina Bay.

My first stop at SKS proved to be very fruitful. I got a couple of gifts, a study on prayer, a book on prayer, and a new bible with study questions in the margins for Toby and I to study together. New books make me happy :)

I was getting hungry so I figured I would go to somewhere I had never been before: Lau Pa Sat. According to my Eyewitness Travel book, Lau Pa Sat is ....

Singapore's first municipal market {and} an architecturally impressive food court 

offering an extensive variety of Asian cusines...Originally comissioned by 

Raffles in 1822 on reclaimed land, the elegant octangonal cast-iron structure was designed 

by James MacRitchie and shipped over from Glasgow foundry in 1894. The market 

was dismantled during MRT tunnel construction and was later painstackingly reassembled.

I was there pretty early for dinner, but here are some of my pictures:

To drink I had sugarcane juice. Yum!

 For whatever reason I was fascinated by how they juiced the sugarcane. They just stuck it into this machine and out came the juice, but just seemed amazing how something that looks like a stick can produce such a great drink :)

Outside the main market, they closed off a street and hawker stalls were set up. Most of them were selling satay.

After dinner I was thought I might head to Little India to see all of the Deepavali decorations, but I was a little tired (from carrying all my books) and a little lost after exiting the market. I wandered around awhile and eventually found myself at Marina Bay, way on the east side which I had never been to before. I wandered around for awhile more and then found myself at the Merlion where I took pictures and people watched for awhile. I have decided that the Marina Bay/Singapore River area at night is my favorite place to go to in Singapore.

As I was walking I noticed this being built.

 From the pictures by it, it seems likes a place to walk up and observe the bay. Not sure what's going to be inside it.

Can you guess what this is?

I decided then to call it a night and head home. It was a great evening. I love exploring Singapore.

3 Years and Lessons Learned

As of October 1, we have been in Singapore 3 years! A lot has changed in the past three years. We have moved apartments, Elyse has started school, we have traveled to new countries, made new friends, said good bye to others and of course we added Anastasia to our family.

I remember coming here three years being pretty clueless and confused about basic stuff. In light of that I am going to try and compile some of the things I have learned since then. In doing so I hope to help newbies out and also preserve some of the things that I take for granted as daily life now a days.


Grocery Shopping (in a store-not a market):

• Go early in the morning. If you can't go early, go during the week. If you can't go during the week brace yourself for craziness on the weekend. (early in the morning on the weekend is probably ok)

• Bring a dollar coin to "rent" a cart

• Make sure you don't go into a line that is cash only, if you don't have cash (we did this). Most places take credit cards or NETS (like a debit card- we got ours at the bank).

• Local small grocery stores in HDBs (public housing in SG), tend to have tiny aisles, so either bring a skinny stroller or put your kid in a carrier and hold your breathe.

• Often times grocery stores are in malls and can be called hypermarts

• Speaking from an American stand point you can get most things you want to buy from the States if you go to the right store. Market Place in Tanglin Mall is one of the most "ex-patty" places that I am aware of and has a lot of things, but it is expensive. 

• If you don't want to go into the grocery store you can go online and order from Cold Storage. You can also call Kenny the Grocer who can find anything on the island. After 3 years I have started to call Kenny on a regular basis. 

Grocery Shopping (in a neighborhood market)

•  If you live by HDBs (as you will) you will have a local market that sells fruit, veggies, meat, fish, noodles, eggs, and some other fresh food.

• The markets (at least by my house) close around 3 pm and are not open on Mondays. Sometimes the fruit and veggie stalls sell longer in the day, but the wet market is usually closed.

• When you by veggies or fruit, bring it to the person in the middle of the produce and they will weigh it for you.

• When you pay they will get your change from a bucket- no cash register needed.

• You will need to pay in cash.

• Often times if there are fruit, etc in baskets, they are older and discounted.

• There are also large markets in places like Little India (Tekka Market) but I'm not very familiar with them. I guess I still have places to explore.

These are a few of the things I've learned about grocery shopping in Singapore.