Kickin It Singapore Style

On Saturday night we met up with some friends from church who took us out to a Hawker Centre (Whampoa Market)  and exposed us to some typical Singaporean dishes that we hadn't tried before. Both Ruth and Bim grew up here eating hawker food plus Ruth even wrote a book about it so they know what they were talking about.

Here are some of the dishes we tried. I linked the names of the food to a description instead of rewriting everything.

Hokkien Mee:

This is the stale we got the Hokkien Mee from. It has a long queue, so it must be good.

Ngoh Hiang Stall:

This place basically sells fried things. It's fried and then when you order it it's fried again.

The food we got from the stall.

Rojak:

There were a few other dishes we tried that I didn't gt a picture of: an Oaster omlette and chicken wings. Needless to say we had a lot of food.

After our main dishes we had a few things for dessert.

I don't remember what these are called. The brown was like a peanut soup, made from roasted peanuts. It was like eating liquid peanut butter. The other was a sweet soup with boiled(?) peanuts and glutenous rice balls floating in it.

Chendol: (scroll down on this link to see a desciption Ice Kacang)

Here we are will out desserts and sugar cane juice:

Ruth and Bim:

After our desserts Bim convinced Toby to try some durian. I had tried durian when we first moved here and did not like it at all. Bim loves durian (Ruth not so much) and has fond memories of gathering with friends and family over a fresh cut durian; a very social fruit apparently.

Bim talked to this guy and got to taste the fruit before purchasing it- durian is like a fine wine or cheese. The guy said he would give us a mild one since Toby hadn't tried it before.

Here Bim is explaining how to eat it. You pick up a seed and suck it. He was so excited! Toby- not so much.

Once Toby tried it and said it wasn't that bad Ruth and I decided to taste it as well. It wasn't that bad. Bim explained that you need to get you durian fresh and if it's in a packet, it's probably old and won't taste good. That's what happened to me. I wouldn't go out and buy my own, but if someone offered it to me again I would eat it. Ruth, who hadn't tried durian since her collage days said it wasn't that bad either. I guess Bim picked a good fruit for us to try.

Overall, I liked most everything I tried. I would order most again. The different combinations of tastes and textures is great and truly unique to Singapore.

After the Hawker Centre we went to Mustafa which is a HUGE mall(like Super Walmart on Steroids times 2.) It has everything it it that you would want and never thought you needed. We walked on one floor and it just went on and on and on. It's like a casino in Vegas: no window, no clocks - no sense of time.

Here are a few things I saw walking through. We wound up getting bindis for our Singapore box and some Dr. Pepper.

I had so much fun and I can't wait to go out with Bim and Ruth again.

Check ups

Today I took both girls for check ups at the doctor. Anastasia had her 15 month check up and Elyse had her 4 year old one. Both girls had to get shots :(

Elyse got checked out first and then the doctor (who hates giving shots and causing pain), put some numbing cream where Elyse was going to get her shots. Then it was Anastasia's turn. This was the point that I told Elyse that she was going to have to get a shot. All she said was she didn't want to, but then was fine.

Anastasia got her shot and didn't cry at all. It was kind of weird.

When the reality of the shot began setting in, Elyse started to cry, but she sat on my lap and didn't fight it. I had these images of her running away and hiding in a corner, but that didn't happen. That is an answer to prayer!

After the doctor we played on the nearby play ground for a bit and then went out to lunch :) I was so dreading this appointment, but it turned out just fine.

Elyse weighs 16.9 KG (37 lbs 4 oz.) and is 101 cm (39.8 in) tall.

Anastasia weighs 10.68 KG ( 23 lbs 8 oz) is  79 cm (31 in ) tall and her head is 47 (18.5 in ) around. The Dr. said her head might be bigger than Elyse's.

Little Gym

For Anastasia's 1st birthday my parents, Aunt Pat and Uncle Don got Anastasia some sessions at Little Gym. At first she wasn't so sure about it, but now she loves it. At Little Gym they learn basic gymnastic moves: rolls, hanging on the bars, balancing, etc.

Here she is with her teacher learning the basics of a back-handspring:

Although the teacher looks concerned in the picture, she was actually very impressed with how Anastasia looked for the ground and flipped her legs over all on her own.

Bubble time.
This is a random picture. After Little Gym I had to use the bathroom (TMI I know) and I was wondering how I was going to keep Anastasia from touching everything- this was the solution:


In the family bathroom they had this little chair just for toddlers. I had seen them before, but never had A with me. I worked like a charm! I think they should have these everywhere!

Castle

Guess what wonderful thing we got today! I'm not sure who's more excited, me or the girls. I picutre the girls hanging out in there, playing, and reading books. Doesn't it look like fun!?



Elyse asked to sleep in the tent, so we said she could as long as she actually slept in there and didn't play. It's all quiet in her room now, I hope she is enjoying a good night's sleep.

Rawa, Malaysia

Thanks to a polling day public holiday (Singapore elected a new president), Toby had a 4 day weekend. We took advantage of it at went to Rawa Island, Malaysia. It took less than 4 hours total travel time to go from our door to this wonderful little island.

From our house we were in Malaysia in about 20 minutes and then continued for another 2+ hours to the city of Mersing. From there we took a 30 minute ferry to Rawa. The only "hiccup" we had was that Anastasia threw up (yuck). She might have gotten a little carsick, but she was fine after we stopped and got her cleaned up.

Elyse waiting for the boat:


Our boat getting loaded with the luggage:


Toby ready for vacation:

RAWA! (I took this on the way home so that's why it's out the back of the boat.)

We were in a waterfront room. This is our neighbor's room, but ours looked very similar:


View of our deck:


View to the other side:
If you look at this picture of the island, the white spots are waterfront chalets. Our's was the second from the left,


Our shower opened up to the outside:

After we settled in, Anastasia went down for a nap and Elyse and I went out to the beach.


Toby and Anastasia joined us a little later:

We were on the beach most of the time, but we did take a break from time to time.

Guess what Elyse had for snack:


Elyse met a friend while jumping on the trampoline. They kept finding each other (which wasn't hard since we all ate at the same place and played on the same beach). She is from Singapore too. (didn't get a good shot of her friend's face- oops, her back will have to do.)

Anastasia wasn't a huge fan of the sand on her feet. She did like the waves washing away the sand as she sat in someones lap though.

At the very end of our trip Toby tried out the slide. I should have too. Next time...



The beach had soft sand and gentle waves. We got to float in the South China Sea while seeing fish and baby sharks. We got to visit another country and got to spend time as a family. We had a great time.