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.