Waterfall Stairs

We took the boys to Little India today via the MRT (subway).  First finding parking near the MRT was a challenge but we finally did find some in an HDB complex.  HDB stands for Housing Development Board and the complexes that are run by the government are what 90 percent of the people in Singapore live in. 

Little India is a great place to get fresh coconut milk, the guy slams his cleaver into your coconut to cut the top off, insert straw and enjoy!

  MMMM it is so good, the boys were timid at first as neither one of them likes dried coconut but they tried it and they liked it.

When you are finished drinking the milk you can give the coconut back to the man with the cleaver and he will cut it in half for you in a most entertaining and dangerous manner, and you then can eat the delicious coconut meat out of the shell

Our time at Mustaffas Centre was fun, it is a huge store, 4 stories and two city blocks with bunches of stuff in it, you could spend hours in there and we did almost spend two hours in there.  We wanted to explore more of Little India but were getting hungry so we went into a mall to eat and then it started to down pour.

When it down pours over here it DOWN POURS.  We have never seen rain come so fast, so hard and so much before.  We were really glad we were inside eating as we watched the rain out the window. 

We have learned that a lot of Singapore is underground there are amazing underground tunnel systems that connect a lot of areas of the city especially by the MRT stations.  So we asked the waitress if the mall happened to connect to the MRT station and it did.  Yay we did not have to walk in the rain.

By the time we got on the MRT the rain had stopped but as we continued on our journey we caught back up with the storm.  Here is a picture, I hope you can see it the stairs are a virtual water fall! 

And here is a guy trying to walk down the stairs

Yes we did have to walk out in that rain, I had an umbrella as I always carry one but Scott and the boys did not so Scott took the umbrella to run and get the car for us and he pulled up and we went under umbrella to the car but got drenched anyway.

It was a bit fun and as we watched people cross the street everyone was smiling or laughing as it was just simply crazy amounts of water falling from the sky.  Oh..... a nice cool breeze accompanied the rain too!

Downtown Blackout By: Keegan

So we were in a new church today, it is not far from our house and we actually drove there so that we would not be dripping sweat when we got there.

The church was surprisingly Singaporean, different from the other church we went to there were few if any people who were not Singaporean there.  Worship was lively, if you want to rock for Jesus come to Singapore. 

I was in worship singing and clapping when all of the sudden  all of my nerves went numb.  I was screaming but no sound was coming out of my mouth, I felt like everyone should be staring at me as I thought I was screaming my head off, but there was NO sound.  I have no idea why I was screaming but I was terrified.

I could not control any of my body, I sat down and grabbed Dad's arm.  He immediately reached for my diabetes kit to check my blood sugar.  I blacked out, like passed out COLD!!  Mom was checking my pulse, Dad checked my sugar and it was a good number, all of the people around us were trying to help us. 

I woke up to a rock concert, I was having a quiet and peacful feeling, like a really good dream and all of the sudden the music was  loud. 

Then it happened......

I threw up all over the floor, my seat, my feet, my lap.  After I came to, Dad and another man walked me out and Mom and Caleb and a bunch of people were there to help me get cleaned up. 

I felt totally fine after that.  We wanted to go home so I could lay down but they told us that they double park everyone in the car park so there was no way we could get our car out until church was over.  We went into the balcony so that I would not be by anyone incase I got sick again.  Mom asked for a bag just in case but really other than a headache I was feeling OK. 

I am fine now and we have no idea what happened to me.  Maybe dehydration as I did not drink anything before chruch??? 

Later..... Keegan

The ION on Orchard

We put our Christmas tree up this morning so that it would be ready for the first Sunday of Advent tomorrow, we had fun as a family, some sad emotions came but we know that Christmas is about the birth of Jesus Christ and we can celebrate that any where in the world, we are missing our family and friends but have agreed to keep it positive and make the most of every day.

Orchard Road is THEE shopping strip in Singapore, it is amazing how many malls and stores and stories there are on Orchard Road.

 We had to go to the ION mall on Orchard today in order to get the docking stations for the boys phones, we have coupons for free docking stations that we want to redeem and we found out last week when we went to redeem them that you have to go to one of two locations only to get the free docking station.  So off we went after putting up the tree.

We talked about taking the car vs. the subway, it is the weekend so parking may be an issue but the subway would for sure take awhile so we opted for the car. 

You know it is really better to know a city well before driving but how do you get to know the city if you are not driving?  We made a few wrong turns, went around the block more than a few times but finally found the "car park" what we would call the parking structure.

According to the sign there were 3 spots open on level 7 and 3 on level 8.  Well the sign was not correct so we drove and we drove and we drove and finally we did what you do in Singapore when there really is not a marked spot and we pulled against the wall in a line with other cars and just parked it right there.

As you can imagine we entered the mall a bit flustered but were off to get the docking stations.  OK, we found the store, which is an accomplishment in a mall with 7 yes, 7 levels.  Our store was on the second basement level, two stories below ground. 

We handed the coupon to the guy only to be told that we needed the receipt and no they can not look up our purchase in the computer.  I had a few choice words..... and was not at all happy but... what could we do.

We decided to go outside and just take a breath and accomplish some other shopping that we had on our to do list.  We were pleased to find some nice Christmas decorations and decided to take some photos and just hang out for a bit.

I have been trying to take a flower picture every day and I have no idea what this is but it sure did cheer me up to see it.  Isn't it pretty.

It was very helpful to all of us to just simply regroup.  One can really allow these things to ruin the whole day or one can choose to move on and enjoy the moment anyway and although it took us a little time, we enjoyed the moment anyway. 

We did find some of the other things on our list, learned a bit more of the city and as we were driving home remembered that we had no food for dinner, so we stopped at this cute Italian place we had seen a few nights ago.  We were greeted by Christian music playing and a happy staff and great food which made for happy boys.

Every day we learn more about Singapore and ourselves in the process.  Every day we are thankful that God is the one in control of our lives and every day we are grateful for this wonderful technology that is allowing us to keep in contact with our family and friends.

Sentosa Island

We have been in Singapore for just two weeks today, it really seems like it has been much longer as we have been working hard to set up house and learn our new city.  Today we decided it was time to play, so off to Sentosa Island we went.

We drove the car to Vivo City mall where you get on the tram to go over to the Island, amazingly we parked in exactly the right spot in the car park.

 Sentosa is known as Singapore's play ground  and I must say it is very beautiful on the island with many flowers and palm trees and groomed beaches.

Scott and the boys decided to do the luge ride, you take a cable car up and ride a luge down so I sat on the beach and waited taking in the sun and warm breeze as I would just apply the break all the way down the hill anyway.

We went to lunch at a beach side restaurant and enjoyed some great food and ice cold water, it started raining while we were at lunch so we were in no hurry to leave the restaurant.

all was good until we went to pay the bill and the waiter informed us that their machine would not take our credit card, so we gave them the other card which the machine also rejected.  Uh Oh we know we have no balance on the cards so what is up with this?  We of course did not have enough cash on us to pay the bill as we had not yet gone to the ATM machine for the week.  After a while the waiter came back and told us that the problem is their machine and not our cards as it also was not taking another customers card.  So we waited and finally they got the machine up and running allowing us to enjoy the rest of the island.

There was a little foot bridge over to some towers that you can climb so we decided to go across the bridge and climb the tower, it was an amazing view from the top of the ship harbor and some nice foliage.

and we found that we were at an interesting geographical point of the world

We were getting tired and we have learned not to push ourselves too hard so we decided that we were done for the day and that we would come again to see the rest of the Island so we only saw the Merlion from a distance, but here is a picture for you.  We will explore the Merlion another day.

After we came back home we decided that we would take a bus into Holland Village and grab some dinner at a Hawker center, and top up our MRT cards.  So we walked to the bus stop and jumped on a bus which one stop later....... STOPPED  that was it.... everyone off the bus, this one for whatever reason is no longer running.  I just love the go there app, I was able to instantly know which other bus to take for our family and it was coming down the road so onto that bus we went and made it to our destination.

 Dinner was good and all in all it was a fun day of rest and play.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!  This is our first major holiday away from family EVER.  It is interesting how much sentimental things go into your holidays.  The boys were at a youth gathering with about 16 or so kids and only 4 of them, including my two boys knew what Thanksgiving was.  It is a true American holiday that is not observed anywhere else in the world and yet it is so meaningful to us.

We were privileged to be able to have another family join us from the U.S.  they also are away from their family and so it was really nice to have someone who understands where we are emotionally to celebrate with. 

The Goetz family has been in Singapore since April and we were pleased to be able to feast with them.

We even had turkey breast which is a big deal here as it is imported to Asia so it can be very expensive.  To buy a whole turkey would cost about $90.00, to buy a turkey breast in a store would cost about $40.00.  I am a true bargain hunter and my friend Maureen has set me up with a company that caters to the restaurants in the area so we ordered our turkey breast delivered to our door for a mere $18.00.  I made a special rub for it and we had enough for the 8 of us with 4 pieces left over. Perfect.

The Goetz family has two girls and they home school also their oldest daughter has already graduated and left us a little early to do her volunteer work helping kids with their homework after school.  We had to sit at two tables as we do not have our dining room table yet but really it was a lovely day, complete with home made rolls, green bean casserole, corn pudding, mashed potatoes, stuffing with roasted pears and walnuts, cranberries, turkey and pumpkin pies!  It took a bit to gather all of that up but it was well worth the effort.

Oh, we had another first for our family, swimming on Thanksgiving day!  We are used to cold, cold weather and hot cider for Thanksgiving but swimming was fun. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!!!

Over The Highway And Through The Crowds

I was thinking of the song I learned in second grade, "Over the River and Through The Woods" today as the boys and I were trekking along in search of a table cloth.  It is funny the things that are hard to find in Singapore.  We went to FIVE different stores to find envelopes and still can not find file folders.  Today we wanted table clothes for our Thanksgiving dinner and of course events to come but.... where oh where are they?

There is a store chain in Singapore called "Giant" Sort of a K-Mart type thing.. so we decided to take a bus to the Giant.  I loaded up the directions on my "Go There" app for the I-Phone and it told us which bus to take and that we needed to go 13 stops then get off the bus and walk to "Turf City". 

We left in the heat of the day, not the wisest choice in hind sight.  As the bus was going I was excited that I actually noticed some things and at moments knew where I was, but then I lost track of how many stops we passed, you see, the bus does not stop at every stop only if someone is standing at the stop or if someone pushes the "stop" button on the bus so you really have to pay attention if you are counting stops.

So I asked the bus driver which stop Turf City was as I was thinking it should be coming up soon.  He said,  Turf City is back there.... you will have to walk back to the last stop.  Uh oh.  We did not see anything that looked like a mall at all so when in doubt ask right?  Into the 711 we went to try and find our mall.  The man behind the counter was surprised we were walking there, he said it is over the highway and down a ways then you will see the mall. 

The boys were tired, we were all hot and we walked, and walked and walked, then off in the distance we saw the mall.  Oh man.  The only thing to do now is to just keep walking and get there so we could get into some air conditioning, good thing we brought our water bottles with us. 

Finally we found the Giant store and yes, we found table clothes and even charcoal and potting soil but we knew there was no way we were walking all the way back to the bus stop with all of our stuff so we asked the cashier where the taxi stand was.  All she did was point in a general direction and the man standing in the next line over volunteered to take us to the taxi stand, he said it was a five minute walk and good thing he took us because we would have never found it.

The taxi driver looked at the map on my phone and said he knew where we lived and so we were off when Keegan said "Mom look at Caleb, I don't think he is doing so good".  Oh he did not look good at all, I instantly had him drinking water as I figured he was dehydrated but as soon as we got home he went right to bed and now complains of his stomach hurting but he is looking much better.

We are learning that you really can not push yourself too much or you will pay for it later and with missing our stop and then walking all that way to the mall, it was too much.  Well anyway here is our Thanksgiving table and we are thankful for many, many things this year.

"Thankful people have a view of life that begins somewhere deep in their souls, and outside circumstances just can't mar their joy.  To them, life is a wonderful, continuous dream come true.  All of life is blessed, and they see themselves as being in a continual feast" ~ Debi Perl

As you feast with your family may you be thankful for the blessings in your life.

Bontanical Gardens

The Singapore Botanical Gardens is only one mile from our apartment.  Sunday afternoon seemed like a good time to go so off we went.  We are learning not to push ourselves beyond our limit and in Singapore at this time our endurance is less than it would be in the U.S..  This blog will be mostly pictures for you to enjoy.

Those are rooty vines that he is standing by it would be soooo cool to climb in there but.... there may be snakes!!  So we stayed out.

Even at the Botanical Gardens there is a bit of city but it was very relaxing in there, I think we will be there a lot.

Rain Or Shine

When we hear someone says  "rain or shine" in the United States I usually think of an event that will happen rain or shine. 

Here in Singapore I am beginning to form a different picture in my head, an umbrella.  You see come rain or come shine, an umbrella is very useful here.

I must admit that at first I was a bit self conscience about pulling out an umbrella when there isn't a cloud in the sky.  It was not long before I got over the self conciseness and came to my senses, you see people walking under an umbrella all the time in Singapore and really it is very smart to shade yourself from the sun as it is very, very hot. 

While we were sitting at a Hawker Center today after Church we were watching these two little birds that were outside under a table.  It was funny to watch them walk, when they hit a spot of sunshine, they ran really fast to get back under shade.  So you see, even the birds know to get out of the sun.

I would put an umbrella on the must have list for one who is visiting Singapore because rain or shine.... you will want it. 

Here are some photos of some of the beautiful plant life we enjoy when we walk to church on Sundays.

some kind of cactus tree.

we really like the red on this bamboo stalk. 

Flower Day

Yesterday I had all these great plans to go out with my friend Maureen and buy some silk flowers for out apartment.  I thought I could do it. 

The maintenance man was coming at 10 am. to fix our bathroom, when we turn the water heater on before our showers, we get a big puddle of water on the floor, this is not a good thing in a humid country.

The maintenance man came at 10:30 am to tell me that he was going to come back at 1:30 pm to fix the bathroom and they would be here until 5:00pm.  So much for going out.

Maureen was great she said no problem we will go tomorrow.  Scott took a 1/2 day off of work today and stayed with the boys and also met with the appliance rep. to learn how to use our appliances, yes, we needed a lesson!  I will blog about the appliances another time.

So Maureen picked me up and off we went to her favorite spot to buy flowers.  She has a relationship with the shop owner so when I found the pot I wanted he agreed to make the arrangement for us on the spot free of charge, of course I had to buy the supplies, but his time was free.

It is interesting in Singapore how things are grouped together, this shop was in a mall in Little India, but the entire 5th floor of the mall was silk flower shops with a couple of toy stores in the mix.  I don't know of anywhere in the U.S. where there is one store after another selling the exact same kinds of items.

I chose some striking red hydrangeas for the wide window ledge down the hall way that leads to the bedrooms.  It really did not take him long at all and I was very grateful that I did not have to come home and put the arrangement together as I have no glue gun, or Styrofoam etc... and really NO creative energy right now.

 It is hard to believe we have only been here a week, it feels like it has been a month, Maureen says that is because we have had to make a months worth of decisions in a weeks worth of time with jet lag in a foreign land.

Well here is the finished product.  It is a bit of joy and refreshment in our house.  Thank you Maureen.

Ice Cream!

Using the I Hungry Singapore app for my I-phone we discovered that there is an ice cream shop really close to us.  What a fun thing to do after dinner.  The "Go There" app told us what bus to take, and that it is 4 stops later so off we went. 

We use the "easy link card" it lets you on the subway and bus lines, it is sort of like a cash card.  Upon purchase you load it up with money and then scan the card when getting on the bus or subway and then scan the card again when you get off and it will deduct the amount that you owe. There are ATM type of machines all over the city that allow you to "top up" your card (add more money).  Our bus ride tonight cost us 71 cents each way.  The card really is quick and easy.

So the "Island Creamery" had some interesting flavors, none of which I remember the spelling of but there were some "normal" flavors also.  We got cookies and cream, fresh banana, strawberry sherbet, and coconut swirl all of which were delicious.

and as you can see, it brought smiles to our faces and some refreshment to our bodies.

  In a few months I can see the boys coming here by themselves.

  Oh~  the ice cream is made fresh daily and they guarantee that there is no "dairy from China" in it.

Can We Take The Service Lift?

Whew!  We needed some groceries in this house, two teenage boys and lots of activities calls for some food. 

Scott had off for some kind of holiday here in Singapore, honestly I don't even know what holiday it was yesterday (Wed)  but in Singapore you get all major religious holidays off for all the major religions represented on the island.  So he was off what better time to venture out with our car and get some groceries. 

We decided to go to the "Giant" which is like a super WalMart because we needed some power strips, a crock pot.....and groceries.  According to the I-phone app "go there" the closest one is 5 miles away and in the Vivo City mall, it said it should take us 14 minutes to go there.  Wait....14 minutes to drive 5 miles?  Yes, it actually took us about 20 minutes.

Singaporeans like to shop and well, everyone else was off for the holiday too, so they all joined us at the mall.  It is a pretty mall and big.

Things are geared up for Christmas already so the Christmas music is playing and the malls are decorated, they Thanksgiving is not celebrated in Singapore so I guess they don't wait for Thanksgiving before starting Christmas.

It is interesting shopping here.  There are some things we recognize but a lot of things we don't and most things I have no idea what they are or what to do with them.  We found some Ramen Noodle type thing... but could not read it so just exactly what kind is it?

but wait..... is that.... English on that pack??  Why yes it is, Scott, Keegan and Caleb found some packs with English on them

so we came home with "cracked pepper crab" ramen, and "curry" ramen and then.... chicken ramen.

I have been searching and searching for something whole grain!!  It is called "whole meal" over here but is hard to find none the less so I was thrilled to find some high fiber crackers, at least that's what I think they are?

The day proved to be exhausting and by the time we sat down to some dinner at an "Express Thai" place in the mall we were a bit over loaded and somewhat cranky.  Things got better after we ate, good thing as we had that long car ride back with all the traffic.  Scott drove today, I still am a bit uncomfortable driving and so with it being a holiday and lots of traffic around I did not feel that today was the best day for me to drive.

We got back to our condo with a trunk full of groceries, pulled up to the lift lobby doors to unload before we parked the car and were met by the management who informed us that the lift was down and a little boy was stuck in the elevator on the 6th floor.  They said the boy was crying and scared and that a person was on their way to fix the lift.

Oh no!  That poor boy. 

We live on the 11th floor!!  Remember we had a trunk FULL of groceries and we were hot and tired and culturally overloaded....  so we asked can we take the service lift, which goes up to our back door?  They agreed to let us do that and let us in the lift with their key.  Whew.

But wait... the back door key is different than the front door key so we could not get in.  At least the groceries were up and waiting out our back door but we were stuck.  They were working on the lift

but we had been waiting for 1/2 and hour already and who knows how long it would be.  They did get the little boy our rather quickly so I was relieved that he was not still stuck in there.

We met an Irish family in the lobby and they said that if we left the kitchen window unlocked that the guard could unlock the safety bars on the main window and we could climb out the main window and over the air con service area to get through the kitchen window.

We DID leave the kitchen window open so that is what we did, Scott climbed up and over, 11 stories off the ground and opened our back door.  After putting everything away we all collapsed on the couch to watch National Treasure 2.

Whew.