Bird Park

Singapore has an amazing bird park it is in my opinion a must see if you are in Singapore and like birds. 

We are learning that it really is best to venture out early morning or evening as it is much cooler those times of the day.  We went to the bird park first thing in the morning and were greeted by a nice cool breeze.

The breeze was greatly appreciated since I am wearing this splint, as you can imagine it is very hot.

One of our favorite things about the bird park is all of the free ranging birds you can really have an up close view of these beautiful creatures.

We enjoyed the Lory loft which has hundreds of little Lory birds flying around, each one beautiful and curious.

The Jurong Bird Park also has the largest man made waterfall in Asia it make for a pretty resting spot and some nice photos.

We really are enjoying having our family here.  We have three more days to enjoy them and build some memories.

Give Me A Break?

So..... this is the story.....

We had just gotten back from the zoo, Scott took the boys to a friends birthday party while the ladies came home to order some food.

 We got a  phone call from Scott telling us to go outside and look at the beautiful rainbow.

There is actually a slight double rainbow, so peaceful, sort of the "calm before the storm".

While outside we decided to carry my plants out so they could get some rain water.  Then it hit me or should I say I hit it.

 The floor that is what I hit.  I stepped onto our marble floor with slightly wet feet an BAM! Down I went, it happens so fast, I am sure you have been there one minute you are on your feet and in a split second you are not.

I knew right away I hurt my wrist as I caught my whole fall on it.  Boy am I grateful that Mom, Rusti and Aunt Lea Ann were here with me and did they spring into action, bringing ice ect...

Rusti called Scott and he took me to the walk in clinic.  Being in a different country I was not sure what to expect but I must say I was impressed with the care we received. 

Prices are posted for all to see.

The x-ray shows no obvious break thank goodness.  However there is tremendous localized pain with swelling so the Doctor did not want to just send me home.

As it turns out a soccer player also came in and he needed to see a hand surgeon so we were able to be examined by a hand specialist.  The specialist says that it may be broken on a very specific bone that I don't remember the name of and that if that bone is broken it often times does not show on x-ray for a week or longer.  At the same time if that bone is broken it is super important to not move it, so.....

I get to wear this lovely semi hard cast thing for one to two weeks and then after the swelling is down he will examine it further.  He mentioned that my arm will get itchy if it sweats ummmm yeah we live in Singapore and sweat all the time.  Give me a break :)

China, India, Middle East All On One Island

We have been thrilled to have visitors and we have been running, running, running. 

There are so many things to do and see while in Singapore but first you must change your money from U.S. Dollars to Sing Dollars.

Right now the exchange rate is 1.26 Sing Dollar for every U.S. Dollar meaning you can take 25% off the Singapore price.

  This makes for some nice shopping and shopping we have done.

There are some wonderful semi precious stone bead shops on Arab street and for jewelry makers it is a treasure.

 Some times you are not really sure what you bought.....

so it is important to know about what your total should be before your bill comes to your table.

The Botanical Gardens in Singapore is a free park and very beautiful

It was quite hot on the day we went to the gardens, we were grateful to be able to shade ourselves with our umbrellas during our two and a half hour visit.

Graffiti is not legal in Singapore in fact several years back a teenage American boy was caned in public due to graffiti he put on someones car but apparently you can write on plants.

Today the ladies went to China town for some shopping and lunch, there were plenty of good bargains to be had at all the little shops in China Town.

We also were able to watch as some hand made candy was being stretched and cut, yes.... free samples were enjoyed by all.

Yesterday Scott took half of Friday off and we all headed to Sentosa Island for some fun in the sun. 

The big Merlion is located on Sentosa Island.

and the baby Merlion is on the river downtown, see the difference?

All of this travel in Singapore means waiting, waiting for the bus, waiting in line, waiting to be done walking.

The waiting is easier when you are having fun and the fun does make you forget just a little about the heat, and it is HOT, see how hot and sweaty we are, but the fresh pressed juice is very nice and refreshing.

For one little island, Singapore sure does have a lot going on, we have seen a glimpse of China, India, and the Middle East all in just a few short days.

Sunshine

One thing Singapore has plenty of is sunshine and when you have family visiting you the sun just simply shines brighter.  We really have had a good four days touring Singapore with our family. 

Seafood is a favorite of theirs so we have been ordering seafood in all shapes, sizes and flavors.

This is a giant crab, I tried a bite, I think I was the only one at the table that did not like it. 

Yesterday we went to Little India to go shopping at Mustafas, Tekka Wet Market and eat lunch at Banana Leaf Apollo.  The sites and smells of Little India are really a unique experience. 

The people are out and about and the village is a buzz with activity, you really do feel like you are walking down the streets of India.

I am so glad that my family is here for two weeks, there is so much to do in Singapore, it would be hard to do it all in less than two weeks.

 Today we had a nice time walking down Orchard Road and shopping at Lucky Plaza, there are some good deals to be had at Lucky Plaza, I think all were pleased with our finds today.

As the sun was setting tonight we had an opportunity to capture the memory on camera.

 Tomorrow we head to the Botanical Gardens to see the National Orchid Garden the biggest display of orchids in all of Asia and then we will head to Arab Street tomorrow night for a good does of Middle Eastern culture.

Family

Like my Mom said, "you know with skype and the local Internet phone it doesn't seem like you are far away from home," but when you sit on that plane forever, you know that yes, Singapore is a long, long way from Wisconsin.

Yesterday at 12:50 AM my Mom and Sister and Aunt arrived in Singapore for a two week visit.  It is oh so good to see them.  All four of us went to the airport to meet them. 

We are blessed that they would travel all this way to come and see us in our new home and explore Singapore with us.

And explore we did.  Whew they had a busy first day in Asia.  We took buses, 4 of them, trains, three of them.  We walked, we got rained on, we ate at a hawker center, walked along the Clark Quay area of Singapore and took a river boat ride.

There is a lot of sea food in Singapore and lucky for them they all like it. We had a nice dinner outside along the river, steamed crab, yes a whole crab, seafood rice, beef satay, scallops, and stir fry beef were among the dishes on our table.

It was a very nice day but most of all, I enjoyed that we are family and we had time to connect, catch up and bond. 

The really great thing, they will be here for 13 more days of fun filled adventure.  Like I said, we are blessed.

Hello Snowball By: Caleb

Meet snowball.

I have always loved pets, and we had to leave our dog in America. I tried having some snails here but our bag of dirt that we were using got infected with bugs. I had to let the snails go but I still wanted a pet. I looked at fish for awhile, but as the fish tank I would need alone is over $200. It was a little too much.

I went to the pet store to see what other options there were and I saw him. Hamsters looked like the perfect pet. So I went home and did some research to see what I would need. My birthday was only a few days away.

I decided to get one so on my birthday we went to the pet store.

There was a lot to consider as to what kind of food to get, and what cage was best. Thankfully there was a store employee there who knew what he was talking about and was happy to help us.

Then it was time to pick the hamster. There was plenty of them to choose from. One of them was very comfortable with me holding him but also had some energy. He was the perfect choice.

I named him Snowball since he is white and we miss snow. He is only five weeks old and very active. He likes his new home and is adapting well.


He likes to sleep in warm cozy corners.

I am very happy with Snowball and I hope he will be a good pet to have in Singapore.

March 16th a Holiday?

Did you know that March 16th is a holiday, well on our school calendar March 16th is always a no school day.  What are we celebrating?  Caleb.

  Caleb was born on March 16th and since we home school we have decided that a family birthday is definitely a holiday.  The boys know they may not get snow days on our home school calendar, after all a good snow storm is a perfect day to settle in and study but a birthday, now that is a reason to celebrate.

Yesterday was Caleb's 15th birthday and the first birthday that we were celebrating while living in Singapore.  Holidays feel very different when you are not by your friends and family and although we are making some friends here, it is not the same as being home.

With modern technology it is possible for our family and friends to call us for a local call charge.   This amazes me that the phone call is literally going to the other side of the world and it is a local call. We love Vonnage International.

Caleb's day started with a Happy Birthday phone call from his Great Grandparents, though out the day he was able to skype with friends and both Grandma and Grandpa Conley who sang Happy Birthday to him and Grandma Pam, our first time skyping with Grandma Pam, special on a birthday.  He was even able to say hi to our dog Summit on skype, her ears went up and she gave a nice bark for him.

We hardly ever eat doughnuts for breakfast at our house but it is tradition on a birthday that there are doughnuts waiting for you on the kitchen table when you wake up.  There are doughnuts in Singapore but they just are a bit different, not as gooey or sweet.  One day while exploring underground passage ways in Singapore we discovered Dunkin Doughnuts.  Perfect for our birthday celebrations.

Caleb is not really a cake person, his Grandma Conley made him some raspberry cobbler when he was 4 for his birthday and every since then raspberry cobbler is the birthday treat request, it is for sure his favorite.  I could not find raspberries anywhere but I did find some frozen black berries so we made a black berry cobbler.

Scott always takes the afternoon off for a birthday and Caleb had some gifts here to open, the rest are coming with his Grandma next week.  Some cards were sent, it is always fun to get mail especially when we are so far away.

One of his cards had some cash, which we took right away to a pet store as we added to our family on Caleb's birthday.  I can't tell you about our new family member but Caleb will be posting a blog soon.  Here is a little sneak peak.

We had dinner out and then a movie.  Whew, what a fun day for all of us and a perfect reason to have off of school. 

Happy 15th Birthday Caleb.  We love you son. March 16th will always be a holiday on our calendar.

Lazy Sunday?

It seems that there is always something to do in life, we really work hard at making a day for our family to just hang out together each week.  The "hang out day" is usually on a Sunday.

Caleb was the first one out the door this Sunday morning at 7:00 a.m., he has been learning to operate the big sound board, camera equipment, and lights at our church.  It is a big deal, he has had four six hour classes plus more "on the job training".  Today he was operating the sound board in the secondary position for both services.  He loves it.

It is a family tradition now that Sunday after church we head to a Hawker Center for lunch, usually we go to Empress Road Hawker Center but we have not been to our Adam Road Center for so long so we decided to go there.  First a stop at the ATM to get out our weekly cash followed by a nice hot walk to lunch.

The boys have made friends with some of the Hawkers.  Today, Caleb's friend Stuart let us take his picture, Stuart makes fresh pressed juice and Caleb always gets "The Stuart Special".  One time Scott and I went to the hawker center with out the boys and Stuart asked us where his friend was.

It is really nice to be connecting to the community some.

One of our violin bows broke last week leaving us in a dilemma so we also had to go downtown today to get either a new bow or this one fixed.  This is frustrating when you want to have a day to just hang out but with having only one car we need to get as many errands done on the weekend as possible.

We are learning that some things can take a really long time in Singapore, but we are also learning some tricks to avoid frustration.  Take today for example.  The sign by the mall we needed to take the bow to said the car park was full, this means there is not one parking space.

 People seriously wait in line in their car for someone to come out so they can go in, this can take forever and you have no way of knowing how long you will wait in line.  So, today Caleb and I just got out of the car and went into the mall to get the bow taken care of while Scott and Keegan drove around and picked us back up when we called.  Don't you love cell phones.

Upon arriving home we were hot so we had a family swim, well, I floated on my raft and worked on my tan while Scott and the boys held a wrestling meet of sorts in the pool.

It would be really easy to live here and never come out of our "American" bubble.  I am glad that we are being a bit adventurous and interacting with the community.  We tried a new food tonight for dinner.
DUCK.  The boys and I have never eaten duck before and I had no idea how to cook it but it is everywhere in Singapore and it is cheap so I figured it was time to dive in.

We used this recipe from The Pioneer Woman Cooks to make some Red Thai Duck Curry.  Keegan has been a great help in my kitchen this year, he loves to cook and really is getting good at it.

  Here are the meat and vegetables

and then we added it to the curry sauce in the wok there is a lot of garlic, ginger, and basil from our herb garden.

It was good, we all enjoyed it.  Keegan commented at dinner "look at this here we are four Americans eating duck with chop sticks for dinner".  How fun.

Tonight we will watch a movie and eat the last of our microwave popcorn as our lazy Sunday comes to a close.

A Matter of Perspective

It's funny the things you miss when you are living in a new and very different culture.  Some of our culture shock issues have nothing to do with Singapore culture but rather with living in a big city verses our quiet country living that we are used to.

  I miss having my cup of coffee in the morning with the sun rising over the lake from our couch back in Wisconsin.

We miss the beauty of our flower beds

We miss watching a storm come in from the back yard, it is so peaceful to watch a storm come in

We realize that we take for granted the every day pleasures that God has blessed us with in His creation like the view from our living room.

In the midst of culture shock it seems that we have traded all of these peaceful blessings for noise, traffic, construction, people everywhere, concrete and steel.

But have we really traded it?  I think it is all a matter of perspective and we need to choose to see the beauty of God's creation right here in Singapore. 

After all there are flowers,

opportunities to watch a storm come in,

moments to enjoy a peaceful and tranquil view,

and there is even coffee, good coffee in Singapore

But.... one thing we  find that we miss and I actually find it strange that we miss them because we do not eat a lot of them .... dill pickles.  We have not been able to find dill pickles in the grocery stores here.

 So we will improvise.  I found a baby dill plant at the grocery store and replanted it into a larger pot, it is now yielding some great smelling dill.

and today that great smelling dill is making us some refrigerator dill pickles, not exactly Milwaukee Midgets, but dill pickles, that we will enjoy

The things we enjoy in life is really a matter of perspective, God is at work in our lives here in Singapore just as He was in Wisconsin and we need to choose to see the beauty around us.  In the mean time as we are learning this lesson we will enjoy our pickles and try to keep things in perspective.