Sumatra Day 2

What a lovely day we have awaken to.  It is so cool to be able to interact with people from all tribes and nations and to again confirm that yes, we all come in all shapes sizes and colors and yes we are all human and yes we all have cares and joys in our lives.  Children, teens, adults, elderly the same but yet different all over this vast and amazing world we live in.

Our family who live in Indonesia  work as teachers in a school that offers language lessons to the community.  They also run a public computer lab,

They have a garden that some of the workers grow and then they can sell their vegetables to the community.

and a rather nice library!  Almost all of the books have been donated to the school, there are books in Indonesian and in English to help the students with their language skills.

We traveled in the "public bus taxis" the real name for them sounds something like on-coves.  Anyway many people can fit in these or at least they think they can, we have learned that in Asia you can always fit in one more person.  There are bench seats on both sides of the vehicle and you simply pile in and let the driver know where you are going.

Our group headed to the towns historical fort, it was really a cool place, with a great look out and some nice views of the city.

We really stood out as a group of nine white people, EVERYONE wanted their picture taken with us, our guide told us that some of the people have never seen a foreigner before and they will like to post their picture with a white person, so for a little while we obliged and smiled and just had some fun with them.

Scott was really popular as he has a beard :)

After our fort tour we were hot and hungry so we headed to a little fish shack for lunch, on the way we came across some fishermen and Scott was able to get some photos, I think we ate their catch for our lunch.

Here is the outside of our restaurant

and the kitchen

and the coconut guy

The food was delicious~  FRESH Red Snapper~  YUM

We headed to J and K's home after lunch, Randi was treated to a "cream bath", (an hour long head, neck, and shoulder massage with a deep conditioning hair treatment), by some of her friends in Indonesia, luxury!

It was so very nice to see these ladies again!  I miss them and am blessed to know them.  While I was being totally pampered at the spa, the rest of our group met J and K's neighbors and really had a great time, the neighbors gave my boys, all three of them, coconut tree climbing lessons.

They really had fun, some goods were purchased... and neighborhood pictures were obtained. 

These boys were so excited to show off their Coy pond to Caleb and Keegan.

Friends reunited and new faces met..... it was a good day in Sumatra, tomorrow will be a new adventure, oh, we came back to our hotel at night and a wedding was going on, check out these signs made out of flowers that lined the street!

And last but not least..... some random city scenes.

Sumatra Day 1

And we're off.  Off to Indonesia that is.....we had a lot of decisions that went into taking this trip.

  Scott's mom and aunt are visiting

 and we all have family in Sumatra that we want to visit and The Miles Family have made some friends this past year that are also in Sumatra so we wanted to go and visit them.

The city we were traveling to is an "up and coming" city, not so modern.  Typhoid, Malaria, and Dengue Fever are all a risk and the medical care although present is not up to U.S. standards so there was a bit of anxiety before we traveled but with much prayer we felt peace with our decision to go and see our family and friends, they live there after all.  If they can do it we can do it right?

If you look at a map Singapore is really just a short distance North of Sumatra but it takes two plane rides with two different airlines in order to get to our destination.  This made for a long day of travel.

Our first plane went to Jakarta where we spent several hours in the airport.

This was the domestic terminal, open to the outside air, noisy, and very very pretty.

So when you spend HOURS in an airport and do not understand any of the announcements as there is NO English being spoken, what do you do?  Play with the camera of course.... say cheese.

We finally arrived in Sumatra and were greeted by our family , they were all smiles at the airport, and we were thrilled to see them.

First stop.... dinner at a wonderful Steam Boat place.

Steam Boat is sort of like fondue, there are big pots of broth on a burner in the middle of the table and fresh vegetables to cook in the broth, we also had rice, and some delicious spicy beef and chicken dishes, think REALLY spicy... most of us liked that some had mouths that felt like they were on fire and some said no way to the spice.

All of us piled into two taxis and headed to our hotel, it was a grand entrance to say the least!

and our room wasn't too bad for this up and coming not so modern city.

There were two double beds, a full bath with a western toilet and a wonderful patio that overlooked the ocean.  Breakfast was included all for $50.00 U.S. per night.

When you live in Singapore it is always very fun to receive things from the U.S. esp. food. 

When you live in Sumatra it is even more exciting to receive things from the U.S. esp. food and things from the U.S. we brought,......... two whole suitcases of which J and K were very happy to receive.

After 12 long hours of travel we were very happy to lay on our comfy bed and wonder what tomorrow would bring on our tour of Sumatra.

The JOY of Shopping

OK maybe not, shopping in Singapore can be a trying experience.

 First of all there is a lot of shopping in Singapore to be done.   There are stalls, markets, malls, and stores everywhere you turn, one can literally find anything they are looking for but you have to know where to look and then..... you have to be willing to pay.

The average shopping experience for groceries is sort of like shopping on Black Friday in the U.S.A.  If you have never been Black Friday shopping let me tell you, it is a mad house, no where to park,  people everywhere, and then more people.  Yep, that is how it is shopping in Singapore, people, people, people.  Combine all of the people with the fact that I have to take a bus, a train, a taxi or a combination of all of them to even get to or from my shopping and you can understand why I am motivated to find alternate shopping choices.

It is common amongst the expat families (families not from here who are here for a job) living in Singapore to have a live in or a part time "helper".  These girls come from Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia etc... to work and make money to send back to their families.  We have chosen to not have a helper as I am perfectly capable of managing my household affairs. 

After living here for a year, I totally understand why people have helpers, she cooks, cleans, takes care of the kids, irons, does the laundry and SHOPS for you.  All of these tasks are much harder to accomplish in a place that is not your own.

We were just home for six weeks and I really, really enjoyed the ease of shopping and running my home.  As we go into our second year of living here in Singapore we are learning more and more how to make life easier for us. 

I am focused this year on decreasing my stress, while still living simply, after all, we only have about 10 more months to go then we will head back "home" to the U.S.

So shopping.... I have found some delivery services that are making my life a lot easier, I will call them my personal "helpers".  If you are in Singapore reading this blog here is a list of places we use for delivery.

Kenny's Grocery: http://kennygrocery.com.sg/
they actually CALL YOU every morning to see if you need anything from "the store" it does not matter how much or how little you need they will bring it that day to your door and then bill you at the end of the month.  If you account for taxi fair to and from stores the price is the same or cheaper than what you would pay to shop yourself.  At the end of your list they ask you questions like "how is your bread, do you need any fruit, what about cleaning supplies?" making it easy for you to not forget things.  Plus I am told they can find ANYTHING and they will bring it.

QB Foods: http://www.qbfood.com.sg/path/index.php
we get all of our meat and cheese, except chicken, from QB foods, they also have some great snack items such as raw trail mix, and yogurt drinks that we really like, they are a wholesale place so your price is about 1/3 cheaper than what you would pay in the grocery store, delivery is free if your order is $200.00 or more, so we only order about once a month from them, they also have great french fries.

Chicken: Mr Wee AKA "The Chicken Man"  call him at  9139 2189
He owns a chicken farm in Malaysia, you call him in the morning and tell him what you want, you can get anything, chicken breast with or with out skin and bone, thighs, wings, whole chicken with or without the head and feet, whole cut chicken etc.... it is butchered that day,in a manner of which we are use to, the butchering skills in Singapore are sometimes.... scary as you can have hunks of bone etc... in your chicken.  This chicken is delicious!  And we like Mr Wee, he delivers to your door that day or a few days after you call.  He also said he can get things from the market for us, like red snapper, eggs etc.....

Best Organic Food: http://bestorganicfood.sg/organic-food-home
There organic produce is amazing, it is really really fresh and has a ton of flavor way better than what I can find in the markets or at the store.  Price.... it is a bit much but we do it anyway since we feel that vegetables are the most important part of our diet.  Again they deliver to your door.

Fair Price, Cold Storage and Carefour also have online delivery.

With these services I am thinking this year will be a much more relaxed "shopping year" esp. with Kenny calling me every morning to see what I need.  Now if I can be organized and plan ahead so I have my list ready in the morning.......

Ahhhh the joys of shopping in Singapore.