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.

Just Say It

That seems to be the way to do things here in Singapore.  What do I mean?  Well I will give you some examples that happened to our family just this week.

While browsing in China Town I stopped by a booth to look at some hand painted shirts that were for sale, they were really cool, very "artsy" I loved them. 

The sales lady came out to meet me and talk about the shirts, she said here take this one and held up one that in no way would fit me.  I said "oh, no, I think I am too big for that one, it won't work."  She smiled, walked all the way around me looking at me and then smiled bigger to say " I think it will be OK, your back is flat, it is just the front of you that is fat, this one should work." She then went on to explain to me that people loose weight when they fly so  if I was flying soon I would be skinny enough to wear her shirt.

As an American this is crazy, you would never use as a sales pitch the words fat, or loose weight but here it is just another day.  They just say it. 

Keegan had a lady talk to a little boy while with him this week and the lady said to the little boy, "look someday you will be chubby just like Keegan"

I had a man tell me once that I needed to drink water to loose more weight, just at a hawker center....

As impolite as we think this kind of conversation is, they mean no disrespect to the person they are talking to.  Weight and body size over here is just a simple fact.  Like Caleb said, everyone can see the person it is just that they say it out loud.

Now mind you this kind of conversation could be offensive if we would let it get to us but as a person Scott works with this week told him "you're OK for an American."

We are American and I must add very proud to be American but we are also loved by the King, we are created in God's image and when you choose to listen to that kind of conversation and just go with it, it makes for a better day.

I did buy a shirt by the way, just not the one that was too small, glad to know..... my back is flat..... just saying.

Potluck

I had a pot luck lunch with my ESL students today. Notice chop sticks at our place settings, it actually was an afterthought on my part to buy them and put them out.  I am glad I did buy chop sticks as NO ONE used the spoon and fork, only chop sticks.

I put some candles and some lotus flowers on our table just to brighten it up a bit.  Little did I know that a major topic of conversation would be those candles.

I encouraged the ladies to ask each other questions, this is English class after all, we can not just sit there and not say anything.

One student said "teacher, why do you have candles on the table?".  I told her it was because this was a special lunch so the candles are there to signify that it is special.

I learned today that in Japan, you NEVER, NEVER, NEVER burn a candle during the day it is only for night time.

I learned today that in Korea, candles really are only used in the temples to appease the gods. 

The students were very intrigued by the fact that we had candles on our lunch table but they said "thank you for putting candles on the table to make it special."

We talked about New Year celebrations in all the different countries.  In Japan the monks will hit a big bell exactly 108 times on New Years Eve.  He hits the bell 108 times because they believe that each person had exactly 108 bad emotions the hitting of the bell clears the bad emotions out of the way before the New Year.  I asked when the bad emotions return my class told me immediately they return.

We talked about fireworks and many other topics ranging from hamsters to the fact that in the U.S. you would kiss your husband right at Midnight, they were shocked that we do that and they were especially shocked that we would do that even at a party with other people around to see it.

Much English was practiced today, much laughter was had, relationships were built and my students now understand what a casserole is and they now know how to play hang man, (they drew their man with slanty eyes \ / )
                                                                                                                                                       
 It was a potluck kind of  day.

Do You Speak English?

If you do speak English you are very lucky, English is one of the most desired languages in the world.

 This year as part of our homeschooling we are doing community service, I think community service is a very important part of citizenship and really just life, we get so much out of serving others, it is well worth our time and energy.

Our church here in Singapore has been offering FREE English lessons to women in the community.

 Women are often left out of the English speaking loop in their families.  Their husbands know English through his business and their children learn it in the schools leaving the women "in the dust" so to speak for speaking.

There was a message in the church bulletin that the ESL class was looking for volunteers so the boys and I decided to check it out to see if we would be able to help.  As it turns out there was a lot for us to do and it was a good fit for our talents and interests.

Caleb runs the sound board and power point along with one other lady for our meetings and he loves it.  Caleb also takes pictures, makes copies and helps out where ever he is needed for the day.

Sound is very important in the opening assembly for the classes, we have between 3 and 4 HUNDRED ladies who attend the ESL classes.  They come into the sanctuary for a time of Bible teaching and singing before going to their classes.

I am a member of the worship team for ESL, Betsy picks out songs that will help the ladies with their English and we sing some of the songs in other languages as well.

The ladies really like to sing, you can tell by the smiles on their faces that they are enjoying there time although maybe they are enjoying our efforts at singing in a different language.

It is comical at times but it does show them that learning another language is difficult for everyone.

There is a waiting list, a long waiting list, of women who want to take ESL classes through our program.  Why a waiting list?  Well one reason is lack of child care workers, remember these are women from the community and most of them have children. 

Keegan has stepped up and he helps in the child care program for ESL.

This is not an easy job as many of these children do not understand English so they are scared and they tend to cry a lot.  Keegan really enjoys getting the kids to smile and they enjoy him as he is young and "cool" and just fun to play with.

There are several child care classes, Keegan has the preschool class

along with Mrs. Evelyn Tan, she is in the red shirt.  Mrs Tan is in charge of the child care program for ESL, she is an amazing woman, very patient and always has a smile on her face, really a blessing to all in the program.  She makes Keegan a cup of tea or coffee every week, and last week she went up to the sound booth by Caleb and told him how much she appreciates both boys and she made Caleb a cup of tea.

Another reason we have a waiting list is a lack of teachers.  I am teaching a class of "level 4" students.

I was not sure I could teach ESL, but we have a great curriculum called "Side By Side" and I am a born English speaker therefore I can teach.

It does help that I have teaching experience but anyone can be trained to teach a class.  Our class consists of an hour long conversational English lesson from their book and a 15 to 20 minute Bible lesson complete with vocabulary words.

I have about 14 students on an average week, they come from Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Chile and Columbia.  My class is a really fun group of ladies and they are excellent students.

I recently asked them "why do you want to learn to speak English?  Why are you taking this class?"

  The responses were: "I want to learn English because it will give me more respect in the community." 

"I want to learn English because then I will be able to communicate with my child's teacher at school."

"My children tell me it is important to learn English and they tell me I do not pronounce my words correctly so I want to take this class."

"If I learn English, people will think that I am smarter than what they think I am now, I am an intelligent woman and I would like to be treated as an intelligent woman, speaking English will help me with that."

I must say there has been great fulfillment in all three of us devoting our time and energy to ESL.

So I ask you.... do you speak English?  If so count your blessings.

A Day At The Market

Pasir Panjang Market is something we were told about a year ago when we first moved to Singapore and today I finally made it there

To be fair we were told it is a 24 hour market so our whole family ventured out one night at 11:00 to check it out, the taxi dropped us off and then left and we quickly realized that it is not really a 24 hour market for buying yes there are people there at 11 pm. delivering and organizing supplies but it is wiser to go in the heat of the day when you can actually purchase items.

The market is divided into blocks, dried goods, fruit, vegetables, cold storage etc...

I was with two ladies who live in Singapore one has been here just over two years, Andrea, she was very gracious to tour Dahn who has been here three weeks and myself being here for a year around the market today.

Some of the market reminded me of the Victoria Street Wholesale Center near Arab street.  There are big bags of tiny little dried fish and yes, something does smell fishy around here. Can you see the little eyes on these fish?

I really love shopping at these markets not only do you get good prices on some healthy food, there are also so many sights, sounds and smells to take in making it a total adventure.

I have mentioned before that many businesses here have an altar to their ancestors, the food on the table is an offering to the ancestors.

The sign reads "rain water not safe for drinking" in case you were wondering if you should randomly drink some rain water.....you should not.


There are many sites to take in, here some shrimp are drying on a tarp in fact I saw many different things drying on tarps that later end up in big bags to be sold by the Kilo.

As they say a picture is worth 1,000 words so in the interest of keeping this blog a blog and not a book here are some pictures you will have to imagine the smells and sounds, while you imagine you can imagine that you would be sweaty and possibly thirsty, I know I was.

I find it funny that the truck says "fresh fruit and durian" as durian is a fruit but in Singapore durian is THE fruit, they call it the king of fuit so I guess it gets a special mention on the delivery truck.

I bought a pineapple from this guy for $1.50 SD.

This is a jack fruit tree, I have never eaten any jack fruit but now I know this is how it grows.

These really long beans are like green beans and I am told they are good in stir fry, I think next time, I will be brave and buy some to try.

This stall here is a good vegetable stall, you just pick out what you want put it in a bag and give it to them to be weighed, my bag was a little over a kilogram and cost me $2 Singapore Dollars.  In that bag I had some eggplant, red peppers, ginger, garlic and an onion.  Not a bad deal.

Many items in the market are sold by the kilogram.

This was a very nice day at the market.  Here is all the loot I came home with today, cream of broccoli soup for dinner tonight and I got some fun things to bring home with us for our family and friends to try, like red prawn candy.