Where are you from?

Back in the China days, taxi drivers often tried to engage me in conversations. Inevitably they would ask, "Where are you from?" Rather than out right answer their question, I would always shoot back a "Ni cai cai" (you guess). Because nothing ups the fun meter like a guessing game with a Chinese taxi driver.

Without fail, they would say, "Fa guo ren" with confidence. French. I am not French. I don't know why they would guess French. I'm voting for "Gina's wildly spectacular fashion sense." No? You disagree?

Well, now that we're back to taxi-ing here in Singapore, I find myself answering the question again. The second day we were back in taxis, I was asked it, so I decided to play the game Singaporean style (which just means asking it in English. Not nearly as much fun).

Turns, out, even in Singapore, I am French.

Finishing this chapter

The last semester we were in China, previous to this Singapore chapter, I remember feeling that a change was coming. I thought it meant we would move back to the States, so when Erik called me and said we'd been asked to move to Singapore, I was floored. It wasn't that I didn't want to come. I just didn't want to leave.

Thankfully, when I first had that feeling that we were going to leave (months before we knew) I thought, "What would I wish we had done if we did leave?" I made a list, and we chose something each week to do on our family nights. They were simple things like, "Watch the fan dances at night" and "eat more street food." I also took pictures of the things you might take for granted - our building, the market, the places our kids liked to play. I think we managed to finish with no regrets, if not without tears and longing to stay.

So here we are about 2 months out from leaving Singapore, and we are once again looking to finish well. This morning we hit the Tiong Bahru park, a.k.a. "Wobbly train park." We haven't gone for awhile. It's one of the places we went when the kids were younger and our days weren't so full. It was an incredibly hot day so we didn't stay too long, but as we were there, and then driving home, I had a feeling I know I will have more and more frequently in the next few months: sadness. As much as this wasn't the place we chose, God chose it for us, and it has been good. God knew we needed to be here for so many reasons, and He has grown us greatly through it. This is where our kids started school, learned to swim like fish, discovered another culture and biome (yes, we're studying the rain forest biome right now!), and traveled to places we never dreamed we'd see. As much as we are thrilled about this next chapter, we are going to miss this one.

I told Erik on the way home that part of me wishes I didn't have mixed feelings. I know people who have left places without looking back, glad to leave and be done with that chapter. I don't feel that way, but I guess I'm glad, because it means this place has been good for us. To quote from Shadowlands, "the pain then is part of the joy now." The more joy an experience gives us, the more pain there will be in leaving it. But would you really want to miss the joy just to not have the pain?

So you can pray that we finish this chapter well, with no regrets, but not without tears. We have loved Singapore and want to enjoy it fully til the end.

Oh the scheming! The mandatory schemes!

One thing I've learned in ten years of living overseas is that the same words have different meanings in different countries. For example, did you know that in Australia swimmers and jumpers are items of clothing? For Americans, they are athletes. Or cute names we give to gym classes for children.

Sometimes the words have negative meaning, like this one: scheme. What comes to mind? Pyramids? Ponzi? Of the nine definitions given by dictionary.com, only one of them has a negative connotation. Yet I'm guessing most people would be more likely to use a word like, "plan" or strategy" than "scheme." For example, I'd rather put my child in a school that advertises an "educational strategy" rather than an "educational scheme." The latter sounds like my kids might be involved in some sort of social experiment or plot to overthrow the government.

But here in Singapore, schemes abound. There is a great deal of scheming. Like this pamphlet I have in hand, which says, "Mandatory Give-Way to Buses Scheme." Inside, it describes, "How the scheme works" and "the LTA will monitor the effectiveness of the scheme . . . before implementing the scheme at more locations." So much scheming! The funny thing is, I already thought I had to give way to buses. Or rather, give-way.

By the way, Singaporeans like the word mandatory too, which Americans generally abhore. We're the freedom people, don't tell us what we HAVE to do! Strongly suggest or encourage it please. One day at Long John Silver, a friend of ours was subjected to "mandatory upsize." This, when translated, meant they had run out of medium cups and were forcing everyone to pay 50c more for large cups. Why it didn't occur to them to simply fill the cups by pushing the medium button is beyond me.

Mandatory schemes: being forced to participate in underhanded plots.

How a dead battery interrupted our day

How long have you owned your car? And how many times during that time have you charged your battery? How many times did it die a death that no amount of shocking would revive? We've had our Hyundai Matrix for 4 years, and during that time we have only had the battery charged once. We've had the actual battery changed four times. We found out after the first and only charging that the batteries here are weak. Seriously weak. Like "Charging is useless. Expect to change it once a year" weak. And so we have.

It used to be that our battery would warn us that it was dying in a round about way by freaking out the key faab. Over time, it would become less and less effective at locking and unlocking the doors, until I had to resort to using the actual key. The car would interpret this as an intruder, and since the key faab was broken, I couldn't stop the alarm. I just had to sit there sighing, "I'm not stealing you, you idiot. I OWN YOU!"

Well, this time I had no such warning. True, in recent days it hesitated to start immediately, and I was having to point the key directly at the car for it to respond. But nothing prepared me for going out to the carpark at the office today and having it be completely unresponsive.

It's hard to express the level of my frustration. I had just been dropping off some documents on my way to take the kids to a friend's house. I was going to go home and work on a writing project that I rarely have time to work on. My heart response was, "Seriously God? Today?" I muttered, "What am I going to do?"
And a little voice from the back of the car said, "Pray?"

Uh, yeah. We should . . . pray. Wow - I have to admit that though it had crossed my mind to pray, I wasn't too happy with the Almighty at that moment and I was tempted to keep wallowing. But what do you say to your son who suggests you pray? "NO, I don't want to!" is maybe not the best example. So I prayed.

An hour and a half later, after making a 3 a.m. wake up call to my husband for the car repairman's number (sorry sweetie!), the battery was switched out and our car was alive once again. The blessing of this time was that my allergies had been terrible in the morning, but the hour in the office cleared them up!

What's the moral of this story? I'm not sure. Maybe it's "pray." Maybe it's "don't buy cars in Singapore." You decide.

Highway Robbery

I try not to bring too many things back from the States which I can get here, unless they are much cheaper in the US (and bringing them will not result in extra baggage charges, thus negating our savings). One thing I brought back this time was just for fun - some toasted hazelnut scented hand soap from Target. Of course we can get hand soap here, but not this kind. Or so I thought.

I did see the exact same kind (Method brand) at a place called Brown Rice Paradise yesterday, which is a health food store. I was surprised and thought, "Gosh, I could just buy it here," until I saw the price, which was S$13.50 a bottle. I think I bought this bottle on sale for US$2.49. With the current exchange rate, I saved $7.51 by buying it in the States. As we say in Minnesota, "Heckuva deal."

It's back to hot

Our re-entry into Singapore from the frozen tundra of sub-zero Minnesota was eased by the fact that we came during the best of time year in Singapore: the post-rainy-season-heavy-on-the-tropical-breezes time. I've talked about this before - we leave our windows open all the time, and save loads of money on air con (as long as they do that "actual reading" on the meter).

That time has now ended, and I'm reminded that Singapore is hot. Current conditions indicate it is 91, but "feels like 100" due to 55% humidity. So we're back to AC. The problem is, our maid really got used to us having the windows open. I'm sure that in the 13 years she worked for a Chinese family, she was encouraged to do what most Singaporean families do - leave the windows open all the time regardless of how blazing hot it is. They save a lot of money, those Singaporeans. But we are Minnesotans. We do cold. So when it's 91, we want to nudge it down a bit in here.

So a little battle has ensued. I come into a room, turn on the AC, and close the window. When I leave, I turn it off. When I come back in, I will find that the windows are open again. Now, I recognize that she's just trying to keep it cool in here, but 91 degree breezes just don't feel that good. I haven't said anything because it's just not worth saying, but I think she's a little confused by this change in our house.

Speaking of change, we woke up yesterday to a general haze over Singapore. Ethan said, "Hey mom - look at the moon! It's so red!" What followed was several minutes of our family debating whether it was the moon or the sun. Erik ended the debate by stating that the moon couldn't possibly shine that bright through so much haze. Good point. It then became frightening to realize we'd all been staring at the sun.

This used to happen all the time in China. I'd stare at what I thought was a lightpost, thinking, "Why'd they put a light right there?" only to realize it was the sun. You haven't seen haze til you've seen it in China, but this is surprising for Singapore. It's because of some fires in Indonesia, I believe. I'm kind of thankful for it though, because otherwise it would be even hotter.

Another hot tip

I'm sure all of you rushed out and bought those frozen blueberries I told you about a few weeks ago. Well, here's another money saving opportunity: at Mustafa right now they have Raisin Mini-Wheats for $2 a box. That's right, $2. They were previously marked $8.80, but they expire March 31, so this is what the Cold Storage people call a "quick sale."

We bought three boxes last night. Erik had a bowl when we got back from the movie, and it was good. There were tons of boxes left so head on over there - level 2 straight ahead if you take the stairs over by the cosmetics on level 1.

Yours for inexpensive living in Singapore . . .

Hot tip on frozen goods

In our never ending quest to live frugally in the land of exorbitant prices, I was thrilled to make this find the other day: a one pound bag of frozen blueberries for $7.10. I also found a one pound bag of frozen raspberries at the same place for $5.65. Blueberries can run around $7-9 depending on where you shop, but that's for fresh ones, and maybe only 100-200g. We tried out our blueberries in some homemade muffins, but I neglected to drain them, so they were actually purple muffins. I'm really good at messing up recipes like that (I should tell you about the purple wild rice soup I served some friends for Christmas one year). But still - yay!

If you live in Singapore and want to take advantage of this, you can find them at this great little bakery store on Bencoolen called Phoon Huat & Co (right side of the road if you're heading toward Middle Road). They have everything you could possibly think of and more in regards to baking. I get lots of spices there, as well as food coloring (every color of the rainbow!) and huge cans of cooking spray for $8.

Here's to saving money in the year of the Ox! (my year, by the way).

Re-entry Thoughts

Why hasn't the sun gone down yet? I think this day has lasted for 17 hours already. Is it bedtime yet? Can I justifiably go to sleep right now? It's only 4:53 p.m.

I feel like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, when she makes the transition from black and white Kansas to technicolor. I hadn't realized how devoid of color Minnesota is in the winter. It's beautiful here!

Megan wants me to sit on her feet because they're cold. She wants me to turn off the AC because she's cold. This from the girl who was still going without socks when it was -40 wind chill outside.

Singaporeans aren't as nice as Minnesotans. There, I said it. It's not that they aren't nice, they're just not AS nice. We Minnesotans have a reputation for being nice. Maybe not me, necessarily, but in general.

It's summer. Why are we doing school? Isn't this summer vacation? Oh no, wait. We still have 16 weeks to go.

If only Singapore could always be as beautiful, breezy and cool as it is right now. We can leave the windows open all day (theoretically all night too but I'm afraid of flying things entering our house). Thank God we came back when we did!

Deluded

Along the way in Singapore I have deluded myself into thinking that the prices I pay for imported items aren't THAT much more than what I would pay here. Oh how great is my self-deception.

I'd think things like, "Hmm . . . Pop Tarts for S$5. Those are what - $3 in the US? Maybe $2.50. That's about right." Pop Tarts are $1. That means about three times more. Fortunately I've decided Pop Tarts don't make the healthy cut in our house and we don't buy them.

Cranberries! Once a year in Singapore I spring for a bag of cranberries. They're usually about S$8. But they're probably expensive in the States because who but the people in New England grows cranberries? Apparently enough to make the US$1.49 at Walmart. Oy.

Oh, and dark chocolate Hersey kisses, my biggest vice in Singapore. They are S$6.95 at Mustafa. They were on sale the other day here 2/$4. Think of how many more bags of chocolate I could have bought by now! Is this not tragic?!?

I could go on, but you get the idea.

The up side of this dilemma is that it makes me more willing to spring for something better here. Sure, the yogurt I bought yesterday was one of the more expensive ones, but it was a bargain compared to what it is in Singapore. I'll enjoy it while I'm here.

Bras Brasah

I love finding new places in Singapore. The place I found yesterday came from a tip a woman in my Bible study gave me about where to find a book that's out of stock everywhere else. It's called Tec Man (the store, not the book) and it's a large Christian bookstore in Bras Brasah complex. Until now I thought the only Christian bookstores to hit were SKS (the monster) and the one our ministry runs (which is unfortunately shelved according to publisher so you can't find anything). And then there are also the chains of really tiny Christian bookstores that usually have nothing you need.

But this, this is big! And they had 30% off (or as they say here, "less 30%) storewide for members until Christmas. (Membership is only $6 a year) So if you can find what you need at SKS, or if you just want to buy something for Christmas and pay less, go to Tec Man, 4th floor.

And while you're there, go to Art Friend! I've always heard of this store, but never went, because my craft needs were mostly supplied by Spotlight, which is a Michael's kind of place in Plaza Singapura.

At Art Friend, you can find things you never knew you DID need! I walked around the store with my jaw on the floor. There was everything under the sun. Stuff I'd never imagined but now seems to beg, "Buy me, and do something crafty with me!" And yes, of course everything there is ridiculously price, but this is Singapore people.

So if you live in Singapore and haven't visited Bras Brasah complex (between Victoria and North Bridge streets downtown) check it out.

Waste Not

One of the things I appreciate about Lisa the Maid is that she is always helping us conserve. She turns off lights and outlets that have been left on (the outlets here all have an off switch if you're not using them). She's always opening the windows instead of turning on the air con. She doesn't use the fan we gave her for her room or the one in the kitchen. I appreciate all this, although we've yet to see any difference in our electricity bill.

But sometimes her focus on conservation is convicting. Like last week when the kids and I made American Indian pudding for fun in homeschool. We wanted to see what a traditional Wampanoag dessert was like. Turns out it's a good thing we weren't Wampanoag. It wasn't bad, but none of us wanted to try more than a few bites. Lisa came to me four times that day, asking me what to do with the leftovers. Each time I said, "We don't want it. You can throw it out." At the end of the day, it was still sitting on the stove, covered with a plate. I put it in a plastic bag and threw it down the garbage chute so she wouldn't know I'd thrown it. I get it - we're wasteful! And we probably should have eaten it given that there are starving people in the world who would love to eat a Wampanoag dessert even if it wasn't great. I am without excuse.

When we are back in the States, I'm going to ask her to wash our sheets once a week and run the air conditioners regularly. This is to keep the dust mite population at bay, or hopefully even diminish it. I suspect I will have to STRONGLY communicate the need for this and hope she doesn't ignore my request as she sometimes does with other things I ask her to do which are obviously wasteful. But it's been a good reminder that I should think twice about my consumerism.

Where are they COMING from?!?!

It happened again. I was making a sandwich, and noticed an ant on the counter. While I was ending his life, I felt a prickle on my arm. I thought, "Gosh, I have one on my arm too." Yeah, no. It was, you guessed it, another cockroach.

Ok, seriously. My house has never been cleaner. There are places Lisa has cleaned which it has never crossed my MIND to clean. She's even cleaned the garbage chute, God love her. The same garbage chute which I will open and close which such speed that you'd think I'm super human. I do this because I am terrified that if it is open too long a huge cockroach will see this as an invitation into my kitchen. This is an extremely plausible scenario. The fact that she stood there with it gaping open actually putting her arm in the lion's mouth, so to speak, long enough to give it a thorough cleaning makes me stand in awe of her.

Yet despite the domination of my cleaning crusader, these giant cockroaches keep finding their way into my kitchen and ONTO MY ARM. Why? How? And how many more times will Lisa get to hear me scream like a freak?

Scream if You're Dying

I've never appreciated the alarm system on our car. It's the classic combination of honking and beeping which continues until you find that little button on your key fob. Or in our case, for a full minute until it decides it's done screaming because that little button is useless. This is because the only time our alarm goes off is when the battery in our car is dying. In Singapore, this happens about once a year. Yes, the batteries are very, very weak.

Unfortunately, our battery appears to be dying again, because when we opened this car this morning the alarm went off. It went off again when I unlocked the car so Ethan could hop out and buy me a Coke Light (it's so nice to have kids at that level of independence!). We were blessed with it again when exiting the car at Plaza Singapura, and twice upon re-entry because it objects both to doors opening and the car being put into drive.

Last year when this happened I thought it was because my key fob was dying. I suffered through this for several days, each time screaming, "I'm not stealing you, you stupid car! I OWN YOU!" to no avail. When my car battery finally died, I mentioned to the service man that the key fob was acting up, and he told me it was related to the battery. He also showed me how to disable the alarm. I forgot that bit today. Thankfully, Erik remembered when I came home and told him we've got a screaming car again.

The men are coming tomorrow to fix it and change the oil. I love the car service in Singapore - they come pick up your car and return it serviced. It's a good thing they can come because the kids were refusing to go back in the car ever again.

We "Strongly Encourage"

There's a joke in our ministry that when we want people not to do something, but don't want to be too harsh, we don't forbid it, but we "strongly encourage" people not to do it. We Americans don't really like to be strict most of the time.

Not so the Singaporeans. Culturally they are much more comfortable with drawing lines. Here's my case in point: On the route I take running, I pass many bus stops. Most of these bus stops have a big sign with an ad on it. Two of the stops have had ads for TV shows which do not originate in Singapore. One is for a show which must air on HBO or something like that, called "Californication" starring David Ducovny of X Files fame. I think we can all guess at the content of this show. The other show is called "The Riches" and must be a British show because it had Minnie Driver and some other Brit on the ad. Minnie is dressed a bit skanky.

This morning when I ran, both of these ads had a huge white piece of paper taped over them, which read, "This programme conflicts with our values and therefore you are DISCOURAGED FROM VIEWING." It was an official looking sign from some Singaporean agency. Why not take the ads down? Is this a way to continue to get the revenue from the ad while still expressing disapproval? That seems so very Singaporean. But what struck me the most is the phrase, "Our values." I assume they means our as in "the whole of society." You could never say that in America. There would be a little picket line around these ads or something. From an American standpoint it seems so patronizing to tell your citizens what to watch, though from my perspective I think it's wise to caution people.

What I'm really wondering is - did they put up these ads to peak interest, then put up the disclaimer to shame people who have started watching?

There's No Word for This Kind of Rain

I thought since it was raining it would be a good time to hit the library and get some new books. Aside from being thwarted by Deepavali (see the post below) we were almost turned back by the intensity of the rain. As we waited in a long line to get into the carpark, the thunder and lightning clapped simultaneously above us over and over. We were in the eye of the storm. I said, "So Ethan, what word would you use for this kind of rain?" He said he didn't think there was one. It was more than buckets. It was like being in a car wash. Even with the wipers on full blast, I couldn't see more than a few feet in front of me, and that was when I wasn't moving.

So I'd say it's officially the rainy season here. This comes around in November or so and hangs out til late January. It means we have to get out in the morning for play and exercise because most afternoons are filled with raining, pouring, sprinkling, drizzling, plopping, buckets, sheets, you name it. Hopefully not plooping though.

Not Another One

"Is today a public holiday?" I thought as we stared into the darkness of the library. Sure enough, it's Deepavali today (known also as Diwali). That explained the huge number of people braving the rain to get into the carpark at the Bishan Mall.

This happens so often - I go out to a public place, only to find it closed because someone in Singapore is celebrating a holiday of which I am unaware. There are just too many of them! I read recently that there is a debate about letting Muslims have some of their holy days considered public holidays in America (or at least for them to be off on those days to celebrate). This is apparently quite threatening to many people, but my opinion on that is not part of this post. Let me just say that here we do celebrate everyone's religious holidays and it gets a little tiring after awhile. Especially when it means we can't check out any more library books.

It Just Keeps Getting Better and Better

Ok, so the global economy may be about to crumble and we'll all have to live in cardboard boxes or something, but the dollar's up to S$1.50 buying power and gas dropped again down to S$1.71 per liter. I'm a happy girl.

The Cost of Peace of Mind

When your daughter has had a fever for three days and suddenly starts complaining that her neck hurts a lot, the wise doctors on the web say "Go to the hospital immediately!" So I did.

I suspected it might just have been stiffness from lack of activity, or too much movie watching (she's been a pretty tired little girl) but it was 7 p.m. and I didn't want to wait until midnight, realize I really should have taken her in, and then spent a miserable night in the ER, or worse yet, have a really sick little girl.

Thankfully Lisa the maid could stay with Ethan, so Megan grabbed her pink bear for comfort and we went. The ER at the KK Children's Hospital here is a slick operation. S$80 will cover everything you do during your visit. We got in to see the doctor quickly, and she ordered a blood test to rule out meningitis. We had to wait what they said would be 40-60 minutes but which turned into more like 90 for the results. You know what's cute for about 5 seconds? Those squeaky shoes people put on their toddlers. You know what's not cute after 90 minutes? Yeah.

I did get a chance to be entertained by watching I Survived a Japanese Game Show for the first and hopefully only time. Don't get me wrong - I laughed, but watching that level of shame and pettiness is something I can skip. Where do they get the people for reality shows? One of the great mysteries of life.

Before the blood test, the doctor said she didn't suspect it was meningitis, but wanted to be sure. I called Ethan because I knew he would be worried. Somewhere in his life he developed a deep fear of illness - is it post traumatic syndrome from living through SARS? I don't know. He told me he'd been very worried, and Lisa told him to read his Bible. Man, I love this woman. He said, "So I went to Lego Bible and then played a few games and felt better."
One of these days I need to convince my son that Lego Bible is not the same as the other Bible.

After all was said and done, the doctor said she just has a viral fever and it can run its course. I have to say, a Singaporean accent is sometimes hard for me to understand. But a Singaporean accent in a hospital full of screaming babies, when spoken through a surgical mask, might as well be another language. But she got the job done and we were back home by 9:30 p.m.

Going to an emergency room at 7 p.m. in Singapore: S$80. Finding out that your daughter just has yet another tropical mystery illness and NOT meningitis: Priceless.

Never Would Have Thought

Growing up in southern Minnesota, the thought never passed through my mind that one day I would live in Singapore. Or that I would be concerned about the value of the US dollar. Or about the cost of gas. But today these things are all quite relevant to my life, and I'm rejoicing to see that the dollar is back up to $1.46 buying power, and that gas slipped another 4 cents. Kids, good news - you might still get to go to college!