An afternoon in a Minnesota winter

By my title, you may think I am nostalgic for a bit of northern weather. Actually, I am here to tell you that I just experienced it.

Those of you from the frozen tundra can picture this: you're sitting in a room (usually your basement) where your heat just isn't cutting it. Despite being fully clothed, a chill hovers around you. The wind whistles outside and shakes the windows, reminding you that you are only a few inches away from bitter cold.

That's what it felt like this afternoon during my three hours in Erik's office, I kid you not. I had to keep reminding myself that I really do live on a tropical island. When I left, it took 15 minutes before I felt warm enough to take off my jean jacket. I plan to take up the cause of People Against the Excessive Usage of Air Conditioning in Tropical Climates (PAEUACTC). I'm off to picket.

Wo bu ming bai!

That's "I don't understand!" for you non-Mandarin speakers (listen to me - as if I'm really one of them!). I have mentioned in the past that there are obvious direct translations in Singaporean English from Chinese such as "no have" (mei you) or "can" (keyi). That's why I'm a little baffled by something I've noticed recently.

In Chinese, they don't pluralize anything. The number of anything is indicated simply through context. Why is it then that in Singaporean English, they pluralize things that we don't? For example, instead of math they say, "maths." Instead of staff they say, "staffs." I have no explanation.

Finally got new batteries for the camera! Here's a not so focused shot of the kids in a box

Reptile Paradise

There were places we probably went as kids that to our parents were seen for what they were - run down and under-budgeted - but to us were pure fun. I suspect Circus World may fit into that category for us. I remember it with joy but I think it has since closed down.

Today, we found such a place in Singapore. It's called the Jurong Reptile Park. We knew we were headed for something less than brilliant when the bus dropped us off between the Reptile Park and the Bird Park, and everyone else went to the birds. The parking lot was deserted, but the door was open so we braved it.

The Reptile Park has the feeling of a Chinese zoo - poor construction, shoddy materials, tiny exhibits. But inside all of that they have a great collection of giant crocodiles and alligators, igunas, giant turtles, hissing snakes, and some large fish (which now makes me wonder why they were in the reptile park). We followed a man through the park as he hand fed all the animals. Ethan enjoyed feeding the iguanas and petting them. Megan even got her hands in there (our former "I'm afraid of all large animals, real or fake" girl).

In the end, they pulled out a small green snake, a young iguana, and a baby crocodile (with its mouth taped shut) and it was picture time. Thanks to the person who invented digital cameras, even though our batteries were dead, we used our card in a German man's camera to take a picture of Erik holding all three animals.

Although the kids were anxious to get the Science Center (also in the Jurong area) they had a blast at the park and touched enough reptiles to make me want to give them full baths afterwards. I'm sure they'll remember it only for the fun it was.

I've lost all track of time

When we first moved to Singapore, I felt stuck in eternal summer. It was like Groundhog Day, where we lived the same day over and over again. 85 degrees on Halloween? And again on Christmas?

I'm used to weather that can change 30 degrees in a matter of a week, even a day (honestly - April 1996 I believe it was 70 degrees one day and 40 the next, or the other way around). I marked my life before by how the wind smelled and the ground felt, what the trees looked like and what flowers bloomed. Last week I imagined that my hometown would probably now have that damp brown look, with a slight warmth in the breeze. Instead I heard they had 20 inches of snow. You can always count on the unpredictability of Minnesota weather.

Now, I notice smaller increments of temperature and humidity, and can predict how it will feel outside based on recent rainfall. I don't measure time by the weather anymore but rely on my watch to tell me the day. It doesn't feel strange, which in itself is strange because I couldn't imagine growing accustomed to this.

Land without pennies

A long time ago I started a list of the things I love about Singapore. Then, I don't know, I got busy or something and forgot that I had a blog.

So I'm picking up pen (or perhaps I should say keyboard) to comment on a few more things I enjoy about Singapore. I noticed one of them again today at Mustafa (ah, Mustafa!). They don't use pennies here. They exist, but are never used. For the mathematically challenged like me, this is a Godsend. I can add so much more easily this way! America, take note.

And another thing I wish they had in the states - the big yellow X. There's probably a technical term for this, but for lack of it, I'll describe - wherever there's a need for traffic to enter where there's no intersection or stoplight (say, coming out of a mall) there's a big yellow X painted on the ground. If you're stopped on the road, you can't stop on the X, so people are always able to pull onto the road. I love this X! It's amazing what putting some paint on the ground will do. It's like how ants won't cross chalk lines. (that really works - we tried it with the ants who has formed an assembly line from Ethan's room to the kitchen). Sometimes high control can be a good thing.

The World According to Ethan

A conversation from the taxi today:
"Mommy, I didn't make Faith and Naomi silly."

"You didn't? Well, then, who did?"

"Their daddy did. And I didn't make Bayley and Bella silly either."

"Who did?"

"Their daddy."

"Oh. So who made you silly?"

"Jackson."

"And who made Jackson silly?"

"His daddy."

"So didn't your daddy make you silly?"

"No, Dan (Jackson's dad) made my daddy silly."

So there you have it.
On a different note, in the interest of maintaining humility, I would like to announce that yesterday, I broiled some brownies. "How?" you might ask. Well, not just anyone can broil brownies. On Sunday I made some smart little pizzas with bread, spaghetti sauce, and cheese. I forgot to switch my toaster oven back to the oven setting so voila! I had brownies that were black on top but that perfect "not quite done" consistency on the bottom. I salvaged what I could. I mean, come on, they're brownies!

Sentosa again

One of the glories of Singapore is a little place I've mentioned before called Sentosa. It's an island off the cost of Singapore, accessible by bus, cable car, or boat. We've done the first two routes now. Yesterday we traveled by bus again across the bridge to island paradise.

We met some friends there to play volleyball, along with the most perfect bodied people in all of Singapore. Our group of normal sized, fully clothed people stood out a little. When Mr. foreign underwear clad man wanted to round out one team, we all felt the awkwardness.

Our kids were content to watch for awhile. I was content to watch forever. I have never been good at volleyball, and my short stint as a soccer player has left me with a strong reflex to kick any ball that comes into my periphery. Once the interest wore off, I suited up the kids for some ocean time.

Ethan tried to convince Megan that following him off the drop off would be a fun and "not scary" time but she was wise to not participate. The kids were able to drag Erik in after a few games of ball, and he delighted in taking them out where there was no hope of them touching bottom. Ethan was brave enough to swim back on his own though! In the process, however, some unidentified sea object left a nasty, painful streak all the way down his leg. He came out screaming. All I could think was, "On a episode of Friends, Monica got stung by a jellyfish and the guys peed on her leg."
"Erik, you need to pee on him!" I cried.
"I can't. I just peed in the ocean," he replied (he's going to kill me for writing that, but there it is).

In hindsight, I don't think it was a jellyfish. I base this on my extensive jellyfish sting knowledge, which includes that one Friends episode, and the 10 minutes I spent on the internet looking at jellyfish sting pictures. Today the sting is gone and so is the memory, because Ethan whispered in my ear this morning, "Mommy, when we're done with breakfast, can we go out to Sentosa?"

Computers

Computers, like animals, can sense fear. They know when the person befor them is unsure, and therefore, control is easy to wrest away.

I am a fearful person when it comes to computers. When I sit at the controls, the inner workings of the computer buck and jerk away from me so that I am left riding without reins. What seemed simple in my husband's instructions become an insurmoutable problem because I have lost control. I can almost hear the computer snickering.

Take now, for example. I am writing this post in notebook form because I cannot get the internet to connect. It says there is a good connection, but nothing will load. This happened because the one person in the house who is not afraid of the computer - my husband - left this morning. The computer is taking advantage of this fact and I doubt I will do anything internet related until he returns on Thursday. But when he does return, you can be sure that everything will be in working order again. It's like, "Ah, the master is gone. I will now work my mischief!"

You see, my husband is like the computer whisperer. The moment I call him in, the computer perks up. sensing the presence of power, it will crawl and bow in front of him and do his bidding with a humble whine. What was insurmountable disappears with a few clicks - often the same thing I was just doing will now work like magic.

Until then, I am blocked from cyberspace, at the mercy of my runaway computer.

Megan on the slide

Here's our five year old!

Bustin' a gut, or something like that

This post has nothing to do with living in Singapore per se, other than the fact that I was checking my mail at the time. I love checking mail. I love that I have a mailbox that contains real mail - fun mail, from the U.S., that I can read without having to get out my dictionary to look up the words I don't know.

But I digress. I was checking my mail, which requires squatting, and when I did, Ethan and I both heard a gigantic ripping sound. Actually, I heard and felt a gigantic ripping sound. Yeah, it was my pants. My great bargain at Export Fashion pants. The ones I needed to wear to a meeting later this week (thanks to my mom for teaching me how to sew!).

Naturally, Ethan was quite curious to see what had happened. And then we both had a big old laugh about it. I just spoke at a MOPS meeting this morning, so if I had checked my mail before the meeting, I might not have laughed quite so hard.

Ethan wanted to know also, "Mommy, why do pants rip?" I told him it was because they weren't sewn very well. And maybe, possibly, because you're too big for them. Most certainly not the case for me. :)

Happy New Year!

You might think I'm a little late to proclaim that, but today is the Chinese New Year according to the lunar calendar. Living in a country where many people are ethnically Chinese, we get to observe their celebration. We've chosen, though, to take an observe from a distance stance, since an island full of 4,000,000 people with the day off makes for a big crowd no matter where you go.

Case in point: we tragically ran out of skim milk today. I thought, "Hey, Indian people don't celebrate New Year so Mustafa will still be open." I suspected that there might be a crowd, but when I couldn't find a cart, and the lines were no less than about 10 people long (usually there aren't lines at all) I thought maybe I had planned poorly.

Anyway, this is what we know about how to celebrate Chinese New Year (For those of you who would like to participate). You should wear red, because red is the color of happiness. And probably prosperity. It's lucky ok?
Second, you should get together with your friends and family. Then you should make jiaozi. Or lao yusheng. Jiaozi we know as dumplings. Lao yusheng Erik compares to that napa cabbage salad, if you're familiar with that. You mix it together with friends. The higher you throw it, the more prosperity you'll have.
I think then you're supposed to watch the New Year's celebration on tv. Finally, you should give all small children hong bao - red bags full of money. I don't know how much though. Enjoy the hong bao while you shoot off lots of firecrackers.

I think we plan to play cards with friends tonight while eating peanuts, m&m's and cookies. This may explain why Chinese people tend to be smaller than westerners.

And of course, wish those around you a "xin nian kuai le!" Happy New Year!

The Joys of Thailand

To counteract my criticism of Thai breakfast buffets (really, it's not bad food - just funny that you can find the same thing across many countries) I thought I'd share some of my favorite things about Thailand.

1. Beach massages! You can get these for about 150 baht (currently around $4) - one hour for your whole body. Or for just your feet, if you prefer.
2. Lime shakes - $1 for the most refreshing drink I think I've ever had
3. Beach, and lots of it
4. Really friendly people. Sawadika! (that's hello. That's all I know how to say, except kapkumka, which is thank you. And baht, which means money).
5. Motorbikes. We do the traditional Thai family thing and squeeze all four of us on the motorbike for trips to and from our condo.
6. tropical weather - we enjoyed it in Singapore, but somehow it seems even better here. Maybe because of the beach
7. Everything's really cheap! what else can I say about that?

I'm off to enjoy one or more of the above.

The Asian Conference on Western Breakfast

Many of you may be unaware of the above conference which occurred some time in recent history and established conclusively for all Asian countries what Westerners appreciate for breakfast. I feel that perhaps actual westerners may have been unrepresented at this conference. This is what we have found at restaurants across Asia (and by that I mean Singapore, China, and Thailand) for western buffet:
cereal: corn flakes, rice crispies, some kind of chocolate cereal, and sometimes bran or muesli
a wide variety of sweetened bread - not quite doughnuts, but nothing included under Atkins
limited local fruits
eggs, bacon, pancakes, potatoes, sausage
salad (that's the Asian encouragement)
whole milk
something like Tang
tomato juice

My ideal western buffet is a wide variety of cereal and skim milk. I'd like to say I'm not complaining, but after two weeks of corn flakes and bran (you know, the kind that looks like little sticks) I'm hungry for my own choices. Just a little glimpse into a tropical vacation.