What’s going on here???

Glad you asked.

Honestly, we haven’t been able to adventure much recently. We’ve been busy living a sort of normal life the last couple of weeks. Buying groceries, packing school lunches, going to work, taking care of billing issues with utilities, doing laundry, ironing school uniforms, washing dishes by hand, etc.

Tommy and I did get to go on a date last Friday night. We went to Dempsey Hill which is a couple of miles down from our house and we had a nice time! We walked around an art gallery, ate some of the best sushi and maki we’ve ever had and then got a mocha that was really good. AND we got to drive there and park for free. That’s always a bonus. I don’t think I broke a sweat once.

Jakeb is enjoying playing volleyball on the school team. Anna and I got to go watch their first pre-season tournament last weekend with some other area international schools. We all had a good time. Except Tommy. He had to work. It’s a bummer that he will have to work some weekends but we’re kinda here for that reason so we’ll have to deal with it.

We’ve been busy drinking coffee out of bags. Now this is worth coming to Singapore for. It’s so good!

Since we just used up the last of our Kenyan coffee that the kids brought back from their trip, we’ve also been busy looking for good coffee to make at home that won’t send us to the poor house. We haven’t found it yet. Until we do I will thoroughly enjoy this coffee. Cinnamon Coffee Cake!!! Dedee, you rock!! Thanks so much for sending it to us!

Thanks for the Gu too. This is for the guys’ marathon training (which is another post for another day). They have it here but it’s more than double the price.

And we’ve had breakfast with Mimi via Skype. We’ve had breakfast with Matthew too but I didn’t think to take a picture. Skype is incredible!!!

We’re planning an adventure day tomorrow. We’re due. There’s still so much of Singapore we haven’t seen and tasted.

Singapore FAQ’s

We’ve been here for 2 months now and we’ve had several questions asked of us and no shortage of questions asked by us. Here are just a few.

Frequently Asked Questions asked to us:

Q. Is it as clean as it’s said to be?
A. Yes. We see small pieces of trash often but it does not stay there long. Street sweeper trucks and guys sweeping up dead leaves out of the grass are common. As far as we can tell, the cleaning guys and escalator repair men have the best job security in Singapore. Sadly, people do litter. I guess they don’t get caught, though, cause there are strict fines.

Q. Do you like it there?
A. YES! It is a great place to live. Most people are friendly, especially some of the taxi drivers, but they give you your space too. The food is amazing and there are plenty of choices to eat and shop and play. The opportunity to travel on this side of the world is very nice. It is a great “entry level” foreign assignment.

Q. Can you drink the tap water?
A. Yes, or at least we do. Some people choose to drink bottled and some boil their water but our water tastes fine and we have not gotten sick yet. Singapore gov’t says they have very strict water purification standards so we’re hoping they’re telling the truth. It is highly recommended, though, that when you travel outside of Singapore you should not drink the tap water.

Q. What’s it like driving on the “wrong” or left side of the road while driving from the “wrong” or right side of the car?
A. Weird, but you get used to it. It’s strange to drive and have all of the extra car space to your left. The taxi drivers are fearless and people kind of drive wherever they want. For the most part, though, everyone is courteous. Horns honk but we have not seen any road rage yet. It’s kind of the “every man for himself” mentality on the roads and the sidewalks. We have only seen one wreck so far and it was the motorcyclists fault. Those people are insane! It wasn’t bad and he got back up right away.

Q. (from people in Texas) What time is it Singapore?
A. 13 hours ahead of Texas. We basically live in the future.:)

Q. (from people in Texas) What is the weather like there.
A. Warm and humid year round. Really just like where we came from on the Gulf Coast only no mosquitoes to speak of and there will be no seasons. Only hot and humid. We hear there are 3 “cool” days in December and everyone should take off work then.

Q. (from people in Singapore)Where are you from?
A. Texas. If they don’t understand this we have to tell them America or the U.S. Some have never even heard of Texas. But those who have ask the following:

Q. Does everyone ride horses there?
A. No. Q. Are there saloons in Texas? A. Yes but not like in the movies you’ve seen. They are called bars or clubs now.

Q. Does everyone carry guns in Texas?
A. Nope. Lots of people have them but they cannot carry them in holsters on their hips anymore ready for the draw. (unless you’re a police officer)

Q. Have you seen and felt armadillos?
A. Yes, I’ve seen them but no I haven’t felt them. That would be gross since they’re typically smooshed on the road.

Q. What do you miss the most.
A. The people we love and seeing them face to face and our dog, Bella. I, Andrea, personally miss my liquid coffee cream and my good hairspray. There are other things we might miss like good deodorant but we brought a lot of that with us. We also miss Target.

Frequently Asked Questions by us:

Q. What is that smell?
A. Either Durian or body odor. Both odors are very easily recognizable.

Q. How much further do we have to walk? A. For at least 2 more years.

Q. Why can’t we take a taxi???
A. It builds character and it costs too much. Save it for special occasions.

Q. I just paid what for that?
A. Yep. The cost of living is quite high here and we have paid way too much for some items. However, bargains are definitely to be found if you don’t mind shopping where the locals shop.

Q. Why don’t they put a/c’s in the kitchen? This is usually asked when we’re cooking and sweat is dripping down our backs.
A. Typical Chinese cooking (smoke, oils, etc.) will ruin them as that moist and fragrant air circulates through the system. Most people leave their doors/windows open and are used to the heat. We are not there yet. We are very fond of our air conditioning. Of course, I type this before we’ve received our first electric bill so this may be changing very soon.

Q. What is in this?
A. Don’t ask, just eat it. We have medicine at home. (which we haven’t had to use one time, btw)

Q. How do I plug this in?
A. Very carefully and then step back a little and squint your eyes before you flip the switch just in case.:)

Q. What was that noise and why is there a puff of smoke?
A. Ummmm…… I guess I plugged it in wrong.

We hope this has given you some insight to our life here and that you’ve found it humorous. We find things to laugh about daily and have found that laughter is definitely good medicine. We like it here in Singapore very much and are grateful for this adventure we’re on but we will never get over how much we miss our loved ones and Texas.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. I’ll tell you what I know – which may not be much.

Living In A Fog

Literally. (That’s for you, Phillip)

Every Friday afternoon in our housing complex a guy comes around wearing a mask and carrying a fogging machine and fogs for mosquitoes. A lousy job but with great job security. Hope he has good health insurance benefits. Back at home in South Texas along the coast the pick up truck would drive down the street and would squirt some stuff and the airplanes would fly over but it was nothing like this. I’m sure we’ll all have a third thumb by the time we leave here but we’ll avoid that pesky Dengue Fever! There was a breakout here in 2005 and they’re pretty freaked out about it over here. Honestly, I’d rather have a third thumb than to be eaten up by mosquitoes.

Eat your heart out my South Texas friends. This is my front and back porch.

 

BTW – this is the same thick fog that I had to walk through to get to Anna last Friday when she used her hands to come to a sudden stop at the bottom of a hill on her roller blades.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

First, the bad. Let’s just get that out of the way, shall we?

Tori left this morning to head back to Texas for college. After 18 and 1/2 years of her living in our home, her “home” will become a dorm room the size of a closet that she will share with another human being. We kind of got used to having her around so she will be horribly missed and we will have a long adjustment period getting used to this new phase of our life. If that’s even possible.

I’m not sure that a mom or any parent with a heart ever gets accustomed to telling their children good bye. I will, we will miss her like crazy! As her parents,  we have spent the last 18 years caring for, feeding, nurturing, counseling, I feel like a piece of my heart and soul are being ripped away. Jakeb and Anna will miss their sister like crazy. It’s just not going to seem right to not have her around. The dynamics of how we live day to day and experience things without her will change and that’s a little hard to stomach.

 

The Ugly?

Oh, the ugly cry….  My nose and eyes are so incredibly puffy from the tears over this previous night and I’m sure today will only bring more of the same. Maybe even a week or month or four.

 

The Good? Saving the best for last, of course.

We know this is right. She is ready to fly. To figure out how life works on her own. It’s time. Knowing this, though, certainly does not ease the pain but it does afford us His peace to rest in.

We are so thankful that she got to come to Singapore with us this summer and experience all of the new things with us. It’s been a great summer! She has an unusual amount of stamps in her passport for a normal American 18 year old and we just think that’s cool.  She has her room to come home to and she will be able to relate to things when we tell her what we’ve done and where we’ve gone.

We had a fun last week with Tori. Pedicures, finding a couple of new places, eating at Ambers and Din Tai Fung, Indian lime juice, reflexology, fish spa, watching movies and shopping. This was very good!

Another good is that she will get to see all of our family and friends that we’ve missed so much over this summer. I’m jealous.

There is definitely more good than bad and ugly so I think that counts as another “good”.

 

Today, a box of tissues will be my faithful companion. Tomorrow and until December, when she comes for the holiday, Skype and my cell phone will be my best friend.

Please pray for travel safety for Tori today and anytime you think of her as she begins this new and exciting chapter of her life. Thanks!

Something scary in Singapore

“Wanna hear something scary?”

This is what I asked Tommy when he got home from work yesterday. He actually answered yes. Feeling brave, I guess.

So I began to tell him that the meter reader guy came by to read the meter. (Cause that’s what meter reader guys do.) The problem with this is that he just came last Friday and it’s only Thursday and he comes again. So I asked him why he was here so soon again. He said a bunch of words I couldn’t make out but what I understood him to say in general was that the reading was so high last Friday, they needed to come out and confirm. Yikes! This is super scary!! We may be eating rice for a while once we get our electric bill. We have been pretty careful to conserve electricity and turn everything off when we’re not using it but we’ve also tried to be somewhat comfortable as well. I mean, it is our house and it’s hot here! We just may be paying for that comfort in a big kind of way here pretty soon. I’m hoping that they only thought it was high because the house sat empty for a couple of months and then we move in and it spiked.

There are a few other things going on right now that are scary.

Jakeb and Anna are in a new school, making new friends and experiencing life out on their own after homeschooling last year. A couple of Jakeb’s classes are going to be really hard and I am always concerned about how Anna is feeling when she’s doing her work at school because of past experiences that have caused her to be somewhat less confident in her abilities. I miss being their primary influence. I already miss having them around. I guess I’ll get used to it, I’ve done it before but I’ve always had stuff to keep me busy. I haven’t really found my place here yet.

Tori leaves on Monday to head back to the US for college and that scares the heck out of me. Whatever “heck” is…. It’s right for her to go but that doesn’t make it easy or any less scary. I can’t type any more about this cause I’ll cry and I’m sure I’ll be doing plenty of that next week.

Movin’ on…

I joined a women’s organization and will be spreading my wings a little on Wednesday of next week by going to a welcome coffee. I’ll be taking the bus so I’ll be a sweaty mess so we’ll see how welcoming they really are.  Those who know me, know I’m not a social butterfly and would much rather be in my home cleaning or cooking or camped out on my computer posting blogs and such. I had to make myself do this so I would be forced to get out.

Along those lines, another scary thing for me is that I’m beginning to meet a few neighbors.  I was asked to go to coffee next week by a sweet neighbor from the US and I graciously accepted. This type of thing is just not easy for me. Again, I’m not all that social but I know I need to do this.

I’m also scared of becoming the stereotypical expat wife. I’d never even heard the word “expat” until we moved here but there is a general view of expat’s here and some of it turns my stomach. It’s not all bad and truth be told, I am an expat so I can’t get away from that label but would someone hold me accountable, please, from becoming what I’ve already seen in a few over here. Singapore is expat heaven but I just don’t think I fit the stereotype very well and I hope I never do.

I’m scared of losing touch with my buds in the US. So far so good! But it still scares me. It’s like I’m living a double life and I haven’t quite figured out how to balance that yet. I love the few friends I have at home and I don’t want to miss out on the day to day things they are going through. Their kids are growing up and I’ll miss alot of that. They are starting new adventures of their own and I’m not just “right around the corner” or seeing them at church each week to see how they “really” are.

Although there is so much to be scared about, I know that God is good. We’ve been through too much in our family’s history for me to even begin to question that. He is an incredible Provider and we whole heartedly believe He brought us here so we know He will take good care of us in every way.

So, I’ll let you know how the electric bill turns out. If it’s ginormous and we have to eat rice, it’s okay. Rice is pretty cheap here.

And they’re home!

Anna got home around 3pm and Jakeb is on his way. He left some stuff at school so he went back to get it and is taking the public bus home. I’ll venture to say that he won’t be forgetting stuff that often since he’ll have to climb those stairs again. There really are a lot of stairs!

Anna had no negatives to report. She said her day was all good. She is sitting next to the boy from Tokyo who doesn’t speak much English at all. He has a translator but when the translator goes to the bathroom or something (her words), Anna helps him out. That’s my Anna. No language barrier can stop her from being helpful. She made quick friends with Gabby from Indonesia and has no homework. Her teacher is “just like Mrs. Gary”. Mrs. Gary was her 3rd grade teacher who was awesome so that’s a big positive! She taught Mrs. Keenan how to fold paper hot dog and hamburger style. There she goes again, being all helpful and stuff.

Jakeb said his day in a word was “complicated”. He said that this is positive and negative but mostly positive. French is going to be hard and he’s not sure if he’ll make it. He’s in a class with a boy who is fluent in French so he’s not sure how he ended up in that class. He’s going to like Physics, which he didn’t think he would and he has a good teacher for that class. He is going to wait for the “real” basketball season that starts in December which works better with his marathon training anyway. It’ll take him a week or so to get his schedule figured out and settle in.

So, all in all, the first day of school was a success. Tori and I had a great time getting pedicures and eating lunch (although our lunch was gross) and got to shop a little. We were running a little behind so we took a taxi home to make sure we made it home before Anna got dropped off.  Taxi’s are the quickest way to get around but they are more expensive. So much easier than busses and MRT’s, though. We think we’ll be running behind all week.

Thanks to all who prayed for us.

And they’re off!

The day started early today. Almost everyone was up before 6am and the hustle and bustle of the first day of school was in full swing.

Showers, fixing lunches, breakfast tacos (with Indian bread tortilla thingy’s), coffee, checking backpacks, last minute instructions, first day of school pictures at the front door and walking to the bus stop.

All of this seems very routine but everything was different about this first day of school. Different house, different clothes (uniforms), different food, different transportation system (our kids have never ridden busses to school), not to mention a different country.

I was comforted to realize that even though Anna was the first on her bus (mini van), there was an adult woman and man on it. I was afraid she’d be on there alone with just the bus driver and that was concerning me. Thank you, God.

Their busses were on time. Just about everything here in Singapore is on time. We like that.

They got on and rode away to International School Singapore. I had my camera out to take pictures of their bus/van as they drove off but my camera seems to have broken. Ugh. Luckily I got the first day pictures before that happened. They are both a little unhappy about the uniforms but they’ll get used to them. Anna got to wear her “gym set” today because she has P.E. on Mon-Tue. She’ll be wearing her real uniform on Wed-Fri. Jakeb is planning on staying after today to scope out the basketball situation.

Pray for our kiddos (and us parents) as they/we branch out on this international school adventure. I think they’ll have a great year. I can’t wait for them to get home and hear their stories. But until then, Tori and I are going to have some girl time. Pedicures, lunch out and maybe some shopping if we have time before Anna gets home at 3.

And just as I finished typing this post and inserting photos, both kids texted me and said they’d arrived at school. Safe & sound. Mom can relax just a little now.

House guests, China Town & MRT’s

Some friends of ours from Texas who live in Thailand are visiting here with us this week. We’ve had a really good time with them and will be sad when they leave today. We’ve packed as much as we possibly could in a week and they’ve really been able to experience alot. MRT’s, busses, taxi’s, Orchard Rd., Raffles, Little India (twice), China Town, Hawker Centers, fresh lime juice, Singapore Zoo, Night Safari, Clark Quay, River Cruise, wet markets, grocery shopping, escalators, stairs and more stairs, etc.

Yesterday we went to China Town. I was looking at a skirt that was made in Nepal and it was beautiful! Sizes here are all smaller than at home but I’m not skinny so it’s hard to fit me here. The shop owner asked me if the skirt was for me or someone else. I said it was for me. He pulled out an XL and held it up to my hips and said, “It’s too little, your hips are too big.” I acknowledged that indeed they were, smiled and walked away. He should learn that this is not a very good sales technique.

The husband/father of the family visiting us was given a seat on the MRT (subway). You know, those reserved for the elderly. :) Someone actually got up and offered him their seat. Too funny.

I’ll post some pictures soon of China Town. It’s a neat place!

Arkansas… Indonesia… same but different.

Here is where I sat to type this post.

Nice, huh?

For several years now our family has taken our one last summer fling to Lake Catherine State Park in Arkansas. We started out tent camping before Anna was even born, then we took our pop-up camper and as our family grew and as the kids got older, and bigger, we graduated to the rustic cabins sitting right on the lake with their own dock and a screened in porch for us older folk.

We knew we’d be living in Singapore this summer and we knew our Lake Catherine State Park days were over at least for a couple of years. So to go along with our adventurous spirit of moving to a foreign country, before we even moved here to Singapore, we set out to find our “Lake Catherine”.  We ended up staying at Bintan Island Resort in Indonesia. We haven’t quite decided if it will be our “Lake Catherine” but we have had a wonderful three days of island paradise and rustic cabin living.

When we first arrived in our cabins, I wasn’t so sure about it all. I had expected luxury but I realized that my standard of luxury is an American based standard and not that of Indonesia or probably even most of Asia. As long as the little ants stayed in their little corner with the light switches, we would leave them be. The beauty is in the outdoors, no doubt. The fact that we got air conditioning and doors and windows that close (sort of) makes it a 5-star resort. The staff was very friendly and welcoming and everything was well-attended.

We couldn’t help but compare our experiences here at Bintan to those from Lake Catherine. There were many similarities beginning with the drive from the ferry to the resort. It looked very much the same as our drive up to the state park only we were on a bus and Tommy was not driving. The cabins here had a few critters and we pretty much lived in our swim suits. Differences were that we ate a restaurants and were surrounded by a variety of foreign accents instead of just the one. The beach was so clear that when I went in for the first time, I came up surprised to be in salt water. The beaches where we moved from are just not much. Seaweed and stirred up water never really appealed to me much and I’ve never really been a beach fan. Bintan Island beach was really gorgeous.

We got up early and watch the unusually shaped fish boats (probably catching our lunch for today), relaxed in the hammock after breakfast, sat on the porch listening to the waves crash and birds chirp, drank Coke Lights in the pool bar (in the water), drank Mangocoladas and Fruit Cocktails (non-alcoholic for those of you wondering) on the lobby patio, ate our meals in outdoor restaurants complete with heat, critters, birds and squirrels, met Lam (our favorite waiter at the Spice Restaurant and enjoyed visiting with him), swam a lot, used a lot of sunscreen, lost some good goggles at sea, kayaked, got pedicures and massages, read, laughed… you get the picture. We had a good time.

From the pictures you’re about to see, you’ll think we lived it up in the lap of luxury. Like I said earlier, the luxury was definitely in God’s creation outside. It was absolutely beautiful! The manmade creations were like a state park back home, kind of tired. Let me just say that there was an abundance of ants, large lizards (really large lizards!), small lizards, monkey’s, sheets and pillows that we just weren’t so sure about and heat. It was really more like we were camping. We’ll probably go back to Bintan someday but we have a few other places we’d like to try first. So enjoy these pictures from the beautiful island paradise of Mayang Sari at Bintan Island Resort, Indonesia.

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