Today

Today I was a little under the weather. I had planned on attending a new bible study and Anna was going to volunteer in the children’s class. We were both looking forward to it but we didn’t go. Instead, this homeschool teacher called in sick. Fortunately for Anna, there is no substitute to call in.

Today I watched three movies and right now I’m starting up the fourth. I won’t finish it. I don’t think.

Today, since I sat around most of the day, I applied for mine and Anna’s Vietnam tourist visa’s. I’m so glad to have that done.

Today, I replied to some emails that I’ve left hanging. Sorry if I kept you hanging but you’re not hanging anymore. I also emailed the SPCA for volunteer opportunities for Anna and I.

Today, I sent an email to someone on Craigslist about a used dishwasher. I haven’t heard back from them so it’s probably sold. Oh well… Out of spite, I didn’t wash the dishes today. There really aren’t that many cause I didn’t cook anything today.

Today, Anna, Tommy and I finished painting Anna’s room. It looks great! When she has it all straightened up I’ll post a picture. As is typical of everything here, even the process of painting a room was not anything like what we’ve always done back home but it’s so nice to see some color on our walls. Everything is sterile white. Well, not anymore.

Today, because I was sitting on my rear most of the day, I spent too much time on facebook.

Today, I took pictures of the rain coming in through our walls onto our floor to send our landlord.

Today, I brushed my teeth and took a shower at 8:30pm. I know, that’s gross.

Today, since I didn’t take a shower or brush my teeth earlier, I made Anna open the door and receive the chicken delivery.

Today, I was reminded that another today is not guaranteed and we should cherish every moment we have with those we love. I’m so bad at that.

Places – Sea Gypsy Village, Pulau Sibu, Malaysia

We spontaneously decided to get away for this past weekend. We remembered reading about the Sea Gypsy Village on Singapore Kids Places blog some time back and that it was a great place for the family. Often, we are unsure of how ”modest” the beaches might be so it’s always helpful to have a trusted referral. So we sent in our reservation form provided on the website with our request. They only take two night reservations on the weekends and we only wanted one night so we had to wait until Wednesday when they open up one night reservations based on availability. We were lucky and got a spot for one night.

We left our house at 5:30am, caught the 9am boat to the island and the 3pm boat back on Sunday. Included in our reservation for the family chalet was three meals (additional meals and snacks were on us at the restaurant) and boat service from the ferry terminal. It was more of a camping feel. We had comfy mosquito netted beds, though, and no tent to set up and did not have to pack very much at all. We took our books, a few snacks, Phase 10 (which goes with us on every trip we take), toiletries, pj’s, a clean set of clothes, swim suit, sunscreen and mosquito repellent. Towels and soap were provided. We didn’t have shampoo. Oh well… It was only two days, right?

Overall, we had a really great time. It was so nice to get out of the concrete and car noise. We heard the waves crashing on the shore from our front porch. The kids played basketball. The beach at Sea Gypsy was clean, soft sand, no shells. We wanted to snorkel and see ocean stuff so we hiked over to a nearby resort and and saw sea cucumbers, gross!, and Nemo fishies and fish that looked like they had mother of pearl skin. Tommy and Jakeb went pretty far out and saw more neat stuff but Anna and Istayed closer to shore and enjoyed looking for cool shells and coral.

It ended up being a little pricier than we’d expected but a worthwhile weekend getaway for sure. We all needed this time to relax and regroup. It’s nice to know that a place like this is only a 3 hour drive and 15 minute boat ride away. The boat ride was great fun too!! I haven’t been on a fast boat in a long time.

When you make your reservation, the resort staff will send you great details on how to get there. You can drive your car or they can arrange transportation for you. Just make sure you get the details on making the return trip. We failed to do that and ended up lost in Malaysia. Not a good thing when it’s getting close to dark and on a Sunday when everyone else is trying to make their way back to Singapore as well.

My favorite things were the super clear water, the family time (wishing Tori was with us), the relaxing and the Kway Teow I had for lunch.

Tommy’s favorite things were sitting on the front porch doing nothing and snorkeling.

Jakeb’s favorite things were the more primitive environment and it not being resort’ish, the clear water and just getting out of town.

Anna’s favorite things were the french fries! and seeing Nemo.

The french fries were really good! They took us back to Dairy Bar for those of you reading who are from our home town.

So at 3pm on Sunday afternoon, just two short but relaxing days after we arrived, it was time to head back to reality.

And the monkeys at the ferry terminal all lined up to tell us goodbye.

The Truth Hurts

Honesty is the best policy, right? Should some truths be kept to yourself? I think so. I’m not quite sure why some people here seem to feel the need to be so honest. No, it’s not all of them so I’m not stereotyping or even generalizing about Asians, Singaporeans or anything like that. I just know that I’ve been told some things in the year that we’ve lived here that if I was told that in the U.S. I would have promptly removed myself and my money from that establishment post haste and then gone and totally vented on facebook.

It’s different here in Singapore for some reason. I don’t think they know it’s painful or hurtful to point things out. I think that in most cases, they are merely stating the obvious and they’re just not used to what they see. Like they can’t help themselves. Like when a 6 yr old belts out the question as to why that ladies face is so wrinkled or why that guy only has one leg. For the most part, I think it’s just innocent honesty. I don’t think they mean to be mean. I usually find it funny but it mostly puzzles me.

Here are a few of the gems of honesty I’ve received over the past year are. I didn’t have them written down anywhere so as you can see, they’ve sort of stuck with me.

“You have too much skin.” – during a pedicure. Isn’t that why I came for a pedicure??

“We have big size for you!” – I hear this yelled out by many well-meaning shop employees as I walk by. I usually pretend that I don’t hear them. Like I know they’re surely not talking to me….

“No size for you. Your hips are too big.” – this from the shop owner while holding up a skirt to myself to check the size.

“You have fleshy feet.” – while trying on shoes. I did get a good deal on them, though, because not too many people here need “fleshy feet” sized shoes.

And my most recent comment and inspiration for this post.

“You are getting fat. You need to go for a jog.” –from my favorite fruit seller guy at the wholesale market I frequent. He made the blow up face and held his arms out to motion the increase in size. In my defense, I am not one ounce heavier than when he saw me the last time I bought LOTS of fruit from him, I just happened to choose really dumpy looking clothes to wear this time. So you see, it’s totally my fault! I still bought fruit from him. I’ll take the painful truth as long as he gives me good fruit for a good price.

Yep… the truth hurts.

I think I really might go for a jog. Right after my Big Mac settles.

(And just to clarify, I am laughing about this. I’m not upset. The mirror doesn’t lie either.)

Rojak!

This gastronomical delight (term frequently used in Singapore) deserves a post all its own! I even made it its own category. It’s that good. Ahh…… Rojak!! Where have you been all my life? No one else in my family shares my love of Rojak so I guess its not for everyone but I happen to like it alot.

Rojak is a traditional fruit and vegetable salad dish commonly found in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia (where it is called Rujak). The term “Rojak” is Malay for mixture. (wikipedia)  We have also heard that it means “whatever is left over”.

My first taste of Rojak is thanks to our Singaporean friends, Darius and Linda, who met us at East Coast Park Hawker Center and they went around and ordered all sorts of new things for us to try. It was love at first bite.  I had some Rojak at Newton Hawker Center that was super disgusting so it’s not the same everywhere but the version in this picture above from Lau Pa Sat is deeeeelish!

It is made with, well the one I like anyway, chunks of cucumber, pineapple, mango, green apples, turnip, benkoang (jicama), bean sprouts, taupok (puffy, deep-fried tofu) and youtiao (cut-up Chinese-style fritters). It has a dressing made  of water, belacan (shrimp paste), sugar, chili, and lime juice. Ingredients vary among vendors with some also using hae ko prawn/shrimp paste, tamarind or black bean paste in the mix. The ingredients are cut into bite-sized portions and tossed in a bowl with the dressing and topped with chopped peanuts. Don’t let the shrimp paste distract you. It’s not fishy at all nor is it spicey. It’s mildly sweet and just super yummy.

I’m sure there are many places around Singapore that have amazing Rojak but I can personally highly recommend this place in Lau Pa Sat. I’ve had it twice here and did not disappoint.

On this particular evening, Anna, Tommy and I had Vietnamese Spring Rolls, Malaysian Rojak, Indian food and pizza. This is hawker center dining at its finest!!

Does anyone else find it challenging to diet in Singapore???

This is what I call a perk!

Our October is filling up and it’s ALL good. Ok, well mostly all good. We will definitely be missing a major part of our family. Tori, I wish you were going with us. The Stunz Family 5 is the way it should be. Why has no one invented that time travel machine yet????

Over the next 6 weeks, I will get a Malaysia, New Zealand, Indonesia and Vietnam stamp in my passport. That’s crazy! 6 weeks and my feet will walk in 5 different countries. Tommy and Jakeb will go to Malaysia and New Zealand and Anna will go to all but Indonesia.

This weekend the Stunz Family 4 are taking a quick weekend road trip to Pulau Sibu for a relaxing beach getaway. In just a couple of weeks, we’ll head to New Zealand for 8 days and some much needed cooler weather. If I come back with frost bite, I will not complain. We will land in Christchurch and get our rental car and drive. Ahh….. Open road, fresh air, country side… Can. not. wait! Since Tommy and Jakeb went there this past June, they know the ropes and it should be an easy and very relaxing vacation. We definitely miss road trips. Driving through mountains in end of Winter/Spring time weather is going to be incredible.

On the day we get back from New Zealand, my cousin is coming to visit from Dallas. She and Anna and I will get to romp around Singapore, go to Nikoi Island in Indonesia and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Alicia will make a few other stops on her own. I’m so excited that she is coming!! She will see things, experience things and eat things that will exceed her wildest expectations, I’m sure. And for the most part, I get to tag along.

In early November, friends from our home church in Texas are coming through Singapore on their way to Cambodia. They have decent layovers here and we get to show them around a little bit. It’s always a perk when people from our “former life” connect with our current life. Randy, Tamara and Lauren, we can’t wait to show you the town and watch you stuff your faces. Don’t eat the yucky plane food. Be hungry when you get here. The time will go way too quickly.

Then towards the end of November/first of December, Tommy and I are planning to go to Bali for a long weekend to celebrate our 22nd anniversary. Really??? This is mind-blowing! The 22 years of marriage and that we’re getting to go to Bali.

Talk about perks! I’ve said it before but one of the things we set as a priority when we moved here was traveling. We are blessed to live a comfortable lifestyle but we also do without some things to be able to travel. It’s all about what’s important to us. We travel to experience seasons since we only get the blazing heat of summer here year round. The adventure and traveling is honestly what makes our life here, away from our life that we’re accustomed to, bearable. We’re grateful for all of the lessons learned but we’re especially grateful for the perks!

Moonfest – Photo Post

Yesterday’s post was about Moonfest or Mid-Autumn Festival. In today’s post, I will show you Moonfest. At least from our vantage point.

These pics are from this past Saturday when Tommy, Anna and I went wandering around Marina Bay / Esplanade. There was alot going on there as I mentioned in the previous post. We had no idea what we were experiencing but that didn’t keep us from enjoying ourselves. I pretty much just took pictures of what everyone else was taking pictures of. When in Rome….. er… Singapore…

These next photos are from last night. Tommy and I went out to Clarke Quay (pronounced “key”) for our weekly date night and that was a great choice. It happened to be the last night of Moonfest festivities. The moon was full and so was Clarke Quay.  The weather was so nice after a rain storm had cooled things off a little so we opted for the 30 minute Hippo River Boat ride. Another good choice! It was a wonderful evening all the way around. The Persian food was amazing too! I know you were wondering… After my bit of Moonfest research yesterday, we knew more about what we were seeing and experiencing.

(This one’s for you, Kaylee.)

Yes, I bought one and tried it. I cheated a little though, and bought one with melon seeds in the middle instead of the salted egg yolk. I regret not getting the real deal. Guess that’ll leave me something new to try for next year. The one I bought is really not bad at all which is good considering the small delicacy was $9.20. The yolk mooncake was .40 more. Just couldn’t afford it. That’s the real reason I didn’t get it.

Moonfest is over. Hopefully the earth man was shown the way to his moon lady by all the beautiful lanterns and they enjoyed their annual visit and no one got too sick from eating too many mooncakes.

It’s a LADY on the moon!

And to think that all these years we thought it was the MAN on the moon…..

Moonfest aka Mid-Autumn Festival is being celebrated in Singapore. I think it’s almost over. I think the full moon is actually tonight which is the pinnacle of Moonfest. This post is full of “I thinks” cause I really have no idea what I’m talking about. But as you’ll read later, there are many versions to the story so mine will just add to it. 

Last Saturday night, Tommy, Anna and I went out to Marina Bay, ate at Lao Pa Sat (YUM!) and then on to see what all the hoopla was about at the Esplanade. Kids making lanterns, free traditional and contemporary Chinese concerts, people dressed up as a couple in love and we also saw a monkey and some other unrecognizable animal on stilts, dragon dancing people, mooncakes, mooncakes and mooncakes. We wandered around enjoying the sights and sounds not really having a clue what this Moonfest is all about.

On our taxi ride home we got one of those very entertaining taxi drivers who speak really good English. Almost too good as a matter of fact. We could understand the bad words and all. Poor Anna is used to this now. Unfortunately foul language is very common. He told us things like when his wife or girlfriend, yes… you read correctly, tell him to get them “anything” or “whatever” to drink, there actually is a drink called “Anything” and “Whatever”. This really funny yet immoral and foul-mouthed taxi driver told us ALL about Moonfest. His version anyway.

So his take on it all is that the story is similar to our Romeo and Juliet only the lady doesn’t die. The couple’s love is forbidden but true. Something about that the fair maiden is sent up to the moon in her anguish of unrequited love and because her love is so strong, the moon gods allow her to come down to earth to find her true love once each year. The children light lanterns to help her find her way and offer her mooncakes when she shows up. There you have it. Moonfest.

Haha, well, maybe I don’t remember it all correctly but regardless, the story has a few holes in it. If a billion Chinese kids are lighting lanterns all over Asia and now probably all over the world, the fair maiden has GOT to be confused. Poor girl. At least she can enjoy a mooncake when she comes even if she doesn’t find her love.

Here’s what I found when I did a little research. It almost completely differs from the taxi driver’s story but both are very interesting.

One version of the legend states that Houyi was an immortal and Chang’e was a beautiful young girl, working in the palace of the Jade Emperor (the Emperor of Heaven, 玉帝 pinyin:Yùdì) as an attendant to the Queen Mother of the West (the Jade Emperor’s wife). Houyi aroused the jealousy of the other immortals, who then slandered him before the Jade Emperor. Houyi and his wife, Chang’e, were subsequently banished from heaven. They were forced to live on Earth. Houyi had to hunt to survive and became a skilled and famous archer.

At that time, there were ten suns, in the form of three-legged birds, residing in a mulberry tree in the eastern sea. Each day one of the sun birds would have to travel around the world on a carriage, driven by Xihe, the ‘mother’ of the suns. One day, all ten of the suns circled together, causing the Earth to burn. Emperor Yao, the Emperor of China, commanded Houyi to use his archery skill to shoot down all but one of the suns. Upon completion of his task, the Emperor rewarded Houyi with a pill that granted eternal life. Emperor Yao advised Houyi not to swallow the pill immediately but instead to prepare himself by praying and fasting for a year before taking it. Houyi took the pill home and hid it under a rafter. One day, Houyi was summoned away again by Emperor Yao. During her husband’s absence, Chang’e, noticed a white beam of light beckoning from the rafters, and discovered the pill. Chang’e swallowed it and immediately found that she could fly. Houyi returned home, realizing what had happened he began to reprimand his wife. Chang’e escaped by flying out the window into the sky.

Houyi pursued her halfway across the heavens but was forced to return to Earth because of strong winds. Chang’e reached the moon, where she coughed up part of the pill. Chang’e commanded the hare that lived on the moon to make another pill. Chang’e would then be able to return to Earth and her husband.

The legend states that the hare is still pounding herbs, trying to make the pill. Houyi built himself a palace in the sun, representing “Yang” (the male principle), in contrast to Chang’e's home on the moon which represents “Yin” (the female principle). Once a year, on the fifteenth day of the full moon, Houyi visits his wife. That is the reason why the moon is very full and beautiful on that night.

So, I guess there is a man on the moon and he needs lanterns to light his way there but it’s the LADY that lives on the moon.

As for the mooncakes, I have no idea. Wiki says they are just the traditional food for this festival. Kinda like conversation heart candies at Valentines Day. If I’m reading correctly, they might have originally been used as offerings to the moon goddess during Mid-Autumn Festival and Night Under the Moon. I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong.

It’s all rather interesting, don’t ya’ think? There’s never a dull moment in Singapore as something from the vast array of cultures represented here is always being celebrated.

I’ll post pictures tomorrow. Tommy and I are headed out tonight, weather permitting, and we might find some more interesting things to show you regarding Moonfest and the lady on the moon. We might even buy a mooncake or two. We cheated last year and bought yummy ones, but I don’t think very traditional, at Bread Talk.

The Mosquito Police

There’s a government organization here in Singapore that is responsible for keeping the mosquito population under control. We like to call them the Mosquito Police. An expat friend put word out today that they, the Mosquito Police, notified the residents of her condo that they would be coming by sometime this week to take a look. She got notice???? We get a knock on the door at least once every month. No notice. No fair. With the year-round tropical rain forest type weather in Singapore and rain almost every single day, Mosquito Police are up at the top of the list of those with really good job security in Singapore. A few others are anyone in the cleaning industry and escalator repair people. I happen to really love the escalator repair people.

When the Mosquito Police stop by, they look for standing water in potted plants, gutters, outside toilets (in the maids quarters – which we don’t have), etc. Luckily, we don’t have many plants since I have a black thumb and our condo management keeps a pretty good watch on the gutters. We used to have standing water upstairs in the aircon drain gutter but after we pointed out to our landlord that it was like a honeymoon hotel and a haven for mosquito babies (we didn’t use those words), he had his contractor come and build in a slant so it would drain better. So that took care of that. We would have been written up for that if they had seen it for sure. We also have a water feature in our atrium and we were told by our pest control service that we needed to run it every day to keep the water circulating. So we do. And I have to tell the Mosquito Police that each time they come because they always stand there and look at it with that question on their face. When I tell them we run it every day, they are always satisfied with that and move on. I seem to remember another friend here telling me that after a Dengue Fever outbreak in past years, they couldn’t even leave water in the toilets at all.

They knock (cause our doorbell has been broken forever and it was our 3rd one), show their badge to identify themselves, take off their shoes, have a look around and in about 5 – 7 minutes, they’re back out the door and off to see the neighbors.

Side note: Tommy put in a new doorbell last night, our 4th, so now they can ring instead of knock. It has “16 polyphony ring sounds”. We chose a normal “ding dong” sound this time around. We might switch it up every now and then for fun but for sure, there will be no more William Tell Overture. It always made me want to bolt down the stairs and open the door with my arms out like a music director directing the final note. We’ll see how long this doorbell lasts.

Back to mosquitoes….. at around 4pm every single Friday (unless it’s raining), every square inch of our complex gets fogged. I don’t mean squirted like they do in our home town with a truck driving by on the street 20 feet away from our front door. I mean every square inch. If any of our aircon units are on, we get treated on the inside as well. It’s always a horrible feeling to get off the bus having forgotten that it’s fogging time and we now have to get our door key in hand, take a deep breath and run through it to get inside.

This is our front porch during the fogging.

Told ya’. I did a post last year about Living in A Fog if you want to take a look.

Singapore is serious about mosquito control and I couldn’t be happier about that. I hate mosquitoes. If you wanted to drive me insane, put me in a room with a some mosquitoes and lock the door. That would do it. I guess it would probably work with lizards too. Blech… I think I’ve had maybe three or four bites in the year+ that we’ve lived here. It really is so nice to walk outside and not be bombarded with mosquitoes like we’re used to in Swamp Land, Texas. We have the same summertime weather and humidity but no mosquitoes.

Mosquito Police and fogger guys, you are welcome to stop by anytime. I’m hugging you in my heart because hugging in Asia is not entirely appropriate. I tend to think that’s just because we’re always sweaty and gross.

Bet your floor can’t do this!!

http://vimeo.com/15043434

This has provided hours of squishy fun… haha!! Make that FRUSTRATION for us this past year.

Our house leaks in multiple areas. After months of dealing with this and “bandaids” by the landlord’s contractor, I think most of them will be resolved soon. Here’s hoping anyway.

To dry or not to dry? That is the question.

One year and two months ago we spent alot of money on a new dryer. Appliances in Singapore, just like everything else, are not cheap! We spent a little over $600 SGD for a dryer that dries about 4 towels or 3 pairs of jeans at one time and takes 2 hours and 5 minutes to dry either.

2 months after the warranty ran out our “motor is spoilt” and there’s a hole the size of a dryer in our outdoor “laundry room”. The dryer is now costing us about $930.  Ouch.

The technicians took our dryer away this afternoon to put an unspoilt motor in it. We’ll pay them $330 when they come back on Monday or Tuesday with it. At least I hope they come back. And I hope they bring us back our dryer. And I hope they are honest and put in a new motor. I’m not sure we’ll ever know or even care. I guess if we get a dryer back and it works we’ll be happy. I can think of so many things I’d rather spend $330 on right now but such is life. We are blessed beyond what we deserve to even have clothes to dry and electricity and all that.

So… the question at hand. To dry or not to dry??? I can either not do laundry for the next four days or I can machine wash and hang dry everything. Most people here do that but I’m a pretty big fan of  soft, dryer dried clothes with a fresh Bounce smell that come out warm and unwrinkled. Not so much a fan of crunchy air-dried, wrinkled clothes that birds and bugs have probably climbed all over and have to be ironed. My luck, it would rain all day for the next four days anyway so I think we’ll just try to make it through and take a laundry break. At least until we run out of underwear. We brought the underwear that we like from the US and can’t just go out and buy more.

I guess we’re “spoilt” too!