Friday, August 15, 2008

The First Week of School




New country, new house, new school...

I always thought the first day of school was so bittersweet. This was especially true this year. We were thrilled when the children got into the Singapore American School. It's an amazing facility. The grades go from preschool through 12th - with 5 different campuses clustered together one one VERY large compound. The curriculum is first rate and the teachers are outstanding - from all walks of life. Each teacher gets an aide so there are 2 adults for every 22 kids.
V started on Monday and was very responsible (as usual) about setting his own alarm and getting up to get ready. He took extra time to comb his hair nicely and was ready to go. S didn't start until Wednesday, but didn't want to miss any of the action, so he got up with his brother, brushed his teeth and had breakfast with V.

It was time to go out and wait for the bus (which comes at 7:00 am). The buses are city buses and each have a "bus aunty" on them to make sure that the kids are strapped in and follow the rules.
With V out of the house - S was mighty bored by 7:30am. So until he started school - Mommy was the prime entertainment. I didn't realize what a great babysitter his big brother was! I was nice to have time alone - just the 2 of us. Vishal came home after the 2nd day of school and announced that he was going to play the violin.

When S starts a new school - it's always an adventure. With all of the health issues he faces, the schools need to set up protocols for if he ingests something that he is allergic to, etc... With most schools, I send in benadryl, nebulizer meds and an epipen. In the case of SAS, they had me come into the school to have a meeting with his teacher, his counselor and the 2 nurses on campus. They filled out a sheet complete with his picture and benadryl stapled to it. A copy of this sheet with meds (that they provide) is given to his teachers (main, art, PE, music, mandarin). A copy also goes to the lunchroom, to the bus driver and one stays in his backpack at all times.

When S started kindergarten and 1st grade, I was called by the nurse the very first day of school. He never completed a first day. Well, no surprises this year when the nurse called and said that Shyam had thrown up and I needed to come get him. It turned out he had had a headache for most of the day and never told anyone - which for him means eventually vomiting.

The rest of the week went without a hitch...

A few interesting facts:
The kids wear uniforms to school and on every third day wear their PE uniform to school.
They are learning to speak Mandarin.
The cafeteria offers 5 different choices at lunch: hot meal, Asian meal, vegetarian meal, sandwiches and a la carte options.
The kids get a snack in the morning (brought or bought)
The teacher make sure that they are getting enough to drink during the day.
You do not have to buy school supplies, they are provided (although tuition is a small fortune)

I missed them terribly this week - but have to admit, the quiet was bliss!!!

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Kuala Lumpur

As the summer winds down for the kids - we took a quick trip to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this week. We went by bus which is about a 5 hour drive from Singapore, The bus was advertised as a "Premium" bus that served a meal and snack and had a select choice of personal movies that you can watch. The bus was a double decker - the kids got to sit in the front seats on the top level on the way there and back - they had the windshield open all to themselves to enjoy the view. The bus set sail from a bus terminal in downtown Singapore (in a mall of course). After 5 hours and a decent lunch of fried rice and fruit - we were in KL.


A member of the Malaysia office that works for B picked us up and took us for a quick bite to eat at a very good Indian restaurant before shuttling us to the hotel.



Hotel Maya was a perfect place to stay in terms of location and view. When we got there, we checked in, cleaned up and our friend took us around the city. We stopped at the KL aquarium - wonderful. We took most of the rest of the day to walk around the city near our hotel. We went to the Petronas towers - the pride of KL and walked around their 6 floor shopping mall. Ate a little dinner and then went back to the hotel to sit on the balcony and enjoy the nighttime views.










The next day, another fellow from the office came and picked us up. He took us to Batu Caves. An Indian temple that was built inside limestone caves. there a roughly 280 steps to the top. As I took a rest about half way up, I was amazed at how the kids were just little energizer bunnies. They made it to the top - no problem. There were monkeys everywhere, stealing food that was out in the open or the offerings people had bought for the temple.





Our next stop was about 45 minutes outside of KL - a place called Genting Highlands. Built on top of a mountain - Genting probably stays about 60 to 65 degrees. There are about 4 hotels, a beautiful Chinese temple and an indoor and outdoor theme park. We rode a sky box up to the top which was roughly a 3km and 15 minute ride. The kids had a blast at the indoor park and were exhausted when we left.



We did a little more sightseeing and went to Little India for dinner that evening.


The next morning, fellow #1 came back to take us to Petronas towers - we were able to go to the skybridge to view the city. After that - we went to the KL tower - where we were able to go to the top and take in even more views of the city.





All in all - it was a great quick getaway and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. In short - KL is similar to Singapore though not as clean. Most of the toilets are the kids that are in the ground that you have to squat to use - there is no toilet paper. Instead there is a hose that you "wash" yourself off with. Also - you have to pay to use most of the public toilets. We survived!!!

Friday, August 1, 2008

Hands on the Wheel

I have been driving in Singapore now for about 7 weeks. The first 5 of which were sporadic due to B and I sharing a car. Now that I have my own - the kids and I have been venturing out quite a bit.

I did not find it hard at all to drive on the "wrong" side of the road. Although, I do get taken aback still when I see a child sitting where you are used to seeing a driver. There are no car seats - babies are carried by adults in the car - just like we all were as children.
I do try to pay attention to what I am doing - never answer the cell phone (hand phone as they call it here) if it rings. I try not to look at what the children are pointing out or peek in the backseat at what they are doing. You never know when I may drift or turn into the wrong lane.
But the ones you really have to watch out for are the locals. Yes, CRAZY is the word for most drivers in Asian countries. Although Singapore is relatively tame, you have to watch everyone else at all times:

Buses - they have designated stops where they pull out of traffic and and onto the side of the road. But they do not give a hoot for who's next to them when they get back on. You'd better pray the timing is right when they start to pull back into traffic.

Work trucks - these mini-trucks are everywhere, carrying workers back and forth to their destinations. At any given time there are 4-5 men sleeping in the back. They cannot keep up with the flow of traffic and slow everyone down.

Taxis - Taxi drivers feel like they own the roads in Singapore - they do not pay attention to those dotted lines that we all try to stay in when we drive. They seem to drift all the time - no matter if you are right next to them. As if to keep their options open as to which lane they want to be in.

Motorcycles - apparently the rule of driving in a straight line does not apply to motorcyclists. They are slower then the flow of traffic - but when you are stopped at a stoplight - they all queue to the front. They ride in between all the cars that have just passed them and go right to the front of the line - only for you to have to pass them all over again until the next traffic light. They weave in and out of cars - you can easily hit one of you are not careful.

Expats - People who drive super nice cars and pay attention to all the rules - where did they come from, the US???