Trying to Understand

We've barely been out of Houston for 3 months when "the big one" comes along. Hurricane Ike. The storm that we waited for the entire 9 years that we lived there.
I cannot seem to focus on anything except for my family and friends that are there. How did we get so lucky to get out and be spared the stress and worry of having to go through something like this?
I was cyber-chatting with a friend of mine earlier today and you could just hear the concern in her words. I wanted to virtually put my arms around her and tell her that everything will be alright.
I have been watching coverage on the local Houston networks who provide live streams. I kept seeing the pictures of what was going on - the wind, surf, and rain. I kept looking for some sort of time frame as to when the worst was going to pass through where my family and friends are. But instead, they were fielding calls from people stuck in areas that were "mandatory evacuation" areas that needed help.
One of the anchors fielded a call and called his ordeal "a true act of heroism". This man stayed back in Galveston which took a direct hit from the storm. He saw the water starting to rise in his home and broke out the bottom of his door. The water rose to his neck and he and his daughter clung house to house until 30 minutes later, they made it to shelter in the convention center.
HOW is this heroism??? When he was under a mandatory evacuation order from government officials, why did he think it was alright to risk his young daughter's life like that? To make it worse, he said he was trying to get some of his neighbors to go with them.
What would it feel like to be listening to this on the radio with no power... Not hearing when the storm was going to be closing in on your area, but stories of stupid people who paid no heed to the experts.

My heart is in Houston and my head is in prayer...

Heaven on Earth?

I have been hitting the gym pretty hard lately and my body is telling me so. So instead of trying to force in a workout, I decided a leisurely walk would do me a world of good. I had heard about a place here called the MacRitchie Reservoir. It is supposed to be a beautiful place with walking trails. So I hop in the car and go down there this morning.
I walked up the path to the trail around the reservoir and was just HIT with the beauty of the area.

In the hustle and bustle of Singapore, it was so incredibly quiet that I turned off my music just to listen to the water and the birds. All along the path there were signs that told about the plants, wildlife and reservoir itself.


I stopped at a map to check out the various trails and decided on a short 5K walk.
I ended up walking a bit further than I had hoped and got a little lost. By the time I realized I was lost, I was about 6K into a 11K trail. Most of the trail is shrouded under the trees and the terrain is very uneven. I only had my joggers on, no trail shoes, no water, no carry pack, not dressed properly.
I decided to take it easy during the remainder of the walk seeing as I was committed.

They have an observation tower that you can climb up to see the surrounding skyline.
They also have a 5K treetop walk on a suspension bridge where you can do just that - walk among the treetops. After realizing that I wasn't even 2/3rds of the way through this trail, I was starting to get tired. My knee was hurting, I was itchy from bug bites and running into spiderwebs. It was tiring trying to navigate the path. It was tiring trying to decipher which way was "out". It was tiring trying to decide if needed to pass the large monkeys that decided to block my way. By this point, I was wondering if this was a nice place after all. Any other day - I would have enjoyed it, but not being prepared was a real letdown.

After a total of about 13 K, I finally made it out of the woods and was just so happy to see that I only had a 10 minute walk to my car. At one point along the path to the car, there were some people on the side in a grassy area with about 15 elderly in wheelchairs. They were singing to them and feeding them Popsicles and smiling with them. And my immediate thought was "ME, ME, ME". I was whining because I was tired. I can't imagine how tirelessly these amazing people worked night and day to take care of these elderly patients.
My next thought was "This truly is Heaven on earth".

The Lizards...

Well - I have been trying REALLY hard to get used to the fact that we get lizards in our house. Any of the locals will tell you that it is impossible to keep them out. My maid was shocked to hear that they didn't come indoors in the States.
I actually try not to chase them down anymore, the minute I get near one, it runs for cover. The lizard is scared of me - as it should be. I still can't get used to them sneaking around the house.
Just the other morning I walked into the kitchen and turned on the light. One came shooting out from the behind the dishes that were drying next to the sink - and toppled half of them over. At 6:00 am - scared the holy ghost out of me - talk about heart-attack city. And Lord only knows where they run off to - they are probably upside down in my kitchen cabinets.
They are ugly - their skin is slightly translucent - they leave their poop all over the place. I've heard that their poop is toxic - so I really want them in my kitchen.
My maid said this morning that they were good to have in the house - they eat mosquitoes and other tiny bugs. She also said that they were "lucky".


Why couldn't it have been lady bugs...

The Tooth Fairy

S has been struggling with a very uncooperative tooth the past few weeks - he was SO excited when it finally fell out while brushing his teeth tonight. I went up to say goodnight to the boys and asked S if he had put his tooth under his pillow. Here's what took place after that:

S: (Very sadly) "V said that there is no such thing as the Tooth Fairy"
Me: "He did?"
S: "Yes, he said that you and Daddy put money and stuff under our pillows"
Me: "Well, you know what happens when you don't believe in the Tooth Fairy anymore..."
S: "No, what?"
Me: "She doesn't leave things for children who don't believe in her"

S: "OHHHHHH, Well that changes EVERYTHING!"

I think we need to have a little chat with V ;-)

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!!!

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!!!

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???