SixintheSand: February 2012

2 months in Singapore...How can that be! Time sure flies when you are busy getting adjusted to a new place. My mom told me the other day that my life was like a game of pick-up sticks. I keep throwing the sticks up and letting them fall into a new place. I guess you could say I have been spending these past 2 months picking up the sticks. Is this always a fun game? No, but I think I might be getting really good at it!

I helped chaperone a field trip for Olivia's class to Chinatown. I was so impressed with how the 2nd grade teachers turned the field trip into a scavenger hunt. We had to explore Chinatown and hunt for Chinese New Year symbols. When something on our list was found I snapped a picture of it with Olivia and her partner. The next week they used these pictures in computer class to create a presentation about Chinatown! Pretty cool! Olivia also had to speak Mandarin to a street vendor and purchase something. She had to ask how much the item was, pay for it and say thank you. For being here only a few weeks she did GREAT! Photos below show some of the things we had to find and what Olivia purchased!

Olivia and her partner had to find:

A CHINESE TEMPLE

SOMETHING RED.....RED SYMBOLIZES HAPPINESS IN ASIA

CHINESE NEW YEAR DECORATIONS..THE GOLD SYMBOLIZES

POWER AND THE RED ONCE AGAIN HAPPINESS

SOME SORT OF DRIED MEAT...(ewwwww)

A DRAGON MASK (IT IS THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON)

THEIR MANDARIN TEACHER

A FRUIT STAND SELLING ORANGES

SOMETHING TO PURCHASE! THE GIRLS CHOSE THESE

ADORABLE CHINESE BARBIES

LIV MADE THE PURCHASE ALL BY HERSELF

SPEAKING MANDARIN. GO LIV!

XIE XIE...THANK YOU IN MANDARIN!

WE STOPPED AND ATE OUR LUNCH BY A CAGE OF

THESE POOR FELLOWS. CHILI CRAB ANYONE?

IT WAS ONE OF THE BEST FIELD TRIPS I HAVE BEEN ON!

OLIVIA'S CLASS IN CHINATOWN

SOME OF THE NAMES OF THE STORES IN CHINATOWN

MADE ME LAUGH...I GUESS ONLY THE "MANLY" BUY CAMERAS

THE NEXT DAY AT SCHOOL OLIVIA HAD A CHINESE NEW

YEAR CELEBRATION.

So we have been having to get used to the rain again. It rains a lot here.

I have GOT to remember to grab an umbrella when I leave which coming from

the desert has been hard to do! I was fearful we were at war the first

time I experienced a thunderstorm from the 24th floor.

It sounded like bombs were going off!

However, loud storms are okay if afterwards you get to see:

RAINBOW VIEW FROM OUR APARTMENT...IT WAS ACTUALLY
A DOUBLE RAINBOW!

VIEW FROM DOWNSTAIRS

We are really enjoying our apartment. I still wake up everyday and can't
believe that I am living on the 24th floor of a high rise apartment!
It has become home to us and is starting
to feel quite cozy as you can see below.

I guess though Dad thought it needed to be a little bit cozier. This is what happens when he is left in charge while I go in search of food. A tent goes up in the living room. We had lots of school days off for Chinese New Year and this was quite the entertainment. The kids slept in it every night!

Speaking of Chinese New Year...Man do they celebrate big here! We experienced new foods symbolizing luck and good fortune and saw our first dragon dance at The American Club. The dragon performers were amazing. However Lilly would like you to know that they are too loud.

(drums, loud loud drums!)

We had a special lunch during the Chinese New Year with some new Nalco friends where we made a Yu Sheng salad together. This is a Chinese New Year tradition where you toss different ingredients into a salad with your friends and family. It is fun because the higher you toss the better your luck and wealth. The word Yu Sheng means “abundance of wealth and long life.” The tossing action symbolizes “tossing luck”. Here is a list of some of the items you can use in your salad and what they symbolize. As you can see it's all about the MONEY, MONEY, MONEY here in Asia!

Fish – abundance
Pomelo – luck
Pepper – money
Oil – excess of profits
Carrots – blessings of good luck
Radish – prosperity in business and promotion at work
Peanut crumbs – gold and silver or eternal youth
Sesame seeds – flourishing business
Deep fried flour crisps – gold
Noodles – Long life

LET'S SEE HOW WELL WE CAN TOSS THE LUCK!

KIDS LOVED THIS!

So we had our New Year salad and now we need to see some dragon dancing! We headed to The American Club for just this. It was awesome! We were bummed at first about our spots to watch the dragons dance. Little did we know though they were going to come right inside the door where we were for a tasty treat! It is good luck to feed the dragons when they come visit you...more wealth!

TOO LOUD DADDY!

HERE THEY COME!

AFTER THE DRAGONS WE HEADED TO THE POOL FOR SOME

LUNCH AND SWIMMING. THEY PUT THIS SLIDE OUT

EVERY SUNDAY AND THE KIDS LOVE IT! I THINK THE

DRAGONS WANTED IN ON THE POOL FUN TOO!

SUCH A FUN DAY!

After the New Year Olivia invited me to her class for a writer's

celebration. I was so proud of the non-fiction story she wrote all about

Dubai! The other parents who read her story kept coming up to tell

me how much they enjoyed her book and how it made them want to

visit Dubai!

I will end this post with some monkey business. Last Saturday we set out for

the Bukit Timah (Boo-ka Teema) Nature Reserve. We had heard from many that we

might stumble upon some wild monkeys here as well as get to hike through

a beautiful rainforest. I had read online that you must NEVER feed the monkeys

or you will get to see their aggressive side!

LET'S START OUR HIKE! BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR MONKEYS!
(BTW, THIS WAS NOT A GOOD-FOR- LILLY OUTING...)

AFTER LOTS AND LOTS OF WALKING WE HAD SEEN LOTS OF
BEAUTIFUL THINGS BUT NO MONKEYS..

ARE THOSE SOME TEXAS MONKEYS!?

WHOOP

So we finished our very long hike..(No! my kids didn't whine or complain at all!)
without seeing any monkeys. We were all a little bummed as we headed out of
the reserve in search of a cab. Wait, what is that near the residential area?
MONKEYS!