Kittens Update

Posted on March 31, 2011 by Expat Bostonians

I haven’t mentioned the kittens since we adopted them, so I thought I’d provide a quick update.

Gandalf (our boy) seemed very quiet and unkittenish.  He also seemed far too thin, so I took him to a vet, who de-wormed him (in theory they’d been de-wormed at the SPCA, but it was worth redoing, given his weight gain issues).  We also gave him a special kitten formula for a few weeks to help him gain weight.  A week after this appointment, he developed an eye infection, poor little guy!  Ten days of antibiotic (and it spreading to his other eye, but thankfully not the other kitten) later he was a different cat entirely.  He’s still the cuddler, but now he’s just as active as the other kitten.  He’s also gained so much weigh that I’m almost worried he’s getting too big!

Admire me…you know you want to….

Kerowyn (our girl) is a match for Elanor in energy and sheer bouncyness.  Also like Ellie, she’s not much for cuddles.  She also has some listening issues…Gandalf is pretty  much over the scratching the couch phase, but Kero likes to test the boundaries every so often.  She’s also far more interested in food, and has to be chased from the dinner table with a spray bottle with some frequency whenever it’s mealtime.  However, she’s the high flying acrobat of the family.  I went into our office one day, looking for the kittens, and found her on top of a bookcase…a good 6+ feet from the floor (on top of an IKEA Billy bookcase, if you’re a fellow devotee).  She was a bit concerned as she couldn’t figure out how to get down from there, so I had to give her a hand.  Given a few more months experience, I have no doubts that she’ll figure it out on her own.  Unfortunately the only time I can get a picture of her being still is when Gandalf has decided to “share” the perch with her on the cat structure thingy.  She’s the one with the partially white face being squished by the boy. 


The MAN is holding me down!

Ellie is doing really well with them.  She swings between wanting to know where they are every second of every day and flipping out when they go into her room.  She also likes to try to order them around…and they listen about as well as she does, so I see that as somewhat poetic justice for all the times I tell her to do something and she’s all “Squirrel!”  It’s tough that she occasionally want to pick them up (as she sees us do) and she hates that she’s too little to do so yet.  But there hasn’t been any tail pulling or any negative behavior in some time.  She can be a bit rough unintentionally with her love, so she still does get “gentle!” reminders from us.

Ravi and I are enjoying playing with them and cuddling.  It’s not uncommon to sprawl on the couch and moments later be used as a pillow by Gandalf (and occasionally Kero).

Filed under: Pictures, Random Stuff | 4 Comments »

Singapore Botanic Garden: Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Expat Bostonians

I’d heard about the Children’s Garden before, but had never visited it before yesterday.  Somehow we never really get past the lake with the swans.  There’s tons of beautiful flowers nearby, and E loves the swans/turtles/fish that she can feed.

But yesterday afternoon we headed directly to the Children’s Garden.  Unfortunately we were given a ride by the Most Lost Driver in Singapore, and spent a decent 30+ minutes bumbling and getting lost.  Finally we just said to drop us anywhere at the Botanic Garden, and ended up by what I thought was the back gate, and near where I thought the Children’s Garden was.

I was right that we were in the back part of the section of the Botanic Gardens I’d already explored.  We were near a sign for the Children’s Garden, and I naively assumed it was just over the hill.  So we set out, at 6:00pm, with no clue that the Children’s Garden (unlike the rest of the Botanic Garden) closes at 7pm.

As always, it’s never a dull walk in the Gardens.  Overused words like lush and tropical bubble up unbidden…clichés, yes, but cliché for a reason.

But we seemed to keep walking.

And walking.

And walking.

I hadn’t seen a sign in a while, so when a Botanic Garden uncle drove by in his golf cart, I asked him to stop and to clarify if we were going the right way.

He told me they were closing in 45 minutes and the last admission would be in 15.  That we’d never make it walking.  As my spirits dipped, he offered to give us a ride.

He was absolutely right…we never would’ve made it.  I had NO idea how large the gardens really are, as we passed through another giant chunk, including a pond with a black swan meandering across.  Our starting point was not “just over the hill” from the Children’s Garden…it was over the hill and a giant hike from the Children’s Garden.  But thanks to the uncle, we made it with enough time for Ellie to have a good play.

Of course, the very first thing we found was the water play area.  It’s almost like Ellie has some secret play fountain radar, because she moved unerringly in that direction.

I left Ellie happily getting soaked under B’s watchful eyes and headed out to explore the small garden and play around with the DLSR I’m renting this week (I’m getting ready to upgrade my camera, and decided renting one would be the best way to see if it really was the camera I wanted or not).  The Children’s Garden seems to have an ampitheater, signs that indicated there were classrooms, some play equiment, some slides, the water play area and various short exhibits set up.  And, of course, gorgeous plant life.

I noticed some large slides, and went back to see if Elanor might be interested in switching activities.  She spent some additional time in the water, full of glee (see today’s earlier Wordless Wednesday post) before moving on.

We spent our last 10 minutes or so before this section of the park closed here at the slides.  E scorned the lower slide for this larger one.  Don’t be surprised when she decides sky diving is a great idea at five or that sword swallowing is the only thrill left to try at twelve.

I noticed a further chunk of Children’s Garden that we didn’t get to, including what looked like some adorablely oversized mushroom sculptures (that immediately had me thinking about Alice in Wonderland).  But night was falling and we were told they were closing.

I loved the detailing on this lamp as the light came on.

I also noticed as we waited for our taxi that just outside the entrance of the Children’s Garden is a snack stand that has some tables and chairs that are kid-friendly in size.  It seemed like a nice touch.

At Ellie’s age, I’m not sure she’ll get much out of it beyond “cool water play area” and “OMG SLIDES!!!”  But for older kids, the signage and displays would help create discussion around the life cycle of plants, ecology, etc.  I’m guessing they do some amount of school and/or community outreach, and will keep an eye out for anything like that in the future.

I don’t think it will even take the place of our preferred section of the Botanic Gardens, but it’s a nice place to add into our rotation.  As would be the beautiful walk from the main garden to the Children’s Garden…I’m itching to get my camera on that black swan (no movie jokes, please!).

The only negative was that the sand near the slides was absolutely swarming with ants.  B and I had to wipe down her legs once we realized what was happening, and there’s a number of bites on them today.  I also ended up with some bites/friends crawling on me from trying to clean up Ellie and my brief walk across the sand to get to the play structure.  However, that’s nature, and I need to remind myself that I wasn’t always a wimpy city girl.

Filed under: Attractions, Local Wildlife, Pictures, Singapore, With Kids | Leave a Comment »

Wordless Wednesday–Elanor

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Expat Bostonians

Filed under: Pictures, Singapore | 3 Comments »

One Year Ago…

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Expat Bostonians

One year ago today I received this email…

I made it to Singapore safe-and-sound (though the flight from Hong
Kong sat on the tarmac a long time and didn’t have
in-flight-entertainment – enough to earn me a customer appreciation
gift that I need to pick). In bad news, I left a book on the plane and
one of my meds at home :(

Other than that, the room is nice and things are OK, so it is time to sleep.

Love,

- Ravi

One year ago…..

I was reading and re-reading emails from expats in Singapore, trying to figure out every last thing that we’d need for the month in the service apartment before our things arrived.  I was separating things into “pack it, store it at the in-laws, ship it, get rid of it” piles.  I was trying to freecycle things as fast as I could.  I was gifting things I knew I couldn’t use here because the ovens are too small, or the electrical current was all wrong.  I was tossing old baby clothes into plastic tubs, and sorting out things that were too warm for our new home.

One year ago

I knew very few people in Singapore.  The moms I’d met at a playgroup.  I was freaking out if Ellie (and I) would make friends.  If Ellie’s birthday (which I’d already bought all the stuff for, knowing that party supplies were not easy to get in Singapore…at least if you’re focused on a less common theme than Barney or Barbie or Disney Princess) would have any guests beyond Ravi and I.

One year ago

This all seemed so difficult and crazy.  Finding an apartment.  Finding a helper whom I’d feel comfortable entrusting my child.  Learning my way around the city.  Adjusting to the kind of weather Boston only gets a few weeks out of the year….all year round.  Keeping close with my friends back home, and fearing they’d move on without us.  Making a home.

One year ago

I had no idea how lucky I’d be.

Today was a very normal, simple day….but it also illustrates how groundless all my fears were.  I woke up to an email from a friend on the East Coast, and we chatted for almost two hours.  I grabbed a shower and lunch, and then Ellie and I went to her school, where she happily and enthusiastically participated (and I stole quick moments of conversation with the mixtures of moms, helpers and grandmas).  After class we met up with my friend M and her son H, and hung out for a while.  Then B and I took Elanor to the Children’s Garden in the Singapore Botanic Gardens.  I’ll make dinner when Ravi texts me he’s heading home, and Ellie will gleefully tell him all about her day, and I’ll show him some photos I shot on the DSLR I rented (with a student discount, thanks to my photography class!).  I left a few notes on my friend’s facebook pages (Singaporean and American), and exchanged an email with a friend in New Zealand.  We’ll put E to bed with a book my NZ friend sent, and our new favorite bedtime book (“It’s time for sleep, my love”) that I found at Page One here in Singapore.  Before we go to bed, I’ll drop my mom a note about our next Skype date, and I’ll probably get around to watching the most recent episode of The Amazing Race, which I downloaded from iTunes if I can’t convince Ravi to watch the next episode of Buffy on DVD.

It’s not perfect, but one year later…I have a life in Singapore.

Filed under: Before the Move, Singapore, US | 4 Comments »

Signs of the times…

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Expat Bostonians

I was at Market 360 at Ion Orchard Mall tonight, doing some grocery shopping when I noticed a sign near the aisle of Japanese snack foods.

Dear Customers,

Please be informed that Japanese imports are:

  • from the non-affected parts of Japan
  • tested and approved for import by the Agri-food and Veterinary Authority (AVA)

Thank you for your attention

 

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised by the sign.  While we are several thousand miles away from Japan (and only slightly closer than the West Coast of the US by plane), I guess it makes sense that people here are nervous about imported Japanese food and produce.  I know it’s probably not necessary, but once they found tainted milk, I decided that caution was the better part of valor and switched E to Australian milk (both are readily available here and within pennies of each other for price).  Elanor is really the only one drinking milk, and I can’t help but want to be more cautious for her.

But life marches on, and just around the corner from the Japanese food sign, I saw…

EASTER CANDY!!!!

Considering we’re atheists, Easter is just an excuse for candy consumption.  I am saddened to report that I’ve yet to spy a Reeses Easter Egg or a Reeseter Bunny for sale (don’t worry, I’ll get you my pretties…in the US, the day after Easter for half price, mwah hah hah!!!), but there’s a pretty decent variety.  Interestingly enough, I’ve yet to see a single chocolate cross or anything even quasi-religious pertaining to Easter (with the exception of one children’s board book at Kinokuniya, my favorite local bookstore).  Personally, considering it’s the year of the Rabbit, I just kept up my Chinese New Year Bunny themed decorations from February, and will take them down once we’re back in May.

We won’t actually be in Singapore for Easter–we leave Good Friday for the US (arriving on Good Friday, thanks to the joys of international travel and the international date line) and will be in town for the holiday (and more importantly the post-holiday half off candy sale!).

 

Filed under: food/drink, Japan, Pictures, Shopping, Singapore | 2 Comments »

A store opening means a lion dance!

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Expat Bostonians

This weekend we took E to an official store opening because I’d heard via facebook that there would be a lion dance.

Ellie was super excited about the IDEA of seeing a lion dance.

What we didn’t think through, though, was that the drums, which are loud enough to be painful for E in the open outdoors would be about 10x louder in the confined store.  Additionally, in a confined store, there would be nowhere to go if she got unhappy.

We got there and Ellie loved the first dance the lions did.  It was fairly short, and because they dance through the whole store for good luck, we got an up-close look at them.  Afterward she was saying “I love lion/dragon dances!” When we told her it was a lion dance, not a dragon dance, she asked “where’s the dragon?”

Trouble for us began when the next phase of the blessing began.  The dance team put out lettuce and oranges, and then the dragons did a much longer dance.  E began to get overwhelmed, burying her head against me (I was holding my hands over her ears to reduce noise, which was even getting to me) and crying “go to SLEEP lions, go to SLEEP.”  I felt bad for not having thought this through, as we were on the wrong side of the lions and couldn’t get by them to get her out of the store.  I think the take-away is that with younger kids, always have an exit strategy.

Obviously I was a bit distracted, but I found the part with the oranges and lettuce especially cool.  The “lions” picked up the oranges, and later in the dance, they tossed the on-lookers orange peel (and ripped lettuce).  They also made a number on the floor with orange segments, which I’m curious to know the meaning of (why do they do that, does the number have a special significance?).  They presented the owners with a scroll as well.

I’m really impressed by the the lion dance team members.  They move with such skill that you forget it’s not real.  The flirtatious batting of eyelashes, the way the two dancers sit, so that the dragon is sitting or laying down, the gymnastics involved at times, it’s all incredible.  My friend Kirsten remarked that if we are here when E is older, she could join a lion dance team.  We’ll see!

It was really cool, and I would’ve loved the experience unreservedly had E not been upset.  I don’t have pictures as the angles were all wrong and then E needed Mommy cuddles during the second dance.

I have to say that the way a store/restaurant does this sort of grand opening is far cooler than anything we do in the US.  I’d find grand openings FAR FAR more interesting if they included lion dances!

 

Filed under: Culture Shock, customs, Shopping, Singapore, With Kids | 4 Comments »

Our trip home last November

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Expat Bostonians

Realizing that the next trip was almost upon us, I finally got around to making the video of our last trip home.

 

The song is “Boston” by Sara Brenner from her “Unsteady Ground” album.  Possibly not the most accurate song as the video includes pictures from Maine and NYC as well, but it’s a favorite song, so whatever…

Filed under: Boston, Maine, New York City, US, Video | 2 Comments »

Toddler-Friendly Singapore-Royce Gym

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Expat Bostonians

If you have very young kids, Singapore is a great place.  The zoo is phenomenal, Sentosa’s beaches have soft sand and calm water, the Botanical Garden has all the green space your child could want to run in, many malls have fountains for your kids to enjoy, and McDonald’s is everywhere.  But sometimes it does get a bit too hot to play outside…and you don’t feel like wrecking your own home.

Which is where indoor playgrounds come in.  Singapore has a thriving industry of indoor options for kids, and we are lucky to live near what I, personally, consider one of the best.

Royce Gym is located at Liang Court Mall on the 2nd floor.  You pay an annual fee (I can’t recall now if SGD 50 was for one or two years) and either a 1 hour or 90 minute play fee (12 and 15 respectively) for entry.

My short description is that Royce is Disneyland for toddlers.

There’s a reading area with couches to snuggle with your kids on while you read together.

There are cars to ride on (one with a gentle slope, one with a larger slope–and helmets provided) as well as cars you can just drive around the play floor

There are slides

There’s a lego wall

There’s a doll area

There’s an area with something like 8 toy kitchens and all the accompanying toys

There are musical instruments

There are swings

There are ball pits

 

Seriously…it’s a kid’s dream come true.

When you’re done letting them exhaust themselves, you can hit the McDonald’s on the first floor or head next door to Clarke Quay for dinner now that they’re too tired to want to run around the restaurant.

Filed under: general places, Singapore, With Kids | 1 Comment »

Cold Stone has come to Singapore

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Expat Bostonians

I realize that Singapore already has Cold Rock (an Australian chain), Maggie Moos (an American chain) and Marble Slab creamery (also American).  However, Cold Stone is my absolute favorite of the mix stuff into ice cream parlors.  Because my favorite mix ins are peanut butter and reeses peanut butter cups, they have a special place in my heart as they rarely if ever are out of either.  They also use full sized peanut butter cups instead of the minis used as Maggie Moos and Marble Slab.

So it was with great joy and excitement that Ellie, B, and I ventured out to meet Kirsten of Funny Little World at the brand spanking new Cold Stone Creamery at Orchard Central Mall on Orchard Road.

I hadn’t actually been into the Orchard Central Mall before this trip (there are so many, and they’re all next to each other that it is next to impossible to see them all without going into mall overload.  Imagine my surprise to see a small outpost of “Everything With Fries” (a favorite eatery I thought only existed in Holland Village) and a place to make photobooks (and that’s only on the first floor!).  I’ll be back again for certain!

Thanks to Kirsten for the following pictures…

Where’s the Ice Cream you promised me?

As Kirsten noticed…the ice cream is almost comparable in size to her head.  She seems a bit peturbed at the work ahead of her

Okay, no time like the present to get started….

It’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it

I love the giant ice cream over everyone’s head

How can you not smile when you say “ice cream!”?

Filed under: food/drink, Pictures, Singapore | 3 Comments »

The Fountains at Vivo City (not so Wordless Wednesday)

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Expat Bostonians

On the second floor of Vivo City mall, in the outdoor central courtyard, there is a simple set of fountains.  But these are one of Elanor’s greatest sources of joy.

Every parent knows that shopping with a toddler is a journey fraught with peril, and a smart parent has a good bribe in his/her back pocket at all times.

For Ellie, at least, few bribes are as effective as “if you’re good while Mommy shops in store X, we’ll go to the fountains.”

Unlike bribes involving Toys R Us, the fountains (and surrounding play area) do not cost me anything but the plastic baggie  in which I put her wet swimsuit.

While there are usually other kids in the fountains, I’ve rarely found it to be a crowded place, making it a safe play area for kids of all ages.

As the water doesn’t shoot terribly high, I can walk through part of with her and not feel like I needed a spare set of clothes myself.

 

This is definitely one of our favorite places in Singapore, allowing Mommy to get in some shopping (at Singapore’s largest mall!) and Ellie to burn off some energy playing.

 

Filed under: politics, Shopping, Singapore, With Kids | 4 Comments »

Next Page »
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 438 other followers