Wordless Wednesday–Visitors!

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Expat Bostonians

Back in December we had our second (non-family) visitors-my college roommate Love and her mom.  Love was my college roommate and remains a good friend.  These day’s she’s a Peace Corps volunteer stationed in Mongolia.  Her mom lives in Southern California.  So they both flew to Singapore and we got to play host!

IMG_7496I took them shopping in the arcade in Little India, and we wandered Tekka Market.

IMG_7527Love jumped for joy at Marina Barrage (where we also had a wonderful view of the sun setting)

IMG_7560We visited the Night Safari (although we didn’t do the zoo/visit the pandas)

IMG_7634The National Orchid Gardens were a hit

IMG_7666We went to Chinatown, although we skipped the Tiger Beer tower

IMG_7708And of course, we went to visit the Merlion

When I originally started the blog (just about 3 years ago, actually), I knew that very people I knew had ever been to Signapore and weren’t likely to come visit.  We’re of an age where many of our friends are settling down and spawning-and just because we’re crazy enough to drag our kids halfway around the world doesn’t mean I think anyone else should (unless they want to).  It’s not cheap, and the time zone shift sucks.  So I figured the blog would be my way of sharing Singapore with the friends back home.

I’ll save the sappy “it’s become so much more than that” speech for my actual 3 years in Singapore misty-eyed love-fest.

What I will say is that it so special to me when I have had the rare opportunity to show a friend a physical place.  To share a moment with them in person instead of via picture, video, blog post, etc.

Filed under: Attractions, general places, Pictures, Shopping, Singapore, Uniquely Singapore | Leave a Comment »

Haw Par Villa (warning-some images are NSFW)

Posted on February 7, 2013 by Expat Bostonians

I have never dropped acid.  But thanks to Haw Par Villa, I think I can image what that must be like–because it’s the strangest trip I’ve ever taken.

IMG_7838I may not do drugs, but these pandas definitely do…

What is Haw Par Villa?

Previously known as ‘Tiger Balm Gardens’, Haw Par Villa was later renamed after its former owners, the Aw brothers – Boon Haw and Boon Par, who made a fortune in the early 1900s selling Tiger Balm, a cure-all paste created by their father.

Haw Par Villa is like no other place in the world, with over 1,000 statues and 150 dioramas that dramatise Chinese legends and folklore. Founded on Chinese legends and values, this historical theme park has large, imposing statues from famous legends of old – featuring characters like Fu Lu Shou, Confucius and the Laughing Buddha.

source

IMG_7839This would prove to be one of the LEAST creepy statues

IMG_7855One fish dude stabbing another.

As I walked around, I tried to read the information plaques to better understand what I was seeing.  Much like the statues themselves, some are in better repair than others.  I was familiar with some of the stories (Madame White Snake, for example) and others were new to me.

I reached out via twitter as I was there asking what people thought of/remembered about Haw Par Villa.

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I tend to think of myself as a fairly liberal parent.  I’m strict about school and behavior, but I don’t filter music for the girls and I don’t believe in censoring books (if you want to read it, read it).  I’m open minded.  Haw Par Villa put that to the test–I can’t imagine bringing Ellie here (Rhi is too young to comprehend what she sees–or that’s what I’m telling myself).

IMG_7846Rawr

As you would expect in a park paid for by the inventors of Tiger Balm, there was a lot of Tiger statuary.

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While it is at times extremely confusing and creepy, Haw Par Villa is also beautiful.  The morning I was there, I saw fewer than 10 other people.  Solitude is not something you often experience in Singapore.  While the bizzare statues FAR outnumber the beautiful, I saw beautiful statues as well.

IMG_7896A small shrine I stumbled across in a corner of the park.

Singapore isn’t a country that places a lot of value on its past.  Since I’ve been here, the Urban Redevelopment Authority gazetted Bukit Brown cemetary for demolition (see Kirsten’s moving post here), and closed the historic Tanjong Pagar train station (see Flora’s post here) in favor of Woodlands Train Checkpoint.  Knowing that, I’m somewhat surprised Haw Par Villa has survived, and is even being maintained by the Singapore Tourism Board, especially as it doesn’t produce any sort of financial profit (I doubt that 5 dollar parking fee pays for the guard-I was the only car there last Friday, and the park itself is free).

IMG_7847One of the many statues being freshened up with a new coat of paint.

While I’m sure that I could learn many a lesson from the statues at Haw Par Villa, my most common reaction was to tilt my head to the side and try to figure out just what was going on, even with the help of the plaques (and there isn’t always one).

IMG_7874For instance, I can relate to the mom resignedly trying to keep her pants up as her toddler tries to climb her leg.  Been there.  Solidarity, sister–I feel your pain.

IMG_7875Or perhaps not.  Now I’m wondering if that kid isn’t screaming “MOM THERE ARE PEOPLE DYING OVER THERE, WHY ARE YOU STILL TALKING TO YOUR FRIEND ABOUT YOUR NEW PAIR OF SHOES????? MOOOOOOM!!! MOMEEEEE!!!!”  I don’t understand what the seemingly disconnected halves of the tableau are supposed to teach me.

Screen Shot 2013-02-07 at 10.37.36 AM

However, the kitschy and random statues are not the big attraction at Haw Par Villa.  The 10 Courts of Hell is.  I won’t go through each court and what the punishments are (if you want to see that, this post by Where Sidewalks End does so) but a few of the highlights

  • Rhiannon should probably take note that disobeying a sibling means spending some time being ground by a stone…and hand over the crayon.
  • I can look forward to getting my body sawn in two for misusing books, possession of pornography (I wonder if I’ll do some drowning in blood like the prostitutes for writing pornography as well?), breaking written rules and for wasting food–I’m guilty of all of them.
  • Cheating on an exam?  I have some former students who can look forward to their intestines and organs getting pulled out.

IMG_7934Disrespect to elders carries the same punishment as escaping from prison–your heart will be cut out.

There are also serious consequences for things like rape, tax evasion, driving someone to their death, robbery and so forth.

Screen Shot 2013-02-07 at 10.37.52 AMme too, Claire!

As if the 10 Courts of Hell isn’t disorienting enough on its own, you emerge from the dark cavern to this statue…

IMG_7959Kissing Cockroaches are not what I need to see after the 10 Courts of Hell–I’m already freaked out, thanks.

However, none of what I’ve highlighted thus far wins the crown for weirdest thing I saw at Haw Par Villa.  The image below wins that prize.

IMG_7844I have so many questions about this.

It’s a theme park highlighting Chinese Mythology and Confucian lessons for the local population.  The country is a former Brit Colony, but it became a colony in 1824, which is over fifty years after we declared our independence.

There is no plaque to explain the presence of a mini statue of liberty.  There is NO other statue relating to another country such as France or Brazil.

Just a random, inexplicable minature Statue of Liberty.

So many questions about this.

If you’d like to see more photos of my visit to Haw Par Villa, go check out my set on Flickr here.

If you’d like to read more about other blogger’s visits to Haw Par Villa (and if you have a blog post, link it below in comments and I’ll add it to the list)

Filed under: Attractions, Culture Shock, general places, Pictures, Random Stuff, Singapore, Uniquely Singapore | 13 Comments »

Mommy Wars, Singapore Style

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Expat Bostonians

Screen Shot 2013-01-29 at 11.40.49 PM

In the US, there has been long-standing tension between Stay at Home Moms and “Working” Moms (The airquotes are because that’s usually the first thing that gets tempers flaring–yes, ALL moms are working moms).  The book above, if you can get past the title, is actually a great collection of essays that gives voice to the push-me/pull-you of the choices we make about working versus staying at home as mothers in America (and the lack of choice at times, as well).

Although there are many parenting issues that cause a divide amongst parents-breast or bottle, crib or co-sleep, whether or not one sleep trains and how….the divide between moms at home and moms who work outside the home is perhaps the one I’ve always seen as least divisive.  While we sometimes feel that we can change a person’s mind about breastfeeding, for example, I’ve met very few women who try to convince others to stay home or go to work.

What I do see, all the time, from every mom (and this does seem to be a mom-thing–sorry for the stereotype, but I just don’t see this from dads in the same way)–is guilt over our choices, whatever they are.

If they don’t see me working outside the home, am I good female role model to my daughters?

I had to give my sick baby to the sitter and come into the office.

I’d kill to go to the office and get a lunch break.  Hell, I’d love to go to the bathroom by myself.

If I stayed home, I’d go insane.

If I have to play Candyland one more time, my brain is going to atrophy.

I want to the be one getting bored to death by Candy Land

For Americans, the tension between stay at home/work out of house moms is mostly focused on the baby years–0-4/5 or so.  (Or at least I’ve found…please do correct away parents of older kids…I only know the elementary/middle school years from the teacher’s side of the desk).

For those of us at home with younger children, I most commonly hear (and have said myself) that we’ll go back to work once our youngest is in school for the full day.  The choice to be home often has a lot to do with the absurdly high cost of daycare arrangements (as a teacher, it was almost a wash with one child and could possibly have cost our family money with two when compared with my post-tax income).

The visibility of the stay at home vs work out of the house mom tension drops dramatically once kids are in 4/5th grade.  We don’t really have “room parents” or “parent volunteers” in the older grades and I couldn’t really have told you with certainty whose parent was working vs stay at home by grade 6.

Last month’s Young Parent Magazine in Singapore took a new and uniquely Singaporean take on the Mommy Wars..

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YOUR CAREER vs. HIS GRADES (Do Stay-at-home mums raise more successful children?)

(I’m not even going to go near the “Keep sane on your maid’s weekly day off” article today.)

Looking at statistics, I’d argue that roughly the same percentage of parents work in Singapore versus the US.  We can compare this report from the Singaporean Government’s Ministry of Manpower the statistics in 2011 reflecting the percentage of women and men in the workforce were as follows below on the left in black, with the US stats in 2010 from the Bureau of Labor stats (source) are on the right in blue.

  • 9.8% of women 15-19  (14.6% men)—US 53.6% of women 16-24/ 56.8% of men
  • 62.5% of women 20-24 (63.2% men)
  • 86.7% of women 25-29 (91.8% men)—-US 75.2% of women 25-54/ 89.3% of men
  • 81% of women 30-34 (97.4% men)
  • 77.6% of women 35-39 (97.7% men)
  • 73.9% of women 40-44 (97.1% men)
  • 71.5% of women 45-49 (96% men)
  • 66.1% of women 50-54 (93.5% men)
  • 55.1% of women 55-59 (85.7% men)—-US 35.1% of women 55-64/46.4% of men
  • 38.4% of women 60-64 (71.1% men)
  • 23.9% of women 65-70 (49.1% men)—US 13.8% of women 65-75/ 22.1% of men
  • 6.6% of women over 70 (20.5% men)

In general, the discussions I hear in Singapore surround how moms need to work to help cover the heavy tuition centre expenses and such, not whether they can or should work (as that’s irrelevant).  Going back to work often means finding family childcare (my friend Kirsten lived with her grandparents during the week and her parents on the weekends, a friend who recently returned to work hired a live-in helper to help with childcare when her mom couldn’t watch the kids, and so forth), as there aren’t as many childcare options here.

The nature of this headline seemed particularly inflammatory and designed to batter moms emotionally.  Parents here worry about how their children will do in school because, far more so than in the US, it will impact the trajectory of their lives (what high school they’ll attend, fewer universities/more competition and so forth).

The pressure is particularly intense in year 6 of primary school, which is when they take the dread PSLE exam (which is what determines your academic trajectory)–so much so that I’ve read plenty of advice to start your Pri 4 or 5 student studying for it.  Naturally, then, this article used one factor to support the anecdotal evidence it put into play–the PSLE score of the child of the mother in question.  Factors like wealth and education level of the parent were mostly dismissed in favor of the binary of working/home and score result.

I’ve heard moms talking specifically about either not returning to work until after the PSLE or taking a break specifically during the PSLE years.

 

IMG_7541

The problem, of course, is that none of the articles written about staying at home versus working really address the moms.  They always focus on the kid’s successes or failures (in whatever arena you want to argue in–sports, academics, future dating rates, whatever).  They almost always fail to ask the following important questions

  • Is it even a choice?  For many families, the choice of working vs staying home is a moot question.  It is elitist to assume otherwise.
  • Assuming you can make the choice, is the mom happy with her choice most days? If you’re going to be miserable at home, or miserable at work, assuming you have a choice, don’t go with the one you’ll hate just because you feel you “should” make a choice in one direction or the other.  And none of us are happy with our choice 100% of the time–anyone who says otherwise is lying.
  • Are your kids doing okay?  As in, are they fed, clothed, reasonably happy, hitting developmental milestones little people with whom you have a reasonably healthy relationship?  Yes?  Then they’re fine.

 

Dear Parents of Singapore

I’m a veteran teacher.  Let me let you in a little secret–your staying home or not isn’t going to make or break your kid.  You can stay home and have a brilliant or a lazy kid.  You can work and have a brilliant or a lazy kid.  Your staying home in no way affects how your child will do on a standardized test.

Make the choice that’s right for your family.

And for the good of us all, let’s stop giving money to publications with articles like this, and more to publications with Ryan Gosling on their covers.  We’ll all be much happier.

Filed under: Culture Shock, Education, headdesk moments, money, Singapore, Uniquely Singapore, With Kids | 4 Comments »

Photo post-National Orchid Garden

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Expat Bostonians

IMG_7591Ellie and Rhi at the fountains just inside the gate

IMG_7593“I’m reading a treasure map!”

IMG_7594Walking under the unfortunately named “golden shower” arches.

IMG_7601Waterfall in motion in the cool house

IMG_7604

IMG_7617

IMG_7633

IMG_7621I love the statues scattered throughout the garden–here’s a lion we stumbled across

IMG_7641Taking a picture of Love taking a picture of the flower

IMG_7656Ellie decided on this pose (in the mist house)

 

Filed under: Attractions, Pictures, Singapore, Uniquely Singapore | 3 Comments »

Mass Lantern Walk 2012

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Expat Bostonians

As part of the Mid-Autumn Festival, there was a Mass Lantern Walk in Chinatown this past Saturday night.

Not pictured–the giant “Sponsored by Singtel” lantern.

Lion Dance before the kick off

We arrived at the start of the walk just a few minutes before it actually started (aka about 20 minutes late due to traffic), and just in time for the Lion Dance.  It was loud and chaotic, which are two good words to describe the entire experience (but not in a bad way).  I had picked up some cheap lanterns at cold storage and had dropped a glow stick in them (traditionally laterns use fire which seemed like a bad combination with my 3 year old and a paper lantern).  I definitely felt a bit of lantern envy when I saw the amazing variety–the straight up spherical paper ones, but also elaborate ones in the shapes of the dragons and such, themed ones (like a thomas the tank engine lantern-no joke), and battery-operated ones that lit up and did stuff (a bug with flapping wings).  Sadly it due to the low light and constant movement, I had to toss a number of photos–it was not the kind of environment that is tri-pod friendly (although I, along with many other amateur photographers had mine with me).

Ellie is not amused

Ellie had been sick all day Friday, but had seemingly bounced back on Saturday.  She insisted she wanted to go to the walk.  Although she hasn’t sat in a stroller in almost a year (and even then mostly to transport her around airports when she was too tired to walk), she ASKED for her stroller.  This should’ve been our first clue that it wasn’t a good idea.  But we tried.  About a minute before the walk began, Ellie started crying and wanted to go home.  Ravi decided to take her home and insisted Rhi and I stay (especially as he could tell I really wanted to do the walk, and knew I’d been looking forward to it).

Doing the walk (which went up a main street, down a side street and then looped on New Bridge road), I really enjoyed the diversity of Singapore.  You hear a lot of talk about how diverse Singapore is, but it’s moments like the walk that really show it.  In the picture above you can see the Mid-Autumn Festival’s lanterns strung in front of the Sri Mariamman Temple.  For a spell I walked next to a Buddhist mom and her daughter and we chatted about pre-schools.  Later we walked past some older Aunties who chatted up Rhi in Mandarin (I may not know much Mandarin, but I know Mei-Mei for Little Sister).  We shared street space with women in Saris holding their lanterns.  Expats galore took part.  And no one seemed out of place.  It’s just how Singapore is.  (Which is not to say that there aren’t simmering xenophobic tensions, class tensions, etc)  This de rigeur diversity is absolutely one of my favorite parts of Singaporean life.

At points I felt a little bad about bringing Rhi to such a loud gathering without getting her some ear plugs or some such (if you watch the video you’ll understand–we were never NOT near some very loud drumming–awesome drumming–but loud).  I wasn’t sure if I should’ve taken her (as opposed to sending her with Ravi), but she loved it.  She loved the lanterns, she was interested in what was happening, she flirted shamelessly with everyone who noticed her, and even appeared unfazed by the loud drumming.

One of the many drummers

Lantern by the entrance to Chinatown on New Bridge Road, where the Lantern walk began a final loop.

Dancers.  Can someone tell me more about them?  If I were in the US, I’d think of the outfits as Polynesian inspired.  I’ve never seen anything like them related back to Chinese Culture.  Please, share in comments!

Ditto.  Please share in comments if you know the significance of the women dressed like this.  I feel like I was missing out on a lot of the significance and nuance of what was happening around me, and I’d love to know more.

This drum team was AMAZING.  I loved that there were a number of women (I’ve mostly seen men when I’ve seen this style of drumming at Lion or Dragon dances) and I love the synchronicity and drama of their movements (as well as the sound of the drums).

There was a main stage just before the walk ended, and if you check the video you’ll see the group performing at the end of that video.

Close view of some lanterns

So here we have it, another experience in my quest to explore more of Singapore.  We were in town for the Lantern Festival of 2010, and tried to do a few family friendly things– see here, here, and here. Last year we were still out of town during the festival.  But this was our first year really trying to engage with the festival.  Ironic, then, that unless they’re going to be up for a few more days, we’ll have missed out on the Clarke Quay lantern displays (we kept trying to see them with the girls, but every time we planned to, something would come up)–anyone know if they’re already gone, or how much longer they’ll be there?

I would’ve liked to have stayed longer, but I was needed at home, so shortly after we finished the walk, Rhi and I left, missing out on the night market and other experiences.  Below is a video with various clips of the sights and sounds from that evening.  Sorry for any shakiness in the video–hard to push a stroller with one hand, record with the other and walk all at the same time.

Filed under: Holidays, Pictures, Singapore, Uniquely Singapore, Video, With Kids | 2 Comments »

Our brush with F1

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Expat Bostonians

Singapore has an annual F1 race, the Singapore Grand Prix.  I’m told it’s a unique grand prix race as it’s the only one at night.  This was the fifth annual SGGP (Singapore Grand Prix), and it has just been renewed for another five years, so it will continue to be mid-late September through 2017.

I wrote this entry about the event in 2010.  Last year, I was more or less on bed rest, so I was pretty unaffected by F1 as they weren’t racing in my apartment.

After our experiences in 2010, our strategy with F1 has been to avoid the area they race in/have road closures in as much as possible.  Cabs have a reasonable amount of access to the area outside of race times, so prior to this year if we absolutely had to go into that area (Ellie’s gymnastics school is in the middle of the course, more or less), we just took a cab.

In general, having a car makes most things easier for me in Singapore.  But this year it meant I had to keep up with road closures (which were well publicized), and we needed a special sticker/access pass to drive to Marina Square (where E and Rhi have gymnastics).

Sorry–bad cell phone picture

I fumbled a bit with the route I had to take to Marina Square, but we added in extra time (and still ended up getting there a few minutes late).  It was weird to get waved onto a deserted lane of traffic , and to see that part of Singapore devoid of traffic.
We entered the parking lot by a hotel on the opposite side of the road from our usual entrance to the parking garage (the carpark for Marina Square shares space with two hotels), and had to stop for a police inspection.  They gave us a cursory glance (I guess the two kids in car seats in the back marked us as not threatening) and gave us a slip of paper to put in the dashboard.

another cell phone pic

Marina Square isn’t usually jam packed on a Saturday afternoon, but there are usually a reasonable number of cars.  It was strange to see the lot practically barren.  Well, barren except for a large number of sports cars that I assume had something to do with F1 as they were behind tape, had people guarding them, and plenty of people were taking photos of them.    For us it was great as we got a parking spot right by the elevators closest to The Little Gym.

cell phone pic.  I purposefully set up the image so that you could see the normal cars and the F1 cars together

After class we got back in the car, and followed a series of confusing signs to the exit.  It was a bit frustrating as at times you were supposed to follow the actual car park’s exit signs and at others there were special exit signs.  But once we finally found the one open exit, we headed out and away from the F1 area.

For all that F1 can be a bit of a hassle, there is an a major benefit–if you’re willing to stay away from the designated area, dinner reservations are absurdly easy to get.  We went to the Dempsey Hill area and had no trouble parking, nor were the restaurants very busy (which is not my impression of what that area is like on a regular Saturday night).

Filed under: Attractions, cars/driving, Singapore, Theater/Shows/Events, Uniquely Singapore | 2 Comments »

Singapore’s Rotation Curation project

Posted on July 28, 2012 by Expat Bostonians

I’ve been meaning to write a post encouraging everyone to follow @hellofrmSG, the official Singapore Rotation Curation Project Twitter Account.

 

The concept originated December 10, 2011, when Svenska Institutet and VisitSweden launched Curators of Sweden.[1] The project hands the official Twitter account @Sweden to a new Swedish person every week to manage, with the expressed goal to manifest Swedish diversity and progressiveness through their own personality.

The original idea has been reported on in mass media around the world[2][3][4][5][6] and inspired the launch of many similar projects. The Twitter account @PeopleofLeeds started January 15, 2012, where citizens of Leeds represent their hometown. January 18, 2012, @WeAreAustralia and @TweetWeekUSA, followed by @CuratorsMexico and @BasquesAbroad January 21. All of these are unofficial accounts without governmental influence or sanctions, as well as the actual foundation for the concept of Rotation Curation, which is to let official and unofficial projects, countries, cities, companies, cultural, and, or other types of groups to rotate their spokespersons, curators, every week.  source

 

@hellofrmSG started the first week of July, and has had several curators.  In the first week we learned about the history of various streets and locations around Singapore.  In the second week, we learned about various types of wildlife around Singapore.  The third week was led by a philosophy student.  During the fourth week, we were hearing from Zack (@POZboySG), a young HIV+ Singaporean.  He was tweeting about the realities of life with HIV when the account was suspended.

Currently @hellofrmSG is still suspended.  The organizers have reason to believe that it was suspended not by the government, but by a reader who objected to Zack’s content.  It was also suspended only days after @WeAreAustralia was also suspended.

The Rotation Curation Project’s official blog has put out the following statement

On June 3, 2012, however, with no warning and no explanation, Twitter suspended the @IAm_Pakistan account. On June 11, after vociferous protest from #RotationCuration followers, the @IAm_Pakistan account was restored.

Now, however, as of July 24, both @WeAreAustralia and @hellofrmSG (Singapore) have similarly been suspended, with no explanation whatsoever from Twitter.

According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, January 27, 2012, in What Does Twitter’s Country-by-Country Takedown System Mean for Freedom of Expression?, Twitter will only suppress content for IP addresses within a specific country when asked to do so by the specific country and only for legal reasons local to that country. Beyond this, “Twitter is taking two additional steps to ensure that users know that the censorship has happened. First, they are giving users notice when they seek that content. Second, they are sending the notices they receive to the Chilling Effects Project, which publishes the orders, creating an archive.”

But in the case of @WeAreAustralia and @hellofrmSG (as with @IAm_Pakistan) there has been no notice and there has been nothing posted to the Chilling Effects Project database.

Within the same entry, they have organized a petition that you can and should sign, which will be presented to twitter in person on August 1rst, asking for the reinstatement of @WeAreAustralia and @hellofrmSG.

I am friends with one of the organizers of @hellofrmSG and will be one of the weekly curators later this year.  I think the rotation curation project is a fascinating way to learn more about people who live in the same country as I, and other countries as well.  I follow a number of them.  I’m also following the NYC rotation curation project, because as I was recently saying to a friend, we all have our own little slice of NYC, and I’m always interested in learning about someone else’s. I really want to see @hellofrmSG reinstated.  Let’s get as many signatures as possible.

Filed under: Guest POV, Identity, Singapore, Uniquely Singapore | Leave a Comment »

Wordless Wednesday Gardens By the Bay

Posted on July 4, 2012 by Expat Bostonians

“That weird thing they’re building over there” (funny how often I describe local architecture that way initially, end up LOVING it), Gardens By the Bay opened this past weekend.  I visited GBTB today with Claire (who writes the excellent The Dot Diaries) and Rhiannon during Ellie’s pre-school time.

We only wandered a fraction (and skipped the two glass enclosures, as the queue was ridiculous and time was limited), but I was so incredibly impressed.  The majority of the Gardens are free.  The domes are 15 SGD  for residents (although I’m not sure if it’s per dome or for both inclusive–my guess is per dome?), and it was 5 SGD for the walkway at the top of the Supertrees.  Kids under 3 were free regardless.  I’m happy to say it’s incredibly stroller friendly (there is an elevator to the top of the supertree walkway and back down again).  I can’t wait to take Ellie–it’s another gorgeous place to let the kids run around and to get a break from the urban landscape.

To read more about the Gardens By the Bay and to learn just what a “supertree” is, go here (wikipedia page)

 

A view of Marina Bay Sands from the Chinese Gardens

Claire and Rhi, with SUPERTREES in the background.  We would later walk on the walkway between the supertrees.

Close view of a supertree

Sculpture

View from the walkway between the supertrees.  You can see the tankers and container ships in the distance.

Full set of photos over at the Expat Bostonian Facebook Page.

Filed under: Attractions, general places, Pictures, Singapore, Uniquely Singapore, With Kids | 2 Comments »

Pink Dot 2012

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Expat Bostonians

Sadly we missed out on Pink Dot 2012, due to family illness.

But you can read about it at the Pink Dot Site It was bigger and better than ever–15000 people came!

My friend Notabilia also attended, and you can read about it at her blog here.

 

photo stream http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinkdot/

 

Sorry we missed it.  With luck everyone will be healthy next year!

 

I’d love to hear if anyone else wants to share a blog post about pink dot 2012 or the American 4th of July Celebration at SAS which also happened on June 30

Filed under: Identity, politics, Singapore, Theater/Shows/Events, Uniquely Singapore, With Kids | 2 Comments »

Pink Dot–the countdown is on!

Posted on June 2, 2012 by Expat Bostonians

This weekend marks the start of the Pride festivities in Boston (full calendar of events here), a week long series of events to celebrate the LGBT community.  While I am sad to miss it, our household is counting down the days until Pink Dot 2012.

Pink Dot 2012

Hong Lim Park, Singapore

Saturday, June 30th, 6pm.

To learn more about Pink Dot, go here.

FAQ for foreigners (aka anyone who is not a Singaporean citizen or PR), go here.

To read the entry about last year’s Pink Dot, go here.

If you are LGBT, or an ally who supports love and equality for all, please do attend.

Filed under: Singapore, Theater/Shows/Events, Uniquely Singapore, With Kids | 2 Comments »

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