Big city livin'

We moved into our big city, high-rise apartment on Monday and we have enjoyed having all the conveniences nearby. The grocery store is a 10 minute walk and we are close to Orchard Rd, which is a mecca of shopping and restaurants. I think shopping is a national sport around here. You can find anything! Except Target.....or any store like it.

It is very apparent that we can immerse ourselves as much as we want into the culture around here, or we can almost live like we could in the US. We can get lunch at a local hawker center (Asian food court with healthy and cheap food) or go to a US chain like California Pizza Kitchen or Borders Cafe. We can also choose to eat the local ice cream or buy Tillamook in the grocery store. I even saw an add for Farmland Oregon fresh chips, but I've never seen these in a grocery store in Oregon. We like exploring the cheaper, local venues, but if you wanted to enjoy the comforts from the US, it comes at a high price ($11 gallon of Tillamook).

Buying eggs is interesting. You can choose between normal fresh eggs, first born eggs, quail eggs, corn eggs, carrot eggs, salted eggs......etc. And as expected, they aren't refrigerated. I'm very curious to find out what I could make with quail eggs. Mini french toast, or bite size deviled eggs. :)

The bell peppers here are extremely cheap! I can buy red, yellow or orange for $0.79 Sing which is about $.60 US. I was happy if I found bell peppers for $1 at Safeway. I find it pretty fascinating to discover the difference in grocery items around here. Everything in this country is imported. There are no natural resources. If I wanted I could buy sauces from India, curries from Thailand and bread from Australia. The natural resource in Singapore is it's people. They work very hard here and everyone seems to be so nice and in a good mood.

I've really enjoyed all the walking around despite the warm, humid climate. Although we really need to reconsider the stroller we brought for Sabrina. The unevenness and inconsistency of the sidewalks around here are stressing the wheels considerably. I thought about getting an ergo carrier before leaving, but knew having Sabrina next to me in this heat would be unbearable even if it was going to be easier getting on and off mass transit. Unfortunately the strollers in Singapore are very expensive. A cheap umbrella stroller can almost cost $100.

Parrish is on her 5th consecutive day of going swimming in the apartment pool. Instead of begging for pool time starting first thing in the morning, like we had the first few days, she has slowed to more acceptable beg just before noon. Sabrina will even say "lets go swimming" and go get one of our suits.

Since we have been without a car all week, we have had a fun time hailing taxis. Parrish was getting tired of walking one day and kept saying, "my walking legs are tired, let's get a taxi". Often times we find the taxis are a much cheaper alternative for the whole family than taking a bus. Parrish is really good at waving one down.

As soon as we get our computer next week, I'll try and post a few pictures.
Take care and keep in touch. The Noce's.

We've arrived

We arrived in Singapore Sunday morning at about 12:30am and managed to get our heads on a pillow just before 3am. The kids couldn't have been better. Parrish colored, played with her ponyville, watched movies (Peter Pan about 3 times!) for our first 10 hr flight. Sabrina slept and was entertained with a wet wipe for awhile during the first leg. The wipe was a wash cloth, then a blanket, then a fan, and then something to throw around. She managed to sleep the entire 7 hr second flight on my lap. The crook in my neck was worth it.

We are supposed to be checking into our apartment today and there are many unknowns. We're not sure when we'll get broadband service or when our air shipment of belongings will arrive, but it has been really easy to get around Singapore and the kids are having a good time. I'm really glad Sabrina loves her stroller so much. This is a really easy city to visit. There are all the comforts you would find in the US, but you also have the choice to go to more local places for eating, which I can't wait to explore.

Getting to this point has been quite a challenge. The amount of work it took to pack up our household, separate things into what we're taking, what we're storing, and what goes on the plane with us was a huge challenge. We have been working on this move since February, and we still weren't ready when the packers showed up a week ago.

But for some reason, despite all our lack of sleep, lack of exercise and lack of wits, we have all managed to stay healthy and not get sick. I think this is somewhat of a miracle given all the illness that has been going around. I hope this doesn't mean things are going to be crashing down on us after we've settled in Singapore. A place where the warmth and humidity is a breeding ground for bacteria. I'm going to remain hopeful and positive!

Another little miracle is that despite our stress, our family hasn't taken any of it out on each other. We have all been very supportive. The girls have been amazing keeping themselves independently entertained during some really busy times. I even managed to stick pretty close to our house rule of only an hour of TV a day. Ok, sometimes it stretched to two. Hiring a nanny for a few days of move week was the best money spent! I'm really looking forward to getting into a routine that is more family centered.

Toaster oven quit, trash lid is broken....time to move......

I think our home knows we're moving. It's behaving badly. Here's a list of things we've been dealing with over the last few months.

• A complete shower remodel because tiles were falling off the wall due to mold - oh, didn't I mention this already in a previous post.......
  
• All the sudden a bunch of light bulbs are burning out
• Porch light quit working
• Dining chair started to fall apart
• Our hot tub in Bella Beach sprung a leak and shorted out the pump
• One of the burners on our gas oven wont light

But.........there's always a but.......

• Rob has a job
• The kids are healthy (and getting along)
• We've managed to plow through our food storage pretty well
  
• Lucy is healthy
• Mother's day was nice
• We'll be selling one of our cars tomorrow
• The other at the end of the month
  
• All the above has been fixed
  

Taking a break

So we just got back from a week in Hawaii and it was a much needed rest. We had such good family time on Oahu. The weather was great, the activities were mellow and we were lucky to have a spectacular view from our room. Here's a picture and some video of the kids goofing around before bedtime.