Our days

Many people have been asking us how we're settling into our new place and new surroundings so I thought it would be a good idea to say a little about how we spend our days and what we have been doing socially. First, a little about where we live. We live in a big high-rise apartment complex that is divided into 2 towers. Tower A and Tower B. That's the thing to ask when we meet someone new......"so which tower are you in?". There is also on-site property management. We have found this to be quite convenient when our refrigerator lost power and air conditioning unit started acting funny. Having on-site management is actually unusual for the housing around here. Most complexes have units that are owned individually and may need to wait longer for repairs. Most people rent since buying a modest house can cost in the millions.

We have 4 rooms and more space than our permanent home in Sherwood. Our apartment is actually on 2 levels. We chose this complex because we felt like it had a more family friendly atmosphere and the apartments had a more inviting feel. Here are some pictures......

From left to right we have our living room, the dining area from the living room, our humble kitchen, Parrish's bedroom, Sabrina's bedroom (with portable crib off to the right) and then our bedroom. I brought some wall stickers so the girls could dress up their rooms a little and add a little personality. Each room has built-in closets and we were able to negotiate the furniture being included in the rent so we didn't have to bring over any furniture at all. We were lucky they also left us some lamps and rugs. Lamps are very expensive, costing easily over $200 for a plain and simple one. There is no Marshalls or TJ Maxx, unfortunately. :)

We have met several families at the complex. Going to the pool at night just before dinner is a good time to meet people and socialize. We've met several Australian familes with kids our age. There is a family from Sri Lanka with 4 of the nicest boys you can meet. One of the boys is quite a big kid but doesn't seem to mind all the little kids thrashing him in the pool. They love to hang on him and splash around.

Many families are moving out or moving in. Apparently this is just the expat way. In fact, our Australian neighbors are moving out at the end of the summer. I think there is quite the flux going on right now because kids are starting summer break and that's when families want to move if they have to.

We've been here nearly a month now and finally feeling like we can start thinking about some leisure activities, maybe a little travel before Parrish and Sabrina start school in August. Rob gets the added bonus of having work days off on Singapore National holidays including our own. I think that adds maybe 3 more days off out of the year. This might be quite useful for taking a long weekend trip somewhere. We think Rob has dealt with most issues surrounding his work pass, immigration and other permits. This can be a big legal hurdle to overcome when doing this kind of work, but all part of a foreign work assignment. It's best to just deal with it one day at a time.

The girls will go to a brand new school starting up this August called the Stamford American International School. For the first 2 years the school will just be for primary grades, but will eventually expand to include grades up through high school. I was excited that they had such an extensive language program compared to other international school in the area. Parrish will get Mandarin Chinese everyday with the option of including Spanish after school. This school also has a nursery program that Sabrina will attend for half days, 5 days a week. I'm excited she will get so much social interaction.

I will try and post more pictures of the sights of Singapore. Maybe some interesting food dishes. Rob and I found a babysitter in the building so we are looking forward to having one night a week to go out and eat at restaurants we wouldn't take our kids to. We hope all is well with everyone. We'd love to hear from you so don't hesitate to update us with things going on in your lives.