Singapore, around town

I love being in a different place. Things are just so, so...different. um, yeah... But seriously, it is so interesting to see different things, different ways. I thought this was interesting, -ERP- my first day in town I was riding in a taxi with Starlene to Morton's, and suddenly the taxi driver warned her that we were entering an ERP area. Starlene told him to go ahead. The ERP areas seem to be congested parts of town that you pay to enter into during heavy traffic times. The cars and taxis have electronic devices that charge you as you drive in - and I think, out! The amounts change reflecting how busy the hour is.
I thought this was a lovely shot of Starlene with her youngest daughter at the Shangri-la hotel. We went to the biggest, most lavish buffet I have ever been to here. Get this; they had a bounce house and balloon guy for the kids, and a separate kid-food bar. La-dee-da! It was a great place for people/fashion watching. The families at the buffet clearly lived in a different sphere than I do! I saw a mom who looked just like Nina on 24. Then we saw her again at Gymboree on another day. Maybe? Do movie stars live in Singapore? It gets better..she spoke German!
Starbucks. I know people like to knock it as being so franchised/redundit or something...but I love finding Starbucks in different countries. It's just so comforting, so American, so home. They are all the same, and thus a comfort in a foreign place. I am collecting photos of me and Sky at different Starbucks around the world.
You can't think American without Mcdonalds. Good or bad, there it is. As a mom, Mcdonalds has played a bigger part in the backdrop of my life than I care to think too hard about.

In Singapore, Mcdonalds delivers! I was consumed with this thought in a disquieting/unproportional way. I was wined and dined by Starlene and Eric all week, so I did not get to experience having Mc-dees delivered hot right to my door....!!! (Starlene will have to chronical this delight over at her blog.)

I was flustered one afternoon however, upon being asked if I wanted a carrier for my coke.
Well, no. It was just one coke, right?
Wrong. I was thinking of the american cardboard holder for 4 drinks.
Singapore has a plastic bag/carrier for the solo coke.

Accessories for my diet coke. How cool is that?!

snapshots of Singapore

Singapore is very green.

And, um... an Island. A tropical Island.

This was my favorite street, Orchard Road.

It was my favorite for two reasons;

it is very picturesque (1) and
it's the main shopping drag (2)

any questions?

good, we will move on

Here is Orchard Rd., Singapore - a more crowded view.

Shopping, shopping. Everyone is shopping.

love it!

I just ignored that I couldn't afford to actually shop in most of the lovely stores on this road.... I didn't have bag envy,

really.

I could afford the McDonalds.

I couldn't afford the Border's bookstore, but I purchased, anyways...you only take a 22 hour flight once in a blue moon, so- what the heck? live a little...

Okay, the bread shops were not on Orchard Rd, but probably more 'real' Singapore.

It was a carbohydrate-addict's dream, really.
this one was in a mall. A mall we reached after riding the subway during after-work rush-hour.

I was only a smidgen traumatized. I suddenly discovered I might be a little claustrophobic. Or not, maybe only on crowded subways with an armpit in your face and a stranger's back pressed into yours.

maybe. I might only be theorizing this. So, how many times would one have to ride a crowded subway in Singapore to know as fact that you are claustrophobic?

it will have to remain a theory.

A Three-Hour Cruise...

You know, I thought it would be a good idea to hop on a plane and visit my friend Starlene.

She lives in Singapore, as in Asia. You can click on over and read about her in an old post *here. Anyways, I had this idea, so I acted upon it in Jenny fashion- asked Sky, and booked my flight a few months ago. A funny thing called swine flu pandemic happened right before I left. (or not so funny, really...) I think I live and move in a Murphy's Law zone...

My connecting flight was in Japan. A few people on board were coughing. Sooo, what fun, Murphy's-Law-type-thing happened to me?
My entire planed was quarantined

Thank goodness only for 3 hours! But I missed my connecting flight to Singapore. Funny me, I thought a 2 hour window between flights would be a good enough cushion for delays...I forgot about the world pandemic possibility. We sat on the plane for 2hrs until they finally got a health worker on board to screen us. Then they made us all put on face masks (a snapshot which made a great profile pic on fb, by the way!) and then they let us go. A group of us were booked on the next available flights, the next day! - And told, basically, "too bad, so sad, see you tomorrow, and by the way, you can't even sleep here because the airport closes at ten." Sky was in quite the tizzy, because I was alone in a foreign country without him.

I really lucked out though, in our group were two little ladies from Singapore- and 'tenacious' is the best word I can come up with to describe them. Once they were done with their uh, bull-dogging negotiations, we had free shuttle service and paid- for hotel rooms, and free meals.

The photo above is of our little 3-hour tour stranded group. Three of us were Americans, three from Singapore, and one from China. We had a nice time, it was really good to not feel so alone in this little ordeal.

I made it safe and sound a day later, we went to Morton's Steakhouse for dinner, and then the next day I went to church with the family.

Here is a photo of the street where we had breakfast. We went to a Bread shop, there were several on this street. It's a carbohydrate addicts dream, really. I had french toast squares with kaya sauce for dipping. Starlene doesn't know what kaya actually is, but it looked like green jelly or applesauce, and was kind of sweet. No maple syrup. Starlene had a toast sandwich with kaya in the middle.
After Church, we headed to the Shangri-la hotel. This was really, SOME hotel! Beautiful, lush, expensive...I had a 15$ singapore, gingerale.... We had brunch there, and it was by far, the biggest, most lavish buffet I have ever been to. More pics later....

Sunday post

First,

THIS is a feast for my eyes! The only way he could have made this entrance any better would have been to balance a bag of Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips, a homeschool curriculum catalog of some kind, and a Pride & Prejudice dvd right on top of the diet coke there....

Let's see, we've got my leading man, Sky...check! Faded construction-guy jeans..check! Construction-guy work-boots...check! A case of diet coke, drink of the gods...check!

it was a really, really good day.

The puppy litter we are waiting on was born April 1st. Did I already tell you that? We were the 3rd family asking for a female puppy, and there was 3 females and 5 males. We are waiting to find out if we will be getting a black or creme puppy. I am trying hard to not develop a preference! They are supposed to be able to come home around June 25th. We are all very, very excited...and yet, I feel very close to how I feel when I am very pregnant- this panicky feeling of 'oh no, what have I done? I can't dooo this! I can't un-do this!' ...um, now's the point when you all tell me you've had that feeling before too, and that I'm uh, normal...!

a-hem, where was I? oh, yes, puppies! I am really glad that the Obama family chose a portuguese water dog, I didn't even realize that Labradoodle was in the running until I read it on a news article. If they had gotten a Labradoodle, it would have made them very 'in' dogs- and then hard to get, and very expensive. Whew! Soo, First Family, A water dog...good choice!! Applaud!

My box day came, and went. I was at Irish dance class and missed the fed ex truck, which was just as well, the delivery guy was spared thinking a crazy mom lived here... So, my beautiful mountain of books sits on our little table...and they are still there, because Sky and I got terrible colds and have been incapacitated all weekend. So, I will be putting them away, uh, tomorrow.
Meg and Josie have begged several times to be allowed to start in on a few of the books- lovely, lovely Sonlight moment to have! I said 'no books for you!!" in my best soup-nazi voice. They read so fast that I don't want them to zip though the core and then not be interested when the assignment comes up...

a small political rant here, (indulge me, since I rarely get political on the blawg here...) I cannot think of very many things that make a mild-mannered homeschool mom spitting, fighting mad, then to be at a drug-store, late at night, and to have to hand over your driver's license..have them enter in your information, as well as swipe the strip on the back...and then have you sign for it...all because you have sick people in your house and need to buy some Sudafed!! I can't believe our state legislature wasted their time crafting such a foolish bill. Oh wait, they also made it impossible for me to buy an asthma nebulizing machine..except thru one authorized dealer who now charges 4 times what it retails for in other states...so, yes, I guess I can believe they did this. Oh my stinking blue jays!!! I gotta stop now!....

oh yes, I will be at the Tea Party April 15th!!!! I'll be the mad, red-haired homeschool mom on a bike with 4 kids....wearing lipstick.... throwing cold medicine....
*here's a link to the facebook page for the OC Tea Party

okay, rant over...please excuse me, whew!

We are on Spring Break this week!! How about you?

have a good week, blawg friends!

Mix and match

First order of business is Spring Poppies. I had to post these for Karen Sue, who is in the Eastern--still cold, part of the country. Here is a Spring shout-out for you!

And then, this- is enough to make my heart skip a beat every single time I see them do this. It's a pretty steep drop, the photo almost does it justice. I'm sure there is a skater-term for this here skill, I just don't know what it is...
And then, I had to share a pic of Elsie...the girls regularly take over parts of Sky's garage. Nevermind that Sky built them very similar nesting boxes in the chicken coop, for actual nesting. They ignore those and lay eggs in various secret locations. Everyday is an egg hunt here, which is kind of fun.

We are enjoying bee-yuu-tee-full weather here in So. Ca- the kids are playing in roving packs outside...it's actually a roving homeschool pack, a novelty. This year the family across the street pulled their kids from school and began homeschooling- we now have 3 families homeschooling on our little street. I never dreamed we would have neighbors who homeschool- well, I hoped, but didn't really think it was so likely. I am loving it!

The puppies are hee-ah! (I keep channeling my inner Cruella Deville when I think/say that!) The litter we are waiting on was born April 1st. There were 8 puppies, 3 are girls- and we are the 3rd family on the list for a girl. 2 puppies are black, and 1 is creme colored...one family requested a black puppy, so we don't know which we will be getting. It's very exciting. I don't know which I'd prefer, and I'm afraid to have a preference..so we will just have to see what we get. I am busy reading books on puppy training, and enjoying leaving things on the floor while I can.

And, Pioneer Woman's cookbook is available for pre-order over at Amazon!!
PW, you rock.

Now, most important- I am sitting here waiting for the Fedex truck to bring me my Sonlight order. Today is box day!! I looove getting packages in the mail. I love the anticipation of hearing the UPS or Fedex truck roll to a stop in front of my house...and the hold your breath moment of "is it something for me?". I love, love, love it. It's the major reason I order anything online. I need an intervention, maybe?

So, back to my story- today is boxday, and I know that my order is coming today, thanks to the miracle of modern tracking technology...soooo, I am afraid to leave my house lest I miss the truck rolling to a stop in front of my house. Sky just offered to go to the store for me, to pick up chicken for dinner, because he knows it will kill me if I get back and the truck has come and gone.
I know, I need an intervention.

Just another day at Club Jen.

it does or doesn't translate well

I was pulled out of sleep, very early this morning by a sharp-"Mom!!" -we are talking like 2 a.m.

I snapped awake, eyes open in the dark...tensed, wondering what was wrong. I listened hard a moment, trying to detect which child needed me. I heard nothing.

Just as I was about to get up and go check on all the kids, wondering if I was just dreaming, or did I really hear one of the kids call me in some kind of distress...

I hear

"mmeeow" right next to my bed.

I guess in my sleep, I translated that to "Mom!"

he did need me...to let him outside, post haste...

it's in the mail

Way back during Christmas week, we had a house-full of guests for a Bible conference...after they left, I was doing laundry, putting the house back in order...and I found a few items of clothes in Demi-Sky's closet, which was where we housed several college-aged guys. I also found a large winter coat. By it's largeness, we decided it must belong to our friend J...who could be on the brute squad, and the clothes must belong to E, also on the brute squad and fortunately, close regionally to J. We decided to mail the clothes.

It took many weeks for me to box them up, get an address, and to finally get down to the post office. Mission accomplished, finally...

We received this email in reply:

Hi [Sky],

It was fun to see your names on the package of clothes - especially your

family address sticker with all the gang.

Hmmm.  Now the mystery is ... I called E and he says that he

isn't missing any clothes.

My Investigation

----------------

The black n blue ski jacket has a Mt. Spokane lift ticket attached and Esays he's never been there.

Well, this AM Shelley and I dug in the box and ... inside the jacket we

found:

1) Alaska Air bag claims for: [Sky, Meg, and Josie]

2) a Dublin bus ticket receipt for 1.35 Euros dated Aug.  28, 2006

3) a card from the Pullman Police for [Sky]'s lost cell phone .. hey this

brings back memories!

4) ticket stubs for Feb 12 2008 for the Pacific Science Center

5) a pair of black gloves

Hey, I should join the FBI .. this is fun!

Conclusions

-----------

Conclusion 1:  Isn't this [Sky]'s jacket?

Conclusion 2: It must not get cold enough in sunny So. Cal. for you folks to

break out clothing like this.

Now what?

Love to you all,

Jamie


okay then

I did have one bright cerebral moment today...gotta claim what I can...

I had Meg and Josie cut apart all the magnetic tiles I had for All about Spelling. I had 3 sets to make, plus 3 sets of flashcards...in a brilliant moment I drafted the girls to finish this chore for me. And they were so good at it, too.

Finally, we can start our spelling program! -it's been sitting around for many weeks.

Zen Jen

Thoughts from the yoga studio:

ohh, I really like this studio...nice green color on the walls. I wonder what shade it is? Would that color look good in my bathroom? Or hallway? I don't like the color we painted the hallway, but would Sky be put-out that I want to repaint so soon? That reminds me, I still haven't hung any photos up in the hallway...

oh good, sun salutations...these are my favorites.

Nice small group of ladies here. That red-head looks a lot like our old pediatrician. She was so nice. I miss her. She has 7 kids, not likely to be her, not like she would have the time, successful pediatrician and mother of 7 and all...I should bake some cookies and take them to her office.

I really like the paint in this studio..but oh, look, a crack already on the wall. That would really bug Sky. I wonder why it is there, this being a new building? I wonder if they know it is there?

Okay, stop, stop...concentrate on the breath. Why can't I touch my toes? ohh, I like the way she went into the triangle pose, I've always had a hard time with my left side, it makes sense the way she approached it, so yes..I'm doing it right, I'm just not that flexible on that side for some reason...

oh goody, more sun salutations...I like these. Why did my knee pop? Was that my knee?

Concentrate on the breath. How can I inhale and lunge at the same time? Or is it exhale and lunge? This part has always eluded me.

My feet are cold. I knew I should have gotten my special yoga socks out of my bag.
..But I didn't want to be the freak trying to figure out how to put them on, besides being the freak wearing socks, because no one wears socks in yoga. Would it be really disruptive if I got up and went to the back and got my socks?

..And-then...took them out and tried to figure out how to get them on. No. I'll suffer through.

Concentrate on the breath. I like this class. ohhh, she has a Tibetan singing bowl, very cool.

Breathe. stop thinking.
okay, I acknowledge the thoughts and don't dwell on them and let them go.... breathe.
stop thinking....

oh look, the girl on the right just put on some socks.
My feet are soo cold. I wonder if she has raynaud's syndrome too?

I covet her socks. My feet are really icy. It's wrong to covet. I should pray.
But, is it wrong as a yogi to covet? First do no wrong...it's not like I'm going to go and take her socks...I just wish I had mine on.

my feet are cold. Concentrate on the breath.
my feet are cold.

Thou shall not covet.

I'm going to buddhist hell....no, make that hindi hell...

just ignore the cold feet, rise above it. Stick it out.
How much longer is this class? You know, this kind of defeats the whole relaxing point if you can't wait for it to end, because your feet are cold...

Fine, I'll go get my special yoga socks.

How do you put these on? Oh, wrong foot, big toe goes on other side.
dang my weird, freaky little pinky toes!! I can't get them through the toe-holes. Careful! You don't want to break a pinky toe for the 4 th time, that really, really hurts.

And it's the reason why my toes are freaky looking. Probably.

oh much better. Warm feet. Except my toes.
Better than nothing.

Concentrate on the breath.

oh yea-hhh...that's how you do downward-facing dog...do I rock, or what?! I've got a great downward-facing dog..

Stop thinking.

I hate the corpse pose. It's like this big waste of time. We're not really doing ANYTHING. Can't we at least do a reclining- pigeon pose, because then, you know-we'd be doing something constructive like stretching our hamstrings, not just lying here, doing nothing.
relax.
doing nothing.
Now I'm cold all over, not just my feet. Can we just leave now?

"Namaste". I love that word. After "Grace", that is my favorite word. And "Serendipity", that is a top word, too.
Wow, what a great class! I feel great! I think I'll come back next week.

I'll just bring better socks.

Have to call Sky now and tell him I went to yoga class, because you know, I rock now. I'm fit. Or I will be. Lets think positive thoughts.
wait, that's a yoga thing, right?