Hi everyone! We have been very busy having more adventures. Since our last post, we have been to a branch of the library, taken lots of bus and train rides, picked up our new car and driven it around, had ice cream TWICE, done a lot of swimming, and looked at an apartment.
The library here was fascinating, but I'm going to save that story for later because I forgot to take pictures. I will say this though: once your materials are picked out, you put them on this tray in any random pile and the computer can tell all the books you've picked out. I wanted to go back to pick out more just to do that part again, amazing!
I thought I'd start by explaining how the bus system works here. This might be boring for some of you, but I know at least one person who will be reading: Stephanie Hirsch, who gave me an assignment to figure out how such a densely populated and diverse community lives so happily and efficiently together. Stephanie, here is one BIG reason.
Each bus stop has a number and a name. The closest one to our house is this one, called Opposite Great World City. Most of the big roads here are divided multi-lane roads so the stop in front of a place like where we live, Great World City (which is also a shopping mall), would have that name but the one across the street is called Opposite. Sometimes there is a regular pedestrian crosswalk at the corner, but usually there is a bridge above a section of the road to cross over to the other side. Sometimes you use the underground train stations to cross streets underneath them instead. You may have heard that it is illegal to jaywalk in Singapore and that the fines are steep. Well, that is technically true but it is only considered jaywalking when you cross a street within 30 meters of a crosswalk (or pedestrian bridge, etc.) but not actually in it. This is true even for strollers. If you are pushing a stroller (rare), you are still expected to use the bridges despite having to fold it up and carry it. As you can see, all the bus lines are clearly marked at each bus stop.
Here are some pictures of the information found at every single bus stop. All of the buses who stop there are listed in numerical order. Their frequency is posted for weekday and weekend, morning and night. Following that is the rest of the bus route.
Points of interest, distance, and stop name are all listed very clearly.
This is the bus we're taking today. It will take us to Holland Village where we will transfer to another bus that will take us to the library. Simple. My only issue with the way the bus works here is that the driver does not announce each stop. He (usually he) does not stop at every bus stop either. This makes it tricky to figure out when your stop is coming up. At first I was waiting for the announcement and that didn't work so I frantically looked out the window to read every stop name. The next time I tried counting bus stops, knowing that ours was 7 stops away. This doesn't work either because if no one is at the bus stop and if no one on the bus has requested a stop, the driver will not stop! This is good to know as a potential passenger too. If you are sitting down waiting for a bus, it will not stop for you. The driver will assume you are waiting on another bus number. If you want a bus, you need to stand up by the road, looking at the bus, maybe even waving your hand as if you were hailing a taxi. While you are waiting on the bus, you need to look at the schedule posted, and remember the few stops before yours. When you see those, you can start preparing yourself. It's tricky at first.
Luckily, there's an app for that. The Singapore Bus app gives all the route info so you can look at how close you are to your stop. At the bus stop, you can also search by your stop name and route number to determine how long until the next couple of buses come. Life-saving.
Also posted is the fare amount. Buses charge based upon the quality of the bus (whether it is air-conditioned or not, although all the buses I have been on have been air-conditioned), the passenger's age, whether you have a pass or are paying cash, and how far you are going. I love that it charges by distance. It makes it so much easier for my cheap-skate self to hop on a bus for two stops to avoid walking in the sticky heat with one, two, or three whining children who really, really, want to get in the sprinkler noooooooow! If you have a card, you simply hold it in front of the sensors when you board the bus and then again as you alight (that's what they call it). You can add value to your pass at any 7-11 or at train stations. Or even set up a credit card account similar to EZ Pass (FastLane) in the US.
See how clean? It is against the law to eat or drink on the bus. We had a friend traveling with us the other day and the mom took a drink of water from her water bottle. Our rule-loving Ella stood up and quietly told the mom that that was against the rules. The mom was laughing as though it was no big deal, but I noticed as Ella was speaking, there were two older Singaporean women (aunties) vehemently shaking their heads yes, agreeing with Ella. There are large fines for breaking this rule, I have heard, even for first offenses. Plain-clothed officers are apparently riding on buses and trains and walking around to prevent eating and drinking where prohibited as well as to prevent littering.
After we went to the library where I forgot to take pictures, we had yummy ice cream from Baskin-Robbins. Yes, the library was in a mall. Of course it was.
Even though I plan on using the bus mostly, we did get a car. It's called a Honda Stream and seats 6. It has three rows and is a bit smaller than our Madza5 at home. It is an automatic thank goodness. I can't imagine shifting gears with my left hand. As our friends have pointed out on Facebook, it's hard enough to differentiate between the wipers and the turn signal! I have not driven yet, just Ted. The GPS helps, but it is very weird being on the right side of the car and the left side of the road.
Even as a passenger, it feels weird. I feel like I'm sitting in the driver's seat, but there is no steering wheel!
The parking lots (called car parks here) and spaces (they call those lots) are also tight. So not only it is difficult to maneuver due to car setup, but also trying to avoid the dividers placed so narrowly anyway is a headache. By the way, I heard that the survival rate for heart attacks here is 2.7%, surprisingly low. Medical care is exceptional here so that is not the cause. Do you know what is? Ambulances. Not only are there so few of them, but they follow all the laws of the road, stopping at red lights, etc. And no one gets out of the way for them. Because of this, I need to figure out a way to calm down in the car. Yikes.
A cool feature of most garages (carparks) here is a sign on the road indicating how many spots are available. All payment is done through an electronic system that cars have installed. It works for tolls too as the roads with lots of traffic cost different amounts of money to travel on depending on the time of day. This is supposed to decrease traffic volume. But back to the handy signs, isn't it helpful to know if there are any spots available before you go in? and to know exactly how many? Love it.
We used the car to drive to an area called Dover to check out an apartment. This one would be serviced so that means it would be fully furnished and would have cable internet already set up. It also means that we would have cleaning service three times a week. That would be nice. We had high hopes for this tour. They were quickly dashed.
The realtor got out of her car, said a quick hello to Mr. Ted and marched into the building. She flew by us. We were jogging to catch up. She went straight to the unit without saying a word and told the people currently living there (yes, they were home!) that we were coming in for a tour. She said incredibly helpful things like, "This is the master bedroom." She pointed where the bathrooms were, we had to ask to go in them. She also told us there is a kitchen. Um, thanks. When we walked to the balcony, she said, "That is the balcony." Insightful. We had to ask to be taken around to the amenities (pools, tennis courts, BBQs, etc) but no worries, she stayed on her handphone (mobile phone) the whole time, giving us no other information and leaving us to jog after her. The apartment was kind of okay (I saw a bunch of bug traps in the kitchen, red flag!) but the facilities were amazing. They had a kids wading pool, a big splash pool with a slide and sprinklers, a huge jacuzzi pool, and the large family pool. A nice playground. The kids wanted us to sign up straight away (that's for you Abby). There was another apartment complex nearby that we were supposed to tour but our ever-helpful realtor just walked us to the gate of the first property and pointed us in the direction of it, told us it was time for people to be getting home from work so if we walked to the gate, we could sneak in with someone else's card and walk around. Okay. We said goodbye and walked not to another complex to sneak into, but instead to an outdoor convenience store to buy some popcorn and seaweed and black currant juice to snack on.
We parked in a lot at the car park in Holland Village and went for a walk. This is the area where we are hoping to live for the rest of the year. Wyatt loves it here because of all the construction vehicles everywhere.
These are pictures of the lovely square that is Holland Village. This is an area with a lot of expats. We didn't know this until we witnessed it, but apparently at night they block off the streets and move all the restaurant, pub, and ice cream shop chairs from the sidewalk into the street. It's just a big, civilized party. I'm ready for a date night!
After we walked around a little, we stopped at the food center. It is technically outdoors, although it is under a sort-of canopy roof. There are about 15 stalls here I think. I waited with Zoe and Wyatt while Ella and Ted picked out food.
Because the food was taking a bit, my wonderful husband brought me some refreshing liquid. $5 for a large bottle that pours two icy mugs. Best deal I've found on beer!
Ella picked dumplings, surprise, surprise. Fried this time. $3.
Zoe and Wyatt split a meal that is offered at every hawker place. I guess it's required that every center have a vegetarian option, a halal one, and a western one. This is not something I have ever seen on any menu in the West that I'm familiar with. Chicken nuggets, french fries, cole slaw, and baked beans. $3. They enjoyed it although Zoe had asked for a salad and an egg.
Ted ordered a seafood noodle dish and like most dishes here it came with soup. $3.
I ordered black pepper chicken and rice and it was the most delicious thing I've had here. $4. Green and red peppers and onions with the chicken and a fried egg on top.
See how happy everyone is?
We finished it off with ice cream for the second day in a row. A scoop each of vanilla, chocolate, and cheesecake. $8. Not a bargain, but delicious!
After we left Holland Village, we drove around to find a Fairprice, an affordable grocery store chain. It is on the first floor of a building with public housing on top. We parked in the car park and took this trippy elevator down to the supermarket where the kids were all three poorly behaved and crazy and we spent way too much money.
And then we went home and straight to bed.
Today we are swimming and then heading to Marina Park to explore the harbourfront gardens and then walking to the water and laser show after dark. Here is a link to a video for the show I found on youtube from about a year ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KT3vxccZ18
Have a great weekend!
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