We have been busy of course. We finally picked an apartment and will be moving on Monday morning. I'll surely post later about that, but let me explain why we picked the place we did and all the drama that went with the decision.
1. Apartment Drama: More than a week ago now, Ted and I had decided on our favorite place. Our realtor (who is still so fabulous) made the offer for us and it was accepted quickly. Ted and I were truly excited, I promise you. We celebrated with bubbly wine (ahhhhh!) and were over the moon about it. The night we found out was the night that our current apartment complex threw a welcome party for all the guests--with an open bar. Wine and beer are so expensive here so I definitely helped myself and it was a wonderful night. We met some cool families and got to hang out by the pool talking and cocktailing with one eye on the kids in the pool. Then, we got the apartment news! Thrilling! What a night! We should have some more! Okay! And so on.
The paper-signing was scheduled for lunchtime on Monday in the apartment that was soon to be ours. It was a very hot day. The kids were tired. We all were hot. No one was actually living in the apartment so the AC wasn't turned on. It was a bad scene. Wyatt started crying, actually throwing a full-on tantrum and wouldn't stop. After a few minutes of this (while Ted was measuring the floors for the furniture we would have to order) I took Wyatt into a bedroom I thought to calm him down. Instead of soothing him though, I started crying myself. At first, I thought it was because I was frustrated with his behavior, all of our behavior, the heat, the lack of sleep, etc. When Ted came in to comfort me that's what I told him. When the realtor popped her head in, that's what I mumbled to her.
Then a few minutes later, it hit me all at once. This place was not right for us. We had only seen it with tons of boxes in it and it looked different empty. The bedrooms were tiny, so so so tiny. It was not fancy in the least. I did not like the bathrooms at all. The kitchen was in bad need of a cleaning even though the other agent said they had just cleaned it. There was no drier or oven. Mostly this is the one that got me: there was no furniture! Ted and I had thought it would be great to get to pick out our own stuff to furnish a place but the logistics of doing that suddenly overwhelmed me. I imagined weekends and dinner hours spent in furniture stores (Salvation Army ones and Ikea too) picking stuff out, arranging to have things delivered, waiting for delivery, getting everything up the elevator and into the house....aaagghhhh! It was all too much and I completely freaked out. I called Ted into the room and explained. Luckily, he said we could do whatever I wanted to do and that we shouldn't feel bad if we changed our minds. I was still feeling bad when the realtor walked in and I told her what was going on. She smiled like it was no big deal, happens all the time (but I knew inside she must be yelling at me in her head, I would be). She said we had to be happy. She was so gracious and wonderful and understanding even though she had to explain to the other agent what had just happened after we hurried out the door.
We called her a couple hours later and told her that we actually wanted this other place, The Metropolitan and we were sure. She got that deal done for us so quickly, I have no idea how. Anyway, it's not where we thought we would want to live but the apartment and facilities are gorgeous and we have come to learn that the neighborhood is thriving, too. Should be a fun location. And it's furnished. YES! More to come. And if you are moving to Singapore, I have a great realtor to recommend!
2. Discovery Centre: We have had some relaxing days in the mix here too. A couple of days the kids and I didn't leave the grounds. We swam and played on the playgrounds downstairs, maybe going to the basement to cut over to the mall under the building to pick up milk or a baguette, but that's about it. I love days like that. We also went back to the Clementi Library (no pictures allowed, sorry) and exchanged some books, also picking up Totorro for a taste of home. We revisited the Children's Garden with some friends we made thanks to Ella's outgoing nature. I have been driving (sorry, Stephanie) and no longer have panic attacks thinking about it. I was ready to drive farther away so I decided to take the children to the Singapore Discovery Centre (http://www.sdc.com.sg/future.php )This is their science museum. In fact, our membership for the Museum of Science in Boston earned us free entry here! We did pay $3 each to go to an exhibit about candy, which I wouldn't recommend. I loved the rest of the museum though and hope to go back a ton before our membership expires at the end of this month. What I like about free entry to a really cool place is that I don't feel compelled to stay there all day and get my money's worth. We spent about 3 hours there and saw only a small part of the place (and ate at McDonald's) so we'll definitely be back.
The kids were happy to be somewhere fun. The entrance area is filled with all sorts of classic optical illusions that they had never experienced like the spinning vase with the negative space that looks like a face in profile and pictures painted in such a way that walking by it in one direction made it appear like a door was opening and the other way it was shutting. They also had this monitor that showed your face as a princess or pirate or whatever.
Zoe's mirror mirror
Ella's cowgirl, I guess?
Ella's head on a platter
We went in to the candy exhibit, which is not nearly as exciting as it sounds unfortunately. They gave the kids each a piece of candy but didn't tell us it was for one of the exhibits so they ate this really sour candy and were totally freaked out and annoyed that it wasn't chocolate and then when we got to the part that explained about it (they were supposed to eat the sour candy in front of a mirror and take note of their pucker face, then explain why we do that, how it helps us to avoid poison and sends a message to others not to eat that gross stuff) they couldn't participate. Ah well, next part please.
Oh my goodness, it's a giant shag room. It's a round room done up in red and purple velvet and this is what is on the inside. It tells us how chocolate became associated with romance and then Valentine's Day and how it affects our bodies in a, um, helpful way. My, my, my.
And this is what was hanging on the other "side" of the room. Ella thought it was so fancy and pretty. I snapped her picture and subtly (not) ran out of there. Did I mention the music that was playing was that song most famous probably from Ferris Bueller I think? The one that has the bass line, then stops and the man is sort of grunting, "Oh yeah, she's beautiful."
The kids writing their candy memories. They all wrote/drew about lollipops. I had no idea.
Then Ella and Wyatt slid down the slide to jump on a giant tongue. No really. (and Zoe and I took the stairs)
Here is the giant tongue. Each colored dot represents a flavor that taste buds read: sweet, salty, bitter and sour. When someone jumps on that colored dot, a voice says the word, I think. I say I think because the language was set to Mandarin and to me it sounded like someone was having way too much fun with himself, yes in a suggestive way. I laughed the whole time. The kids thought I was laughing at their jumping, but that's not what was really going on. Most of the time, I am a twelve-year-old boy.
Another part of the candy exhibit showed favorite treats from around the world. I was fascinated by this, reading all the explanations until I came to the one from the US.
Pecan pralines, are you kidding me? Whose favorite is this? Where is the fudge or pie or cheesecake or Snickers bars or even stinking Nerds? Anything. Pecan pralines, my rear.
Wy sat in a barber chair and put on the headphones to simulate getting his hair cut. I wish it had really worked, kid's sideburns are getting fierce.
At the exit for the sound exhibit, the kids screamed their brains out at the Echo Tube.
There was a really cool but also scary area about the inside of the body. Every science museum has to have this, but do they usually have a vampire as a guide? and a bathtub full of fake blood? Not sure if the kids had nightmares but I sure did. This picture is of a room the kids were running toward, then it flashed red and they stopped still. And ran in the opposite direction. I think it was supposed to simulate the way the body's interior works. I don't know. Didn't make it that far.
Outside, we had a fun lunch at the friendliest, cleanest, most fun McDonald's ever made. Truly, it was nice. They had good music playing kinda loud and the decorations were collections of old Happy Meal toy prizes behind plexiglass. I recognized some of the plastic creations from when I was a kid, you know, in the olden days. They were not interested in the outdoor water play area but did want to try out some things on the playground that separated the museum from our parking lot, er car park.
One more thing, most cars here have this mechanism attached to their windshields that allows the driver to insert a card with stored value on it. This is used like EZ Pass for tolls, etc. but also for car parks. It reads when the car enters and exits and automatically deducts the right amount. Also parking is very cheap practically everywhere. I can park for hours and the total will be less than $3. However, no one told me that sometimes this is not the way it works. When leaving a car park, the driver has to take the card out of the cardreader on the windshield and insert the card into a stand at the exit gate. I was just getting used to driving and then this! Eventually I pushed the intercom button for help (there were no instructions, I promise you as I read every inch of that damn post). But then I couldn't understand what the person was saying and it didn't help at all. And the cars were starting to line up behind us. The kids were yelling "Go Mommy!" Aggghhh, the stress! First, I put my debit card in the reader and it spit it back out. Desperately, I yanked out our NETS card and shoved it in. The gate went up. Wshew. And yes, I did remember to grab my card back and re-insert it into the windshield one before peeling out of there.
Tomorrow I hope to find time to post about the Jurong Bird Park, which is where we went today. It was wonderful! I did not expect to love it so much but it is truly a fantastic place. I'll show you soon.
And just an interesting (I think anyway) observation. No one seems to be in much of a hurry here. People walk at a sauntering kind of pace. On escalators (they are everywhere) no one walks up or down, they just enjoy the ride. Even on those ones that aren't steps but are just long ramps with slight inclines so folks can take their trolleys (shopping carts) up and down levels to get to the car parks (I'm getting the hang of this). Here is the big unless. Unless there is a queue somewhere. Queue is fancy for "line". If there is a line of people trying to buy food, it must be the best so everyone will push and shove for their place in line. It doesn't matter what it's for. I have heard about this thing called kiasu and Singaporeans are supposedly notorious for it. Kiasu is basically a fear of losing out on something. One thing I've learned, if there is a queue here anywhere, it's always about to get longer and shovier.
Why are you handing me money in this lane?
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