Fruit

We went on a little taxi ride yesterday. A taxicab driver is the best source of tourist information I have found on the island so far. Books are all well and good, but the cab drivers are a wealth of information. This guy showed us where the jogging paths are, told us where to make reservations for a table at a restaurant with the best view of National Day fireworks (Aug 9 - stay tuned...) and all about the 'wet markets.' Wet markets are outdoor marketplaces where they sell fresh fruits and vegetables. (And fish. And yes, they really do call them 'fish mongers.') They rest the food on 'chillers' to keep it fresh, but the top stuff dries out so they spray it all day and keep it wet - hence the name. The fruits are mostly local stuff - dragon fruit (red, spiky, very sweet), melons that defy description, mangos, guavas and papayas. My personal favorite is the Durian fruit. I haven't actually tried it tho - I need a partner in crime. Apparently it tastes lovely - has a sweet, custardy center - but it smells like gym socks. The smell is so bad it is banned in most hotels (including ours, probably). I can't get my family on board, but next time we go to the Circus I'm giving it a whirl. Bet is isn't banned there....

Everything is smaller in Singapore. Beds - shorter. Cars - teeny. Single servings actually only serve one. This suits me fine for the most part, however I am taking issue with laundry facilities. We have a washer/dryer here, however one pair of knickers (note the way I adjust to the language barrier) and a t-shirt and it's pretty much maxed out. The washer takes roughly 3 hours to wash, and the dryer...the time choices are 3, 6, 9 and 12 HOURS. And then - get this. Not dry. The damn thing runs all day and the clothes are damp. Everywhere we go people have their clothes hanging out the windows. No surprise. They get fed up. AND. Apparently these appliances are in cahoots. This morning, when I tried to start up the woefully inadequate dryer, the washer started. The washer is a front loader, which means once it starts the door seizes up and you can't open it for 3 hours. The dryer did not feel compelled to join in, however. My guess is they talked, and since the dryer was bone-weary from running for 12 hours straight, the washer offered to take his shift.

Every day the cleaning people come in and ask if I want laundry service. I can't figure out why....but I'm takin' them up on it...

Singapore photos

Top picture is on the corner of Orchard and Scotts Roads. The sign on the post tells people to 'wait for the green man' - good advice since the cars in this community careen around like nobody's business - changing lanes and honking at each other. And don't even get me STARTED on the motorcycles...Holy shit! The really weird thing about Singaporean Death Wish Driving, tho, is that we have seen not one traffic accident or heard one siren since we have been here. And the fire station is directly below our window. Unbelievable...

Middle picture is in front of the Prada Store. People are out there all the time, pointing, laughing and taking pictures of each other standing with these silly things. It has great local appeal. Do not ask me why. I think they may be secretly making fun of us....

Last photo is the quad at the school Andrew will be attending. Very interesting place. Huge, actually. We went out there the other day and took a look around. We went out to the fields and while we were there heard these air raid sirens. Turns out it had to do with lightning being within 'striking distance.' The locals were under cover, watching us out there among the metal poles. I understand the highest number of lightning strikes in the world is in Singapore. Mostly frying the Americans, probably.....

The best thing about Singapore that I can see so far is that food is so expensive that it is actually CHEAPER to eat out every day. Imagine that. We found this place called Newton Circus. It is this big open-air food courty thing where you walk in and all the owners of these little stands charge up to you with their menus, trying to get you to eat at their spot. It is hilarious. The food is pretty good - I haven't gotten sick or anything. John and Andrew mostly stick with fried rice, but I like a lot of the other dishes...they have some great fish stuff if you can get past the idea that you have to behead the thing yourself. A guy walked up to our table the other day, pulled back his trenchcoat sleeve and tried to sell Andrew a watch. You should have seen his face. So funny....

We had a very successful stalking day at the pool yesterday...Andrew made one friend, a British kid who ticked him off in the first 20 minutes by calling him a 'pansy.' He left the pool in a snit, but since he appears to be the only kid over the age of 5 in this place when the phone rang 10 minutes later they headed out again. I met a lady from Australia...her husband works with John and I sent her an email about how we are here, hanging out, and added a transparent 'so, what does one do in Singapore' line in there with the desperate hope that she would invite us over. She did! Yay! Then I realized I had NO IDEA how the hell to get over to Bakit Whatever so I invited her here. She brought me a big-ass bottle of Vodka - since they are retired military they can go to the PX and not pay the import tax - and said all this great stuff like 'lollies' and 'knickers' and 'a bit of a pip.' Near as I could figure she was talking about candy, undershorts and being really, really pissed off. Yippee! A new BFF! Mostly because of the booze. Also she broght her son - Harry - an 11 year old kid who hung fine with the Pansy Kid but did pass out once. He does that, apparently. A little water and a couple of lollies and he was just fine.

The boys remain in the house. I have no phone so they are supposed to email regularly - mostly to thank me for all I've done for them over the years, tell me they miss me and reassure me that they are not dead in a ditch somewhere. I have not actually heard from either of them, although I have sent regular emails loaded with little momisms...how are you? Everything ok? Did you get to that dental appointment I set up? Don't forget to jiggle the upstairs toilet. I love you. Anybody been arrested? How are you? EVERYTHING OK???

Their tasks include feeding the dog, throwing a little water on the lawn, mowing, and not burning the place down. For all of you who have sent me lovely notes from home about how sad it is when you pass by my house...is that because it is a pile of ash, or because I'm not in it?

Gum

In spite of the fact that every spare moment one has in Singapore can be spent shopping, gum is not sold here. I had heard that there were draconian rules regarding gum chewing - arrest, caning, years in a Singaporean slammer. All lies as it turns out. It is simply unavailable. I was a little paranoid about the whole thing and so did not stock up before I came...in spite of the fact that I am a confirmed gum chewer the slammer thing just didn't sound all that great to me. Now that I know it is not so big a deal - I saw an Asian woman chomping away on the train just the other day - I am sad about my lack of a stockpile. Yesterday, however, I found 2 packs! TWO PACKS! Oh happy day! I tried to hide them but when Andrew went into the bedroom for nail clippers he found them. He asked for a piece. Can you imagine? I would die for this child, however I have 16 pieces to last me for the next 18 months - less than one a month - and I do not wish to share my gum with him. I gave him one, but told him to stick it on the bedpost when he was done for the day and chew the same piece again tomorrow. He was horrified, but I told him - Hey, we did it! There is even a 1960's song about it....

Andrew and I are BFFs but are both secretly yearning for friends our own age to play with. We are on the hunt every day by the pool. We have learned to navigate the train - we're pretty proud of ourselves. We headed up to his school today - pretty nice place but really big and nerve-racking and not much housing nearby that isn't pretty slummy...My job is to find a place to live where we will all get our needs met.

So drinking is my most expensive hobby, apparently. Bud, one of the finer imported brews, is $20 a six pack. Corona is $18. Heineken is considered a cheap-crap domestic beer (along with Tiger) - they both sell for $16. Yellowtail, the bane of my existence mostly because my friends love it and I think it is not so loveable, is $25 a bottle. As I am enjoying the direct translations of the signs in the area...here is the latest. Sums my predicament up perfectly, really....

Interesting place, Singapore. This attractive Singaporean is reminding train passengers to allow the elderly or infirmed to have their seat if need be. That thing on his cheek that looks like a big ol' bug is really a beauty mark of some kind. We thought it was graffiti at first, but then we remembered that 20 lashes thing....Also it is on every window of the damn train....

We arrived in Singapore - left CA on Wednesday, skipped over Thursday and got here Friday. Not sure where Thursday went, but I understand we can pick it up on the way back.

The photo is the view from our bedroom window...the area we are in is much like Times Square - lots of racket and confusion and taxi cabs that will happily mow you right down if you are in the way. Pretty homey, in a holy-shit-what-am-I-doing-here kind of way....