neighborhood

a few glimpses of our neighborhood...

we live here

i walk down this street to get to the bus stop and the wet market where i buy our fruits/veggies

waiting for the bus. we do this a lot.

everything is in malls as opposed to free standing stores, including the grocery store. i discovered a new mall only a little bus ride away and it made my day (small victories). we walked around there for hours today. across the water is universal studios. bummer that sage isn't old enough for rides or i'd be all over it!

we'll print this blog into a book, so i want to document everything about our life here -- that means the good and the bad. not everything is beautiful and great in this tropical part of the world. i have had it with cockroaches and worrying that i'll find one near sage's bed no matter how clean i keep our apartment. i have a serious bug phobia. i miss the ease of a car, especially with getting groceries. i've had to stop cringing at grocery prices (yesterday: one head of broccoli = $9, carton of cherries = $32. i didn't buy either) and just go with the flow. i was really feeling sorry for myself this weekend and wondering how to make this life work for us (me). i fully expected to have a breakdown after moving here and was surprised i lasted almost two months without one.

being busy helps keep things moving and makes me excited about singapore, so i'm going back to checking things off my singapore to do list and planning vacations. i was most excited about the travel aspect of moving here, and i still am! there are so many places i want to see in asia.

at least i get to hang out with my favorite buddy:

i feel lucky for that.

helper moments

my little helper. she helps herself to sucking on whatever she can stuff in her mouth. this time -- ruffles.

it's pretty common for families to employ a helper (nanny/cleaner/cook) in singapore. sometimes i have helper moments, where i think i want a helper rriiiiiight aboooouut....NOW! these moments often come in the face of poop, bugs, hunger, sleep deprivation, sweatiness, and white floors that never stay clean.

the grocery store we live by is very...asian. or, local should i say. hard to navigate, hard to communicate, and even harder to find whatever i'm looking for. also, i don't know what half the goods are in there...too many things have suspiciously lumpy packaging in languages i don't understand. if you saw it on the shelf once, it may not be there the next time you want it (tortillas!). today i was wishing i had a helper with the baby strapped to me, a very heavy basket of groceries, a bag falling off my shoulder, and a bewildered expression as i tried to find honey mustard for some obscure recipe because we don't have an oven (did i tell you that? we didn't even notice when we moved in that this place doesn't have an oven. no baking for a year. time to get creative on the stove top!). anyway, this super nice lady asks if i need any help, then we get talking, then we find out we live in the same building, and then she says, "hey -- i totally have an extra pack of tortillas. let me save you the trip and you can just have them."

the world is good. i will survive singapore with no helper.

p.s. if you have a favorite/good/edible skillet recipe, i'm begging you to share it. i can only think of so many meals that require a stove or microwave.

melbourne, australia

we spent a few days in sydney, then hopped on a plane down to melbourne, where it was even colder. melbourne has a different vibe than sydney. it is definitely a happening place, with tons of modern architecture and a euro feel. but my absolute favorite thing about melbourne was...the brand new COSTCO right downtown. call me a cliché american, but there is something so nice about stepping into a familiar place. i needed that. plus, cheese is three times the normal price in singapore, so i stocked up and stashed a big container of parmesan in my suitcase.

nate worked everyday while sage and i roamed and walked tons. melbourne has a free tourist bus that we did about three rounds on. this city is known for its great shopping, so we hit that up too. i also went in the nicest "parent room" i've ever seen. australia + babies = amazing.

in melbourne, we saw:
- victoria market
- federation square
- the old melbourne gaol
- where the australian open is played
- botanic gardens
- chinatown and greek center

she has a serious love affair with this bird. staring contest...

we went to this super old jail that is one of the top things to see in the city. after the museum part, you get locked up in the jail by a real constable and treated like a criminal for about fifteen minutes. i asked if it was okay if i had my baby, and the ticket lady gave me a thumbs up. the constable made me take this picture in a cell with my baby because he thought it was so bogus that i brought sage along. but hey, she slept through it all.

out of focus, crooked bow, but check out the smiles we get from her.

i hope we get to go back to australia sometime. i loved it. hopefully we'll be tagging along on more business trips this year...

sydney, australia

nate had a business trip to sydney and melbourne, so sage and i tagged along for the ride.

I LOVE AUSTRALIA

it was like a mix of europe and america in one (in both lifestyle and architecture), the people were incredibly friendly and laid back, the spring weather was cool and damp, and everything felt a little more familiar than singapore. i told nate i could definitely live there. in fact, it was a bit hard to leave and come back to hot, humid asia. plus, room service and fresh linens and towels daily is pretty nice too :)

sydney is so iconic and beautiful. it's about an 8 hour flight from singapore. luckily, sage continued her good streak of mostly sleeping on planes. as far as having a car seat goes, singapore car safety is pretty lax. i could lay my baby on the seat next to me in a cab and no one would bat an eye. australians were extremely concerned that we had a "capsule" (car seat) for our baby wherever we went. it was amazing to them that our capsule snapped onto our pram -- apparently not a common thing with australian baby gear. sage owns a total of one sweater, so we ended up buying her a fuzzy coat because it was so cold on some days.

what we did in sydney:
- sydney aquarium
- wildlife world
- sightseeing bus
- ferry to bondi beach
- ferry to manly beach

- sydney opera house
- hyde park
- royal botanic gardens
- wandered the outdoor market at the rocks
- ate awesome seafood
- tasted kangaroo filet (p.s. i felt sad about this until i learned that kangaroos outnumber australians 3 to 1)
- ate treacle pudding! (harry potter anyone?)

oysters eaten...
nate: 20
jess: 1 (it was fried)

three months

at three months, sage has been on 8 plane rides and in 4 countries.
this baby girl brings so much joy into our lives. that's the only way to describe it -- joy. i have never smiled and laughed so many times each day as i do with sage. obviously there are hard things about being a parent, but i find myself wanting to freeze moments throughout the day. i love this age, love to smother her squishy cheeks with kisses, and love that she is fitting into clothes i stared at for months in anticipation of having a little girl.

life is good.

please alight here

lots of british english words are used here:

lorry = truck
lift = elevator
queue = line
pram = stroller

when you're on the MRT (subway), a voice comes over the speaker asking you to "alight here" for a certain stop. i could not figure out what alight meant at first. press a light? look for the light? do something with light?

alight = get off

but i love hearing the quintessential british phrase as i alight...please mind the platform gap

the bumbo

sage's bumbo arrived in our shipment.
she's a pretty strong little girl, but was unsure at first...
then promptly decided she did NOT like having her legs stuck.
we try not to laugh when she pouts, but it is so cute.

the mid-autumn festival

i feel like we have to go and do everything here because our time is limited. but then i remember that my baby is little - not even three months old! and i just can't do everything. still, i made nate go with me to see the mid-autumn festival lanterns in chinatown the other night. this is festival season in singapore...tons of new sights, sounds, and smells (bleh! durian!).