memories of singapore

in our last week of living in singapore, i decided to film some memories i want to remember...our go-to sushi place, the spotless train station, our neighborhood that sits on the cusp of chinatown and the financial district, our favorite place to picnic against the skyline, sage's favorite things (tennis with nate and swimming every.single.day if she could!). we didn't want to live there forever, but it was harder than i'd imagined to leave. 

what a wild, eye-opening, hard, fun two years.

password: singapore

last days in singapore

nicole snapped a photo of our family and my 20 week belly after church on our last sunday in sing...

we packed in three piles: six weeks' worth of living (turned out to be more...), ship across the world, and give away. sage was a cute helper, but not a helpful one.

we swam and barbequed one last time with friends who were in town. lindsay and nathan were so kind to host at their beautiful pool.

a chocolate hitler moustache is a sign of a good cookie

hugs all around. 

on our last night, my talented and darling chef friend lindsay made a gourmet 13 course meal for us and the roberts. i was blown away by the perfect flavors and thought that went into each dish she prepared. she included all our favorites (lobster, steak, mushrooms, french cheese, mashed potatoes) and even made two different dessert courses--fruity for nate and chocolatey for jess. i won't forget this incredible meal or sweet lindsay. also, i'd like to have fresh lobster smothered in buerre blanc maybe every day. just a few glimpses of lindsay's talent...

let's excuse the terrible lighting -- we love you, linds! 

those last two weeks went by so quickly. sage had play dates every day while i searched through over 2,500 craig's list housing posts and tied up loose ends around singapore, all while nate spent the week in bangkok on his last business trip.

i miss all those amazing friends already!

time for a change

 things change. and friends leave. life doesn't stop for anybody.

stephen chbosky

we're moving to north carolina.

right when we wrapped our heads around staying in singapore for a third year, right when we got really excited about having a baby here, and right when i thought to myself that i couldn't ask for better friends here...nate was accepted to duke university's MBA program.

and just like that--in two weeks, no less--we wrapped up our asian life and hopped on another airplane. it is so bittersweet, but i'm really proud of nate and so glad that application process is over. i am devastated to leave some aspects of singapore behind, and happy to leave some things too. i will miss this diverse, on-the-go lifestyle. and, oh, the people! friends who feel like family.
living in singapore was the best thing we ever did.

but we couldn't just fly across the world and not stop to see some of it.

so we're on our way to the south of france right now because...why not?

ultrasounds every time

 since i had a really complicated c-section with sage, i remember one of the last things my mom said to me as we caught our flight to move to singapore was, "don't have a baby in asia!" of course she just wants the best for me, but i have been so impressed with my prenatal care so far.

the ultrasounds happen in my doctor's personal office. i sit down across from his desk as we discuss how i'm feeling, then i slide right onto the exam table on the other side of the room for an ultrasound each time. there's a flat screen on the ceiling so i can see everything perfectly as my doctor himself talks me through exactly what we're looking at. this open communication and highly personalized care is such a difference from my experience in chicago!

but of course not everything is wonderful, right? when you check in for your appointment, an auntie (elderly woman) instructs you to go weigh yourself on the scale in the middle of the jam-packed waiting room, then has you YELL it back to her at the reception desk. 

luckily, it's all in kilograms and those still mean nothing to me. whatever.

i love getting to see this every four weeks.

pollution up in here

we live in the tropics...and look out onto a gorgeous pool...

so you'd think we'd be spending our days poolside. 

but between a nasty haze migrating over from indonesian field fires, a severe air pollution warning, a high alert for dengue fever in singapore, and being pregnant...we've spent our days inside with the air con turned up high.
seriously, there is an island-wide shortage of those medical face masks, and the pollution is the most hazardous singapore has ever seen.
we've play doughed, we've stickered, we've read, we've colored, we've watched, we've cooked, and we've gone a little stir crazy too. hoping this sumatran haze passes quickly...

a pink lemonade party

sage is two. she knows every word of the happy birthday song and sings it to herself, but has no clue what it means to have a birthday. even still, i was so excited as we blew up balloons and set out pretty wrapped presents (all sent from grandma herself) for s to wake up to. i love birthdays! we took her to baja fresh for dinner, where we let her chug all the salsa she wanted, then on to ikea to pick out her own little table and chairs.

and how could we not have a little party to celebrate with all of our fun singapore friends? i know...i'm the queen of weird birthday themes, like last year's retro circus party. singapore is so blasted hot right now, and a pink lemonade theme sounded perfect to me.

we don't have an oven, so i ordered raspberry and lemon macarons and strawberry cupcakes from the bakery downstairs

but i did manage to make these little tarts with lemon curd and fresh raspberries with mona's help

we didn't teach sage how to blow out candles, but jake helped her out when she got shy.

we had such a fun time swimming, chatting, indulging in macarons and cupcakes and sweet treats, and sipping pink lemonade. the kids went on a little candy treasure hunt too. i used to be that mom--the one whose child had never tasted sugar or french fries or processed foods. i've relaxed. candy on your birthday is a given, right?

sage is really into her friends' names. she wakes up in the morning and sometimes recites her buddies..."ollie, zara, jon, annie, ella..."

i adore all these big kids who treat sage like their little sister...sneaking her a mento, holding her hand down the slide, plopping her on their laps, and always looking out for her. we have the best singapore family.

a group shot from sarah's iphone. sage is loved! this group was so fun to celebrate with.

chandler in singapore

my little brother lived in toronto, canada for two years as a missionary. he mainly spoke mandarin and served chinese communities. when he planned a whirlwind trip to china to experience the real thing, i was hoping he'd put singapore on his itinerary too (even though it's NOT that close to china, despite what people think. a 5 hour plane ride away in fact). he did!

it was the best. 

we loved having chan and ty (his travel buddy) here. sage was instantly requesting chan and ty over me. all the touristy things we take our visitors to do in singapore were more fun because these boys were so stoked to be speaking chinese. turns out lots of singaporeans have pretty bad chinese! "singlish" is a real thing by the way...kind of like a singaporean english-based creole.

all of these photos are from chan's camera...

sage is really into her panda "brella"

we put sage's nikes on to give her a little height so we could take her on the luge at sentosa. but that girl is drawn to water...she couldn't help but run through the fountains after we luged.

i vowed to get rid of her pacifier...but we travel so much...and she goes to sleep immediately with it. so here's a snapshot of real life. this is how we roll.

marina bay at night is still gorgeous. 

we already miss you, chan.

mother's day

i love being a mother, and i love holidays. 

we've had a few classic cases of "different expectations" in our marriage when it comes to holidays, but nate made me feel loved (and i remembered our anniversary this year!).

we went to a mother's day concert on the green in the botanic gardens, and i remembered why we don't do those concerts more often...so sweaty! but i forgot about all that sweat and heat with goat cheese, brie, berries, apples, crackers, and grapes. there's no better combo. 

i am so in love with this girl who made me a mother. 

while it's not always easy, it's always, always worth it.

lawlers in southeast asia

nate's brother, sister, and her husband came to visit a few days after m&m flew home. we're talking a 20+ hour trek for all of our visitors. intense!

we barely gave them time to recover from jetlag with one day in singapore before our travels began. 

we filled the day with tennis, pool time, chinatown, din tai fung, and a trip up marina bay sands for a beautiful view.

uncle beau works for nike and always comes bearing gifts. he makes sure sage has the latest shoes and matching gear.

sage also loved her new "buck" (bucket) from auntie jo. 

who can deny that aunts and uncles are the best? 

the next morning, we jumped on a plane bound for cambodia...

adventures in singapore

sage is shy at first. even if she's seen you in pictures, or even if she saw you yesterday. but when my mom walked off an airplane and met us at disneyland hong kong, sage clung to her. she happily sat on her lap, and made herself quite comfortable with grandma's iphone. needless to say, we had a ball with my mom in town. we showed her all our favorite things in singapore...

the orchid garden

chinatown

arab street

little india

gardens by the bay

palawan beach

marina bay sands

the night safari 

and some sketchy reflexology foot rubs in chinatown for good measure.

on our bucket list was to actually stay at the marina bay sands hotel, and a kind friend hooked us up with a discount. we swam in that infinity pool on the top floor for hours and hours. and we thought it was hilarious that our hotel room was bigger than our tiny apartment in the city here. nate even babysat a sleeping sage so we could sneak up to the chocolate buffet at night. bliss!

the fine print for chinese reflexology should be something like...you won't relax once. this man will dig his knuckles into every tender part of your foot you didn't know was there. don't do it.
it was an experience though!

 

my mom was set on seeing pandas. and pandas we saw! the river safari has just opened here with a huge new home for those beautiful pandas.  

sage heaven: her own slushie in a panda bottle. so touristy, but it was refreshing!

and then all our adventuring came to a halt pretty fast...

who looks this good at 4:30 am?! my mother.

there's something about your mom seeing your life and the places you frequent that is comforting. i don't feel like our conversations are so abstract now because she absolutely knows what i'm talking about when i moan about fairprice finest being out of stock or when i rave about lunch at marché. i am so grateful she came for a visit. we love you!