SINGAPORE: My letter published in Today

http://www.todayonline.com/homepage.asp

'PLEASE OFFER ASSISTANCE OR MIND YOUR TOES!'

Letter from


I refer to "A Graceless society?" (Feb 12) and wish to thank Annette Tan Siew Lan for what she has written. I am a New Yorker living in Singapore and my pre-conceived notion of a polite society is being dashed to little bits. I travel around the city with two toddlers in a
stroller and frequently meet people at the lifts of Paragon Medical Centre or at the MRT station who arrive after me, then push past me to get in. New Yorkers have a reputation for being rude and they are at times bold and aggressive but never this rude. At first, I was shocked but now, I simply roll the stroller over the toes of the rude offender.

Please feel free to share my warning to Singaporeans. If you see a red-haired woman struggling with her children please offer assistance or mind your toes!


(Accompanying this letter is a cartoon drawing of a red-headed woman with a big nose saying Out of the way! Or your toes get it... to a non-descript guy. Are caucasians perceived as having big noses? The words for foreigner here is "Ang Mo"

SINGAPORE: Lula paints

For Lula, it's not the quality of the painting but the quantity of the paint. She's forcing me to challenge my assumptions of what art is.

You may also notice that we STILL have our Christmas tree up!

Lula will have her second swimming lesson tomorrow. She did well last Saturday. Maya wasn't very interested and though she kicked a little while holding on to the side of the pool she left soon after. I think she'll learn later from watching Lula.

Singapore: Beverages

My most recent favorite is the Aloe with white grape juice. And of course nothing says refreshing like Fungus!

Singapore: Maya - better already

Singapore: Maya has a Shiner

I was at a birthday party tonight and Maya was sitting in the chair next to me and the next thing I knew she was head first into the marble floor. Now she has a large bulging bump, a "goose egg" on her head which she appeared to recover from faster than I did. She didn't cry for very long but it looks crummy and makes me worried. Shannon said I should wake her in the middle of the night once to make sure that she doesn't have a concussion and also to check to make sure that her eyes aren't dilated.


Rob has gone to Canada to suss things out and to find out if there will in fact be a project. For the first time I am alone in a Foreign country with the girls though not the first time alone in a foreign country.

I'm wondering if I can squeeze in a two night visit to Bintan (resorty location accessible by ferry in Indonesia) this week or on the weekend...

SINGAPORE: STRESS

Someone remarked that I was handling the stress of not knowing where we will be living next week very well. I have been putting it out of my mind. But I realized that by doing so I have caused a really awful rash on par with a bad case of itchy poison ivy/leprosy. I couldn't figure out where I could have gotten it since I have been only in cities and not near any foliage. The doctor said it was an allergic reaction and gave me some cream. I considered posting photos for my parents but then remembered that not everyone would be as interested. So if you want to see my poison ivy type rash I can e-mail you the photos. I hoping that by making this realization I can stop stressing out and enjoy the sunshine, perhaps go for a swim and live in the present and hope that it goes away in a couple of days.

SINGAPORE: Girls in Chinese Dresses

SINGAPORE: Signage

Who needs professional signs made? This Prata stall clearly has no loss for business. It is also where I eat breakfast almost daily - masala thosai or appam or puttu mayam or idly... with coffee C (coffee with evaporated and condensed milk and sugar which they leave out on my request)

NEW YORK TO SINGAPORE

Haven't felt much like updating for sometime now. We went to Los Angeles then to New York and Massachusetts for the Holidays and now we're back in Singapore.


We might be moving to Canada in a week but the uncertainty is making me a little loopy.

Here is some lovely snow from New York State.

HAPPY 2008!!!

Here we are hanging out with some orangutangs.