First few weeks in Singapore

My last post was a little bit random.  And... this one will probably be to, and long.  But, I know some of you are wanting to know what we've been up to here in Singapore.  So... here ya go!  

Our airfreight was delivered a few days after we arrived in Singapore.  It was really nice to have a few more of our own things in the temporary apartment.  In talking to other people here, it sounds like I planned pretty well with the items I packed.  I was extremely grateful that I had put in some medicines (in addition to the suit case full of diabetes and asthma supplies I brought on the plane).  I wasn't at all surprised that 5 days after our arrival, I was in need of a doctor.  Luckily, I had packed some medicine that could tide me over until I found a nearby clinic.  We were also glad for the pool toys, Xbox, and Legos, as well as our own pillows! Oh!  And washcloths.  The hotel has plenty of hand towels but no washcloths.  Luckily, I packed a few in the air freight.  Things we haven't unpacked from air freight: the rest of our clothes and extra linens; although, I'm pretty sure I would pack those again... just in case. It's always good to have an extra set of bedclothes.    

 Everyone told me that the health care in Singapore is really good.  I trusted them.  They were mostly right.  I searched for a clinic on Google and found one within walking distance of our apartment.  Ryan and I went over there after it opened and they treated us pretty well.  One cool thing was that I didn't have to go to a pharmacy for medicines.  They had all of the meds there at the office and we walked home with them.

This is Evan's PE uniform.  I'm so happy that he's had his swimming unit firsts, especially because he didn't get to take lessons this summer.  He wears his swim trunks under his uniform.  He's getting really good at swimming too!  

I had a PTA meeting at the school one day.  It was fun to see Evan at school.  Here he is having his morning snack with his class.  I think he was embarrassed that I was watching him.  Is that allowed in Kindergarten? NO!

 

This is what it looks like when we pick up Evan in the afternoon.  

Ryan and I are finding our groove with homeschool.  We had some sad days where we both knew that it was less than an ideal situation.  But selfishly, it's been really fun to have someone here with me all day.  I'm not sure WHAT on Earth I'd do in this service apartment by myself all day.  It doesn't take us very long to go through our lessons for the day We start at about 8:30am or whenever Daddy leaves for work and usually finish around noon or so.  Then we usually go explore the city a little bit, and get some lunch.  He does some more reading and a few math games and we call it a day.

Ryan reading his book on the train. 

This is the train.  It's called the MRT: Mass Rapid Transit, I think.  

Ryan at the mid-autumn festival moon cake tasting. We tried durian.  yuck! 

I decided to document my hair.  LOL.  I know you're dying to know what this mop of curls does in the humidity.  So, I got brave one day and wore my hair down.  Honestly, I don't think it's really all that "bigger" than at home.  My curls are definitely curlier, maybe more fuzzy, but not too bad!

Between school and church, we've already had several social appointments.  The boys were invited to a bowling birthday party at the American Club, three PTA meetings and get togethers, three play dates, scouts, and scripture study.  I was also invited to a book club for next week. One woman at church said, "wow, you've already been to Scripture Study?"  I told her, "yeah, I know how to DO church."  Ha ha ha. I feel like there are a lot of things I don't know how to do in this foreign land but I'm finding my way.  Ryan and I have learned how to get around here in the city and we look forward to exploring our new neighborhood too.  Which leads me to my next post: house hunting.  Stay tuned!    

Our Church building.  It's 4 stories high.
All of the buildings here go straight up because it's such a small island with so many people.  

Church ball.  Classic!