SUGAR!

Those of you who know us, know how much we LOVE our dog Sugar! She is my third child and I love her to death. We keep each other company when the kids are at school and when Shelby is traveling. So when we decided to move to Singapore, there was no doubt in my mind that we would bring her with us. When Shelby asked if I wanted to consider leaving Sugar behind in Tulsa with his parents, my response was "Well, do you just want to leave Wes or Kasey behind too?" :) We are so happy that she is with us in Singapore. The neighbors all love her, but the locals are deathly afraid of her-they trip over themselves trying to get out of her way when I walk her, and their eyes get huge-it's really funny to me to think that people would be afraid of Sugar! Not many locals have dogs, and if they do, they are small apartment sized pets. Wesley overheard a Singaporean speaking in Chinese, saying that Sugar was a monster! They stare and point and get out of our way! hahaha

We took Sugar to the beach this past weekend and wore her out. She doesn't really know how to swim, but she's learning! Most dogs dog-paddle underwater, but not Sugar. She lifts her long front legs out of the water, and kerplunk! splashes them down into the water, panicked. Shelby held her and she continued to move her legs as if she were riding a bicycle! The saltwater didn't seem to bother her too much. She made friends with another dog there - another Weimaraner so that was fun! Her favorite part is stalking birds along the sand, and chasing the ball along the beach.

Look out! She's doing the Sugar Shake! :)

Shelby giving her swim lessons

She was pretty frisky but it didn't last long!

Resting on the beach. Sugar turned six years old this week!

Checking out a coconut

Sugar with her new friend, Rafiki.

BANGKOK!

I made my first trip to Bangkok over the holiday weekend (Hari Raya Puasa muslim holiday) with two friends to do some shopping. Ever since moving to Singapore I've heard about the great shoppping in Bangkok so I was excited to check it out! They have a weekend market called Chatuchuk market, and if you are familiar with First Monday Trade Days in Canton, Texas, it's very similar - kind of like an Asian Canton! Lots and lots of booths, selling everything from jewelry to housewares to floral to Asian handicrafts and furniture-you name it, they've got it! We had a driver while we were in Bangkok, which was awesome - all we had to do was call him and he would come get our packages and take them back to the car for us - plus he brought us cold bottled water and cold wet towels! Talk about spoiled! We loved it! Bangkok is very busy and very crowded and the traffic is absolutely horrible, so we were glad we had a driver. My friend Jody has been to Bangkok many times, so she got us around pretty easily. We hit all her favorite shops on Friday, went to the market on Saturday, the night market too, got a foot massage on Sunday before heading back to Singapore. We also went to a really bizarre restaurant called "Cabbages and Condoms", see pictures below! And also a really nice restaurant overlooking the river and one of the large temples which was lit up at night-very beautiful. I definitely want to go back with Shelby sometime! He stayed home with Sugar this weekend, and took her for her first trip to the beach. Evidently Sugar is not much of a saltwater dog, but she enjoyed stalking birds on the sand! Wesley and Kasey spent the long weekend in Bali with some friends, and had a good time surfing and boogie boarding the big waves there. They also experienced a 6.4 magnitude earthquake in Bali on Saturday morning as they lay in their beds! They said that everything was shaking - the beds, the lamps, the pictures on the walls. Scary!

One of the food stalls at the Chatuchuk market

J0dy, Donna and I ready to shop at 8:00am!

Looking down one of the rows at Chatuchuk

Donna is a teacher at the Singapore American School and found some goodies for her students!

This is our driver, Yuth (pronounced "YOOT"), with his PINK car! When it began to downpour late in the afternoon, Yuth managed to drive thru the market to pick us up! He was great! :)

Tuk-tuks are cheap, and a very common mode of transportation all over Bangkok

Here is a group of students who just got out of school nearby

Lots of boat rides up and down the river

Here we are having lunch outdoors

These fellas were peddling their wares and crossing thru a very busy intersection on foot!

Zoom in on this picture and check out the tangled mess of electrical wires! It was like that all over the city! I would hate to be a lineman in Bangkok!

This is part of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel

Roasted ducks (beak and all) hanging in a restaurant

Here we are at the entrance of the restaurant, "Cabbages and Condoms". This restaurant is on a mission to promote safe sex and family planning! The decor is almost entirely made of multicolored condoms......

Sex test roulette (No, I did not spin the wheel!)

We sat outdoors under a million twinkling lights

The tabletop and centerpiece made out of what else but condoms!

Check out the lampshade!

This would be "Captain Condom" and his better half. Nice earrings!

HAHAHAHA we got a condom after our meal instead of a mint!

OUT AND ABOUT IN SINGAPORE

The overpasses are pretty because they always have tropical flowers growing over the edges

If you look closely you can see the scaffolding made out of bamboo poles that are tied together-this seems to be the norm for home repairs in the neighborhood!

Look just over the top of the taxi and you can see high-rise buildings in the distance-that is Malaysia! We live very close to the causeway that connects Singapore to Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

MRT zipping right along. Most people sleep on the MRT and I just wonder how they know when to get off? I have sat next to people who are nodding off and leaning into me. It's kind of like a can of sardines!

We saw this sign at an auction we attended

Our friends Nora and Dennis helping out at the Booster Booth during homecoming

Shelby was in charge of grilling hamburgers at homecoming this year!

Singapore flags were flying on National Day, which is August 9th.

This is Woodgrove, our neighborhood market that I walk to. Here we have Fair Price grocery store, an ATM machine, a 7-11 convenience store, a nail salon, dry cleaners, pet food store, and neighborhood doctor.

Shelby took this photo on the golf course in Indonesia

One of the "hawker centers" in our neighborhood

Neighborhood market

Neighborhood market

Medical clinic nearby

Photo of the MRT train going thru the neighborhood

Dental surgery office in the market

Housing in the HDB flats

More HDB flats. Most of the locals live in the high-rise HDB flats.

This is the mall in the Woodlands. It leaves a lot to be desired. Believe it or not, I hardly ever go there, or to any shopping mall in Singapore. They are packed with people 7 days a week and it is just chaos trying to get up and down the escalator, much less find a parking space!

See how close the motorcyclist is to the taxi? There are thousands upon thousands of motorcyclists in Singapore, and they don't ride in a lane-rather, they ride between lanes and zip in and out whenever they want to. I swear I could roll down my window and reach out and touch the motorcycles, they come within inches of the side mirrors on the car and ride dangerously in the blind spots. There are quite a few motorcycle fatalities, as you can imagine. At a stoplight the motorcycles go in between cars and in between lanes and work their way up to the traffic signal to be first when the light changes. Every day thousands of motorcyclists drive over the causeway from Malaysia to work in Singapore, rain or shine.

Intersection in Chinatown

Kasey and her friends shopping in Chinatown.

Yes, these are lizards that have been gutted and skewered and are drying in the hot sun in Chinatown. We couldn't figure out what they were doing there, but let's just say we didn't eat lunch in Chinatown that day.......

Lizards baking in the sun, I have no idea why!

This is a shop that sells all kinds of things to cure all kinds of ailments. It kind of creeps me out that they call this a medical hall......

Look closely at the bark on the tree and you will see a lizard! They are EVERYWHERE, even the little ones called "chit chats" in our house which still scare me to death when I find them in my kitchen sink!

View of our street

I took this picture so you can see the ferns growing in the tree branches. Singapore is most definitely a rainforest atmosphere, very green with all kinds of tropical foliage everywhere! The building is another HDB in the Woodlands.

Now this is a very common sight in Singapore! Taxis abound, most of them are blue 'comfort' taxis. I kind of have a love-hate relationship with the taxis. On one hand, it's nice not to have to drive in the crazy traffic and try to figure out where I'm going, parking, driving on the left side of the road. I simply pick up the phone and call a taxi to come pick me up, or walk down the street to the main road and flag one down if it's not raining. The downside to riding in a taxi is that it can be expensive, I usually get carsick by the time I get where I'm going, and I have absolutely no sense of direction anymore. Most people in Singapore either ride the bus, the MRT, or take a taxi, since cars are so expensive not everyone has one. It's nice when I get a taxi driver who is interesting to talk to, it beats sitting there listening to whatever chinese radio station is playing! Most of the drivers are polite, but I've had a few that insulted me, my English language, and tried to drive me the long way around to rip me off. Shelby and I think the best part about taxis being available here is when we go out on a Friday or Saturday night-if we want to have an adult beverage, it's nice to get a ride home!

This is the chicken rice place around the corner, which Wesley loves! He sometimes goes there after school to get chicken rice and lime juice.

Condos in the neighborhood

Another common sight - the city bus. I am still trying to learn the bus schedule, but pretty much only take it to Cold Storage grocery store at the mall if I have to find something there that i cannot find at the neighborhood market that i walk to.

Mothers and fathers ride their children to school on bicycles

This group of Muslim girls were playing basketball in the hot sun, wearing their long robes and head wraps. They looked so very hot!

HDB flats nearby

Another common sight in Singapore - clothes hanging out the windows to dry!

This is a photo of our church, International Baptist Church

This is a photo of a wedding invitation from one of Shelby's colleagues who is getting married in India. No, we did not attend the wedding in India!

These are some "long beans" that I bought at the market

This is a mango tree on our back patio.