Well it's been another busy week at our house. The first quarter of school is winding down, and the big excitement of the week centered around the signing up for next semester's "Interim Semester". Interim semester is compulsory, it counts toward their high school credits, and have I mentioned that it is the one thing that all the high school students look forward to all year long? This year's interim semester will take place in mid February, and the offerings this year were just incredible. Trips to Europe, China, New Zealand, Australia - there was not a bad trip in the bunch! Seniors get priority, juniors get second pick, sophomores third, and finally freshmen. Wesley is pumped because he got his first choice, which is a ten day trek thru the Himalayas in Nepal. He will get to see Mount Everest! For a kid that's never even been to Colorado to see the Rocky Mountains, he's bound to be impressed! They will also learn about Buddhism and visit one of the world's oldest Tibetan monasteries. Kasey chose an adventure racing trip in Hong Kong, which will include mountain biking, kayaking, rock climbing, abseililng, and ropes challenge. They will also be conducting an environmental case study of Hong Kong's first windmill power station and helping with an environmental reforestation project in the Lamma Forest. Shelby and I told them that sure beats a field trip to Six Flags over Texas; ha!
Guess we need to get busy planning our own interim trip! We are inclined to return to Bali since it was such an incredible spot for us last year, and not too far away.
The latest items to hit the shelves at the market this week are Pringles potato chips in the following flavors: seaweed, grilled shrimp, and soft-shell crab. No thanks! I still can't figure out why they don't have the loaded baked potato pringles over here! Shelby bought a can of the seaweed pringles, telling me that when he lived here as a kid, he used to eat seaweed crackers and liked them. I'll let you know how he likes these new seaweed Pringles! This morning at the market I had to ask someone where the toothpicks were. There was most definitely a communication barrier there, I not only wrote the word "toothpick" on a piece of paper, I ended up pantomiming how to pick my teeth with a toothpick! And she got it! Yes! I got toothpicks! Not bad for someone who stinks at playing charades.....
Shelby and I went with some friends to Music in the Park at Fort Canning on Saturday night. It was an outdoor venue and there were several bands playing, including a country-western band which was pretty good, and a band called "Mid-Life Crisis" which played some of the old 80's music. It was pretty much an expat event, and I almost forgot I was in Asia for a few hours!
Saturday afternoon we went to the school to watch a football game between the Singapore American school players and a team from South Korea, American kids whose parents are in the armed forces and living on the base there. It was a very lively game and well attended. Shelby and I unknowingly drew a lot of attention when we showed up to the game carrying our iced tea and sprite in Sonic cups. People stopped us, asking where in the world did we get Sonic in Singapore? I heard people gasp and point and scream, "SONIC!". One middle-schooler punched his friend and yelled, "Dude! Oh my God, look! She has SONIC!" And on and on it went.....I cannot tell you how many times we had to explain that I brought the Sonic cups/lids/straws back from Texas this summer to keep the ice from melting and keep the drinks cold. And of course that started yet another conversation about how much we all miss the ICE at Sonic-those soft little rabbit pellets of ice that we all know and love.... I am totally convinced that if someone started a Sonic in Singapore it would be an overnight success! :)
Friday night the kids had plans of course (we never see them much on the weekends!) so Shelby and I decided to go eat dinner at one of the local "hawker stands" (outdoor food courts). We were commenting on how often we eat outdoors here in Singapore! Shelby eats at hawker stands for lunch all the time, and tells me about all the weird things he eats, "yellow meat and yellow noodles" in a clay pot being one of his regulars, curry chicken is another. He has seen cages of big frogs behind the counter too, and I''m thinking that might be what the locals call "yellow meat with yellow noodles"?? Think so? Ok I would gag. Friday night I ordered what I always order at any and every hawker stand - chicken fried rice. Yes I am a creature of habit,and proud of it! No yellow meat/yellow noodles for me! Sitting at the table next to us were two Indian women, and I watched as one of the women ate her meal with her hand. One hand, her right hand. (The left hand is used for toilet purposes only, I am told). It is common practice for Indians to eat with their hand; in fact they rarely if ever use utensils. It is commonplace for them to eat their entire meal, no matter how saucy or messy it may be, then they go to the "wash station" that is set up at every hawker stand to wash their hand. It was kind of fascinating yet also kind of disgusting to watch her in action. She had a kind of noodly dish which she poured lots of sauce on, then stirred it around with her hand, and scooped up handfuls into her mouth. It just looked so messy to me! She had it dripping down her wrist but it didn't seem to bother her. Shelby sees this a lot when he travels to India; in fact, in many places if you want silverware you must ask for it. We just sat there, the only non-Asians among Chinese/Malay/Indians, and were very much aware of standing out in the crowd. Not in a bad way, just different! Then we went into Sheng Siong market to pick up a few things, which is always eye-opening. Have I mentioned that the majority of all grocery stores and convenience stores sell condoms right at the checkout? There they are, an assortment of condoms and lubricants, innocently stacked as if they were gum or mints, just in case you might want to make an impulse purchase! hahaha Also there was something for infants called "Gripe Water"; I'm guessing something to calm their stomachs? So the most frustrating thing about shopping at Sheng Siong is that they take an item out of your trolley (shopping cart) as you leave the store, so that you will return the trolley and then you receive your item back. It's their way of making sure you don't just abandon the cart in the parking lot. Which of course we did not do, because they took our toilet paper and we wanted it back! :)
Last Friday I received a box in the mail from my sister Susan. She sent not only some shirts I had ordered, but also included some fall leaves, some mulling spices, Halloween M&M's, and DVD's of last seasons episodes of Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy that I had not been able to watch over here. I was happy beyond happy, and after putting some spices on to boil and scattering some leaves, sat down to watch Desperate Housewives and eat M&M's. It was totally self-indulgent and I loved every minute! Thank you Sue! :)
