Sentosa Island

Friday, November 27, 2009

The Day After American Thanksgiving

Hari Raya Haji - A Muslim Holiday Festival - 10th day of the 12th month of the Islamic Calendar

Even though Brian didn't get Thanksgiving Day off, Friday was a work holiday.

We decided to visit Sentosa Island. The southern most tip of Singapore.

It is a large amusement type park.

We went to the 4D Pirates movie short. It was like Bugs Life at California Adventure.

We also went on a 3D Virtual Roller Coaster Log Ride. They were both fun, but when we got tho the Top of the island we buckled up for a harnessed rope climb jungle gym kind of thing.

Jacqueline and Alison skittered around the 2nd of 3 levels of various tight rope and precarious wooden bridges. Then they jumped 3 stories off the tree house tower in a simulated parachute drop. They said the trickiest part was making the initial jump. Go figure.

It was a gorgeous sunny day until..... just as the girls started the rope walk the sky opened up and it started to pour. Fortunately the thunder and lightning never materialized otherwise we wouldn't have been able to finish. Lastly we all waited our turn for the MEGAZIP Line.

Phenomenal! Jacqueline and Alison went tandem and Brian and I were singles. They released us all at the same time. We glided over the rainforest down to the beach below. About 1/2 mile.

It was awesome. I wish we could have had our camera running for the ride.

The girls also took a Luge ride from near the top of the park down to the beach a couple of times. You ride a sky lift (think ski chair) back to the top. We also took pictures of the Merlion, Singapore's symbol. The pictures of it lit at night were spectacular. The pictures I've shown of the skyline are part of the new Universal Studios, roller coasters and resorts due to open early next year. They seem to work 24/7 here. I know these workers are overworked and under paid.

Sorry, I couldn't figure out how to rotate the right video. Of course we had already come down, so this is footage of the following group.

A Freak Snow Storm in Singapore

November 2009

There are several places around town that have "Snow Shows" in the evening.

Bubbles blast out of blowers and all the children love to get covered in the suds.

The holiday music is playing and there are tons of people for the few minutes of snow every evening.

Thanksgiving in Singapore

Thanksgiving in Singapore

Thursday November 26, 2009

I searched the Internet and called all over town to find a restaurant that might be serving a Traditional American Thanksgiving Dinner today.

I had only about 3 choices. 1st one was booked. 2nd place was S$138 per person.

3rd had space for 4 at 6:30 at about $S50 each. I booked it without looking any farther.

I may have already exhausted my options anyway. Today was obviously not a holiday in Singapore. We ended up at A Chicago Style Steak House, Dan Ryan's. I'm not sure there is really a Dan Ryan's in Chicago, but it definitely had that feel to it. Aside from most of the patrons and the wait staff. Brian kept singing Fa, Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra...Ra, Ra...Ra, Ra through the entire meal.

(Think the movie The Christmas Story) It was actually a very nice dinner.

Green salad, pumpkin soup, Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, green beans and of course pumpkin pie. It was absolutely not the same as making the dinner at home and enjoying it with family, but this is one of the many new adventures we are experiencing.

Today I also looked for a place to have the girls photos taken with Santa. They are not to keen on the idea, but we have one from every year and this IS NOT going to be the year we go without. This is definitely not a Singapore tradition. If we can find someone who belongs to the American Club, we might be able to sneak a quick photo, but there are not locations around town with any Santas waiting to listen to the little one's Christmas wishes. One post I read mentioned that IF there were any Santas placed around the malls there would be hours of wait because the Asian population would come hours before to stand in line for a look and turn. I'm not certain that is true, but all in all Christmas is very much just a commercial holiday with more reasons to shop. All the glitzy decorations are plastered with advertising.

Wednesday November 18
Our afternoon at the Botanical Gardens took a turn for the worst.

I guess we really have entered the rainy season here in Singapore.

At 4:00 the sky literally and figuratively opened up and we were caught unprepared. It wasn't until after we were soaked to the skin that we purchased umbrellas in the gift shop just to get home. So, an extra shower for the day isn't so bad. We're not used to showering with our clothes on, but we were up for the adventure. Oh, and we had a terrific thunder and lightning show as well.

Unfortunately our camera is a bit worse for the wear. The top picture is what we get now that it's been soaked by the rain. Maybe it will dry out and work again?

Singapore Monopoly

Yes, we actually found a Singapore Edition of Monopoly.

Marina Bay and Sentosa Cove are the High Rent District.

Tuesday, November 17 2007 It's Christmas in Singapore. Christmas is a very commercial holiday here. The decorations are over the top and it's just another reason to shop the sales.

Hopefully once we get more settled at church the wonderful meaning of Christmas will outshine the glitz of the decorations. The stores are already playing Christmas music and decorated to the hilt. They even stock winter wools and apparel. I'm not quite sure who's buying or wearing them, but maybe we can pick up a few bargins at the end of the season.

Some random goings on:

We decided to join the British Club of all places. We found the American Club unAmerican, overly urban, and not very welcoming with lots of concrete.

The British club makes us feel like we actually live on a tropical island.

We would fit right in with The Smith Family Robinson.

Monday, November 16, 2007

We met with our new landlords tonight to pick up the keys. Our belongings won't arrive until early December, but at least we can start buying a few necessary electronics. Lamps, espresso maker, and such and have a place to put them.

Lots of space for guests. Book early.

Singapore Botanical Gardens

Sunday, November 15, 2009

We took a wonderful walk to and through the Singapore Botanical Gardens this morning.

We passed so many beautiful homes and Embassies along the way we lost count.

Grocery Adventure

Tuesday November 17th

We're just back from our 1st "Big Grocery Shopping Trip". We're still staying at the Treetop Apartments with a very small kitchen. We decided to make spaghetti for dinner and so invited Rusty to join us. Well, S$225 (Singapore $) later and a hike with backpacks filled and grocery bags in hand we returned for a feast and a few staples.

Small Jiff Peanut butter 8 oz. (not the smallest ) S$7.05

Hummus S$6.50

Aunt Jemima Lite Syrup 24 oz. S$8.95

2 liters Non Fat Milk S$5.80

Spaghetti Noodles S$5.45

Ground Beef (around 1lb) S$10.25

Loaf of Wheat Bread S$2.10

Bumblebee Solid White Tuna in Water S$5.75

1 Gala Apple S$0.65

1 Dragon Fruit (Alison's choice) S$1.40

1 Lg Kiwi S$1.10

Cool Whip S$6.25

Newman's Spag. Sauce 24oz S$8.35

Etc....

Keep in mind that those are Singapore Dollars and the exchange rate is .723 today.

I know, I haven't been converting everything but that being said, things aren't cheap.

We also chose to do our shopping at the Tanglin Market Place not too far from our apartment which is near the downtown busy shopping district "Orchard Street". Things are always more expensive here. Hopefully when we move out to our house we will find more local and reasonable prices. I'm certain we will also find more local favorites that will work as substitutes for what we have always used in the states.

I have also noticed that our total bill was S$225.28

I paid with S$250

There was a rounding adjustment of S$.03

And my change was S$24.75

They don't have pennies here so everything gets rounded to the nearest nickel.

There is a GST Rate of 7% that came to S$14.74 (I haven't quite figured out what is taxed and not. I did buy one bottle of wine. For you wino's, it was a bottle of Kangaroo Ridge Merlot 2007 S$21.95)

I'll let you know what my immature taste buds think.

The coins they do have are .05 .20 .50 and 1.00

Bills are S$2.00 S$5.00 S$10.00 S$20.00 S$50.00 etc.

The bills get successively larger as the are worth more.

The bill are also different colors.

The coins are all silver except the S$1.00 which is gold color.

We're all here in Singapore! Just finished packing up the rest of our things at home, and trying to fix the flood damage in our house (my mom left the laundry sink on accidentally ) and finally we can can relax.....BOOM! There is a thunder storm here right now, and it sounds like a huge drum just banged next to your ear! We were swimming at the time, and it started pouring down rain when we entered the pool. The rain drops were coming down so violently that all over pool, there were huge ripples of water, so we had to leave. :(. Now we are hanging out at our temporary apartment. Dad is at work, and JJ is at the Beyers house, probably enjoying herself, sleeping with Brandi, and The cats, Bub and Whiskers, are staying with our aunt, and also loving it there. The family is good to go. Booom! Another thunderstorm! Hopefully, Singapore is not like this forever! :)

~Singapore Parker Daughter

BTW its like 85 degrees Fahrenheit here!