Visitors: ChiChi and TaTi

Our good friends, ChiChi and TaTi, came to visit in September. Our family enjoyed their visit so much and we all had a great time and made lots of good memories together! The girls loved it~ PE enjoyed ChiChi and TaTi walking her to school and picking her up from school daily. In the afternoons, PE and ChiChi played school, wrote plays, and performed puppet shows (PE is holding up a prop from behind the black chair). (And Baby Girl was constantly trying to get in all of the action!) Baby Girl enjoyed brushing TaTi's hair (see the orange rake in the picture) with a play plastic hand rake and loved listening to him read stories!!

Visitors: Orchard Road

We took a walk down Orchard Road so ChiChi and TaTi could get the feel of the big city of Singapore. Mall after mall after mall line Orchard Road with all the big designer names and tv screens playing movies and tv shows shine on several of the mall facades. There was lots to see: the wide sidewalks, variety of cultures and ethnic groups, tons of traffic. Our visitors eagerly took in all the sights and smells of Singapore!

Visitors: Night Out on the Town

One night we went out to the famous Raffles Hotel and then to Halia, one of our favorite restaurants located right in the middle of the lush greenery of the Botanical Gardens. We had a special table reserved for the evening, and the food and wine were divine.

Visitors: Singapore Flyer and Merlion

We took ChiChi and TaTi to ride on the Singapore Flyer so they could see the city from a "bird's eye view"! We also visited the Merlion statue and took a river boat cruise around the downtown area. While we were sightseeing LOTS of people wanted to get their photos taken with the girls, and one guy wanted his picture taken with ChiChi and I!! We laughed about that and thought it was funny he wanted his picture taken with us!

Visitors: Zoo and Bird Park

We started our day at the Singapore Zoo with "Breakfast with the Orangutans". As we ate we got to see the orangutans up close and had our picture made with them! After breakfast TaTi and ChiChi took the girls to see a big snake and PE touched it (YIKES!). We had great fun at the zoo! ChiChi and TaTi's favorite part was looking at the gardening area and discovering what plants, fruits, and veggies grow in this part of the world! And of course, ChiChi LOVED viewing all of the various orchids!

We also ventured to the Bird Park and Night Safari (at the zoo). The birds were very friendly and enjoyed sipping on the sweet drink we offered them! Baby Girl stuck her finger out to a bird and the bird bit it!! She was okay, I think it just scared her!!

Visitors: Hawker Stand on East Coast

Singapore is known for "hawker stands". They are ALL OVER Singapore! Outdoor vendors are set up and offer breakfast, lunch, and dinner, which include a variety of food (Chinese, Muslim, Indian, Malay). The prices are reasonable (you can eat a meal for as little as $2.50 Sing~~ $1 US) and the food is ready immediately. The girls and Daddy love the food, especially Baby Girl! You can see in the picture she is eating and eating and eating! We were all finished and she just kept eating~she tried food from everyone's plate!! The only thing I will eat at a hawker stand is Singapore's signature dish: Chicken Rice. Eating at a hawker stand is a unique experience in Singapore~it's not the most sanitary experience and napkins are not given with your food order, you have to buy them! There are always lots of Singaporeans eating at hawker stands so sometimes you have to wait for a table. I did learn not sit where I saw a balled up kleenex, because that is how Singaporeans "save a seat"!!

We took ChiChi and TaTi to the hawker stand on the East Coast, at the beach near our house and they enjoyed the food and the experience.

We had such a great time with our visitors and they promised to come back to Singapore again!!

Pottery Jungle

I went with a group of friends to a shopper's paradise!!! We visited the Pottery Jungle, where they have a dragon kiln that they fire up a few times a week! The kiln is ~~years old. It is so large that you can WALK INSIDE of it! We were told that the custom before firing the kiln is to light candles and incense and pray. It was a wonderful day looking at all of the gorgeous Asian pottery for sale!! I even bought a bowl to go on our dining room table!

Walking Tour: Arab Street

I participated in a 3 hour walking tour of the Arab Street area and learned so much information about Singapore! The streets were lined with colorful shophouses (a store on the bottom level and apartments up above) that sold exotic perfumes, prayer rugs, jewelry, and food; all that catered to the Malayan and Islamic communities. I visited the grounds of the old Royal Palace and toured the Sultan Mosque (the building with the big golden ball shape). In order to go inside the mosque, men and women had to be covered from neck to below the knee~~(little skin could be shown)! Muslims are required to wash their bodies 5 times a day, each time before they pray! Individual prayer rugs are incorporated into the carpet design inside the mosque, which allow every person to have their own space and thousands can be in the mosque at once! The Sultan Mosque sits on the street facing Mecca, therefore it is not aligned with the buildings on either side of it. Did you know that when Muslims are buried, their head faces toward Mecca?

PE: School and Ballet

PE began taking ballet classes in September and she LOVES it! She will participate in a class performance in November so I hope to post pictures of that!

PE's school celebrated Children's Day with lots of stations set up for the students to play various games. They tossed rings, balanced an egg on a spoon while walking on a balance beam, got tattoos, and ate lots of snacks! I volunteered that day and had a great time being involved and getting to know some of the children in PE's class!

Bugs, Bugs, and MORE Bugs!

Daddy brought bugs and all kinds of "dried creatures" home from Thailand for us to sample (they really do eat all kinds of creatures in Thailand!!). Of course PE and I would not DARE to taste, even after Daddy cooked them!! One person in the family did try them and she seemed to enjoy tasting them~~(YUCK!!) Baby Girl enjoyed the bugs and she loved getting all of the attention from the family as she continued to sample different ones!!

Artists Hard at Work

The girls LOVE to paint!! On this day, we talked about making new colors by mixing colors!