Little India

Today, we decided to go visit a neighborhood in Singapore, called Little India.  According to WikiTravel:  Little India is, as the name promises, the center for the large Indian community in Singapore.  While a rather sanitized version of the real thing, Little India retains its distinct identity without degenerating into a mere tourist attraction and is one of the most colorful and attractive places to visit in Singapore.

We're staying rather close to Little India right now, but we decided to take the MRT.  Little India is quite large and we didn't think the kids would be up to exploring the entire thing.  The MRT would drop us off very close to one of the large out door markets and we thought it would be fun to explore.  It turned out to be a good plan...

Here's a picture of inside the Nicolls Highway MRT:

Once we got to Little India, we went into the Tekka Centre.  It's a very noisy and crowded market with all kinds of food.  There are a lot of smells, some good, some not so good!  It was noisy and smelly and hot and crowded.  But, very interesting to walk though.

This is just a picture form the street.  There are markets like this all over the place.   

The market on the left sells fresh fruit.  

Here, Madeline is getting Henna on her hand/arm! 

Now it's Lily's turn!

 They had to leave the Henna to dry for about 15 minutes and then it was okay to touch it.  After 2 hours, we could wash it off.  When we were done with the Henna tattoos, we went to lunch.  We found a vegetarian Indian restaurant and had the best Indian food I've ever had!  I don't even know what all we ordered, but it was all delicious.

After lunch, the kids were a little hot and tired, so we decided to head back.  We needed to pick up some more groceries.  You might think I grocery shop a lot...  I can't really buy too much at a time because I have to carry anything that I buy.  Also, it's helpful to go when Scott can go with me, because he can help carry the groceries home too.

I remembered to snap a shot from inside the store...  Today we went to a different grocery store than we have been to.  We were at a different train station.  This store is called Carrefour.  It's a French store,  a lot like a super Walmart or Target.  It was 2 stories, on the first floor it was housewares and clothes and the second floor was groceries.

My kids are getting good at escalators! 

On our walk back to our hotel, we met a Monk from Tibet!  He was very friendly.  We said hello and the children really liked his clothes.  He told us that he just arrived in Singapore today.  We welcomed him and said that we only just arrived this week.  He thought Lily, Madeline and Wyatt were very sweet.

All over the city today, we saw little offerings like this.  There was a lot of incense burning and food set out.  Usually fruit, but sometimes food like what is pictured here.  Usually some kinds of baked bread too.  In Little India, there was also candles burning.  The smell of incense filled the city air.  I need to read up on this and understand what it is for.

My daughters sporting their new Saris.  

Henna Tattoos.  Lily

 Madeline

The girls each picked out a pretty dress from one of the street markets.  Lily didn't want to pose in hers, but Madeline was willing.  So, here she is!

Singapore Flyer

Today we decided that we wanted to take a trip on the big observation wheel that we can see from our apartment windows.  The Singapore Flyer.  We walked up to our closest MRT station and it was just one stop over and then a 5 minute walk up to the Flyer.  

We got our tickets and then got in line.  I could tell that the building supporting the base of the Flyer is made to hold a lot of people waiting in very long lines.  We were lucky though, the line was quite short.  We waited less that 10 minutes.

The wheel never stops, so we boarded as it was moving.  Since it wasn't that crowded, they didn't fill the capsule to it's max.  I think the max it can hold is 28 people.  I think we had maybe 16 people in ours.

Beneath the loading area, there is a net.  I think it's to catch anybody who might miss their step and fall.  There are several people working to help everyone load safely on and off the flyer.

The tall building on the right side of this picture is our hotel.  Our hotel is located in the Arab part of the city.  You can see some of the building tops on the lower buildings just past our hotel.   

Mom and Dad seen through Madeline's eyes.

The capsule below us.

We're at the top!

The tallest building on the left side is a new casino/hotel that has recently opened.  The Sands.  It has three towers that make up the base.  It has 60 floors!  On the top is a large surf board or boat looking piece that connects the three towers.  On it is a beautiful garden and another hotel.  Amazing architecture!

A view of all the boats in the harbor.  Singapore has one of the busiest ports in the world.

This construction site is for the Gardens By The Bay.  It will be finished in June 2012.

We really enjoyed our ride on the Singapore Flyer.  It took about 30 minutes to make one trip around the wheel.  I have to admit, I was a little nervous.  It's a little scary being up that high.

The weather here has been warm and humid, but it really doesn't bother me.  There's usually a breeze.  When we got back to our hotel yesterday we swam in the hotel pool.  It was lovely, but I was cold!  I let Scott swim with the kids and I got dressed because I was so cold!!  What a surprise.

The Nex

Searching for an apartment was fun.  I loved all of the places that we went to (4 total) and I could see us happy in any of them.  One was a favorite though, and we are in the process of making an offer.  It's a bit complicated because of bank accounts and timing, but we're working it out.  I'll tell you more about the apartment if our offer is accepted.

After visiting the apartments, we stopped at The Nex for lunch.  The Nex will be my main source for shopping and entertainment once we move to the new hood.  It's more than a mall.  It also has grocery stores, the library, a movie theater, tons of restaurants and of course shopping.  It's huge!  I got a couple of pictures...

After lunch, we were returned back to our hotel.  It was about 2:45 PM, and on our way up to our floor, I remembered that there was a scheduled fire drill at 3:00!!!  Oh NO!  The elevators would be shut down and we would be required to exit the building via stairs...  3 kids, 22nd floor... NO THANKS!  So, we turned right around and went back out.  

We've been wanting to try the MRT (subway/train system) and just hadn't yet.  So, we headed over to the Nicolls station on the circle line.  We got passes and took the MRT to a station where we could switch to the green line and then go to Bugis Station.  It was fun!  Easy!  The kids did great with it.  We picked up some more groceries at Bugis and then walked "home".

We had a light dinner and early bath.  The kids watched a movie and then bed.  I read a little in my book and tried to sleep.  I'm pretty excited about the apartment that we are trying to rent.  I really hope it works out.

Dragon Fruit not only comes in the black/white variety, but also black/pink!

I also took these pics of the night sky...

Tomorrow...  I think we'll ride the Singapore Flyer!

Day Two

I woke up this morning with energy and feeling brave.  I was going to venture out today.  I had to.  I can't stay in this little apartment forever.  Time to get out!

Already, the day was going great.  We were all sleeping off and on after 2:00 am, but I felt pretty good and the kids seemed to be okay too.  Scott and I were excited because he was going to spend the day looking at property with a realtor.  It's kinda a big decision, deciding where we are going to live for the duration of our time here.  We've been looking at places online for months.  It's exciting to get out and see some of them!

Scott would be picked up at 10:00 by our realtor, it was 5:00 am.  So, we had some time.  We watched the sun come up and facetimed Papa and Gram and Grandma Cindi.  Facetime is awesome!  We're so happy to have that connection.  I worked on getting our apartment picked up.  I started a load of laundry!

Scott took the girls and they went to explore the little shopping center that is connected to our apartment building.  He came back with muffins and COFFEE!  Whoo hoo!  I hadn't had coffee since the morning we left Austin.  There's a little coffee stand in the basement of the shopping center.  He said there's a little Chinese lady there and she didn't seem to speak English too well, but enough to sell coffee.  She mixed it up and gave it to Scott with these little carrier bags.  The coffee was DELICIOUS!  Usually, I have to mix up some milk and sugar or something, I mean, coffee should taste like candy.  Right?  But, this coffee was delicious just how it was.  I drank it black and loved every sip.

So thankful for my coffee delivery boy!

Scott headed out with the Realtor.  I was a little jealous, I wanted to see the places too, but our plan was for him to go see a ton of places and narrow it down to 3 or 4 and then the kids and I would join for those to pick the final one.  

I decided that I wanted to head out and explore a little too.  So, the kids and I all got dressed and ready to head out.  First, we went to the little shopping center where Scott had gotten the coffee.  It's cute.  Small.  In the basement, there are some food stands and a bakery.  On the first floor and little store that sells personal items (lotion, soap, candy).  We found some Hello Kitty candy that we just couldn't do without, so I made my first purchase.  Strawberry filled marshmallow candy in a pink Hello Kitty wrapper.

Next, I wanted to walk over to the grocery store.  I needed to return to the place of the previous nights disaster.  I had to prove that it was us, not the place.  It would be fine.  I had to go be sure.

We headed down the street.  The girls started picking up these beautiful beautiful pick flowers that had fallen on the ground.  There was a nice breeze.

We got to Bugis Station and easily found the grocery store.  I wanted to check out the shopping center first, so we didn't go in just yet.  There were a lot of escalators.  Escalators are a particular problem for me when I've got all 3 kids and am by myself.  Lily is very good, she gets on and off the escalator as instructed.  Wyatt however, LOVES escalators and runs up to them and jumps on.  We all struggle to keep up.  I'm shouting "Wyatt, wait!!" sigh.  Madeline is TERRIFIED.  She gets really close and then says "NO, NO!" and backs up and won't continue.  By this time, Wyatt and maybe Lily too are already on the Escalator, so I just have to scoop Madeline up and carry her.  This scene repeats about 50 times while we are at Bugis Station.

The shopping area was HUGE!  At least 4 stories tall, all kinds of shops.  Clothes, food, jewelry, perfume, Angry Birds purses.  We went all the way up to the very top (Wyatt insisted).  Up there, there was a juice counter.  We got some fresh juice.  Wyatt got Orange, Madeline and Lily ordered Honeydew and I got SugarCane.  

  Lily didn't like her HoneyDew , so she tried my SugarCane and didn't like it either!

We all laughed so hard at Lily's silly picture.  Madeline and Wyatt needed to make silly faces too.

After our refreshing juice, we headed down to the bottom floor where the grocery store is.  We found some of our favorite foods!  Sugar Snap Peas (called Sugar Beans), Broccoli, pasta, butter, tomatoes.  Yum...  They don't have the Silk Soy Milk that we are used to, so I grabbed 2 different cartons to try.  I filled my basket (hand held basket) and then headed to check out.

I had brought 2 grocery bags with me and I was happy that I did.  I was a little worried about walking back with the kids and carrying my groceries.  Everything fit in my 2 bags and the handles were such that I could sling them over my shoulder.  I could walk comfortably carrying the groceries and have my hands free to hold little hands.

We decided to walk a slightly different way on the way back and we found a Koi Pond!

All three of the kids picked up a bunch of the pretty pink flower from the ground.  When we got back, I put them in a bowl on our table.  You guys were so quick to identify the Dragon Fruit from Day One, does anybody know what these flowers are?

I felt successful.  I had grocery shopped with 3 kids in Singapore.  That's a task even in Austin.  The kids and I ate some lunch and watched a movie on the ipad while we waited for Scott to return.  When he got back, we watched the videos of the apartments he had seen and talked through our choices.  He had chosen 3 from the ones he saw and then wanted to see 1 more.  The kids and I are going to go with him tomorrow!  I can't wait!!

We cooked dinner at home.  Leftover spicy pasta.  Plain noodles with butter.  Tomatoes.  Asian Pears.  Spinach.  The kids were bathed and in bed before 7:00 PM.  Dishes.  Blogging.  More discussion about apartments, bank accounts, train tickets, starting school, etc.  Bed.