Theemidhi Fire Walking Festival

We went to this event almost a month ago, but better late than never to post about, right? I didn't know before moving here, but Hindus around the world have a major celebration every year known as Deepavali, or the Festival of Lights. The streets around the area here in Singapore known as "Little India" are decorated in banners of bright lights and you will see people everywhere dressed in their finest clothes.

Here's a link to more information about Deepavali: Hindu Festivals. Toward the end of this celebration there is a festival where men will walk barefoot across coals at the Sri Marimman Temple. We were able to go watch with a friend and dragged our poor Olivia with us in the hiking backpack. She is a trooper!

Enjoy the pictures. We couldn't get very close because the crowds were amazingly tight, so a lot of the pictures are of the surrounding festivities versus the actual fire walking.

New House

I'm way behind on posting. I'll make it a goal this week to put up some pictures from the past few weeks. It's been a busy time. We had a sick girl, and then moved into our house and got our boat shipment from the states.

For now, I'm just going to post one picture. Money to the person who can figure out what everything means! I didn't realize I needed a decoder ring to use my washer. And yes, I have consulted the manual. It tells you how to turn the washer on, but gives no instructions as to how to actually wash your clothes. I've told Troy he needs to give me some sticky notes to put by all the symbols, because he can decode some of it.

xoxo, Nicole

Shopping

Here's a little game. Guess which person in our family picked which "comfort" item when we went grocery shopping this last week. Double points if you can guess the price. We're slowly learning that sometimes it can be hard to find reasonably-priced items here that we're used to paying low prices for in America. (As a hint, these aren't priced as high as some items you can buy cheaply in America. Still more expensive, though).

 Ready for the answers? Troy picked popcorn. Niki picked the pumpkin, and Olivia picked corn on the cob. Hers was cheapest at under $1. The pumpkin was $9, while the three bags of microwavable popcorn were about $7. 

Haircuts, Beach & Deepavali

We had a busy Saturday last week. It was the first chance we have really had since we got here to look around and play without feeling the effects of jet lag, so we took advantage of the day. First on the agenda was to get our girlie a haircut. 

Not so sure at first, but after getting treats and a balloon and watching "Dora," we think she's a fan of haircuts. Had to include the bottom pictures. They're of Livvy in the "alligator" (what she calls the elevator) and also a shot of the millions of escalators you can ride in the mega-malls here in Singapore. 

 After a haircut, brief drive to Sentosa for the beach! How would you like your first beach experience to be in Southeast Asia? Seriously, our girlie has the life. I love the picture of her and Troy below. He's got a pretty cute little girlfriend there.

You'd think the beaches would have spectacular views here in Singapore, but it's funny, all you can see are cargo ships!

 After the beach, we decided to check out Little India. Right now, there is a celebration called Deepavali going on. It's commonly referred to as the "festival of lights." The streets in Little India right now are decked out with all sorts of beautiful light displays and everyone is wearing beautiful new outfits.

 A large and very hot tent where all sorts of goods and clothing are being sold in Little India.

 We were sweating like crazy. Poor Livvy was dripping wet. She feel asleep through most of our sojourn through the tent. I bought a cold water bottle just to keep on her neck to keep her cool.

Our girl perked right up, though once we got some water and food in her and showed her the "pretty" dress we had bought for her in Little India. She loves this dress. We had major tears when we tried to take her out of it. She wore it for three straight days and wanted to sleep with it at night. Made her daddy happy that she was so pleased. Wonder if he'll buy me a dress next if I act that way?! :)

From Sandy to Singapore

We finally have our computer! We only had a limited amount of space on our air shipment here, and one of the most important things we chose to pack was our computer. Now I can finally download pictures. So, for your viewing pleasure, a few pictures that show what we did the past three weeks. 

 In her room before we packed it up. 

 "Don't worry, I got it." We didn't get a picture, but this mover actually picked up the mattress with one hand and carried it to the cargo crate. 

 12 pieces of luggage, plus a stroller and car seat. 

 The view out our window the first morning (4 am.)

 China Town. Taken the first week before we succumbed to jet lag and decided to spend the rest of our nights...sleeping. 

 Little turtles at the Botanic Gardens. Livvy loved them!

 Botanic Gardens. 

 Olivia's mad organizing skills. You'll notice if you look close how all the animals are categorized together by species. Troy and I are in a fight over who gave our girl the type-A, OCD genes. 

 Major shopping center across the street, Ion Orchard. 

 Swimming at the hotel. Sorry all you Utah folks with snow. 

 Our temporary housing. It's actually serviced, which means the cleaning fairly shows up once a day. I think Troy might be in for a shock when we move to our new place and realizes the cleaning fairy only lives in serviced apartments. 

 Olivia has a new-found love for escalators and elevators. She calls them both "alligators."

 Pig statues in the food court. Olivia likes to pet them. 

 The children's section of the Botanic Gardens. 

 More mad organizing skills. Same animals, different location. And no, I didn't help. 

 Our air shipment! And it has toys!

Not so organized now. But we're in heaven. 

Bomb Shelters & Yuan

How much would you pay for a bomb shelter in your house?

For Troy and I, we decided it was worth a little extra than what his company allocated to us for housing to have the added comfort of a bomb shelter in our Singaporian home.

Not only are they good in the case of say, a bomb, but they also double as a great storage place. Some people also use them as a bedroom for their live-in helper/maid. Can't tell you how many real estate agents we had point out the fact that these bomb shelters, despite being fully encased in metal, and quite tiny, have ventilation  so they'd be appropriate for someone to live in. Yikes is all I can say.

Also, not quite 100 percent sure on the background of these bomb shelters, but one person told us they began being required after 9-11 and are not required in new buildings anymore. But, you can find apartments older than 2001 with the shelters, too.

Either way, we love the idea of the added storage space. There's not much in the way of storage for odds and ends here. We still aren’t 100 percent final on our apartment, but we’ve signed a letter of intent. Now we’re just waiting for a check from Troy’s company to seal the deal. If we get the space, we plan to use our bomb shelter to store about a year’s worth of diapers I smuggled into the country (don’t tell). Diapers here retail for about $40 for a box of 80. Compare that the Sam’s Club special of about 300 diapers for about $36. Other boxes and odds and ends are going to be in it, too.

We’ve been adjusting well here. Some days are harder than others. We miss the comforts of home such as family and our cars. It takes a lot longer to do things here. But we think we’ll really enjoy our time here.

Right now, we’re staying along the main shopping district in Singapore. We’ve made it our goal to eat as much exotic food (well, as exotic as my pregnant stomach can manage) as we can while Troy’s company is helping foot the bill. There is a massive food court across the street from us, so we generally eat there. Inside, they have all these cool statues of random creatures, including one by the name of Yuan.

Livvy is in love with Yuan.  I think he does something for her. He's basically a modern-art sculpture of some kind of buffalo. She passes him and says “Yuan!” Too cute.

Hopefully we’ll get our computer on Thursday, so I’ll be able to post pictures then. 

Singapore!

Today will mark a week since we arrived in Singapore. It’s been rather eventful. I feel as if I haven’t really had a chance yet to get homesick or really comprehend this little adventure we’ve just begun to undertake.

I’m sure it will start to hit in the next few weeks as Troy starts work and Livvy and I are left to figure out new routines and make new friends in our new hometown. But for now, here’s an update on our adventures so far:

After a whirlwind three days of packing up our home and cleaning it up to be rented, we set off on a nearly 24 hour trip by airplane to get here. It was almost comical at times. Between the three of us, we had six suitcases and six carryon items. That doesn’t include Livvy’s massive car seat and stroller. You should have seen us walking in the airport in Salt Lake. We had the bed of my dad’s truck filled. Walking in, my mom carried Livvy (asleep in her carseat) while Troy, my dad and I each had a backpack and two suitcases each. It took a while for the gate agent to get us checked in. Guess it’s not often people book a one-way ticket.

We then got on a short flight to Los Angeles. Then from there, an 18-hour plane ride to Singapore. We booked our flight on Singapore Airlines, so the three of us had a chair wide enough to fit two people. The best part was, it folded into a bed. I actually got about 7 hours of sleep with Livvy trading off between sleeping on top of Troy and I. There were also about 10 flight attendants that waited on us hand-and foot. They were so cute with our little Livvy, bringing her stickers and even a little stuffed animal.

Upon arrival, we had to collect all our bags and then figure a way to push them all to our waiting taxi. We got to our hotel about 5 a.m. This is when my first bout of homesickness hit. I blame the humidity. Our hotel, while nice, just felt wet and dank. And I was tired. And it just hit that this wasn’t another vacation Troy and I were embarking on.

After sleeping a few hours, we toured the main shopping street in Singapore, Orchard Road. We ate at McDonalds. Sad, I know. Then off to our room for more sleep!

On Sunday, we went to church at the local LDS expat ward. It was a wonderful experience. People were so welcoming and helpful and went out of their way to determine if we were new to the ward. We’re excited to be a part of such a wonderful network of people.

Monday and Tuesday this week, Troy went to work, so Livvy and I were left to fend for ourselves. We weren’t so brave on Monday. I blame jetlag and an upset stomach from some curry food the night before (being pregnant isn’t the best when it comes to new foods). But Tuesday, we visited the city’s Botanic Gardens. Gorgeous, although incredibly humid. It reminded me of the rain forests in Peru, with the amount of trees and flowers. Livvy loved the water features there and was also excited to see little turtles in a pond.

The past three days we have spent hunting for our new house. It’s been quite an experience and a little stressful. We saw at least 10 apartments and our choice boiled down to two: The gorgeous and spacious low-rise apartment (on the third floor of a small complex), or the small, but brand new high-rise on the 25^th floor of a large complex with a park and incredible swimming pool.

Craziness. I’ll have to post some pictures as soon as I have a computer where I can download my cards. For now, enjoy our hopelessly long blog post!