Harriett the Spy

At Drew's physical therapy appointment, they confirmed he has sciatica, and they gave him numerous exercises to start working things out. On top of that, I have cold, so Drew and I are a couple of lame ducks over here. Good thing we just bought our own version of the poppy couch.

Spending so much time in our apartment made me remember how much I wanted to be a spy when I was a kid. We are surrounded on every side by other tall high rises, each with dozens of families in them. At night, I can spy on them doing their family things. Eating dinner, watching TV, see the helpers cleaning; then I start to daydream what the families are like, how they get along, what their family issues are ( because every family has issues) etc. Each apartment in a building has the same layout, so I see the same view in every window within a stack, so its cool to compare how each family makes the space different. If anyone wants to encourage this childish and slightly creepy habit of mine, feel free to buy me a nice set of binoculars, so that I can branch out to other buildings. :)

Sincerely, Harriett the Spy

Burgers! And the Blind

Yesterday for lunch, we went to a burger joint and I had a real Tex-mex burger. It wasn't the best Tem Mex burger I have ever had, but it was a burger, and that's what counts.

Drew is doing marginally better. He is going to a physical therapist today to hopefully get either a second opinion or some useful exercises. He is still walking around like an old man, so needless to say, something needs tweaking. Will let you know how it goes.

We haven't been doing much the last couple of days, obviously, so I will continue with the cultural tidbits.

1. Paths for the blind. On every major side walk here, stairs etc., there are raised bumps to tell the blind where to go. Different patterns mean different things. Straight long bumps mean, you are on a safe sidewalk and you can keep going. A set of short round bumps mean, you have hit an intersection, please wait til it's safe to cross. Then whenever the green walking man is illuminated, there is a binging noise they can hear. On stairs, There are more small bumps meaning stairs are starting, and then more signaling theyre over. Pretty cool huh? I've never seen this developed of a system for blind people in any city, but I have also yet to see any blind people use it. Sometimes I do, just for fun.

2. Use of the close elevator door. Whenever we are in an elevator with anyone, as soon as someone leaves or gets on, another passenger immediately uses the "close elevator door" button. It's like the entire city was trained on how to most efficiently use elevators. For a city where everyone walks so slow, I am surprised this is considered such a necessary time saving technique. But, then again, almost every building in this city is a high rise, so maybe it is.....hmmm....we should have a race. One American who walks fast but doesn't use the close elevator door button versus an Asian who walks slow and does use the button. Starting from four blocks away, with a 50 story building where people enter and exit every floor, who would reach the top floor first? Mathematicians commence your scribbling! Assume zero congestion on the sidewalks ( sounds as silly as assuming no friction huh?) and assume no bellboys are getting on with luggage racks etc.

Tidbits and Nerves

Well, first thing, it seems Drew is starting to show his age. He is almost 29 you know :) Two nights ago at volleyball, Drew was jump serving and afterwards starting to experience alot of pain in his leg. His original thought was that he re-injured his hamstring from a strain a few years ago. We spent most of yesterday trying to find a doctor, which was a real trip. First, I accidentally sent him to a gynecologist. Needless to say, they wouldn't look at him. Ooops. Then, Drew went to a general practitioner who only said, you need to see an orthopaedic specialist, and referred us to someone who was not in that day. Finally, we found an orthopedic doctor. He thinks that Drew actually has sciatica, or lower back nerve problems due to spinal cord compression instead of a hamstring strain. This makes sense as Drew has been working much longer hours here in Hong Kong, increasing his sitting time. He also didn't suddenly start feeling the pain after one jump serve, like a pull would do. So, for the moment, he is on pain meds, anti-inflammatories, and rest. Once the initial pain goes away, he will most likely be on some kind of back stretching routine. I think now my Dad, Brian, and Steph's husband Kane have all dealt with this at one point or another. You too Stu? Apparently sitting for long periods of time really is bad for you. Anyways, keep Drew in your prayers for some initial pain relief.

A few more cultural tidbits.

1. Holding Hands. Public displays of affection are not uncommon here. Teenagers for sure are all over each other, as is typical in most countries. But what I found interesting was the number of older couples still holding hands as well as grown-ups with their even older parents. The old couples are very cute. Sometimes, it seems the holding hands is more to keep from getting separated or to support one another as they bumble along, instead of actual affection. But, at they end they are still holding hands aren't they? How many older couples do you know that still hold hands? It's very endearing to see. The adult kids to the parents is even more interesting. Both grownup sons and daughters will hold their parent's hand, again likely for support and direction, but it's cool to see. I think it shows how much more the Asian culture respects the older generations. The next tidbit also ties in.

2. People in Hong Kong walk surprisingly slow. In most U.S. large cities, people fly around, walking as fast as they can, because there is always somewhere to be. It is very different here in Hong Kong. Perhaps, it's because the typical Asian is shorter than me and therefore has shorter strides, but I am constantly running into the backs of people. And I don't even walk that fast; Drew can attest to that. Or maybe Hong Kongers have figured out that if they walk slower, they are less likely to sweat in the high humidity, which is true. Or perhaps it is because there is still a large amount of older folks walking around, and everyone purposefully slows down to accommodate them. Or perhaps there is some Confucianist philosophy coming into play. Rushing around creates chaos, which Confucianism tries to avoid. Everything is much more orderly if everyone walks slower and at a similar pace. Or perhaps there is just too many people to walk fast. I'm not sure what it is, but the slowness exists for whatever reason, and most newbies to Hong Kong notice it. Both of my Mandarin classmates commented on this same thing.

Finally some funny pics for the road. The first is a box of Milo cereal. I saw it at the grocery store and had to try it for Leah's sake. Yes, it tastes very similar to Coco Puffs. And yes, Drew, I have been hiding it from you for the past few days. Don't worry, there is still some left!

The next is an inside joke for Leah and I. Not sure where this jingle come from, but we say it whenever we actually do something brilliant, just to remind ourselves that a blonde moment (which happens much more frequently than our brilliant moments) is just around the corner. "I am so smrt. S-M-R-T." Needless to say, the Singapore transit system is called the "Singapore Mass Rapid Transit."

Finally, this was the view from our apartment yesterday. A beautiful sunny afternoon, which Drew got to longingly stare at from his position on the couch. Rough day, love. Feel better soon.

Spaceships and Steel Trees

On our last day in Singapore, Drew and I spent the morning in the Gardens by the Bay, a park filled with these tall steel trees that were covered in moss, vines etc. I think they were supposed to be works of art celebrating nature. Interesting none the less.

Also by this park was a very cool hotel called Marina Sands. It had three towers joined by a large roof top. The end result looks like a space ship.

This is just one example of the amazing architecture we saw in Singapore. Some was old and rustic, like what we saw in Little India, and some was shiny, new, and inventive.

Also, a few more cool tidbits that I couldn't add to yesterday's long post. Our hostel was located right by the Clark Quay, which is a good place for chili crab and going out. We saw a ton of young people hanging out on a foot bridge near this area, drinking away. We thought it was funny that all these kids were drinking on the bridge instead of inside the bars, but a Swiss lady in my Mandarin class explained it to me. Drinking in bars is very expensive (something we have certainly noticed in Hong Kong, and the same is true for Singapore). So, instead of pregaming at a bar before going to a club, the kids just drink their own store bought alcohol in a public place, like the bridge, then go clubbing. Some even hide booze near the club, and sneak out to drink a bit while there. I realized why this doesn't happen openly in America; drinking in public places from open glass containers is normally not allowed. Hence, the invention of the American house party, instead of the Singaporean bridge party. Needless to say, Drew and I must be getting old, because we did not participate.

In Little India near a kid's playground were these outdoor aerobic machines. Bikes, elipticals, and a moon walker! So funny; I'm curious to see if anyone ever uses them! There is no way to increase the difficulty, so I'd imagine it would be pretty boring. 

Last but not least, in the Singaporean airport, Drew and I indulged with a little taste of home. Nothing beats Dunkin Donuts coffee!

Indian Reincarnated

On our second day in Singapore, we spent the majority of our day eating our way through Little India and the Muslim Quarter. The city is filled with these open air eateries called hawker shops, or markets filled with cubicle like stalls that sell incredibly delicious and incredibly cheap food. The stalls are in rows and in the middle is cafeteria like seating. We made a point to try as many dishes with as much variation as possible.

Meal 1: At local hawker shop a few blocks from our hotel. The particular stall was very famous with the locals because it used two kinds of noodles, both with require different cooking times. So, being able to cook both in the same wok and have it come out successfully is impressive. It also had egg (kind of like pad thai), some type of brown umami sauce, and clams. The clams were small, so you'd be eating, would bite into one unknowing, and would experience a surprise rush of salt and fish flavour. Very good. For Meal 1b, had a pancake filled with peanut butter, and another filled with red bean paste. The peanut butter one reminder me of Grandpa Bloch. Just add syrup, and you have one of his breakfast classics!

Next we took the MRT (their subway) to Little India. First, we walked around another hawker shop (but didn't eat). On the second floor of the shop were 20 stalls all selling the most beautiful saris. There was every color and every type of beading possible. They had both the dresses, with the sports bra like top and long sashes, as well as the longer shirts with the side slit and leggings called pant suits. Before I leave SE Asia, I want to buy at least the top half of a pant suit. They are just so beautiful.

We then walked around and saw several Hindu temples. They were very elaborately decorated, especially the roofs. You had to take your shoes off always before entering. Some temples were busier than others; perhaps the particular god is admired by more people, not sure.

We also stopped at a Buddhist temple that had a giant Buddha inside, over 3 stories tall. There was also a relic there, a branch from the tree under which the prince gained enlightenment and actually became the Buddha. Pretty cool!

Another thing that was really cool about Little India was the brightly colored buildings. Many had almost European architecture, but were then painted in very bright colors. The multiple colored one was by far my favorite. Drew, of course, liked the MI house.

Also in little India is a shopping area called the Mustafa Center. It's like a mall with everything you could ever need inside. One floor for groceries, one floor for tolietries, one floor for clothes, another for electronics, one for dishes and cooking utensils etc. I bet this store had several million dollars worth of inventory inside that building. And it is the only truly one stop shop place I have ever seen.

Meal #2: We stopped at a shop for doshi, which is a large potato pancake filled with cooked veggies that you dipped into one of three sauces. A real Indian vegetarian dish. Also had a mango lassi to go with it. The mangos here are amazing.

Meal #3: We had South Indian Food at a place called Banana Leaf Apolo. To this point, we've only had North Indian food, which uses naan. South Indian food, while having similar tiki marsalas, etc. is served on a banana leaf and is eaten with your hands. Not a very efficient way to eat, but alot of fun and very good food. 

After that, it was time to move on to the Muslim Quarter. Much smaller in area, we spent only an hour here or so. Saw the huge Mosque (but didn't go inside) as well as several fabric shops with beautiful fabrics with the most ornate patterns to be turned into burkas.

After the Muslim Quarter, our feet were hurting pretty badly, so we went to the Raffles Hotel, a very hoity toity place that has catered to rich, middle aged visitors for several decades. We stopped by the legendary Long Bar, home of the original Singapore Sling which is a very fruity cocktail. I, or course, had the Singapore Sling, while Drew tried a house martini. The martini was served in nestled glasses, the bottom of which had a chunk of dry ice and made the whole glass look like it was steaming. The only bad part about the experience was the price of the drinks, $25 each. So we sipped very slowly, and made sure to eat our weight's worth in peanuts which you can crack and then leave the shells on the floor. Hey, it's all about the atmosphere right?

Last stop of the day was for meals #4, #5, and #6. We went to another hawker shop in a suburb outside of the main city. Meal #4 was a meat in delicious sauce and rice combo. #5 was more of a drink break for delicious chai, also known as Masala tea. Meal #6 was for putu piring, which was steamed rice flour rolls filled with brown sugar and covered in coconut. Sweet and delicious way to end the day!

At the end of the day, I realized that if indeed reincarnation does exist, I was previously an Indian. Considering the number of people in this world who are either Chinese or Indian, there stands a good chance that this was the case. Also, I love Indian food, LOVE chai, love the beautiful saris, and love the music and how they love to dance to it. Everyone says don't bother visiting India as a tourist due to poverty and dirtiness, but I think I have to go someday!

Lions, Tigers, and Bears, Oh My

Today, Drew and I spent 10 hours viewing animals spread over three different parks: the Singapore Zoo, Nighttime Safari which is a zoo for nocturnal animals, and the River Safari which is part aquarium part zoo. The amazing part was, there was always more to see. Not once did we get bored and think, "well, we have an hour to kill, what do we do now?" Between live shows, animal feeding etc, we saw a ton, and it was great. The Singapore Zoo is considered one of the best zoos in the world, and I totally believe it. There was way more jungle than concrete (which is not the case for American zoos), and often time the exhibits were "open," meaning we could walk through, or ride through on a tram, the different exhibits to really get an up close view of the animals. For instance, there was a squirrel monkey exhibit, where the monkeys were literally climbing on the fences next to you, running on the sidewalks so you had to make sure you didnt accidentally step on one... etc. One of them took a shine to Drew's wedding ring and tried to go after his hand a few times. I think Drew got a small monkey nibble in the process (no, it did not break skin, nothing to worry about). It was so cool to be that close to the animals. However, it was 90 degrees and humid all day, so, needless to say, Drew and I were a sweaty mess the whole time.

We saw several shows, including an Asian elephant show were the elephants did tricks as encouraged by their trainers, or mahouts. Apparently, elephants and their mahouts develop very deep bonds, and are often inseparable. These elephants were very clever, not only able to do tricks on command and show feats of strength, such as pulling around huge logs etc., but also able to participate in comedic acts like not getting up when the trainer would tell it to, demanding food for a trick, and so on. Very fun show.

We also went to the "Creatures of the Night" show which is the main show for the Night Safari. Basically. they would show us different nocturnal animals up close. The cutest guys were a pair of otters that were trained to separate out different types of recyclable materials, aluminum, plastic, and paper, and put them in the appropriate recycle bins.

Saw a tiger feeding and a lion feeding. At the lion feeding, there was an entire pride of Asian lions. Asian lions only live on this tiny little sliver in India, and apparently there are only 300 left of them in the wild, so this was very special. There were two males, which actually didn't eat anything during the feeding. maybe 3 moms, and 3 or 4 cubs fighting over the scraps the whole time. Very cool to see.

Most memorable animals:
1. Giant panda bear: Jia Jia, who was thoroughly concerned with eating his bamboo
2. Manatees! and cute, pudgy manatee babies.
3. The interactive squirrel monkey exhibit.
4. Asian lion pride
5. Raccoon, representing North America!
6. Interactive bat exhibit. Had 'flying foxes" which were the largest bats I've ever seen. Size of squirrels
7. Sleeping jaguar very close to the glass
8. Asian elephants
9. Baby joey in Kanga Roo's pouch
10. Kamodo Dragon

Enjoy all of the pics! Also, Leah, had a lavendar pudding with dinner that was pitch perfect.

Singapore Here We Come!

Hello everyone,

This is more a note for our parents than anything. Today begins our three day weekend in Singapore. We just arrived and made it to our hostel, City Centre Backpackers, no problem. Tomorrow is the Singapore Zoo, Nighttime Safari, and River Safari to see Giant pandas! Lots of pics to come. Hostel has good wifi, so should be able to blog frequently.

Love you all!

The Good and the Bad

First, I wanted to say that my thoughts go out to those in Boston. It was weird waking up to that this morning, realizing that to me this was a very big deal, but to others here, they might have no idea where Boston is. It would be like if someone told you "there was a bombing in such and such Chinese city." Other than probably HK, Beijing, and Shanghai, any other city would elicit minimal response. We have no context for it. We know nothing about the people there, what their life is like, etc. We'd probably feel slightly bad for a minute, but we'd soon forget about it. However, if it's a place we know, and people we know are there, it becomes a much bigger deal. For me, I think it's best to remember that it is always a big deal to someone.

Moving on to less intense topics, our couch arrived last night. It looks really nice in the space, and is super comfy. Trig, for now, is not allowed on it, but we'll see how long that lasts. I will post a pic tonight.

I also made another blonde mistake today. The YWCA was putting on a coffee talk, that I thought was this morning. I think you sit around with other expat women and drink coffee, and listen to a speaker that they bring in. Well, like I said, I thought it was this morning, but as it turns out, I read the email wrong, and it's actually tomorrow. So, I commuted 40 min to get here, only to see a bunch of old white guys in the conference room where it was supposed to be. Old white guys was an immediate red flag :) But, on the bright side of things, I met a lovely girl named Olivia at the bus stop on the way there. She lives in my exact building only 8 floors down. She was very easy to talk to, and despite being only out of high school was very mature. And she likes dogs, so perhaps she could help out with Trig sometimes..... So, I'm going to say that God instilled that blonde moment in me so that I would meet her.

The Dog Hair Lady

This morning, movers came to remove all of our rental furniture, as we are getting our couch delivered this afternoon. They were coming at 9am, so I woke up at 8am to do the dishes and find all the stuff they were taking away. Mostly it was a few pieces of furniture, kitchen stuff, and linens. Well I was right in the middle of cleaning Trig's hair off the couch they were coming to remove when they arrived. I looked around and suddenly noticed the entire apartment was covered in Trig's hair balls. I hadn't swept all weekend, and now it looked like a bunny kill zone. There was nothing for it, but to let them in and see the mess. They came in, and I could see it in their eyes. They were thinking, "this crazy white lady lives like this? Amongst her dogs fur balls? She reaaallly needs a helper..." I know when they go back to the warehouse, they will be referring to me as the "dog hair lady". It was bad, I admit. And I did notice it, just didn't have time that morning to sweep. Sure, the movers are telling me. Sure.... I felt like Monica, when she and Chandler are trying to keep their relationship a secret. "I know, I'm disgusting...."

A quarter of what I swept up after they left.

Dragon Boat Racing and Beertopia

Last Sat., Drew had another dragon boat practice for the big race coming up in the middle of June. The practices are always held at Stanley Beach. This time we took Trig along and actually drove our car down there. I only took us down a wrong turn 3 times, and Drew was marvelously patient, despite the stressful situation. At the beach we saw loads of wind surfers. Some were just learning in the shallows. There is also a pic of an actual drag boat. It's basically a really long metal canoe. While drew was practicing, I took Trig for a nice long walk. During the walk, we went to a point overlooking the bay where he was practicing. We also saw a real cricket match being played by teens. I didn't realize they really do wear all white while playing. I thought it was only a Downton Abbey thing. We also saw a junk boat with the pirate looking red sails; sorry it's pretty small in the pic. Finally, we walked out to another small beach called St. Stephens Beach. It was very pretty with a nice view back to Stanley Market.

After Stanley, Drew and I went with the Chicago couple to a beer festival called Beertopia. Got to try 10 different beers. There were probably 20 different brewers with 5 or 6 beers each, so lots to choose from. New Belgium was not there, surprisingly. But, Rogue Brewery, which is a brewery from Portland, OR which drew and I got to visit last fall, was there! They make my favorite beer, called Hazelnut Brown Nectar. It's wonderful, and I couldn't believe I was having literally my favorite beer on the opposite side of the world. Also found a Honey Lager by Whistler Brewery that's worth another taste. Finally, there was a Singaporean brewery that was out of a Honey Apricot ale I wanted to try. So, hopefully when we go there next weekend, we will find it.

Overall, very great Sat.