Odds and Ends Singapore

OUR PETS

The fountain in the front yard is charming. When I think I am too homesick I sit by it and try to chill out. The little orange fish in the fountain cheer me up. They are not the only pets that came with the house. We have a cute little gecko. I found him in our bedroom under the stack of laundry. Our next door neighbor, Parker, begged me to name the gecko "Parker" and is thrilled to have something named after him. Apparently we want to keep the gecko in the house because we probably don't want his food source in the house. There is a happy little thought for you to think about.

TRASHY

The garbage man comes everyday! No smelly garbage on our street. They recycle and I didn't know that which explains why our recycling can hasn't been emptied all week. So actually, we have very smelly garbage.

MONKEY ROAD

You have already heard me talk about how nice and friendly the expats are. We have been taken care of in so many ways. It really helps with the transition. My sweet neighbor, Mindy, fed us 3 times (and she's not the only one!), let us borrow an endless list of home goods (including a bed), and drove me around to grocery/home good stores. Yesterday after a delicious meal of various sorts of greasy naan she drove me down Monkey Road (old upper Thompson road) and true to it's name, there were plenty of monkeys! They run right up to the car along signs that say "Don't Feed The Monkeys!" Of course, there are monkeys! Why was I so surprised?

SINGING IN THE RAIN

It rains nearly everyday. We run out and watch raindrops that hit like water balloons. Eventually we will probably be all hoohum about the rain, but it is quite a novelty right now. There was just a big BOOM and now it is raining again. I asked the landlord if I needed to water the front garden and he looked at me as if I was crazy. This is a RAINFOREST for crying out loud.

one of the 7 story malls

SEASONAL THINKING

I find myself thinking that I should load up on fruit and start freezing stuff before summer ends and all these delicious melons, mangos, papayas, and veggies are gone. Then I remember, oh! I live in Singapore where it is summer 360 days a year! This morning when Ike left for seminary I thought how handsome he looked in his summery school uniform and then panicked for a moment when I realized I didn't bring winter clothes! What would he wear come November when the blizzards hit!?! It may take a bit to get rid of the the seasonal thinking.

OFFICIAL WELCOME

Ike and I are excited to visit Roland's office and meet his co-workers. They are hosting a reception for him this evening and we look forward to meeting all the people he has told us about. It sounds like he has a great group of people who have created a family feeling at work.