Mall Fun

Today we hit the mall to eat breakfast and buy the kids prezzies from Santa.  While eating breakfast this man who works at the mall (he had a name tag) sits down at the table with us and just starts talking.  Kinda weird but I think maybe he was a little "off".  Nice enough but the guy keeps burping.  No hand over the mouth, NOTHING!  I was like, "yeah I normally think that's funny but not from a total stranger who's not even doing it to be funny, rude and totally immature".

So we're picking out presents and Josh is hurrying me along.  I'm starting to get annoyed and he says, "I have to take the biggest dump.  We need to go".  Apparently, he needs to be at home to "take care of business".  So we're walking out and he's heading for the taxi stand.  We live across the street from the mall.  I said, "what are you doing"?  He says, "We're taking a taxi because I have to crap so bad it hurts"!  All I could do was giggle.  During the 3 minute ride he's doing breathing techniques like he's going into labor.

P.S.  I'm washing towels today.  Lovely.

Laundry Wench

Let me tell you, this laundry business sucks ass!  I HATE it!  It's never ending.  The worst part is that I don't have a stinking drier.  I think that's the worst part anyway.  Maybe that and the fact that my washer is ultra small.  A full load consists of four pairs of Josh's shorts.  So do you think I watch CLOSELY for "people" throwing clean clothes on the floor???  Oh yeah!  Then I go into my whole rant about how I'm not here for the sole purpose of cleaning up after everyone.  It's like they think I actually like doing dishes and washing clothes.  My hands are starting to strike.  I have a nice little case of eczema going on the left hand.  Today I noticed a patch on the right hand as well.  I read that you should keep your hands out of the soapy water as much as possible by using the dish washer.  Oh really?  This person has OBVIOUSLY never been to Singapore!  What flipping dish washer???  So I bought some plain white cotton gloves for $15 (what a steal) and am wearing them under my latex gloves when I have to get my hand wet.  My boys are asking if my hand is "real".  They've been watching too much Star Wars.  Speaking of the boys, Sage says to Evan today, "You're a penis".  I couldn't help laughing.  Wrong, I know but it reminded me of the scene in E.T. where Elliott calls his brother "penis breath".  I need to grow up for my kids sake.  Last Saturday Evan said something "smells like butt" and I laughed.  THAT one reminded me of Brad Pitt in the movie, "Kalifornia". I think he says something "tastes like butt".

Sunday Josh took me and the boys to Sky 57 on top of the Marina Bay Sands.  Outstanding view.  The food was good but it's not CUT.  I had this avocado and crab salad that I could have ate 10 of.  I love eating when I feel like I want to lick the plate because it's so good.

December ALREADY?

We have our tree!  It's black with silver glitter tips and red ornament balls.  I wanted to do something completely different this year.  One of the nice things about basically starting over.  The tree matches the apartment decor.  Something else I would not have picked if I was back home.  I likey tho!

I'm also done with my Christmas shopping!  The first time ever that I am done this early.  I wasn't sure what mall traffic was like here in Singapore.  I HATE crowds!  I spent a boat load of cash on the kids presents.  Prices are twice what they are in the U.S.  Now I need to wrap everything, which isn't THAT much.  I also need to send out my Christmas cards.  $1.80 per card plus another $1 to mail.  JEEEZ!  Not sending that many this year AND I'm adding multiple names to one card.  Nothing is CHEAP here!

The boys have one more week of school then they are off for three whole weeks!  I hope I can handle it!  It's a safe bet to say that Josh will be at the restaurant 24/7!  

Good Luck Wishes

Alright.  So apparently the way to congratulate a business opening its doors here is to send a large flower arrangement that looks like it came from a funeral.  Interesting.  I see them around the malls all the time.  I asked Josh if the restaurant received any 'condolence" bouquets and he said, "yes"!  Is that like saying you're dead in the water?  I hope not!  Anyway, I hope he takes a pic for me to put in our scrapbook!  Cheers!

French Encounter

This happened a few months ago but I don't want to forget it.  Evan gets invited to a class mates birthday party.  They're from France.  So I see the kid's Mom after school one day and I go introduce myself.  We are in a crowded, noisy gym.  I can't hear what she's saying so I lean in closer and she goes to kiss my cheek.  I just look at her like, "what are you DOING"? and she says, "oh, I'm from France that's how the French do it".  So I say, "Oh, great.  Let's do it then"!  AWKWARD!   I never felt more American in my life!  I proceed to give her a kiss on each cheek while feeling like a total nimrod!  You might as well stamp, " A M E R I C A N" on my forehead.  I get asked a lot where I'm from (like they can't guess) and I say California.  Like California is it's own country.  Doesn't everyone know where that is???  Once we have established that I'm from the U.S. the next comment is either, "Arnold" or "Obama".  This is when being the "stupid American" comes in handy.  I just stare blankly with no response at all.  Too bad I'm no longer blonde.

Not MY Magic Month!

 It's taking forever to kick this cold!  Thank GAWD my two lovely sisters sent a a nice little stash of Theraflu.  Now I can cope and actually feel like doing something other than lying in bed!  I'm trying not to be bummed that Josh isn't here....EVER.  The one thing I can't handle is when he calls and says he'll be on his way and then something happens and he doesn't show up.  I'd rather just be completely surprised than utterly disappointed!  I can't just flip my emotion switch on and off.  It's also bringing me down that we don't really talk much.  He's SO tired when he gets home that he just nods off. Or I'm already in bed asleep for several hours when he walks in.  This is only going to go on for a few more months....I HOPE!  Then it'll be back to the normal 12-14 hour days that we're used to with a day or two off in-between. I've learned how to handle that schedule.

Sage is on a mission to save the snails at school and has told the teacher they need to make, "don't step on the snails" signs to put up outside in the play area. The boys are loving school.

Shopping for underwear for them has been fun.  It's very "European" here.  No luck finding the normal Fruit of the Loom briefs here.  I bought them a pack of the bikini style.  Let's see if they wear them.  I felt about 10 years old in the store buying them.  I couldn't stop laughing.  I finally had to tell myself, "Grow up and knock it off".  

The Magic Month!

Guess what? It's happening! It's actually HAPPENING! The restaurant opens 11/20/2010! FYI - This is how they write the date 20/11/2010 here. It's been a crap week. I've been sick (can't kick this cold) and Josh is living at the restaurant. The TV has been doing a lot of entertaining for the boys. I miss my family. I wish you guys were here with me! :o( I'm really trying to be supportive of Josh because I know he's really nervous. All of the L.A. big wigs have arrived (namely Chef Lee), which is making Josh even MORE nervous! I was at the kitchen yesterday for a quick peek and it's coming along nicely. I'm so proud of him! The rest of the year is going to be a challenge for us "folks" at home. He was supposed to have today off but came home last night (if you call 1:30 AM last night) saying that he had to work. I figured this was going to happen so it didn't bother me much. We can do this! It reminds me of the days when he was at Spago in terms of the long hours. I keep giving myself pep talks when I'm feeling down. I was bored at home and SO ready for a change...and I got it! Who ever said, "be careful of what you wish for" wasn't joking! I know this is a great opportunity but it's got to be the HARDEST decision I/WE have made! It's worse when I'm sick and I can't even get my favorite drugs! I miss you Tylenol Cold and Theraflu! I hope I'm over this soon because I want to be able to taste this great food next week! I can't wait for steak tartar!

Whoops! Blogging Blues for a while.....

It's been a while......I haven't been in the mood to "blog". Let's see - July my sis and family came to visit. That was great! Then I was super depressed after they left. That was pretty much all of August. We did go to Pulau Ubin for a bike ride the day the last of the Rhodes left and that was way cool! First time I rode Sage on the bike with me. I almost fell but that's an "ALMOST"! The boys started school the end of August. 8/23 to be exact. They love it. The Canadian International School. I walk them both to school in the morning and then pick up Sage at noon. We take the public bus home and Evan takes the school bus home at 3PM when he gets out. I like having the few hours to myself! I wish it was just a little longer tho! I like the exercise I get walking to and from the school. The only part that's not so great is the extreme heat/humidity or when it's pouring rain and lightning! I'm AFRAID to be outside when it's flashing and booming! Thank goodness there has only been a few days like that so far.

We also discovered this local place to get coffee, kaya toast and eggs. It's some Mackerel fish joint but they have good, cheap breakfast! A "set" is $2.50. That's S'pore dollars too! We have gone enough that the owner knows our order as soon as we walk in. I feel so special! I sat in Starbucks the other day (got stuck in the mall during a major downpour) and pretended it was really cold outside as I sat under the air-con and watched the rain! ☺

Mid-autumn festival is coming up. I LOVE moon cakes. They're most popular around this time of year. The actual festival is on the 22nd of this month. I'm hoping we can find a cool place to hang out for the boys to enjoy it.

I REALLY wish the restaurant would open. This "limbo" totally sucks! It's stressful for both of us. We can't totally settle into our routine! I never thought I'd be saying this, but I think Josh working a ton of hours doing what he loves would be better than what is going on now. It's so FRUSTRATING! Who would have thought this part would be stressful!?!?!? Delays in construction are to blame! UGHHH!!!! Hopefully November is the magic month!

Our Stuff Is Here!!!!

Our junk finally showed up! I've been busy the past week organizing everything! I LOVE IKEA! It's affordable and I don't mind to leave the stuff behind when we move back to the states! Most of our shipment consisted of toys and kitchen stuff! If I could do the packing part over, I'd have cut the kitchen supplies down by half! It's amazing how much stuff you DON'T actually need! I would have also had foods not so easily purchased over here shipped. I'm talking mac n cheese, fruit leathers, cereal bars and some mexican favorites. I MISS TRADER JOES! So do my kids. Good thing Aunt Liz will be here in a few weeks. She's bringing a huge stash of these items with her!

Today I feel kinda "blah". Josh has been working a lot getting ready for this press event on Thurs. I can't WAIT until he has some time off! I'm thinking i'm going to take the boys to Sentosa but haven't mentioned it to them yet because I may change my mind before tomorrow comes!

Birthday Weekend

We had a great weekend! Sunday we went to Underwater World on Sentosa Island. We enjoyed it. Monterey Bay Aquarium is better in our opinion. It's bigger so I was expecting more when we got to Underwater World. We let the boys play on the sand at the beach afterwards and then had dinner at this little outdoor restaurant also on the beach. One of these days I will remember the name. The food isn't that great but I like that it's right on the beach and the boys can play while we sit down and have a drink!

Monday I went shopping and bought two dresses. Much cooler wearing dresses in this weather! I also bought myself a birthday cake! It looked better than it tasted. Ma B also made me a cake all the way back in the States. It was awesome! They sang happy birthday to me and even had candles lit! The 10th anniversary of my 29th birthday! We had dinner at the Hawker stand. Shabu Shabu. Cheap and good!

Yesterday I took the boys swimming and while we were in the pool it started to downpour. The kids loved it! First time they have played in the rain while wearing their swim suits! Later we went to look at balcony furniture. Some nice stuff but EXPENSIVE! I'll continue to look at Craig's List for some used stuff.

We got confirmation today that our crap is in Singapore and will be clearing customs. It should be here Monday morning at 9:30AM. I'm ready for it! I miss my crock pot and Le Creuset!

Night Sky

I was snapping pictures from my balcony tonight. Here's a few....

Chore Day

So I'm sitting on my bed enjoying a glass of wine and looking out my bathroom window at all the ships. I see a couple container ships out there....maybe our stuff is on one of them??? I hope so!

I loaded my pink roller bag full of groceries this morning at Giant. I could barely carry the damn thing up the stairs of the overpass! I miss my Tide laundry soap. I feel like I'm cheating on Tide. I've never used anything else! I had to buy something this morning that only LOOKED like Tide. It's called Top. We'll see how it works. I mopped my floors today. White floors aren't so bad when they're stone and not tile. I can't wait for my steamer to get here. This mopping stuff sucks! It's nice and hot out so the laundry is drying nicely! Hopefully I'll get a lot done today.

Josh still isn't working as much as he did back home but he's still gone a lot. I have no clue what time he got home yesterday. The opening of the restaurant has been delayed until October. Lots of time for him to get ready but I think he's itching to get back in the groove. Right now he's working wherever they need him at the hotel. I think he's doing a few weeks at Guy Savoy, one of the other celebrity chef restaurants at the resort.

A Trip To The Beach????

We walked over to East Coast Park today and the beaches are closed! Contaminated water. Total drag AND there was trash all along the shore line! The kids still played in the sand and the weather was nice because there was a nice breeze blowing and cloud cover. I feel odd going through the underpass. Maybe because there is NO WAY I'd go into a tunnel like that alone with kids back home in LA! It's odd too how empty the place is. It's crowded on the weekends but hardly anyone is around during the week. I took the kids to McDonalds for lunch and then we headed back home and did some swimming in the pool. I met a woman that lives 3 floors below us. Her name is Sarah and she's lived here for 2 years. She's originally from Idaho (or was it Ohio?) and has a baby boy named Crew. I'm sure I'll see more of her.

Today these boys are getting on my nerves! It seems like every week I have a day where I'm just ready to go nuts! I'm missing my friends today. :(

Oh yeah....when we were walking to the beach some sort of military jet flew over us. It scared the crap out of the boys. They hit the ground with their ears covered. It was awesome! I said it looked just like Starscream from Transformers. That calmed them down a bit and Sage stopped crying!

June 1st!

We walked to the Canadian International School today. It's about a 15-20 minute trip one way. Not sure Sage will be able to do that 4 times a day. We may end up taking the bus home. The boys definitely need some hats. It was HOT!!! The school also agreed to letting us make 3 payments on the tuition between now and the start of school, which is August 23rd. Whew! That's a lot of dough to be coughing up!

Last night went well! Grant, Caroline and Dana came over for dinner. They're the folks from Vegas that moved here a few weeks before us. They live right across the way at the Cote D'Azur. The kids played quite well together. I'm glad they met someone they like! I'm also glad I met someone i like too! Dana is very nice. It's nice to know someone going through the similar experiences that I am! Oh, and she likes wine! Of course we'll get a long just FINE!

It's been a few weeks....

It's a crappy day today. Very gloomy with rain threatening all afternoon. There's a nice little thunderstorm going on too so we'll be staying inside for now. No pool action.

We are in our new apartment! We have been here for about two weeks now and love it! It doesn't feel like we've been in Singapore for over a month. Our junk from the U.S. should show up on 6/7 give or take 5 days. I'm excited about getting it but do NOT look forward to unpacking and organizing all of it! We have 70 boxes of crap coming. I thought that was a lot until our newest friends here all the way from Las Vegas received 165 boxes!

I'm doing okay with not having a dryer. The clothes are a little stiff but I haven't been using fabric softener either. I still haven't got the whole soap to load size ratio down! I've overflowed the suds three times now! :o) Next time I'll take a picture. Good thing the wash machine is out in the "yard" (that's what they call the back portion of the apartment meant for the maid) where there's nothing but tile and a drain! Did I mention I don't have a dish washer??? Yeah, used to that from my mother-in-law's (also known as Ma B's) house! Much more fun doing dishes by hand there though than here.

We celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary (5/26) at No Signboard Seafood. Chili Crab and Drunken Prawns! It was delicious!!! We were lucky enough to have Jessica, Josh's Executive Sous Chef watch the boys for us that night.

Having Evan and Sage's newest friend over this evening. Their very first guest in the new place.

Almost two weeks here.......

It's Friday and we are just shy of two weeks. So far we have opened a bank account, applied for our "green" cards, found a school for the boys, found an apartment and sort of figured out how to use the public transportation system! Josh was gone all last weekend in Kuala Lumpur at a job fair. It was my first weekend alone and it went well. SO GLAD there is a pool here and thousands of shops and malls to keep us occupied. The boys favorite stall is the fruit stand right near the underpass. We stop for a skewer of fruit each time we pass it! Josh has the weekend free (I think) so we plan on having some fun!!!

The rain storms here are totally bitchen! I can't believe I caught lightning my first day attempting to take pictures of the storms. Luck I guess. It's not a great photo but it's out of our front window in our serviced apartment.

Our First week!

We arrived Sunday morning, April 18th at 1:30 AM! The flight on Singapore Air was long but much better than expected! The boys (ages 3 and 5) did great! The service was unbelievable! Evan learned very quickly how to call the flight attendant and wasn't shy about using the button! They brought him toys, drinks, snacks and ice cream. It seemed like every ten minutes the flight attendants were cruising the isles with drinks and water. The only "unplanned" part of our arrival was that our car had been scheduled to pick us up the day before. We ended up taking a cab to our serviced apartment. The cab was very comfortable and easy to catch. The whole trip was painless! Customs was a breeze and the Changi Airport looks like a hotel! VERY NICE! So far, so good!!!