Hawker Close to Home

 I found the hawker center (Zion Road Riverside) near the apartment, and of course, I tried the famous dish there: fried kway teow, which was as delicious as advertised. :)

For drinks here, they have a machine that seals a plastic lid over the rim.  Very clever!

Canalside Carnival

 

The boys and I went to a carnival at Canal Side on Saturday, after American Ninja Warrior practice at the fitness center.  Matthew was very excited to be able to ride the spinning thingy by himself.  James was not tall enough, but it is not clear how much he really wanted to ride it.  The highlight for Matthew was winning prizes, especially the orange dragon.  It only cost us about $30 for the dragon and several smaller stuffed toys (which must have a street value of, oh, say, $10).  But it was fun.

New Stomping Grounds

 Yesterday we had orientation.  The campus seems pretty nice!  Afterwards we went to a nearby hawker center for beer and dinner. Hawker centers are open-air food markets with lots of individual stalls, each specializing in a particular dish or type of cuisine.  In general, to find the best stall, look for the one with a long line. :)  In this center, the famous dish was satay bee hoon, noodles and meat with a peanut sauce.  I waited in line for it -- it was tasty, but maybe not worth the wait.

Hopefully Mike will have a chance to post, too, but he and the boys have been living the high life while I'm away -- yesterday they did ninja practice, then a carnival at Canalside (rides and winning prizes at games), and then swimming with their friends.  Sounds like a good start to the summer, even if school is still in session!

Night Views

Singapore by night. :)

Settling In

 It turns out that our apartment is in a slightly different area of town than I thought (they have two locations, about a 5-10 minute drive from each other), so we're not right in the midst of the nightlife, but it's still pretty cool.  Our apartment is on the 19th floor -- the first few pictures are the view from the balcony.  It's a really nice place (they even welcomed me with an awesome gift basket of snacks and fruits!)

There's a grocery store right in the bottom part of the complex, and they stock spaghetti, strawberries, eggs, and ketchup -- so even if the little guys don't develop a taste for Singaporean food, they won't starve. :)  (The room service/dining room menu also includes pizza and chicken nuggets!)

The humidity is formidable, and the heat is intense in the sun -- good thing they have so many trees around!

Halfway Across the World

 I've arrived in Singapore!  For a 27-hour trip, it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected.  :)  And that's saying something, especially since on my 12-hour flight, I switched seats with this poor woman who wanted to sit by her husband (so after getting MY seat weeks in advance, I ended up in the middle seat).  But the Emirates A-380s are nice spacious aircraft, so even the middle seat was okay.  And the food was good and there was almost never a wait for the bathroom -- quite a difference from a domestic airline!

The flight arrived in Dubai a bit late and the connections were fairly tight, so lots of people were a bit panicked, but they had staff to meet us and "rush" us through security and the gate to get there on time.

It was very hazy in Dubai, so as you can see from the pictures, we didn't get much of a view of the city.  Flying in, you can definitely tell it's the middle of a desert!

On the second flight, I had a whole row to myself -- yippee!  And the planes had wifi (very, very slow wifi, but still), so I could get updates from Mike about the boys.  (They're all doing just fine.)

It looks like our apartment is going to be in a great area of Singapore -- lots of restaurants, etc. right next door.  And even at 10 PM, it's still plenty humid!

On My Way

Off to Singapore, with a plane change in Dubai on the way!

Splashing and Swinging

 Seth got a new swing that was advertised to be able to hold 600 pounds.  It certainly could hold three fun-loving cousins!