A Sense of Identity

This morning we arose at 5:15am and caught a taxi to Kranji War Memorial for the ANZAC Day Dawn Service. In the interests of full disclosure, I must point out that I have never attended a Dawn Service while living in Australia. Something about being an aussie overseas seems to strengthen the sense of being and identifying as an Australian.


The girls wore their school uniforms, identifying them as belonging to Avondale Grammar and allowing us to group together with other Avondale families. The service included a Haka (NZ High Commission was hosting it this year, they alternate with the Australians), bagpipes (played by some very un-Scottish looking asians looking slightly wrong to us wearing tartan!), some speaking/readings, a hymn and national anthems. A couple of students from Avondale laid a wreath.


Thanks to proximity (and obviously inherited good looks) identifying us as the girls' parents, the school uniforms also helped us meet a few other parents from the school. Quite a few other people are also relatively new to Singapore, having been here only 3-4 months. We've found all the expat families to be very friendly and welcoming.

After the dawn service, we headed off to the zoo and used our zoo membership for the first time. It would be hard for anyone else to use our membership as our identity is clearly displayed in the family photo that is printed on the card. The zoo was fantastic and we look forward to going back, but that's a story for another day...

A warm welcome and a sad farewell

Felicity and Alice have almost completed their first week of school at Avondale and have been given a warm welcome. Unfortunately Alice had a bad case of nausea (probably from dehydration) on Wednesday morning so had to stay home. She was back to school today feeling much better and looking brighter. The girls and I walk to the station from our house which takes 10 minutes, have a six minute train ride and then another 10 minute walk at the other end. On the way home it is pretty tiring and hot, and I produce snacks and treats along the way to keep everyone motivated. The girls like their teachers and are finding friends. Felicity has already been invited over to a friend's house for a play tomorrow.

Other news this week is my Grandpa, Arthur Fletcher, passed away aged 95. Just before flying out here we were fortunate to celebrate his birthday with him. Mentally alert and unapologetically English, he enjoyed telling me that Singapore owed its success to the British Empire. He led an active life, travelled extensively and at last count his descendants numbered 54 (5 kids, 16 grandchildren and 33 great-grandchildren so far).

A walk on the wild side

The last week of school holidays was filled with the usual activities - movies, a play at a friend's house, a trip to the library, afternoon tea in the gardens and lots of swims and craft activities. The highlight of our week was our three hour rainforest walk to the Treerop Walk at MacRitchie Reservoir. Matt invited a friend from work along and his fiance to join in the jungle adventure. Along the way we saw two mildly venomous snakes, a lizard, a giant centipede, a squirrel, lots of fish, butterflies and dragonflies and plenty of monkeys. Alice described it as "like a zoo but with no cages." We got very hot and sweaty but it was all worth it for the great views, the wildlife and the amazing lush green vegetation.

Enrich Yourself

On Saturday morning I went for an exploratory walk through the three (yes three) nearby shopping malls. United Sqaure is predominantly children focussed, Velocity at Novena is Sports/Outdoors and Square 2 looked to be more of a mix, with a leaning towards women's fashion. All three of them have a large number of eateries, from food courts to cafes to full-on restaurants. United Square (closest to us) has a computer supplies and games shop, which therefore makes it my favourite mall.

The only problem with going exploring at 10:30am on a Saturday was that most of the shops were closed! I had to have a coffee and hot cross bun (it was Easter after all) while waiting for 11am.

In United Square, the top two floors are dedicated to "Enrichment Classes" and it was very busy on Saturday morning, with parents waiting for their kids. Enrichment classes are basically what I would describe as after-school or extra-curricular activities, with your standards like music and dance lessons. What they also have (and we've noticed they're quite common) are centers for subjects such as Literacy and Maths. I'm not sure if this reflects a lack in the school system, or a competitive drive to give your child the very best chance. I just know that I wouldn't want to be doing extra maths classes on a Saturday morning as an 8 year old...

Moving In

We have now moved into our new home. Slightly scary looking at over a 100 boxes come in and wondering where everything was going to go. We mostly unpacked on Thursday and spent Friday and Saturday shoppping for bits and pieces and organising the home. Everything's gone very smoothly. Andrew was our very privilieged first guest who dropped in for a few hours before heading to China. Today we went with the Shepherds (our upstairs neighbours) on the Singapore Flyer. The views were phenomenal - we could see the whole country and bits of other countries too!

All the tea in Singapore...

We ventured into Chinatown on the weekend and were treated to a tea demonstration. None of this filling up a large mug and drinking it down - it's all about the ceremony. Pour hot water into the teapot, let it sit and then pour into the serving jug and then into everyone's smelling cup. Everyone appreciates the fragrance before pouring the contents of their smelling cup into their drinking cup. Take three sips and tip out the rest. The process then starts again. We all enjoyed trying to remember all the intricacies but I'm not sure one could be bothered doing this every time you felt like a cup of tea.

During the week the girls and I went to a huge Chinese Garden with 300 year old Bonsai trees and magnificent towers. Considering most lookout towers in Australia seem to be closed due to lack of public liability insurance - it was quite a novelty to be allowed up them. The highlight of the day for Alice and Felicity was the live turtle museum where we were allowed to feed the turtles in the ponds. It freaked me out a bit the way we were mobbed by turtles. It was similar to feeding seagulls fish and chips at the beach. The girls loved it. I took photos from a distance and kept reminding the girls that turtles couldn't tell the difference between food and toes. Made it out of there with all our toes.

The exploration begins

Each day the girls and I set out with backpacks to explore a different part of the city. Thursday we went to a Hindu Temple with the rather catchy name of Sri Thendayuthapani. The girls were really fascinated by the temple and the worshippers who were offering bags of rice and other food at different shrines. We then headed for Fort Canning Park which has great views of Singapore city.

On Friday we explored the Jacob Ballas Children's Garden which is a part of the Botanic Gardens and got drenched in their water play area and then spent half an hour trying to dry clothes out using the handdryer in the toilets. Note to self: bring bathers and towel next time. Exploring the parks and gardens is fun but can only be done in short bursts. There is a point where we just get so wet with sweat and Felicity begins to resemble a sweaty red tomato and then we need to seek airconditioning or at least fans of some kind. No wonder the national pastime appears to be shopping in air-conditioned malls.

Today we all went to the Jurong Bird Park which was brilliant. We highly recommend this to all vistiors. It is as large as any zoo with amazing enclosures. It boasts the world's largest aviary with the tallest man-made waterfall. Felicity was invited up to be part of the Birds of Prey Show and had to hold meat out on chopsticks for a bird to take. Our family has a knack for getting picked for these things. It helps that we jump up and down, waving our hands madly in the air, every time a presenter asks for a volunteer.

Working Life

While the girls are off exploring, I've started work. I found my way into the office via bus on Wednesday and eventually found some colleagues and a desk to sit at. Work-wise, I've really just picked up from where I logged off last Friday so that transition has been smooth so far. It's good being able to deal face to face with some of the regional people.

From the Serviced Apartment, a bus takes about 20 minutes to get to the office and costs me $1.11, although coming home in peak hour tonight took a bit longer. I can listen to music on my iPod but I find the buses move around too much for me to read comfortably.

My excitement today has been configuring my new iPhone, which is very cool. I also discovered a park next to work called HortPark which has a whole lot of "display gardens" setup by different landscaping companies. It will be worth a bit more exploring, but not with my backpack on in the sun - this morning my back was drenched with sweat after 15 minutes of walking, and that was at 8:20am!

New Beginnings

The girls had their trial day at Avondale Grammar today. They were both very excited but when we got there and Felicity got a bit nervous and wanted to hold my hand while Alice bounded off with new friends and I didn't see her again until the end of the day. After assembly I said good bye to Felicity and then spent the next few hours worrying about her while I shopped for groceries. When I hadn't received a phone call from the school by midday I began to relax. At the end of the day I was greeted by two very happy girls, full of stories and each listing the names of all their new friends. It's a good start.

Matt also had a succesful first day at his new office. He probably also wanted to hold my hand but bravely went alone.

Last night was very special as were invited over to dinner by our soon-to-be neighbours and had a swim in our soon-to-be-pool. Marian and Genevieve were entertained by impromptu songs and fantastic tales by our girls as we shook our heads and said "maybe not so loudly". It was a very fun night. Surprisingly Genevieve is still interested in babysitting... Alice did mention that "Mum and Dad will pay you."

Photos above are of a 7.30am swim in our hotel pool and also one of Alice trying another dish at a hawker centre. She's quite adventurous and has chosen a different meal and different drink each time. I have no idea what this one was. She ordered it herself and had quite an indepth discussion with the aunty running the stand but returned to the table none the wiser as to what she had ordered.