A little of this and a little of that!

Well, we have now been in Singapore for over 1 month and still enjoying our time here. After a LOT of searching, we FINALLY found swimming lessons for Ansley - it's not that I wasn't able to find them as we are less than 80 miles from the equator, but just that they were SO EXPENSIVE!! They wanted $200 SGD/month for 4 private lessons that were 45 minutes each. $50/lesson, I think I will pass! So I FINALLY found group lessons with a maximum of 6 kids for $80/month for 4 lessons that were 45 minutes each - MUCH MORE REASONABLE!!! Sign ANSLEY UP!! Here we are at our first lesson ready to roll - Ansley was REALLY excited about it:

Here Ansley is doing her lesson with her instructor, Mr. Jeffrey:

I also took a local cooking class with some friends that I have made here. Andrea has been a wonderful to me (and our family - remember, she invited us over for July 4th with only meeting me "over the phone"?) We made a few traditional Malay/Singaporean dishes that were WONDERFUL!! I am a pretty picky eater but it was DEFINITELY worth every penny!! Chef Kay was great, explained every little detail and even showed traditional ways of doing things - like how to devain a shrimp without cutting it open (Singaporeans eat EVERY part of the shrimp, EVEN the SHELL!) Chef Kay:

Our final products:

Finally we made our way to a wet market. A wet market is usually fruit, veggies, fish, eggs - anything you can get that is FRESH. So, please meet the newest and deadest members of our family - our dinner, Rapunzel and Penny:

Purchased from him at the wet market today:

And for our final excitement - My parents are coming in JANUARY!!! I am so excited that they are BOTH coming as I wasn't sure if my DOD (Dear Old Dad) really would - but they BOTH are!! My dad is NOT the world traveler that my mom would LOVE to be!! However, I just KNEW he wouldn't be able to not see his grandchildren for a year, even if he does see them daily on FaceTime!!

Hannah turns 6 in Singapore

We have been here for exactly a month today and have already had a birthday to celebrate! Had turned 6 on July 20, 2012 and we had her party here in Singapore! On her actual birthday, we went to the park and played and just let the girls be KIDS!!

Then on Sunday morning we had a small party with a few new friends here up at our roof top pool. The girls had a blast and didn't ever want to stop swimming!

All and all, Hannah had a great 6th birthday. Thank you to everyone who called and sent cards to wish her a happy birthday! It really made her day special!

Hawker Centers

Things here in Singapore are VERY expensive compared to the states - my tiny, little bottle of Parmesan cheese is $7 SGD, which would be equivalent to $5.60 USD

While most "American" items are expensive, the local offerings are REALLY cheap! Score!!! So we have been eating at what the locals call Hawker Centers - basically a big food court with every type of food imaginable - Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian, Singaporean, etc. Our entire family can eat at one of these for less than $10 which would include a meat (chicken or beef), rice or noodles as well as veggies. They tend to look like this:

This Hawker Center is right down the street from the PWC building:

But when you goto the Hawker Centers, you have to be ready for this as well:

Needless to say, our lunch today did NOT come from here!! Happy Eating!

The Rice Cooker and Sticky Rice

Since moving to Singapore, we have bought many a things - bed linens, towels, pots & pans, ironing board and iron as well as THE RICE COOKER! Lenny has wanted a rice cooker for a while and I really wanted to get a crock pot - so we compromised and got an all in one rice cooker/crock pot. I get teased A LOT by many of my family members of my inability to cook. Let's get one thing straight - I don't claim to cook well nor do I LIKE to cook! So, this new little invention just cleared my way to "cooking." Here is said rice cooker/crock pot making last weeks bbq chicken:

It actually came out REALLY good. I was quite surprised as well of how good it really was! The girls really don't like "sauce" on anything, so their opinion didn't really count....Lenny liked it and it passed muster to make again! :) Well, tonight I ventured out and made sticky rice. Wasn't sure how long to cook it or how it was going to turn out....but again, I surprised myself and it was really STICKY RICE!!! Both girls as well as Lenny gobbled it up...I only have a small container of rice left, maybe one portion of the 3 cups I made!!! Oh, and I didn't even eat ANY of it!

And here is my master piece of sticky rice! Stick that to ALL of you who give me crap about cooking!!

The Chicken Man

Today I tried something I never in a million years would have thought I would have done - ordered directly from a man who slaughters his chicken in the morning for chicken DELIVERY in the afternoon - between 12 & 1 PM. And here you have it:

I ordered my $50 SGD (about $40 USD) of boneless/skinless chicken yesterday around 3 PM and got my delivery at precisely 12:30 PM today. I received 17 packages of double breast boneless/skinless chicken....and it looks FABULOUS!!! I mean, I was in the Peace Corps and witnessed my host mom do this herself and took some pics - but never in a million years would I have thought I would be doing the same thing - minus the killing and de-feathering of course. You can get a whole chicken - with or without the yucky stuff, 8 piece chicken, beef, veal, lamb....I am beginning to think he really has his own personal farm. I probably can get milk should I want it unpasteurized!! Our chicken is now safely in the freezer in my IKEA baggies portioned for dinners.....ahhh, just like in the States!

July 4, 2012 - Singapore Style

We spent this July 4th at my new friend, Andrea and her husband Tommys house. I "met" her via her blog that she keeps here in Singapore (http://thestunzfamily.wordpress.com/) where I was reading where she buys what (ie. chicken, beef, veggies, etc). I had written to her to thank her for all this wonderful and VERY useful information. She immediately wrote me a note back and gave me her number to call and ask all kinds of questions. After talking for a long while, she invited us to her house for a July 4th celebration. We met two other couples there and had a really great time. It couldn't have been a better way to celebrate July 4th in Singapore!!

Taxi Drama

Well, today we had our first hick up in Singapore. I picked up the girls from camp and Hannah had been invited for a playdate with the Rabbis daugher, Hannah Leah. I got Ansley and we decided to take a taxi back to UE Square (area of town that our corporate apartment is in) as well as Ansley is NOT AT ALL fond of all the walking - my lazy child. Anywho - we hailed a taxi to find out he hasn't a CLUE where UE Square was and was asking ME for directions.....I know how to get myself around for the most part, but not in a TAXI - that is what I PAY THEM FOR!!! So needless to say, I could have walked home with Ansley shorter than it took us to hail ANOTHER cab to get home as I now REALLY HAD NO CLUE where we were!