Crazy American Lady

You all know I'm crazy but now the Singaporeans do too. You know how I'm always saying how hot I am? Today I decided since I had to stay in the house to wait for a delivery & for the worker to come and fix all the cracks in the walls I would dress "comfortable". I put on a new tube dress. Like the old tube tops with a skirt attached to the bottom. Because it's strapless I didn't wear a bra BUT I did put on a short sleeve sweater over it. We all know the "sisters" are plenty big to hold up the dress, that is not the issue. Things were going great and I was feeling so comfortable, could only have been more comfortable it I had gone commando but hey, one thing at a time.

I was having an issue with the guy fixing the cracks. He spackled one large crack then disappeared for like 1.5 hours. Of course he left my back door open & the expensive AC was on. I'm thinking really long coffee break..

When he returns I'm like what's the deal, yes I'm more diplomatic than that. He seems to not understand my English and tells me he'll be back at 1:30 to paint. Won't tell me where he as been or how long this job is going to take. So I call the building super and she comes up. I ask her what is going on and show her the 1 thing the guy has done since 10:00 a.m. & it's 11:30 now. Turns out he was looking for "supplies" all that time and would be back after lunch at 1:30.........maybe he'll finish by 5:00 p.m. or maybe he'll have to come back another time, argh.
I'm dealing with that, meantime my delivery comes in the midst of all this conversation. I let them up the lift, they were bringing us a Chinese TV stand we bought over the weekend. I'm moving furniture around to make room for the TV stand and all of a sudden Amanda is like, "Mom you dress" in a low voice. I look down and my tube dress is resting below the "sisters" Thank God the sweater was on but I have no idea what the three delivery guys saw!! All I know is they rushed the hell out of here! Amanda & I laughed and laughed..............until my stomach hurt. She was so traumatized.........

Later I went out to take Rick some lunch & go to the post office. Amanda begged me to at least put on a bra before I left the house. The good news is I realized I can wear the tube dress with a bra & the sweater and there is now way the "sisters" will be allowed out of the house! LOL

How's that for a Singapore Adventure?

Dr. Fish and other stuff

Amanda & I had an interesting day on Friday. We both had been wanting to try the Dr. Fish Foot Treatment. I found a place on Orchard Road that only charged $25 sing dollars. We took the MRT (subway) to Orchard and walked a few blocks. I think the video will clearly show our adventure. The fish did not bit, they felt tingly and almost like a light electric shock. I couldn't look the first few minutes because I knew there were so many fish on my legs/feet. It was like the fish were a boot covering my legs/feet. We also put our hands in. Afterwards our skin felt smooth. Amanda was wondering if she soaked her entire body in the tank if they would eat away her eczema.

After the Dr. Fish I had a pedicure and when it came time to pay they didn't take credit cards. So I went to 2 ATM's but neither would take my card. At this point I called Rick. He had to take the MRT over and rescue us with a $20! Who would have thought that a store in a mall wouldn't take credit cards. Note to self always carry at least $200 sg in your wallet! I have to say Rick was very nice about the entire ordeal.

Rick went back to work and Amanda wanted to find a Quiznoes (sandwich shop) Rick said there was one in Far East Shopping Mall and the brand new over the top ION mall. NOT, we searched and searched through a sea of Singaporeans and never found it. By then it was almost 2 p.m. and I was fading fast. We took the MRT back to Novena (our neighborhood) and went to Pizza Hut.

This was all so exhausting I had to take a nap!

Some other events worth mentioning this week. There was a leak in the wall in Amanda's room as well as some cracks. Flat is brand new but still has a lot of settling to do. First had to have a guy come and caulk the window above her room. To do this a representative of the developer has to accompany the workers. Being we have a 2 story penthouse I never know where they are going to appear. I have 2 front doors on floors 29 &30 and 2 back doors (where the service elevators are located) on 29 & 30. This can be very confusing and I can't play music or vacuum encase they come to the door and I won't hear them. So I spend a lot of time "waiting" for workers to show up.

Did I mention our kitchen while not being air conditioned also has WHITE marble floors. These floors are a thorn in my side. Those who know what a neat freak I am can image how much these floor drive me nuts. They are constantly dirty.......on Thursday I finally conquered them. I found 2 products, one like soft scrub and one like comet that would get the floors clean. It would take a 2 pronged approach to clean the floor. First with mop and cleaning agents you clean the floor once. No matter how you do this dirty water is left on the floor. After using the cleaners and water you have to go back and wipe up residue with a towel. Was happy I found the recipe for clean kitchen floors but thinking I cannot do this everyday. No sooner than I finished the developers representative came to let me know she had someone in the building she was going to send up to "clean" my kitchen and laundry room floor one more time.

That same morning I had workers show up to Spackle & paint Amanda's room. We had to move out some of her stuff and they covered the rest with plastic. I was told it would be a two day job. Amanda moved into the guest room. Luckily it was completed in one day and now I just have to have them come in and fix all the other cracks in the walls (concrete walls) so that I can have them painted.

Wednesday we went to (SAS) Singapore American School to meet with Amanda's counselor, get her schedule and student ID. Left the flat at 7:30 a.m. and took the MRT 10 + stations to The Woodlands. We get off and Rick says......."this does not look familiar" Realized we got off at the wrong stop and we needed to be at the school in 15 minutes. Spent 10 minutes trying to hail a cab and made it to the school and through security on time. Amanda met several girls and they were all very nice and chatty with her. Her schedule is perfect and she is really excited about school now. After this we went to get her a cell phone which took several ques and over an hour. We also had to make some changes in our cable TV from the same subscriber and there are different lines, and people you have to speak to for each issue! Fun!! From Starhub we went to the bank to open a "joint" account. They poor guy could not understand why we would want a "joint" account. We have to wait 6 months to cancel Rick's initial account. They wouldn't let us open a joint account until I had my dependents card. This all took over an hour and the process did not make much sense to us..........you have no choice so you do it.

Rick had taken the day off so we could get all this squared away. By the time we got back we were tired, hot & sticky and had to take a nap. Naps.......I'm thinking a necessity to living in Singapore!

Sing Trivia: Two most common types of snakes in Singapore are: Pythons & Cobras!

Hugs,

Cassie

P.S. the video won't load so you'll have to go to my fb page to see it.

Cassie

No Monkeys?

Yesterday we went on a sweaty, wickedly steep, 1.5 hour hike at the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. It boasts the highest peak in Singapore and they are NOT kidding. I have never climbed something so steep. Rick loved it. Amanda & I were dying. The reserve is supposed to be home to macaque monkeys but we saw none. :( They are around, Rick's colleague says they torment his dog by running along their back fence. The highlight of the day for me was having to go potty in a "hole" in the ground twice! I have to say I prided myself in never having used one while living in China. That is now not the case. When you gotta go you'll go anywhere I suppose! There is an art to peeing into a hole in the floor. Let's just say I have not mastered this skill....not sure I want too. Amanda was appalled on Saturday when we entered a bathroom while shopping, they didn't provide toilet paper. I tried to tell her that was common and she needed to be prepared as I passed her the Kleenex I carry for just these type of situations.

Last night Rick and I put together the grill and our party cooler on the roof top. Although the temp. was bearable it's the humidity that really is killer. There was almost a cool breeze blowing but we were still sweating like two pigs! I don't mind the heat it's the humidity that gets to me. This afternoon a guy is coming from a gas company to outfit our grill so that we can use it here. Not sure if they use propane or what? Should prove to be interesting.

While cooking last night we realized some of my pans do not fit into our tiny oven. Most locals do not have ovens and only use a cook top. Hence the oven as quiet small. We are now thinking we should have brought a turkey fryer. I doubt a decent size turkey will fit into our oven! I think I may need to beg our friend Ken to bring one over to us in September, along with the wine. Did I mention we bought a wine fridge? It's so hot here even the red wine needs to be chilled. Rick felt this was a priority!

Forgot to mention that while having dinner with Rick's colleagues last week. They all couldn't get over that I don't drink coffee. They thought all Americans drink coffee! I guess I'm a freak? Tea for me or nothing please! Have been looking at dishwashers, but there is only room for one that sits on the counter and cleans 4 place settings at a time. Not to mention they cost between $700 - 800 sing dollars. Which is something like $500 usd. Rick has become obsessed with germs. He says it's because of all the H1N1 data that he gets each day. They are ramping up at work all their anti-bacterial products. After we take the subway we have to use hand sanitizer. He's concerned about when one of us gets sick and we are just hand washing dishes that they really wont' be "clean" enough. Hence looking for a dish washer.................. Amanda had a good time making fun of him.

I'm off to explore the neighborhood on my own. Today's trivia: The Bukit Timah Nature Reserve is said to contain more species of trees than the entire North American continent.

Hugs,