Another new Singapore "Cool" thing

Now, any of you that are used to Urban living, please don't spoil my thinking that this is something "new" and really cool as I have never seen this before. Next time you have to go to the mall or airport, or somewhere where you had to park in a parking garage wouldn't it be great to know how many parking spaces are left and on what level they were located? No more wasting time circling an entire floor looking for a parking space when there isn't even one available on that floor. Avery and I went to a mall here called Plaza Singapura. When you enter the parking garage there is a digital sign that lists the levels in the parking garage and how many spaces are empty on each level. The number of spaces indicated changes as people enter a level and leave a level. I thought it was really a neat idea. Sure made parking easier. From what I can tell there are lasers that keep track of when a car passes through the beam of light. The system must know how many spaces are on each level and subtracts the available spaces when a car parks on each level. One other note too...this parking garage was so clean it looked as though the floors were moped and polished hourly.

Quiz Results

Thank y'all for taking the time to take my little quiz. I know you are all dying to know how well you did compared to everyone else, so here are the current scores.

• Robert (Hubbie) - 100%
• Avery - 90%
• Aunt Kathleen - 80%
• Byrna (mom) - 80%
• Kim - 80%
• Cristie - 80%
• Laurie - 60%
• Sharon - 50%
• Lynne - 40%

Well, Robert blew the curve for all of y'all. Maybe we should go on the "Newlywed Game" or something like that for people who aren't newlyweds. Way to go Avery - only missed my weakness when it comes to desserts which is cookies! If I make cookies, everytime I walk past them in the kitchen I have to eat one or two. Question is ... where is Blair? Daughter no. 1 didn't take my quiz. Just about everyone missed the one about desserts and my first car which was a silver VW Beetle. How could y'all forget??? I did have Firebird but that was after the bug. Lynne, good guess on the truck. Being from Texas, just about everyone has or has had a truck at some point. My middle name is Renae. I figured the spelling would have been a dead give-a-way for those that didn't know. And lastly....this is the car I want when I get back:

Isn't it beautiful?

Introducing Sugar

Let introduce the newest member of our little family: Sugar.


Those of you who know me know I love dogs. I just like having them around. Avery and I really wanted to get a dog and when we found Sugar we just knew she was perfect for our family. She will be 10 mos. old next week. She's very petite, calm and well behaved....nothing at all like Charlie the pomeranian we had back home. He was really big for a pom, very hyper (he would stand at the back door and jump up to look in the back window over and over again) and he wouldn't stay in the back yard. We loved him anyway but was afraid he would get hit by a car so a friend took him into her home so now he is a chubby happy inside dog. Anyway..back to Sugar...
So far she has been really good. We did have a run of the runs (ha!) over the weekend but she appears to be over that now. It took her a few days to get used to being with us. I don't think she moved off of her blanket the entire first day. When I take her outside to do her business she walks right along side me without a leash. So far we haven't had to venture out while it was raining but I know that day is coming. I wonder if I can train her to use a litter box? What if I planted some grass in a litter box, do you think you could get a dog to potty there? I've never had a dog while living in a condo. I'm used to being able to scoot them out the back door then let them in a short time later. Some dogs don't like to go out in the rain, I hope she's not like that. And there are some dogs that get scared when in thunders, I hope she's not like that either. Right now she's curled up in the corner behind me sleeping...she's so cute!

Took A Quick Trip

Sorry I haven't posted since last week. Avery and I took a quick trip over to Bintan in Indonesia. She had several days off from school so we headed over there for a long weekend. It was really nice and relaxing. Felt like all we did was eat & swim. Surprised my clothes still fit. The place was really nice. Very tropical with white sandy beaches and blue water. We spent our days switching back and forth from the pool to the beach. We found sea shells, small ones, built a sand castle, went snorkling (twice) and enjoyed some of the organized activities put on the the staff. They even had a trapeze there for the guests to play on so of course Avery tried that out. You have to take a ferry to get there and back. I still feel like I'm on the ferry today. It seems like I'm sitting at my desk rocking back and forth. We were really bouncing around when we docked back in Singapore last night. I'll add some pictures later today. Before we left to head home we went into the little shopping village and found a few things to bring home. I'll probably see what other resorts are available there in Bintan for the next time we get a few days off. You can even go for the day. Not much different than driving from Houston to Galveston timewise. Oh! I have to tell you one of the strangest things I think I have ever seen...this little asian kid pooped on the beach! He just dropped his drawers and went right there! His dad had to clean it up with the little shovel they were using to build a sand castle. Imagine having to follow your kid around with a pooper scooper! Another interesting thing was that everytime they made an annoucement at the resort they made it about 5 times all in different languages. Avery and I laughed saying we should walk around speaking spanish (not that we know much). That was one of the languages they DIDN'T include.

How Well Do You Know Me?

I was over checking out Laurie's blog and she had this quiz on her's. I love these quizes so let's see if you know me or if you just think you do.

Take the quiz

Is it so hazy!

Those of you who live in the southern part of Texas probably remember the summers that Mexico was burning it's fields to clear the land for use again. I remember it being slightly hazy outside for a few days every here or there. Well they have something similar going on over here. Indonesia is having it's annual burn-off to clear land for agriculture. The haze caused by smoke has been a problem for about 2 weeks now. They measure the air quality with a PSI ('Pollutant Standards" index, not Particles per Square Inch which is what I thought it was. This chart shows you the ranges:

PSI Value PSI Descriptor
0 to 50 Good
51 - 100 Moderate
101 - 200 Unhealthy
201 - 300 Very unhealthy
Above 300 Hazardous

Friday, two weeks ago when I left the office I thought there was a fire right down the road. I even called my dad to see if he had heard anything about a fire out here at the shipyards. It was just the smoke coming in from Indonesia. It actually smelled like smoke outside. That Sunday the PSI spiked to 150 then eased back down to 136 at midnight. They said that in 1997 it rose to 226. It's bad enough now, I'd hate to see it get up to that level. The haze is bad enough that it affects people with allergies and asthma related problems. You'll see people walking around outside with a face mask or bandana tied around their head. You can actually see it. It makes it appear like it is foggy outside. Take at look at the pictures below. (Pictures coming later today)

Amusing Car Names

Ok...really busy here today so this will be a short one. Here are some of the amusing car names I see as I drive around Singapore:

Nissan Sunny
Toyota Picnic
Kia Picanto
Nissan March
Nissan Sylphy
Toyota Royal Crown (I think they got the name backwards)
Hyundai Verna

I swear I saw a car today called a Cheerio! I couldn't see the name real clear but that's what it looked like to me.

Let's Talk Eggs

Ok..here is something else that seems strange to me. In the grocery stores they sell their eggs in cartons just on a regular shelf, not in the refrigerated section like we are used to. Now I wonder...it that safe? Why would our stores sell them refrigerated if they didn't need to be? The neighbor in the apartment across from ours leave their eggs out in a big bowl on the counter. It's a BIG bowl full of eggs. They have mostly brown eggs here too. Do brown eggs come from dark chickens? So, since I had no choice I had to buy eggs that were not refrigerated. I put them in the fridge as soon as we got home, of course. Maybe years ago, when people used ice boxes, before the refrigerator, we too kept eggs out on the counter. Unless you lived on a farm and you gathered them fresh everyday. Does anyone out there know? Am I risking my health, just one egg away from salmonella poisoning? For those of you who know me, you know that my oldest daughter is the perfect person to ask about this. I'll let you know what she says.