I Missed the Snow

I guess y'all back home had some nasty weather last week. It's a constant humid, tropical climate here. I imagined there was a lot of this going on back home:

Save "Saw 'Em Off"

Save "Saw 'Em Off"! Click Here!

UT sues over sawed-off horns - News

One of these days..

One of these days you are going to read about me in the Singapore news. It's a good thing these people here don't drive in Houston. I had gone to pick my mom up Saturday from their apartment. I pulled into their complex and drove up and around the traffic circle that you have to go around to exit. I had just stopped and could see my mom coming when this STUPID taxi driver pulled up behind me and started honking his horn. GIVE ME A BREAK!! You can't wait 30 seconds? As my mom was getting in, I put the car in park and got out and gave the guy the (not what you were thinking) but the "What's up with you?", arms up in the "Y" position over my head and got back in the car. Making sure to take the time to buckle up and adjust my mirrors. The more you honk, the longer it's going to take me is what I was thinking. Then I SLOWLY pull on around the circle and out of the driveway. Of course the STUPID taxi driver had to give it one more honk for good measure as he turned the opposite direction. Yeah, that's right...you better be going the other way! Most of the time the Singaporeans don't get offended by someone honking at them...WELL I'm a Texan NOT a Singaporean. I guess they don't get upset because they don't carry guns here! Mom says that every once in a while you will hear about someone being caned because of an altercation on the side of the road between two drivers.

How Rude!

I'm not making this stuff up! Read for yourself. This article is from today's edition of a local paper called Today.

Nip rudeness in the bud with education
Letter from Jessica Chan

COULD we include service training in our school education curriculum? I worked in the service industry for about 20 years and noticed that teens who have worked part-time in, say, an F&B outlet, behave better than teens who have never done such work.

The former group tends not to behave obnoxiously towards service providers. If a youngster is trained from school-going age to behave respectfully towards another human being (or even a property), it will be a win-win situation for all concerned.

We are trying to improve service standards, but I keep reading about rude Singaporeans almost on a daily basis and have had close encounters with quite a few myself.

We should prevent our young from turning out to be such ugly Singaporeans by educating them while their minds are still impressionable, and not only when they have started working.
_______________________________________
It appears that these 3rd generation Singaporeans are a rude bunch. Some blame it on being raised by the family's domestic helper. If the child misbehaves or does something wrong the houskeeper gets the blame. They haven't learned any responsibilty for their own actions. They don't learn to pick up after themselves either. It's like being surrounded by a bunch of spoiled brats who always have to be first.

Singapore Slang Translator

Here is a handy little tool for you to use if you should ever make it over here:

Accuse me: excuse me
Anything can: anything is possible
Ang moh: Caucasian (literally 'red headed' in Hokkien)
Auntie: a respectful way to address an older lady
Barang Barang: stuff as in bags, clutter etc
Blur: very confused
Bo eng lah!: can't commit, not available, no time to do something
Can ah: can you or can't you?
Can leh: yes, of course
Can lor: yes, I think so
Can hah?: are you sure?
Can hor: you are sure then
Can meh: are you certain?

***Ok I have to add my 2 cents here....why do they make it so difficult to find out or answer whether or not you "can"??*****

Die die: no matter what happens
Don't play play: don't fool around
Goondu: stupid or acting stupid
Habis: finished or all used
How can: how is that possible?
Kaypoh: nosey
Kiasu: very afraid to lose out to others
Kopi: coffee
Kopi tiam: coffee shop
Lah: no translation, Lah is added for emphasis
Lose face: become very embarrassed, lose dignity
Makan: food or as a verb to 'go makan' to go to eat
No nid: no need
No stock orready: not in stock as in habis Orready already
Orso can: no problem
Out station: overseas or away from home
Over orready: none left or the event is finished
Rojak: an Indonesian Malaysian dish but used as a common word for mixture
Singlish: Singaporean English slang
So how?: and the answer is?, what is next
Teh tarik: tea
Tumpang: ask for a favour
Ulu: distant or far away (English equivalent to in the boonies)
Uncle: a respectful way to address an older man
Wah: wow, another emphasis term or word
Wah so cheap lah: wow, that's really cheap
Why Like That: why things happen this way
You know I know can already: usually meant to be a secret between

And lastly

Maid with a promotion: My brother made this one up to describe the little Filipino maids you see walking around with older Caucasian men. We got a laugh out of that one.

Finally!

Well There they are! Not sure what happened but now Blogger seems to be working.

Well, we are just settling into a routine here. Not much going on so I thought I would post a "rant" then a "rave" as not to turn this into a "complaint" page. So here it goes:

RANT: These people here have no idea what "elevator etiquette" is. If you are standing outside the elevator waiting to get on everyone around you swarms the elevator as soon as the doors open to rush inside...doesn't matter if there are people on the elevator waiting to get off. They get on anyway. Doesn't matter if you were there first..."If you aren't first, your last". That's their motto about everything it seems. And once on the elevator they are mashing the "close door" button instantly.

RAVE: Once on the elevator they are really friendly. They will always say "Bye" to you when they get off the elevator. If I'm on the elevator with Sugar they talk about her wanting to know how old she is, what's her name etc. This has been my experience on the elevator at our condo. Not quite as chatty at the malls as the elevators are always packed.

There! Now I feel better. :-p

what's the deal?

testing...testing...why didn't my last post show up? I can see it in the preview....auughhh!

Looking for bikes

Well this weekend is pretty uneventful. We went shopping at SimLim Square for some electronics Saturday after Avery got finished with gymnastics. It's a huge 6 story mall full of electronics. Everything from cameras, cell phones, computers, printers, etc.

Sunday we went shopping for bicycles. Avery got one for Christmas so Rob and I really need to get one so she has someone to ride with. We got online to see what kind of bike trails they have here. Singapore is really doing something neat. They have all these parks and they are connecting them with trails called Park Connectors. Not all of them are completed but I think there are plenty of places for us to discover.

Blair's Last Day Here

Well, today is Blair's last day here. We have to get up early in the morning to get her to the airport at 5:30AM. It sure has been great having her here. We are about to venture out for one last shopping trip down on Orchard Rd. This evening we are going over to the Botanical Gardens to take some family pictures then mom and dad are coming over for dinner.

Last night was fun. We went to a Singapore Slinger basketball game. They won!! I believe they are in the play-offs. We have tickets to next weeks game too. It was a close game. Even though the Slingers stayed ahead throughout the game there were occasions where they were only ahead by one point. It was a nail-biter! Rob took some great pictures. I'll post them here when he gets the pics off of his camera. He took it with him to work today.

Since I need to get out of here I'll fill some more space with pictures:

Monkey on our balcony one morning while we where in Batam, Indonesia.

Avery, Cristie and Blair with the Orangutans at the Singapore Zoo.

Avery practicing her pirate routine.

Blair practicing for when she gets to dunk her Aggie Ring.

It's 2007!

Well it's great having everyone FINALLY! Rob is here for good. Scott's visit was a short one, Cristie has already headed home and Blair leaves on Friday. After that it's back to the same routine...well almost. With Rob being here it should be much better. We have been really busy with everyone here. We hit the ground running as soon as Blair and Cristie arrived. We've been to the zoo, the bird park, out to eat a zillion times (nothing new for living in Singapore), China Town, Holland Village, Indonesia, shopping....shopping and more shopping! We had a Singapore Sling at the Long Bar at Raffles where the drink was invented. We also spent about S$280 in 45 minutes there! I knew drinks were more expensive here and I figured that back in the US the drink would have been about $8-$10 so I thought it would be s$12-S$14 here. Was I wrong! They were S$20 each! Rob ordered a Grey Goose Martini and it was S$32!! Needless to say, anyone that wants to come visit us has to visit Duty Free for booze first. Thank you Cristie for the Captain Morgan and Baily's. We had dinner that same night at Bobby Ravino's where they have a drink called "Sex with the Captain" that I think I need to try! We just got finished taking down the tree and the rest of the Christmas decorations. Although it seems like we have ample storage space for an apartment, we don't really have room to store all the luggage it took to get us over here along with the tree and the decorations. So...Rob's brillant idea was to put the decorations inside one of the suitcases. It fit perfectly. When Blair leaves, the spare bedroom will have to be the storage room until the next guest comes. Yesterday we went and picked out some furniture for little patio. We are waiting now for it to be delivered. Should be here shortly. Now we will be able to sit on our balcony and have a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and enjoy the view. Since Rob has been here he has hung up the large mirrors and paintings that we had bought. Starting to look much better now. We even looked at some oriental rugs too yesterday. We found some that we liked, but will wait to see what they offer at the auction coming up on the 19th. Well, here are a few pictures from the past three weeks. Enjoy!