SO MUCH!

Friday my doctor advised me that I needed to take time away from my work environment in order to clear up my sinus issues and determine whether or not there is an allergy. Of course, I was caught off guard and surprised by the mandate. My first concern was for the team at work and the sessions I was in charge of planning, so I stopped into the office on Saturday to take care of a couple things.

I was so concerned about what I was going to do on my sudden vacation – I have been working so long that it is like I forgot what I did before I had a job. No worries, though. By Sunday night I remembered and my social calendar was quickly filled. Now I feel like I have so much to do, I am going to run out of free days before I have a chance to experience everything all over again!

Monday, Paul and I planned a date day since he would be leaving for the States in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. Tuesday, I joined my outdoor friends for a six-mile (9.6-kilometer) walk to the Marine Barrage, a dam blocking the Singapore Strait from downtown. After lunch and a nap, I was ready for dinner, which sucked by the way.

I decided to eat in and make myself some pork chops and a boxed stuffing mix I had found at Cold Storage recently. The box talked about sage and apples and how the stuffing would be perfect with pork chops so I was excited to try the brand. It was an utter failure. I will make my own stuffing from now on – it is not difficult to make and it tastes a million times better.

The pork chop wasn’t bad but my meal was not at all satisfying. So, after the evening thunderstorm passed, I headed out to the local ice cream shop and enjoyed my second bite of ice cream since before Christmas. The chocolate Kit-Kat ice cream was so tasty and it melted on my tongue so amazingly. Mmmmm.

That ice cream counted as my dessert for the week and it was so worth it.

A friend and I made tentative plans to take a walking tour of Little India Wednesday morning but we ended up just meeting at Tanglin Mall for lunch instead. After some great food, some cold tea at Starbucks and a walk around town, I made a quick stop at the Tanglin Market before heading home.

Since my husband is gone for three weeks, I feel I need to take advantage of his time away to cook and enjoy the foods that I love and he does not. Paul always makes jokes about the way the kitchen looks after we finish cooking. Paul uses as few dishes as possible in order to avoid washing them. I, on the other hand, will use as many dishes as necessary to make a beautiful and flavorful meal. Last night proved his point.

I used two small pots to poach the chicken and cook the rice, one skillet to cook the vegetables, a cutting board and two knives, a garlic press, a wooden spoon and a colander and all I used when it came time to eat was a cereal bowl and a teaspoon.

Today has been dedicated to blog work, finalizing the new Facebook page that will launch this weekend. If the sun would stay out for more than five minutes, I may do some work outside. I will again be messing up my kitchen as I make bread.

Tomorrow is the famous American Women’s Association coffee at Orchard, so I will certainly be found at Starbucks. I plan to take a nighttime walking tour of Chinatown tomorrow night, which sounds really interesting.

Then, Saturday will be exciting as I celebrate one year in Singapore with a night out downtown. I am les excited! 

JUST WONDERING

Do you ever just look at someone and wonder what they were thinking? I often have that thought and there is nowhere more relevant than on any Singapore bus. Singapore is often praised for its public transportation methods and they should be. Buses are frequent, especially in areas where there are no trains. The city is in the process of bringing new buses into the system, a desperately needed upgrade. They also adapt bus routes and time tables to fit the needs of frequent travelers.

The Mass Rapid Transit subway system is quite convenient, though a bit crowded in the mornings and after the close of business as there are not as many seats available. People tend to stand in front of the doorways and not into the belly of the train, which makes a somewhat crowded train seem unbearable.

Train stations are so clean and so nice; all of the indoor stations are air conditioned and well lit. Stairways, escalators and lifts are all around. Bus terminals are also clean and very convenient – most have food and shopping centers in the immediate vicinity. Most buses, all trains and all bus and train stations are handicap accessible.

Travelers are advised not to bring food or beverages onto any bus or train; food and beverages are not allowed in train stations either.

Since Paul and I live in an area where there are no convenient MRT stations, we use the bus as our primary transportation mode. We have a stop right outside of our building and we are far enough east that we are almost guaranteed a seat when travelling in either direction.

We have observed a number of behavior patterns among bus riders, some of which I will now detail.

I do not understand how it is possible, but a surprising number of individuals manage to sleep on the bus. How and why, I have no idea. Singaporean drivers are not aware that they are able to maintain a constant speed while driving with their foot on the gas pedal, so many will press and release the pedal over and over and over, jerking the vehicle and everyone in it. Those with upset stomachs will not be able to enjoy the ride.

Some bus drivers have lead feet and enjoy speeding up for short patches of no traffic and then come to a literally screeching halt at either a red light or quickly approaching bus stop. Many people boarding buses are thrown either forward or back as the drivers speed away from a bus stop before anyone can take a seat or manage a stance suitable for surviving such a thrust.

With the bus jerking, the screeching brakes and the sound of the engine loudly exhaling at each stopping point, I have no idea how anyone can even have a head propped in a stable manner that would allow a person to sleep. Each time a person approaches his or her specific stop, a bell of some sort rings indicating the driver should stop at the next location. Then there are the occasional announcements from a random recorded voice providing information about security or thanking us for riding the designated company’s bus. Who sleeps through that? I have no idea but it is not uncommon to hear someone snoring.

More importantly, aren’t these sleeping people concerned that they will sleep through their desired location and end up on some foreign part of the island far, far away from their intended destination? I can’t do it.

Singapore’s buses are set up either in a two-person bench format, one along each side of the bus, or a two-by-two seat formation with a small aisle in between two sets of seats.

I cannot believe the rush to not only get onto the bus, about which I have written a few times before, but the rush to also find a seat. I imagine people would use swords to fight for seats if they could, any many of the aunties do – with their soft, sad eyes and their old, wrinkly faces, begging like a puppy for someone to give them a seat.

Then, those people who fought so desperately to rest their legs and take a breath end up getting off the bus at the next stop. Really?! You know you will be on the bus for two minutes and you fight someone else out of a seat? What were you thinking? Was that 1.5-minute sit really worth it? You got up 30 seconds before your bus stop to ensure you alight as soon as the bus doors are opened. Honestly.

Then there are the people who sit in the aisle seats, leaving the window seat open.

These people annoy me oh so much. Now, if a person were to be getting off in the next stop or two, I could see the convenience of sitting in the aisle seat, knowing that you do not want to climb over someone in the next couple minutes. Fine.

But the rest of you – what are you thinking? Why do you sit on the outside and not move over? If someone else approaches, will you move over to the window? Likely not. That is what really annoys me.

If a person boards a bus, carrying bags or something, no one in the aisle-only seats moves to the window. When that person with the bags approaches the person sitting in the aisle seat, nine times out of 10, the person in the aisle seat will not move to the window. The person in the aisle seat will not get up and allow the person with the bags to enter the window seat with ease, either.

No, no. The person in the aisle seat will just turn their legs into the aisle, forcing the person with the bags to raise the bags over the heads of those seated around and squeeze their bodies and their belongings into a small space, trying to not hit the person in the aisle seat. What are you thinking aisle seat person? Why would you not move over or at least stand up and give the other person some room?

The same happens on the way out, by the way. The person with the bags has to climb over the person in the aisle seat again to alight. Stupid aisle seat person. Did you not learn your lesson the first time?

Then there are the musical chairs riders. They are funny. They will board the bus, rush to the back to find a seat, and then when another seat opens up, apparently a better seat of higher value, they will rush to that seat as soon as the prior seat occupier steps out of the way. I’m sorry, was your original seat not good enough? Do you get a better view on the left side of the bus than you had on the right side of the bus?

Some people will move more than one time. Older Singaporean women are my favorite to watch because they will sit in up to four seats in a single trip. Why, I often wonder. Why do you move so much?

MORE CONTENT

I love my life here in Singapore. I am happy to be in Asia, though most of the time it doesn’t feel like I am in Asia. I like having the opportunities to explore new cultures and meet new people.

What I do miss is not being able to share my experiences with so many of my friends and family members back home. I had a great time with my friends when I was in the U.S. in December, eating the best of American food, touring a winery, drinking lots of coffee and catching up on life – in person.

Though I am connected to my friends via Facebook, e-mail, phone calls and text messaging, sometimes being able to physically be with a person just doesn’t compare.

One friend of mine is dealing with a career-changing decision. I would love to have her sit with me at a coffee shop, have some lunch and talk through her choices.

Another friend has been very ill. I wish so much that I could be near her to bring her what she needs and to help her care for her family when she cannot.

A very close friend has been struggling with a very personal issue. Though we constantly text each other, my messages appearing on her phone are not as good as what they would be in person. If I were in the U.S., I would take a week off of work, drive to her home and just be with her for a week. I would go to her doctor’s appointments with her, I would go shopping with her, I would buy her lots of coffee.

So, while I do like the warm weather, the constant activities that keep me busy and all of the time I get to spend with my husband, I know that there are many days I would be more content sitting next to each of my friends. To all of you out there fighting drama, fighting cancer, battling illnesses, trying to get pregnant, debating a job change, considering a move and sometimes just wondering how you made it through the day, I miss you tons and wish I could be there with you. 

I CERTAINLY INTEND TO

When I began this blog a year ago, I thought it would be a fun way to provide friends and family members living in the States some insight into my life and my husband’s life as we began our great adventure. My parents travelled Europe and Central and South America both before my time and while I was growing. I never seemed to manage an invitation to any of their international parties; maybe they thought that I would get my opportunities to travel later in life.

I grew up in an upper-middle class household, first in the South and then in the Midwest from ages 13 to 25. Throughout junior high and high school, I wanted to travel on the school trips to D.C., Canada and Spain but I was never afforded the opportunities.

Several of my friends, including some with whom I am still connected, I met through a foreign exchange program. I met a great girl from Uruguay, a couple guys from Brazil, Argentina, the Czech Republic, Spain and many more. I envied their experiences, their home lives and their ability to spend a year in a foreign environment, immersed in a new culture, yet I wondered how they picked my small town of 12,000 in Northwest Ohio out of the thousands of American cities that offered so much more.

In my mom’s defense, our town was not sending all of our kids on year-long international exchange programs but that did not stop me from asking. When I missed out on the opportunity in high school, I tried again in college. I asked to study for a semester in Salamanca, Spain. No, didn’t happen.

I spent 25 years of my life wishing I could go somewhere but never really did anything when I had the opportunity to do something for myself. I guess it’s easier to look back now and come up with ways that I could have supported myself. It is also easy to understand why my parents denied my many requests, but sometimes I wish they just shoved me out the door and out into another country.

My husband and I did plan a trip to England but the trip was cancelled so we settled for New England and an amazing week in Nantucket. I am not exactly disappointed at the switch. I don’t think we will ever forget our time in Nantucket. And I did make plans with the best girl on the planet to vacation in St. Bart’s in April 2011 but then I got a better offer – a lifelong trip to a tropical island in the East.

Travelling by plane, staying in hotels and walking around town with a camera around one’s neck does not bring the same feeling as taking everything you own and landing in a new place with no idea when you will leave or where you will go next.

On April 1, Paul and I landed and I remember having a point in the day when there were so many thoughts and emotions circling in my mind, and then there was a time of nothing. No thoughts. No questions. No emotions. I was just present in the moment.

There were moments of confusion, moments when our misconceptions were brought to life and moments that will make me laugh every time I go back and read about what happened that day. I thank each and every one of you for reading.

This blog, started as a way of communicating with the masses back home in the U.S., now reaches people in 10 countries and receives more than 3,000 hits in a month. Please stay tuned for another year of adventures as Paul and I explore what it is like to become a registered driver, apply for residency and discuss our options as Paul’s work contract comes to an end.

I may be working now, but I still intend to explore on my days off and report to each of you everything I learn along the way. Keep sending your comments – my husband and I appreciate them. My favorite so far comes from a pilot, stating that the blog is “like potato chips (I can’t read just one).”

Beginning April 1, the anniversary of our move, you will be able to follow the blog via Facebook so look for the page and Like the blog. Get your friends to tune in and Like the blog as well. The more Likes the blog receives, the better chance I have of turning this blog into a book. The book will be filled with stories like the ones you are reading and it will also include a lot of previously unpublished material. I look forward to developing more content in the coming months. 

I MAY BE

The first time a rash appeared on my arms, I had just returned from Bali. I had been sick that morning and thought that the rash had something to do with either the heat or whatever virus I picked up while on vacation.

The rashes eventually disappeared and only returned on a rare occasion after I had been exposed to heat and outdoor activities.

Since I began working what I consider to be full time at the horse arena, the rashes on my arms not only reappeared, they spread and they were a nuisance. Then Paul made the connection that I failed to see – maybe I am allergic to the horses. I did spend time with and on a horse in Bali the day before I left. After three weeks of itching and scratching and placing anti-itch ointment on my arms four times a day, I decided to make a doctor’s appointment to inquire about an allergy.

My doctor confirmed that I am allergic to some part of my work environment, likely either the horses or the hay they consume. I was warned that I would soon also experience nasal drippage down my throat. Super.

I was prescribed an allergy medication that is available over the counter in Singapore and a steroid cream for my rash. Everything seemed great until I awoke Sunday morning.

Sunday I was feeling a little off – I had a bit of a sore throat and I was a bit tired. I blamed the tiredness on a sunburn I had received the day prior and figured the throat would get better as the day went on.

My throat worsened throughout the evening and, at one point in the night, I was unsure how much air was actually making its way through my throat because it felt incredibly blocked. After a mostly sleepless night and a very sore throat, I decided to stay home from work Monday.

Six days have passed and I am again experiencing a sore throat, though it never quite healed throughout the week. I have a couple other symptoms including a sporadic cough and a lot of phlegm in my throat. Sorry, too much information? Thursday night I slept all through the night thanks to my best friend, NyQuil.

Then I woke up Friday morning with the beginnings of a cough and a voice that was hardly a whisper.

It’s funny how being sick can make me crave different things. Sometimes, I do not want food at all; other times all I want to do is eat. I today realized that when I am sick, I crave salty foods – pork fried rice, wonton noodle soup, ramen noodles and salty popcorn.

Yesterday, as soon as I finished my last volunteering session at the arena, I arrived home in time to eat a bowl of chicken-flavored ramen noodles, grab a long-sleeved tee, a hoodie and a pair of socks and head off to a nearby movie theater. I figured a weekday matinee with some lemon tea and salty popcorn would be exactly what my doctor would advise me to do. It was a great solo outing.

Today I slept most of the day. When I awoke at 4 a.m., I decided it was about time to take some NyQuil as I had not when I went to bed. The sleep medicine did not work as I intended so I was out of bed at 7:30. I sat on the couch for a little while, watched a television show and then, by 9, I was ready for naptime. I slept until after 12.

Paul and I enjoyed a lunch of reheated Rosemarina, one of his family’s signature dishes, and then Paul declared it was naptime. I was happy to take part. So we each went to nap around 1, Paul in the bedroom and I on the couch. By the time 4 p.m. rolled around I decided it was time to suck it up and stay awake. The only other day in my life I slept this much was the day I slept 20 hours and ate nothing more than oyster crackers with my cups of Gatorade. That was a record.

I still have no idea whether I am suffering from some sort of viral infection or if this really has something to do with my allergies but I certainly intend to find out. 

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED

Tonight I experienced my first Asian business dinner. On the train ride across the island, a scene from my favorite show, Gilmore Girls, entered my mind. The Korean Kim family hosted a New Year’s dinner and, when one of the Western guests made a motion to leave the table to relieve himself, he was sternly informed that he was not allowed to leave the table during dinner. Only when everyone was excused by the host would he be allowed to use the toilet (bathrooms/restrooms are simply known as “toilet” here).

I told Paul that I needed to quickly study up on my Asian dinner etiquette because I was not sure that we would be able to use the restroom at any point during dinner. I read one article on traditional Asian dinners in the host’s home and, while I found some of the tips interesting, I realized that many were not applicable for this evening’s dinner.

The second article was written by a Chinese man and focused more on modern restaurant dining – perfect. I learned that like in American dinner etiquette, one should not eat until all have been served; in Asian dining, one does not eat until either the host or an elder takes the first bite.

Plates are passed counter-clockwise and chopsticks should be used unless instructed otherwise.

When presented with food, one has the responsibility to eat everything on the plate or in the bowl that can be consumed. Refusing to eat something either because one does not like the item or because one does not eat certain types of foods is not considered appropriate. Here in lies the challenge. We are both quite aware of what we like and what we do not.

Paul is not a fan of unfamiliar foods so the idea of dining at an all-Asian restaurant where set menus are prevalent did not exactly psych him up for the event. I tried to convince him that the food would be great and reminded him that the restaurant serves dim sum so there had to be something he liked in the mix. 

Our first course  was presented on a few platters. Though my mind did not immediately recognize the baby pig laid out before us, I was advised that this suckling pig with the crispy skin was a delicacy. The skin was perfectly crisped and the meat was so tender. The kompyang that accompanied the pig was also quite tasty - the small round discs reminded me of flat bao.

My etiquette article specifically stated that mobile phones were to be on vibrate and tucked away throughout the dinner; photos taken of the food presented were, in some occasions, seen as acceptable. However, if one had the inkling to take a photo of someone else’s food, one must first get that person’s permission. Not wanting to look like a crazy American tourist or seen as anything other than professional and classy, I refrained from taking any photos. Sorry.

We enjoyed eight more courses that included shark fin soup, Boston lobster, grouper (Paul’s favorite fish), scallops with prawns and crab, abalone and mee po before finishing with a chilled mango puree and Chinese cakes.

The food was delightful but by the time we were served our fourth course, my belly was feeling the pressure. Not wanting to disappoint anyone or seem ungrateful, I continued to take a least one bite of everything I was served. To my dismay, even the wait staff commented on my unfinished plates.

When the mee pow was served, one waitress advised me that she gave me a “tiny portion” of the noodles and mushrooms so that I would be able to clean my bowl. But I did not. Not a fan of fungus by any means, I sucked up my foul distaste and ate three or four bites to at least show an effort.

When the abalone was presented, I really had no idea what was placed in front of me. I know that the Tran-Lams love the abalone and, since I had survived and quite liked the geoduck, I decided to cut off a sizeable piece and give the thing a try.

At that moment, I was not sure whether I should continue to chew, attempt to swallow the pieces as they were or nonchalantly spit them out into a napkin. I was about to gag at the texture and the flavor and I wondered what I was to do if I suddenly threw up at the table. I mean no disrespect to anyone who likes the abalone – I think that’s great – my body just could not handle it. Don’t worry, I feel the same way about broccoli.

As the last two courses were served together, the waitress kindly advised me that the mango puree was light and not filling, so I did have a bit more than I intended. The flavor was sweet and the cooling qualities ended the meal positively.

I may not have followed all of the Clean Plate Club rules that my parents tried to teach me from a very early age, but I did accept the nine-course dinner challenge and my belly did fit out the door at the conclusion of the evening…though I may be fasting tomorrow.