Month: April 2007

The movers came today and took everything that is going by sea. It’ll take 2 months to cross the Pacific Ocean, and I guess our stuff will go through the Panama Canal.

The house still feels pretty full. Granted, all the furniture is the landlord’s but there is just a lot of stuff lying around that will have to go on the plane with us. Remember Vince’s new drum set? One of the drumsticks didn’t make the boat trip. We found it under something after the moving guys left.

I’m trying to squeeze in some last minute socializing. I went to Lay Hoon’s house today and met E., her three month old baby. Such deliciousness – getting to hold a newborn.

Today, we had our last sessions with two therapists, Diane our physical therapist and Ranjit our speech therapist. I have such tender feelings towards Edda’s teachers and therapists, they are like family to me. They showed me how to see Edda’s great potential and for that I am grateful.

Ruby is going to miss Ranjit too!

Look! Some stuff piled together.

Jeremy is the packer-in-chief. I’m the subordinate packer and in charge of throwing things out. Vince is the unpacker. And Edda is quality control.

We are trying pretty hard to relieve ourselves from some things we don’t use. Luckily we have many people willing to take our old stuff, some of Jeremy’s cast off clothing is going to the Philippines, Edda’s too-small cute outfits are going to the baby girl two doors down. We’re also giving away a few of the electronic things that we purchased because the voltage is different here.

Look and just 5 days before we leave Singapore, I get a package from Secret Pal number 9 – Chez Clutter! I knew that the last package she sent was lost in the mail and I really didn’t expect a replacement! So it was a nice surprise when the postman stopped by today!

I’m excited about the pom-pom maker and the Knitty Knitter (knitting a hat without knitting needles! How cool!) and I need to think of a cool project to do with ribbon yarn… Hmmmm.. PS, the chocolate and the popcorn got squirreled away by Vincent already, hence they are not in the photo…

Oh, oh, but the best thing was the Ann Budd sweater pattern book (which I’ve been eyeing for over a year now) is actually signed by the famous woman herself! Woo hoo!

Pretty cool, huh? Thank you! Thank you!

Well not really. But perhaps he thinks I’m gay. Laff. I went to have milkshakes with Arif in the middle of the afternoon, in downtown Palo Alto. It was fine, but he wanted me to meet his coworker Dave, since he’s a big triathlete and I’m into cycling yadda yadda. But it was sorta strange cause he didn’t start off on that topic. He was, like, trying to bond us over the fact that we were both single guys on the prowl. That was a weird moment. Laff. Of course we talked a bit about tri’s and we found out that both of us were ministers for the Universal Life Church. So it was a match made in heaven … except were were dudes … looking for dudettes … not other dudes …

…

…

Laff. Thanks sister for the awesome birthday present. Sorry it took me a couple days to post it, but I got a care package from SWAK. I laughed when I found the box outside my door. For those of you who don’t know, SWAK is where my sister and I worked for the summer after… 7th grade? It was a funny place to work, since all the girls got to work in the front office where there was air conditioning, and all the guys worked in the warehouse fetching toys to put in packages or taping up boxes. I credit SWAK for helping me to properly use a tape gun.

From right to left, here’s what in the birthdy package:

Sky Rocket – You slingshot it into the air and it twirls down like a helicopter.
AstroJax – kinda a weird bolo/chaos guy like thing with 3 balls. the middle ball moves along the string. you can do yoyo like tricks with it. it’s hard.
Orbitball – Dad will like this. basically a bouncy ball with a bag of rubber bands to put around it.
Texas Hold’em kit – Laff. Perfect!
Buzz Magnets – These are kinda cool. they make noises when they come together.
SWAG bag – i guess to put everything in?

Also there’s an alien head with some goo? in it? I’m not really sure, since it didn’t come with any packaging or instructions. It’s kinda cool as a desk piece. and oh also, a Happy Birthday banner, that’s no shown, but taped up over my window. 🙂

I must say the quality of the gifts has improved. 🙂

 
 

Laff. Sorry about the short post before. It was all I could get in before I had to leave. But this Article in the Washington Post was somewhat amusing. 3.5 million for that Stradivarius. Nice.

We went to Miss Gowri’s house today. She cooked us a wonderful lunch, curry chicken, dhal and veggies. I learned today that okra is called lady fingers in Singapore. A much more dignified name.

She also bought Edda this beautiful Indian dress.

Jeremy and I started packing! Finally! Walls are getting repaired, stuff is getting sorted, some boxes are being packed.

Our neighbors took us out to lunch today. There are 3 other families that live on our floor and they all have been wonderful and helpful and they were one of the major reasons that we didn’t high-tail it out of Singapore when Edda was diagnosed with Rett Syndrome. They offered childcare, car repairs, house repair advice, medical referrals and just general good will and company.

God, the kids were so wiggly.

Went to the zoo with our friend Agnes and her family. Fed some kangaroos.

Did a lot of fanning to beat the heat.

Someone is ready to go home.

I’m trying to round up some quintessential Singapore experiences before I go. A Singapore Sling served at the Long Bar at the Raffles Hotel.

Terrible, terrible drink. Give me a gin and tonic or margarita any day over this weird sugary crap.