Author: Doris

 
 
  

 

 

 

 

We went to a park downtown to see the Indian dance performance of V., our babysitter’s daughter. They have been preparing for MONTHS and MONTHS. We rushed and rushed around, hauled the kids downtown at 2pm. Sat under the tent and then nothing happened, just rehearsals on the stage. No sign of our friend anywhere. There was lots of good food and some fun kid games. I’m always on the lookout for things that Edda might like to do and today we found the perfect swinging thing.

We hung out for 90 minutes and then headed home. It was so hot. Later, my babysitter called and asked if I had gotten the text message last night that revised the time from 2pm to 12:45pm. But it was written in weird Singlish/SMS/Text shorthand and I read it too quickly to fully comprehend the implications. I feel so bad I missed it.

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Common name: Peacock flower
Scientific name: Caesalpinia pulcherrima

Location: I forget exactly where. Singapore I guess.

Heh. Tonight had been planned for quite some time now. It’s JT’s (annual?) dinner and karaoke night, where he invites everyone out to sing to their hearts content. We went to eat at one of the may Korean Tofu places in Sunnyvale. (pictures to follow) and then it’s off to Camino Karaoke where we got 2 rooms filled to the brim. We stayed there for the better part of 5 hours. Man. I love karaoke. It’s always a good time.

Sometimes I get the sense that JT is trying to convert me. Well, that’s too strong a statement. I’ll say he’s looking out for my well-being, which is different. Usually this centers around meeting women. He suggested that I should maybe get to know someone there tonight better – and I’m not sure what he’s expecting here. Obviously almost all the people there tonight are dedicated Christians, and I just assume that they would not be interested in dating/marrying non-Christians. So anyways, that could possibly be construed as conversion, but it not really.

Of course, perhaps my assumption is wrong, and some Christians are willing to date non-Christian. Choon’s asked me this before – Could I marry a dedicated, weekly church going Christian? I can’t say no entirely, but it’s highly unlikely. I don’t have any intention of converting, and I’d feel pretty uncomfortable if my kids were raised Christian. I don’t feel like forcing on them something so large when they are impressionable and do anything. And there’s a certain distrust for me about organized religion. Maybe this is where I like the Quaker approach, where it’s just you and God. That’s it.

Random camera note: I’ve made it a point not to really say what camera equipment I’ve bought. I even taped over the numbers on my body. Tho some people find out anyways (Choon :P). Tonight, I had no less than 3 people attempt to engage me in “what kind of camera is that?”. Wha. I don’t feel like being a part of that. It takes pictures! It’s a camera! Not a number, not a status symbol. I try to use it! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I doubt they would even know what an f-stop is. And oh, Mr. Why’s-He-Got-The-Hood-On-Indoors, well I keep it there to protect the lens. Invariably someone else want to take pictures with my camera, and surprise surprise they are not a aware of where the front glass elements are, so it helps keep the front element from getting scratched up from random carelessness.

http://www.marvision.com/

Inexpensive head pointing?

Apparently, my ex-gf with a kid, Karen, has just told me that MacLarens are out of fashion. It’s now all about the $700 Bugaboos. Judy, start taking notes, cause I know you’ll be all over this one!

We are on va-ca-tion! We are on va-ca-tion! OK, at least Jeremy and Vince are on vacation. I’m always on vacation – eating bon bons and watching Korean soap operas on TV (just kidding!) and Edda has 1 more week of school.

T., a mother of one of Edda’s classmates, held a Christmas party at her house. It was a blast. We stayed for 6 hours. There was:

Santa

Trampoline

Tire Swinging

There was also swimming, BBQ, fruit salad, wine (red, white and champagne), dogs, 1 cat. Our fish moved into their outdoor fish pond – increased his living space at least 15-fold, but has to put up with a few new roommates.

Vince met a nice little girl at the party. When he finds someone he really likes, he doesn’t want them to become unreachable. He asked me to get her phone number and when I hemmed and hawed, he just went right up to her and asked for it. We promised a future playdate together.

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Common name: Red Ginger
Scientific name: Alpinia purpurata

Location: Orchard Road

Today Vince freaked out about going back to New York. He said that it is so much fun in Singapore that he never wants to leave. I think he’s a little wary about change. It’s all anticipatory, he doesn’t like it when thing are about to change, but once they are changing, it’s OK.

Vince participated in Edda’s class today. They were a little short staffed and I had to leave school to go to my piano lesson – I felt a bit bad leaving him there, but I left and came back as soon as I could. One of my great pleasures is to see Vince make friends with Edda’s classmates, it’s nice to see. Another great pleasure is to see Vince make a huge mess with paint somewhere other than my own house because I hate paint!

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Common name: Powderpuff plant
Scientific name: Calliandra emarginata

Location: Choa Chu Kang Park

Oh no! Cancel you concert tickets!

Vince and I were invited on a field trip today. Edda and her school went to West Coast Park to have fun and games! NJC of Singapore was having a CIP, so a lot of young people were around organizing games and entertainment for the kids.

We were sweltering in the heat and I forgot to pack sunscreen & water. Sigh.

Now Edda has really figured out that when she taps something, she is asking for whatever she is tapping and I usually get it for her. So today, I was at the Quick-E-Mart at the gas station and Edda kept tapping on a bottle of Coke. I looked at her and then I said, No Coke, Edda – sorry kiddo. So then she looked at me and walked straight to the stack of beer and started tapping a six-pack of Tiger. I looked at her wearily and said, No Beer, Edda – sorry kiddo.

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Common name: Traveler’s Palm
Scientific name: Ravenala madagascariensis

Location: Lot 1 Shopper’s Mall.