Author: Doris

Exploring Bishan

Today I had lunch with Raymond (a colleague) and his family. They are really nice, and after lunch they showed me around Bishan, where they live. It is closer in than Woodlands, which is really on the outskirts. It is centered on an MRT station (North South Line stop NS17) with its own mall (many MRT stations have a mall) and is about halfway between the stop for Chartered (NS 7, 8 or 9) and downtown (NS 22-25). There is also a dog run in the park and some of the Singapore Kennel club classes are held there. I am going to check with the Realtor about whether anything is available in that neighborhood. Most neighborhoods in Singapore have a community center where classes of various sorts are held. At the Bishan community center there are classes in jujitsu, and belly dancing. I am not sure about what else yet. I had more fun than I expected to this weekend, riding around on the subway and walking about town. There are so many different faces to see here, so many different kinds of noses, chins, lips, teeth etc. And because it is the weekend and school is out for midyear break, there were lots of folks around, shopping, flirting, kissing and etc. It was a bit more lively than the subway back and forth to work, besides which I am finally emerging from the last of my jet lag. It will be a lot more fun to run around here with my family. I am looking forward to that.

Saturday in Singapore

Today I trekked around Singapore, looking at various things including a prospective neighborhood for our time in Singapore. First I went to the Honda dealership (to have a look at the Jazz and Stream models they don’t sell in the US) and the IKEA, where I did not buy anything. This involved a lot of walking around in the hot sun, so then I took a cab to the Woodlands neighborhood. The Woodlands neighborhhod is very close to Chartered, as shown on the upper map below (about 2 KM). The realtor showed me a some houses and a condo there Friday. The houses were too big, but the condo was sort of appealing. The complex (shown with the star in the lower map) has the usual pool and tennis courts, a small gym and a little montesori school inside (with enrichment classes 1-2 hours long). Then I walked to the nearby supermarket (the light brown thing to the left) where there is also a small hawker center/food court, some restaurants, and etc. You can also see the subway station and mall at the top right and the neighborhood swimming complex in the upper left and the edge of the Singapore American school at the bottom left. After walking quite a bit in the hot humid weather I was all worn out and headed back to my hotel. On my way I stopped at Din Tai Fung for dinner. I had tried to go yesterday but got there too late and didn’t want to wait that long for a table for one. So this time I got there right at 5PM, and had some old favorites – steamed chicken soup, soup dumplings, spinach with garlic and some Taiwan Pi-Jou. Back at my hotel I had some work conversations (I am working all the time now that I am bored and alone, I miss my family!) and am now about ready for bed. Raymond, a colleague from Chartered with kids about the same ages as ours, called me and we are going to have lunch tomorrow.