Monday, October 24, 2011

Twenty Things

Last night at supper, we had a conversation about our favorite things about Singapore.  We've been here nearly three months, and that's been plenty of time to find some fabulous things about living here.  There are definitely things we haven't quite gotten used to yet, but we'll save those for another day.

AK's 5 Favorite Things
       1.  Having a pool to swim in all year round.

2.  Monkeys in the trees.  Well, not in our neighborhood, but in some parts of the island.
3.  Satay.  Meat on a stick. She's definitely her father's child.

4.  Riding the train.
5.  Riding the bus


Kristin's 5 Favorite Things
1. The trash chute.   It deserves a post of its own, and it will likely get one before we leave this country.  Until then, just know that there's great satisfaction in throwing your trash down a hole in your wall.  Dirty diaper?  No problem!  Rotten pineapple?  Just open and toss!  I don't really know where it goes, and I don't want to.  All that matters is that I remember to only use bags that, when full, will fit down the chute.  The rest is left up to the elves in the basement who take it from there.  Ah, sweet benefit of condo living!


2.  Wet Markets.  I love them.  I've got many more pictures to share.  Stay tuned. 

3.  Grocery delivery.  In fact, this time tomorrow, I'll be putting away peanut butter, potato chips, sugar, pasta sauce, and whatever else I ordered yesterday.  It wouldn't be such a big deal if we had a car, but we don't.  Just imagine lugging everything home from about a mile away, and you might understand.

4.  New foods, and not just the local Singaporean ones, although there are many of those.  Two  grocery store favorites of the adults in our home:

Until about 10 years ago, Jiff made a chocolate peanut butter that was terrific. Now, we're loving Skippy's striped version. Yum.

And Arnott's Mint Slice cookies.  Girl Scouts? Who needs Girl Scouts?


5.  The Passport stamp potential.  There are so many countries that are just a very short, and often affordable, flight from here. I must see them all (Hint, hint...Ben, are you reading?).  Last week was Indonesia (more on that later), and I'm off to Thailand in December. 


Ben's 5 Favorite Things
1.  Riding the train to work.
2.  Working in an office building that sits on top of a huge complex of shopping malls.  Yes, malls. With an "s".  I think he could walk for about an hour and not see all of the malls that are linked to his. Under streets, over streets.  On and on and on.  It's not shopping that he likes; it's the endless choices for lunch. He's a creature of habit and could eat the same thing each day, but his coworkers are instrumental in helping him branch out a little.  A great benefit of his office location is that if I let him know what I need by lunchtime, there's a good chance he can bring home whatever it is that evening. That's service!
3.  The view from our condo.  It hasn't gotten old yet.

4.  Lots of places outside to run. There are many miles of sidewalks, paths, and parkways around us to enjoy.
5.  A tie between his job and the trash chute. Seriously.  First, he said the job, because he really likes what he's doing right now (hooray!).  But, after I put the trash chute on my list, his face lit up, and he said, "Oooh.  Good one!  Maybe that's mine, too..."  See?  I told you it needs a post of its own!


and then there's B3, who really can't tell us what he loves.  Here's our best guess.

B3's 5 Favorite Things
1.   The boat.  That's what he said when I asked him, because we had just returned from a ferry ride from an Indonesian beach.  He loved the boat!
2.   The bus: the boy loves to ride the bus!
3.  His "Night Night Train" . It's not new; it was a Christmas present last year or the year before.  In Charlotte, he required that someone push him on it each night to AK's room so he could say, 'night night'.  Hence, its very original and unique name.  Here, it moves a hundred times better on these polished marble floors.  No pushing necessary!  He rides it all day, every day, filling the back compartment with cars and trucks. Sometimes, he calls himself "Choo Choo Man" and demands that I call him that, too. ( I suppose naming yourself at 2 is genetic; let's just hope folks aren't calling him "Choo Choo" when he's 37, because those  nicknames one chooses for oneself stick around for EVER. Ask me how I know.)

(Princess wand not necessarily part of  ChooChoo Man's outfit, but the John Deere had most certainly is)

4.  The view from our windows.  He stares at the construction site all day, identifying cranes, dump trucks, dozers, and back hoes. He loves to watch the traffic, always finding the fire trucks, garbage trucks, blue buses, police cars, and ambulances. 

5.  Outside.  He enjoys any outdoor activity, and he'll say, "Not raining. Outside?", as he pulls me towards the door.


So, there are a few of our favorite things.  Perhaps we'll think of 5 more in the next three months!

6 comments:

Jean said...

Great post! Interesting.

Laura said...

I love the rubbish chute too!

Laura said...

I love the rubbish chute too!

Anonymous said...

Nicely done Kristin! This is an interesting way to give us a glimpse of Singapore. Maybe some day you might devote a blog to describe things you don't like about it.

kristin said...

Unc1e Serge, I likely will. But, right now, we're focusing on the positive... thinking/writing too much about what annoys me daily just messes with the good attitude I'm trying to have.

Alicia said...

Hope you are bringing some of that peanut butter with you. I am now drawing up the plans for our rubbish chute, but we do not know where to find the elves. Please advise.