1. Going by the daughter's joy at her first drop-off class, I signed her up for a holiday series this week, to be held Dec 4th - 7th. The Hubster has been prodding me into looking for a similar arrangement on the weekends, so we can go watch movies. Having been at the receiving end, far too many times of wailing babies and running children in movie halls, Hubster is a firm believer in keeping kids out of the cinema theatre. Thus as per principle, we do not take Zoe to movies with us. Being self-confessed film buffs, that deprives us of what once used to be our regular "first day-first show' must-dos. In the past, the nanny has obliged often by working late hours, so we could go watch our weekly flicks. That kind of liberation, only now even better as it will be 24/7, is another reason why we gave in to the 'foreign domestic worker' employer lifestyle, here in Singapore. Long live our movie mania!
2. It rains every afternoon in Singapore. Sometimes more than once in a few hours. The sights go gray, the skyline vanishes and lightning streaks across the vast blue. And then just a few seconds later, it goes back to normalcy, as if nothing happened.
We have a bird's eye view of a vast expanse of the city for our daily viewing pleasure. It reminds me of The MD House. Except, unlike the original, the view from the MD House-Singapore is not as colourfully dynamic. Naturally so, since there are no seasons in Singapore. It is the one thing I am not sure I'd like to live without, after having lived with for the past decade. I guess perennial summers just don't do it anymore for Fall babies like me.
3. Isetan is our friendly neighborhood Japanese grocery store or marketplace as they are better known here. Situated a short walk away from home, in a neighborhood mall (of course), this is my dream-come-true playground before I set foot in the kitchen. I could easily spend hours here, browsing my way through never-before seen authentic Asian ingredients, trying out every ramen/somen/ hakka thrown at me and lusting after all the sashimi kept in their cold storage. On one of our trips here, Zoe tried her first ever ramen soup at the hands of a kimono-clad sales girl, who I am pretty sure she thought had jumped right out of one of her fave Japanese anime channels.
4. Pre-Christmas feels different in Singapore. It is funny seeing plastic, excessively decorated Xmas trees sprout all over the city, unlike the green real conifers that one sees a lot of, in the States. Funnier still is seeing fake decorative snowflakes on some trees and stockings & boots on some women. Oh well! I guess they are allowed to pretend it's winter time. At least the ring of the Salvation Army bell at every corner and the crazy shoppers flooding the stores, looking for presents, make it look like a normal Christmas somehow.
5. Early on in the week, we learnt that the weekend would be spent flying to NYC. That we were elated at the news, goes without saying. To bring or not to bring Zoe with us, was the question. Being only a week long trip, this might be more arduous if done with her, we thought and almost concurred that leaving her behind with either of our families in Mumbai, seems like the best thing to do. But then the disappointed/ angry/ fierce (in some cases) reactions of some of her friends, played back-to-back before my eyes and I figured, going to her city without her was never really an option. Good call there, as my fears were legitimately confirmed later in the week, when I mentioned this dilemma to some.
6. Most of the week was spent planning the course of events and more importantly making a list of local errands to be run, while in NYC next week. And hoping desperately that like last time, maybe this time around too the little one will not jet lag for more than a day or two.
On that note, it's time to get back to yet another suitcase (a real physical one unlike this weekly textual one). And to go try out our fall jackets to see if they'll take us through the NY winter-like temps in the Fall. Happy Thanksgiving and hoping to see some of you in NYC next week. And the rest, soon enough in your respective corners of the world!
Love,
Shweyta
2. It rains every afternoon in Singapore. Sometimes more than once in a few hours. The sights go gray, the skyline vanishes and lightning streaks across the vast blue. And then just a few seconds later, it goes back to normalcy, as if nothing happened.
We have a bird's eye view of a vast expanse of the city for our daily viewing pleasure. It reminds me of The MD House. Except, unlike the original, the view from the MD House-Singapore is not as colourfully dynamic. Naturally so, since there are no seasons in Singapore. It is the one thing I am not sure I'd like to live without, after having lived with for the past decade. I guess perennial summers just don't do it anymore for Fall babies like me.
3. Isetan is our friendly neighborhood Japanese grocery store or marketplace as they are better known here. Situated a short walk away from home, in a neighborhood mall (of course), this is my dream-come-true playground before I set foot in the kitchen. I could easily spend hours here, browsing my way through never-before seen authentic Asian ingredients, trying out every ramen/somen/ hakka thrown at me and lusting after all the sashimi kept in their cold storage. On one of our trips here, Zoe tried her first ever ramen soup at the hands of a kimono-clad sales girl, who I am pretty sure she thought had jumped right out of one of her fave Japanese anime channels.
4. Pre-Christmas feels different in Singapore. It is funny seeing plastic, excessively decorated Xmas trees sprout all over the city, unlike the green real conifers that one sees a lot of, in the States. Funnier still is seeing fake decorative snowflakes on some trees and stockings & boots on some women. Oh well! I guess they are allowed to pretend it's winter time. At least the ring of the Salvation Army bell at every corner and the crazy shoppers flooding the stores, looking for presents, make it look like a normal Christmas somehow.
5. Early on in the week, we learnt that the weekend would be spent flying to NYC. That we were elated at the news, goes without saying. To bring or not to bring Zoe with us, was the question. Being only a week long trip, this might be more arduous if done with her, we thought and almost concurred that leaving her behind with either of our families in Mumbai, seems like the best thing to do. But then the disappointed/ angry/ fierce (in some cases) reactions of some of her friends, played back-to-back before my eyes and I figured, going to her city without her was never really an option. Good call there, as my fears were legitimately confirmed later in the week, when I mentioned this dilemma to some.
6. Most of the week was spent planning the course of events and more importantly making a list of local errands to be run, while in NYC next week. And hoping desperately that like last time, maybe this time around too the little one will not jet lag for more than a day or two.
On that note, it's time to get back to yet another suitcase (a real physical one unlike this weekly textual one). And to go try out our fall jackets to see if they'll take us through the NY winter-like temps in the Fall. Happy Thanksgiving and hoping to see some of you in NYC next week. And the rest, soon enough in your respective corners of the world!
Love,
Shweyta
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