Last night we took the little Stockdales to this outdoor fire art thing.  It looked pretty cool on the internet, real life – EHH!  The good part was that we got to see the Singapore skyline at night which was pretty cool.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/01/singapore/jacobson-text/1

In general, this article paints this place as a little cleaner than it really is (not just litter, but in general).  There is litter and crime, just not the kind we see back in the States.  As we get more in tune with life here, I’ll post on how the Stockdales view Singapore in comparison to what this author sees.

One thing the little Stockdales and I have had to get accustomed to is the time change.  We are currently 13 hours ahead (in the future) of Kansas City.  Singapore does not do Daylight Savings Time, so we can either be 13 hours in the future or 14 hours in the future, depending on the time of year.   This has made it interesting scheduling Skype calls with the grandparents and friends.  Someone is just waking up and someone is just going to bed.  It also makes reading the news on the Internet odd since we start getting the American morning updates in the evening.  Yahoo updates Fantasy Baseball around 6:00 pm for me.  And, I’m still having trouble watching the stock market.

That said, here’s the first fun surprise I’ve encountered.  I bought a bunch of power transformers before we left to take the Singapore 220 volts ( 221, whatever it takes)  current down to 110 volts so our American electronics will work.  These aren’t just the plug adaptors, they are big boxes that step down the current.  In addition to volts, you also need to consider hertz.   The American power grid runs at 60 hertz, while the Singapore grid is 50 hertz.  

Why does that make a difference?  Digital clocks.  http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/clocks-watches/digital-clock2.htm   Digital clocks use the 60 hertz cycle to help them calculate time (60/10/6 = 1 cycle is a second).  Run them at 50 hertz and whoops (50/10/6= .8333 cycles per second.  This makes the clocks run slower when plugged in over here.   ( This looks like the clock should run faster, but if you read through the link, there is more to it.)  Ouch, my brain hertz! 

So, as you can see, time moves more slowly in the future.  I think that is also what Einstein said about moving at the speed of light, but I can’t run that fast. 

It’s funny how much better my brain works when beer is out of my price range.

Today, after we visited their new school, I took the little Stockdales to the Hawker Center located across the street from the prison (apartment).  A Hawker Center is basically an outdoor food court where vendors sell food.  Imagine every Chinese restaurant you’ve ever eaten at, smushed into an area the size of a basketball court.  Surprisingly, we were the only non-Asians in the place.

The big little Stockdale’s first comment was ‘it smells like wet Big Government’.  (For those new to the Stockdales, Big Government was our old dog back in Kansas.   She smelled odd enough when she was clean.  When she was wet, it took smelly to a whole new level.)

The little Stockdale’s weren’t too keen for ‘chicken feet soup’ or ‘broccoli with oyster sauce’, however they did like the ‘sugar cane water with lemon’ and the ‘strawberry ice with attap seeds’.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nypa_fruticans 

We didn’t get the glass apartment.  So, we have our fingers crossed on round two.  Hope to hear something today.  We’re getting there.  Not sure where there is, but it must be someplace.

So, the little Stockdales and I went to get our greencards today.  These will allow us to legally live in Singapore and Arizona. 

Imagine the DMV in a fancy office building that is clean, doesn’t smell, has helpful and courteous staff, runs efficiently, has no rude people whining about something, plus (SUPER EXTRA BONUS) all the employees are actually working.   Welcome to MOM (Ministry of Manpower).

We’ve only be here a week.  There are some things over here that I shake my head at because the way the Asians do them make absolutely no sense.  There are other things I shake my head at because the way we do things back in the States makes absolutely no sense.  Guess which one the little Stockdales and I saw today.

So, on Tuesday the little Stockdales and I were temporarily released from the service apartment/prison to do a craft at the ‘Kidz Lounge’ in the facility.  Talk about fun!  They painted picture frames and put glitter on the wet paint.  It was the most awesomest thing EVER!

Today, Wednesday we get to do more apartment hunting and go get our green cards.  The excitement never ends around the Stockdale house!

We found the apartment we hope to rent yesterday.  Need to go back today and make sure it is what we want then hopefully things get worked out.   The system over here is pretty convoluted.

 The kids are mad because they hate the place we want to rent.  We made the mistake of taking them with us to look.   The first place we saw was a 3300 sq ft townhouse.  It was VERY cool, but it was just a little off the beaten path.  Great place to live like an American where we pretty much hang out at the house and then drive the minivan wherever we need to go.  But, not a good spot if you have to take cabs or the subway (MRT).   The place Mrs. Stockdale and I liked is in a high-rise building.  Totally different than anything we’ve lived in before.  The kids just don’t understand at all.   The big little Stockdale went to bed in tears last night that she didn’t want to live in the house with ‘all the glass’.

The little Stockdales are at each other’s throats constantly.  We are in this tiny little apartment thing and they just feed off tormenting each other.  There is always one being good and the other two just trying to kill each other.  ( She breathed on me!!! )  I have a terrible feeling it will be like this till August when they go to school.   Cooking is a nightmare.   I’m just in a mode right now of getting through it till we have our own place.  Don’t want to sound negative at all.  It’s been fun and interesting so far.  Our only issue is that the current living situation SUCKS.

That said, I’m very optimistic.  It’s just a matter of getting through these first few weeks, getting a routine, meeting people, etc.  I also think that once the kids get their stuff, they will be much better.

Yesterday, we went to the American Club with friends of Mrs. Stockdale’s.  Although we really didn’t need the recharge, the little Stockdales enjoyed the bowling, grilled cheese, and pizza. 

After bowling, we had lunch, then Mrs. Stockdale and I went apartment hunting.  Here are your options in Singapore:

• Expensive and tiny
• Expensive and small
• Expensive and old
• Expensive and yucky
• Expensive and round
• Expensive and no other kids for the little Stockdales to play with
• Or, outrageously expensive and exactly what we want.

Unfortunately, the last option probably isn’t in the cards.

If you click on the headline for this post, it will open in new window and you can see the video.

So basically there is a cable channel here with nothing but this.  It appears you ‘SMS’ and pay 50 cents to get your name on the screen and attempt to protect cows from being abducted.

This thing is pure genius!  Who wants to start this with me back in the States?