Singapore - Part 2

The weather in Singapore is very hot and humid since it is close to the equator. It also rains almost every day. The first day we were there we walked down the Orchard Road upscale shopping district to have lunch at Fridays. (I know, but we really miss American chains sometimes! :) While we were eating it started pouring rain. People actually took off their shoes to wade across the street!

However, it wasn't all American chain food. My amazing friend Rohaya, who is from Singapore, gave us an incredible list of places to visit and restaurants and dishes to try. I wish we'd managed to try a few more, but we still have a great list for next time! Two of our favorites were Chicken Rice and Chili Crab. The chicken rice was a dish of incredibly yummy rice served with a side of steamed or roasted chicken.

 It was a hit with the entire family. Chili crab was an entire crab served in a huge bowl of incredible chili sauce with steamed buns called Man-Tou on the side. Matt and I both loved it but luckily the kids weren't willing to try it!

Our first day we browsed our way down Orchard Road and Laura and I got haircuts at a salon where the stylists spoke perfect English! :)

Then we spent the rest of the day in the hotel pool.

The next day we took a double decker bus tour bus and explored the city. The kids had never been on a double decker bus and the breeze made the hot sticky weather bearable. On our way back to the hotel we got caught in a massive downpour and arrived back at our hotel looking like drowned rats.

Matt had to work the next day, so the kids and I went to the Singapore Zoo. Billed as the world's best rainforest zoo, it really was special. The habitats for the animals were very cool and it offered so many chances to interact and get up close with the animals. It really was something different than we'd ever seen before.

Based on a recommendation from our friends the Enersons, we decided to have breakfast with the orangutans. The food was so so but the orangutans were amazing!

The kids fed the elephants bananas.

 
Then they fed the giraffes. Apparently the girls looked tasty, because they both got licked by giraffe tongues.

This emu also tried to take a bite out of Katie!

My favorite animals were the chimpanzees.

The kids got to take part in an animal show. They even got a stuffed animal and Frisbee for participating!

Their absolute favorite part of the zoo was the splash park. We spent at least 3 hours here! We also saw  our friends the Barlows from Rokko Island!

Luckily the day was overcast and the Singapore schools had just started back after their spring break, so the zoo was very empty and not as hot as usual. That night we headed to a residential area for dinner to get a feel for what it would like to be a "local" expat family. Our conclusion: it would be very nice!

The next day we went to Universal Studios. It was sprinkling lightly, and most rides only had a 5 minute wait. The best part was that everything was in English, so we could understand it all!

The girls with the pharoh

The Ancient Egypt section was very cool!

The girls with Space Aliens

Madagascar show

That night we tried a fish spa. Our fish spa had three sizes of fish. None of us were brave enough to try the big ones! It was a very weird sensation, like prickly bubbles on your feet.

My feet did end up very soft, but I'm not sure I'll ever do it again. However, it will definitely be something the whole family will remember!

The following day, Matt was off and we headed to Sentosa Island. This is a small island off the coast of Singapore that has been turned into a resort area. The day was very hot and sunny! First we went to see the Merlion, the symbol of Singapore. The original one is located on the downtown bay but it has been converted enclosed and made into a decoration for a very expensive hotel room for the next few months! The Merlion on Sentosa was very cool though.

Drenched in sweat after visiting the Merlion, we decided to head to the beach. Matt and I were a little worried about the water quality, since frieghters filled the water right outside the bay. However, it wasn't bad. The beach was gorgeous and so was the island scenery. Unfortunately, despite the sun block, swim shirts, and a limited time on the beach we all got a bit fried.

Our final day we decided to spend relaxing at our shaded hotel pool. It was a perfect ending to a very busy week. For dinner we headed to the East Coast Beach area for dinner. It was beautiful and our chili crab was very tasty!

Singapore was one of my very favorite vacations so far and I would absolutely love to go back again. It is a vibrant, gorgeous, wealthy city, giddy on its own prosperity. It was so much fun and so easy to navigate. Despite the fact that I really enjoy Japan, I am a bit jealous of all the expats who are in Singapore instead. Of course, the fact that we stayed at the St. Regis Hotel didn't hurt anything. It was definitely one of the fanciest hotels I've ever seen!

Breakfast please!

I could get used to this!

Restaurant ceiling

Spring Break in Singapore- Part 1

Background - Singapore Flyer (ferris wheel, Museum of Science/Art (broken egg shape) and the  Marine Bay Sands Hotel (three towers with boat shape on top)

Over spring break the kids and I joined Matt on his business trip to Singapore. Matt's been there several times but I hadn't and it was on my wish list of places to go. I'm so glad we did! Singapore is beautiful and we had a wonderful time.

Singapore is a city/state at the bottom tip of Malaysia. It is an island, separated from mainland Malaysia by the Straits of Johor. Singapore became a British colony in the early 1800's. It was occupied by the Japanese during WWII and eventually became an independent country in 1965. Today it is one of the biggest port cities in the world and a melting pot of races, cultures and nationalities. There are 4 official languages but the dominant one is English.

Downtown skyline

The legal system follows English common law for the most part but  is considered pretty severe by the rest of the world. There are mandatory death sentences for first degree murder, drug trafficking and firearm offences. Rioting, drug use and vandalism are punishable by caning and there are stiff fines for things such as littering and spitting in public. However, the end result is a city that is clean, safe, gorgeous and very wealthy! It had the fastest growing economy in the world in 2010 and it shows.

Old Courthouse in front with new courthouse behind (building with flying saucer shape on top)

The city is located in a jungle setting and the greenery and flowers wind through all of its streets and neighborhoods. However, it is very well tended and maintained. It is one of the most multicultural cities I've ever seen. For the first time since we moved to Asia, we didn't stand out at all! The majority of the residents are of Chinese, Malaysian, or Indonesian decent but there is a huge population of foreigners from North America, Europe, South America and the Middle East.

Orchard Road - upscale shopping street lined with malls and restaurants

It is very much a big modern city with tall skyscrapers and futuristic buildings. It also honors its past with bustling Chinatowns, India Village and an Arabic section. The British influence is also very clear.

Mosque

Street mural

Little India

Chinese Buddhist temple

Hindu temple

Singapore landmark - Raffles Hotel

Earthquake and Tsunami

As most people already know, Japan was hit with an immense earthquake and tsunami wave on Friday afternoon. We were incredibly fortunate to be in an area far to the south of the quake. Although we did feel it, we suffered no damage and other than a few cracks in the plaster, life has continued as normal for most people in our region. However, we are heartbroken and appalled by the images that we see from the north of the country.

A couple of people have asked, so hear is our story:

Last Monday, I attended a class on disaster preparedness and first aid. We're so isolated in our foreigness and lack of knowledge of the language, when I saw the class I couldn't pass up the opportunity to learn a little bit about what we are supposed to do.  I knew that a huge quake hit our area about 16 years ago. When we moved here, we were assured that the big ones only hit every 50 years or so. Our building withstood the 1995 quake, so we assumed we'd be safe and honestly we didn't really give it much more thought. We've experienced a few small tremors since we've been here. The biggest was a few weeks ago but nothing that significant.

The class was incredibly informative and a little scary. We were told that 1/10 of the worlds' earthquakes happen in Japan. The instructor also spent a long time discussing first aid for disaster victims. It shook me up enough that a friend and I actually set aside some time on Friday morning to put together disaster preparedness kits. Things like water, plastic bags, toilet paper, work gloves, copies of all our important documents, etc. It's quite a list. A list of items that I pray that I never need to use. I left everything on the bed and headed to school around 2:30 p.m. to volunteer in Katie's class.

 I was sitting in a room across from her classroom, waiting with another mom volunteer when I started feeling a little lightheaded. I actually thought I might pass out. I caught myself on a table and the other mom said "I think it's an earthquake". We sat and looked at each other for a long moment. Then the principal made a " Duck and Cover" announcement.  We ran across the hall to Katie's class and crawled under the little tables in their room. The students giggled, assuming it was just another drill. In a few minutes, the principal called an all clear and asked us to stand by while he checked to see if there was a tsunami warning. A few seconds later he called a tsunami all clear and the class headed over to the multipurpose room to practice their sensory motor skills.

The kids were bouncing on balls, wiggling through tunnels, throwing at targets and my cell phone was going crazy with calls and texts. Matt called to make sure I was okay.  He was at P&G talking on the phone when the window blinds in his conference room started banging against a window. It took him a minute to realize what was going on. He didn't get worried until he realized that it wasn't going to stop right away. Instead of a few seconds, this quake lasted for several minutes, something none of us had ever experienced. He also looked out his window and saw our apartment building swaying back and forth.

My friends at our apartment building were texting me that the building was moving and that they were supposed to stay in their apartments. (The building is built to sway in the advent of earthquakes, it helps release the energy without harming the building). The kids were laughing and yelling when all of a sudden I felt light headed again. The duck and cover announcement blared and since our room had absolutely nothing to duck under, we ran for the classroom. A few minutes later, it was over and the class started getting ready to dismiss for the day.

My friends at our apartment building were panicked. The elevators weren't working, the building was still swaying and the staff was asking them to stay in their apartments. I agreed to try to find their kids and hold them at school for a bit. It was quite a challenge. There were 15 of them, ranging in age from 4-12. The kids were spun up from the earthquake. Many hadn't even felt it and thought it was just a drill. Finding out it was real freaked them out. Most of the kids were used to going home on their own. They wanted to check on their moms. They wouldn't agree to stay until I told them that the Entente was still swaying. That scared them even more. Several broke down in tears.

The day before, I'd arranged a play date for Katie after school. The mom arrived to pick her up and I was kind of stunned. The mom seemed so matter of fact and calm that I finally decided to let her go. After 20 minutes or so, I started home with my crew of 15. Some took off like bullets, a second group went ahead but then turned back. I was struggling to watch all the older bikers while still staying close enough to the walkers and the preschooler just learning to ride his bike. I was afraid to let them go under the train tracks, unless something fell on them. I was terrified that another quake was going to hit while I was responsible for these 15 children, who were strung out over 2 blocks. I can feel my blood pressure shoot up every time I think about it. After 3 blocks I realized that one of the boys wasn't with us. One of his friends told me that he'd gone ahead. I tried to text his mom to see if he'd made it home and realized that my phone wouldn't work. I could receive calls and texts but couldn't send them.

We finally made it back to the building and the kids scattered immediately. The lobby was filled with people and the elevators were not working. Rumors were flying about cracks in the ceilings and walls but the staff was asking people to return to their apartments, so Nathan, Laura and I climbed the 28 floors to our apartment. Another aftershock hit while Laura and I were in the stairwell. We went out onto that floor and talked to a friend for a while until it stopped and then kept climbing. Laura was pretty calm. It wasn't until we got home that she started crying a bit.

Katie's friend's mom called to see if they could take her into the city to go out to dinner. I wasn't sure what to think but I finally said okay. Then Matt called to say there was a tsunami warning for our area. It wasn't supposed to be anything major but they wanted people to stay off the streets. I tried to call Katie's friend but couldn't call out. I felt so helpless! I finally reached Matt and he called.  The family decided to wait until after the tsunami warning expired and then go anyway.


The mix of "no big deal" and "totally freaking out" was incredibly surreal. I didn't know what to think. P&G asked it's employees to remain at work until after the tsunami threat. We both watched out our windows but the tsunami never appeared. Our little island is in a fairly protected position in Osaka Bay. Matt said that when the all clear was announced at his office, he couldn't get his people to leave! It was 6:00 p.m. on a Friday night, but everyone was too busy working to go home. Definitely a different reaction than he would have seen in the U.S.!


When he got home, he poured each of us a stiff drink. Neither of us felt up to cooking, so we decided to go out to dinner at the restaurant at the foot of our apartment building. We ran into a number of people from our building, several of whom were extremely upset. The further you were up in our building, the worse the quake felt. Our apartment is on the 28th floor, near the top. I'm so grateful, for many reasons, that I was at school instead. (Early the next morning I was  awake for one of the strong aftershocks. The swaying and creaking of the building was much worse than my experience at the school, even though the event wasn't nearly as strong.)

Katie arrived home from her play date in a great mood. I don't think she realizes that any of it was a big deal. The school was so calm about it that she never got scared and since she went on a play date after school she didn't experience our creaky, swaying building. 


Nate has been a total rock! I could never have managed bringing all the kids back from school without him. He's been pretty stoic about it all.

We've done our best to shield the kids from the news. We've talked about how much worse the earthquake and tsunami were in the north in a general way but haven't gotten into any specifics. We haven't let them see any of the pictures either. Maybe we're over protecting them but I'm not sure what good scaring them even more would do. As far as what is going on in northern Japan, you probably have a better idea than I do. We can't understand the local news and I don't want to turn on CNN in front of the kids. I'm mostly just checking the CNN and AP news sites and the Japan Meteorological Association site.

The images and stories that I have seen from the northern parts of Japan are heartbreaking and so incredibly sad. I feel so helpless and guilty, since life for us is continuing on as normal. I'm the  having trouble sleeping. I keep having nightmares about an earthquake hitting while I'm trying to get all the kids home from school. I'm also feeling very dizzy whenever I'm in our apartment. I'm not sure if it is mental or if the building is still swaying slightly with the mild aftershocks hitting our area. Another friend is feeling the same way, so I'm hopeful that I'm not just losing it!

Life goes on for us though. Yesterday we went on a tour to Ninja Village. This morning Matt left for a business trip to China. The day was warm and sunny, so the kids and I spent most of it outside playing/talking with friends. Tomorrow we go back to school.  A few hundred miles to the north of us, people's lives will never be the same. They are still in fear of strong aftershocks, tsunami, fire, nuclear reactor melt downs. They've lost lives, homes, businesses and entire cities.  I'm still trying to grapple with the reality of it. I can't even imagine what their reality is.


Ninja Village - March 12, 2011


We had made plans several months before to go on a tour sponsored by our local foreigner community center, CHIC, to Ninja Village in the town of Iga in Mie prefecture. The morning after the earthquake we received an email saying that since none of the area we would be traveling through had any damage, the trip would go on as planned. 

Map of the town

Matt and I discussed it and we decided that the distraction might be a good idea. Otherwise, we thought would have spent the day glued to CNN and the kids would have gotten much more exposure than would be good for them. It felt very weird to be leaving on a trip to a tourist destination the day after such a devastating disaster but several other families made the same choice and about 25 of us headed out on a bus for the 2.5 hour trip to the theme park.

Inside the shrine to Matsuo Bushu

Exterior

Moat and walls surrounding the castle

Iga is a former castle town ringed by mountains on all four sides. With its residences of former samurai and temples, the city retains the look and feel of ancient times. It is famous as the birthplace of Iga-ryu school of ninja. Iga is also known as the birthplace of Matsuo Basho, the poet who transformed haiku. Ueno Park contains a restoration of Ueno Castle and the Ninja House, a replica of a ninja home. It looks like a typical old-fashioned farmhouse, however, it has various clever tricks such as revolving walls, secret passage, reversing doors, hidden stairs and hidden guard chambers. The park contains a museum of Ninja weapons and clothing. They also offer a demonstration of the use of ninja weapons. There is also a shrine to  Matsuo Basho, the poet.

Ueno Castle with Ninja Laura in front

Ninja wearing ninja vest

Ninja armor

Inside the Ninja house - dummies showing the hidden passage in the roof

Weapons demonstration

 
The girls loved that the lead ninja fighter was a woman!

The best/worst part of the park is the opportunity to dress up like a ninja! The kids loved it. Matt and I felt ridiculous, especially since other than our group, there were very few adults dressed up. The Japanese tourists only had their children dress in costume. The ninja uniform was not at all flattering to the western female body! However, there were lots of cute lady ninjas dressed in pink demonstrating the Ninja house. Some how, the outfit looked much better on them!

Ninja family Fitzpatrick

Ninja fighting sisters

Ninja Nate

The crazy gaijin group dressed as ninjas

Katie and her friend Nayla

Eagles Concert

Last Tuesday, Matt and I went to the Eagles concert in Osaka with a group of friends. Neither of us had been to a concert in years and we thought it would be fun to see a classic American band in Japan. Since there were 16 of us going, we rented a bus and driver, rather than taking the extremely crowded rush hour train.

The concert was on a Tuesday night and started at 7:00 p.m., a little earlier than we were used to. The venue was an indoor baseball stadium called the Osaka Dome. It wasn't sold out but it was a massive crowd! The Japanese manage crowds very efficiently though. There definitely is some pushing and shoving (mostly by older ladies) but lines are generally pretty orderly and quick. Since Matt and I decided to go at the last minute, our seats were waaaaaaay far back. The pictures were taken with my phone, so the camera wasn't great from that distance.

The Eagles sounded great, despite their age. They are all in their 60's now. By contrast, when we saw Billy Joel 7 years ago his voice sounded terrible. The Eagles gave a full 2.5 hour concert with no opening act and only 1 short intermission and sounded great all the way through. I suppose it helps to be able to rotate the lead vocals.

The concert experience was kind of odd though. The Japanese yell, whistle and clap for the band to come out and after each song but during the songs they sit in their chairs and quietly watch. There is no standing, no dancing and no singing along! The concert hall was really dark but when there were occasional flashes of light, it looked completely surreal. A huge stadium size venue of people quietly listening! It was more like being at an orchestral concert than at a rock concert. Honestly, it kind of drove me crazy! I wanted to be able to dance and sing! I never realized how important that is to the concert experience, otherwise you might just as well be sitting at home watching it on TV. Especially with a band like the Eagles where you know all the words to their songs. (I kept thinking that Jimmy Buffet must never tour in Japan!) Towards the end of the concert, the people on the floor did stand up and people also clapped along when the band asked them to, but it still felt very foreign.

The other thing that surprised me was that all of the band's commentary was in English. I would have expected them to at least have a Japanese translator. Nobody seemed to care much. However, the band members didn't get many laughs at their jokes. :)

I'm glad we went. However, it was another reminder that no matter how comfortable we get here, our culture is very different from that of the Japanese, in both big and small ways.