Tired Feet

Another day with kids in the Singapore Botanic Gardens. My feet are really tired. Our corespondent in Beijing, otherwise known as dad, is still away in Beijing filming but we are fairing well here by ourselves in Singapore. But i am counting the moments till his return. It feels very strange to be on my own in a foreign country with three little ones while Econ Man is in a different foreign country--and Communist at that!
So in lieu of venturing out and trying something new today, I found myself repeating a known experience. It' really just that I'm tired and not that all interested in something different today. That admitted, I took them back to the playground at Food For Thought and we ate American food again. It was easy to contain them there and since it was a weekday we had the whole playground to ourselves.












I decided a long walk would wear them out so we took the long route through the Botanical Gardens. We walked under a canopy of ivy with its pink roots hanging down brushing our faces. Declan found a root lying on the ground and decided to make an Indiana Jones whip out of it. The whole canopy was really lovely, like something from The Hobbit.








One of my favorite tropical flowers is the Heliconia. It's everywhere here.








We took time for a homeschool lesson about cinnamon. This is Declan with a cinnamon tree. Didn't know the cinnamon you eat is actually bark shaved from the tree, left in the sun to dry and curl? Well now you do.




We headed over the the children's garden again. This time I brought the kids' swimsuits because they have an outdoor water feature that the boys really wanted to play in. Smart mummy brought the suits this time. Even Tess had a ball.








Almost every park in Singapore has some sort of water play feature. It gets REALLY hot here on the Equator (another homeschool lesson today) and everyone's looking for a way to cool down.




Plumeria is all over the place here. So beautiful. Dash gave this one to Tess.




















Our third homeschool lesson for today was on Symbiosis. In particular, the symbiosis of flora and fauna in rain forests. This picture is a perfect example of a plant growing on a tree. It is not the tree, but uses the tree in order to survive.








Tonight we swam. A pool is a must on a long trip like this. The kids burn off so much energy in the pool. I fixed Asian food. Really yummy. The kids shoveled it as fast as I could divvy it. That's another great thing about renting an apartment while traveling--you have a kitchen and, usually, a dryer. Thank God for these! We've been eating breakfasts in the apt and some dinners. It's been great because we don't have to take the kids out and make them sit and be perfect for three meals a day--with the added benefit of saving money.
So I'll close with pics from Econ Man's filming journey in Beijing.



The Chinese camera team with Sid and Econ Man


















They weren't allowed to film on Tieneman Square so they filmed from a distance.



Econ Man making new friends









Ah, the ever present mobile police checking up on this band of film misfits.





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Location:Singapore

A day to do absolutely nothing

Nothing to write today because we did so little. Got back a schedule. Naps and all. No pictures, except from our correspondent in Beijing. Declan studied the Great Wall this year in history, and really wanted a picture of his daddy in front of it. Received this one by email today.



Wish we were there to see it.
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It's all about logistics

The longer I'm a patent the more I think I'd be awesome as a logistics executive. Scheduling, preparing, planning, following through... I'd be genius. And it's what I fail at most traveling. To keep the routine is imperative to the machine working really well. The problem is that our travel time is often spent with others--not just our own nuclear family. And this always throws a wrench in the plans. And I'm telling my mother-in-law that it's all in the anticipation of what usually comes next. The regularity of our time. I'm always looking ahead to what's next and how I can ease my kids into it. Trying to stave off fiascos and incidents. I think it's why Econ Man comes home from a day with the kids all frazzled and bewildered why the kids melted down. He's really wonderful, but not so good in the logistics/schedule/anticipation thing.
But I myself have been completely failing at this traveling with others and so today I decided enough is enough and that my kids absolutely must have a nap--a long one--this afternoon, if they are to be good kids over dinner tonight at a nice restaurant with a friend. So this is what we work towards. Food, play, wear them out, put them to bed, wake them up, snack, to the restaurant (don't stay too long), and back home to swim and wear them out again, then showers, then to bed. It's all in the logistics. And it worked.






Only Dash. He had a Kung Fu fight with the wall and lost. Busted his ear and it swelled up like a purple grape.


Tess' new favorite playground at Food For Thought at the Botanical Gardens. A great food outlet for all day breakfasts. The queue was long. Lots of Asians and a few expats. Really good pancakes, and the mocha hit the spot. Fairly cheap for Singapore (a notoriously expensive island). It was remarkably amusing to see so many Asians consuming American breakfasts at the same time. Like a bunch of Americans going out for Dim Sum breakfast in China Town.





Sorry vegetarians, we are a thoroughly protein fueled family.








Spent the next part of our time at the Botanical Gardens in the Jacob Ballas Children's Garden. So much fun. Our kids are such cowboys. They kept running over the suspension bridge with sheer abandon while the Asian families ogled them and slowly crept over the bridge with great precaution and trepidation. Very amusing.





The boys learning about photosynthesis. The whole if the gardens gear toward teaching children about how plants work.


After our aforementioned mandatory nap time we joined our friend Brandon Chen at my all time favorite Chinese restaurant at the Shangri La hotel just a few doors down from our apartment. Northern Cantonese. Really amazing food. My kids practically licked the table clean. And they were good. Really good. So we promised them dessert and a swim when they returned to our apartment.












In-laws leave tomorrow. We'll miss them. Econ Man is still in Beijing, so I'm on my own with the kiddos till he returns. Wish me luck!

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Location:Stevens Rd,,Singapore

A Mommy Day...well, kind of

Some days all the kids wake up on the wrong side of the bed. Today was that day. We slept in. We had a light breakfast. We waited for in-laws to re-emerge (they are still on the jet lag wake up at 3 am and take a mid morning nap thing). Then we headed for the hole in the wall
eatery my father- in- law loves--the one where we eat for $16. So on the was there my kids start to melt down in the cab. I'm talkin a cacophony. Tess, as loud as she can, crying. I'm feeling really sorry for the cabby. Dash is melting too. Declan is picking on him. I'm trying to get everyone to straighten up. I'm almost at my wits end. Econ Man is in Beijing--has been since 2 days ago. I'm feeling like a single mom. My in-laws try to help, but this is really all about me--Mommy. So I'm hustling kids here and there just praying for an end to this madness when we can get out of the cab. So we alight on this eatery, I'm looking for a spot away from everyone. Dash is sulking and experiencing an extreme sugar-and-protein low. I'm desperate for my kids to eat protein. We are all big meat eaters and I'm just waiting for them to perk up with a whif of beef. I'm practically shoving food down all their faces. And my in-laws, seeing my apparent stress, are encouraging me to eat quickly so I can go next door and get a 30 minute reflexology service. I'm thinking this is a food idea but also know that means they have 30 minutes in here with my cranky kids. Seems like cruel and unusual punishment. But like I said, I'm desperate, so I take them up on the offer. Heaven of semi-quiet (I can hear Dash cry and Tess scream once while I'm in the reflexology clinic) for 30 minutes, and then my mother-in-law has booked us an hour mani pedi at her favorite place in Singapore called Snail. She has talked grandpa into watching the kiddos for the full length of an hour--by pushing them around the mall in the stroller. I assured him Dash and Tess would sleep. Ha!








They stayed awake the whole time. He took them for ice cream. He insists they were great for him and that they had a fun time.




But meanwhile mother-on-law and I are enjoying our mani pedis. A really curious experience. There are two people working on you at once. It's all very efficiently run. And of course, this is Singapore, so it's all very hygienic as well. They use an instrument much like a knife to remove callouses, and I'm thinking I've never seen this in the US. I don't think it's legal. But these guys are pros with them. And I have to say my feet have never felt more clean and free of callouses. It's brilliant.








When it's over I find three very happy, sugar-satiated children with ice cream smeared on their faces. All very funny. But they still haven't slept which means this day is going to get longer before it's over.




So we walk. We walk. We walk. We walk. I'm thinking that surely Tess and Dash are so exhausted they are going to pass out at any moment. We visit one of my father-in-law's other favorite Singapore stops--Techman Christian Bookstore. One of the largest in Asia. I walk Tess outside. No sleep. We take another walk, this time with Dashel, who conks out. But Tess is still running on fumes. Cranky. I encourage my mother-in-law to take Declan to the Museum of Toys called MINT (Moment of Imagination and Nostalgia with Toys)--which happens to be just across the street. It's filled with thousands of vintage toys from all over the world, and I think Declan will find this amusing. In fact, he loved it. He thought seeing the original batman toys from the 50s was so amazing. His words.








So then we joined up and ate at the Seah Street Deli at the Raffles Complex. Americanish deli. My father-in-law is eager for this because they live in the Philippines now and he's full of Asian and Indian food. He wants BBQ ribs or a burger and a root beer float. I laugh because I'd never choose to eat that here in Singapore. We love the authentic food here. But I can see its purpose. There are lots of expats here craving a piece of home food. I remember when I spent a few months in my early 20s teaching English in Taiwan and I just had to find a McDonalds to restore my sanity. One more noodle dish and I was over the top.








Crazy girl has yet to sleep. Is suffering from exhaustion induced emotional chaos. She's a mess. I'm hoping I can distract her with food.








Yes she looks happy and normal in this picture. But a minute later she's in tears.




Boys are contented. Which is the savior of my sanity. But really, I'm at the end of my day. And now mommy needs to sleep. So we usher them all home and I am so giddy to get them to bed by 8. We read a story or two. My boys procrastinate sleep by coaxing me in to telling them the story of the three little pigs and jack and the bean stalk. Dash seems to know the three little pugs better than I, and reminds me of the proper wording when we get to the part where the wolf threatens the dear pigs' homes. But ahhh, I kiss them goodnight and now my real mommy time starts. What do I want to do now? Veg? Read? Watch a movie? Sleep. So I write this. My mommy day, as my mother-in-law wanted to make it, was a bit of a half-baked one. It reminded me that schedules are important. And that you have to take your moments when they come to you. There was 1 1/2 hours of quiet bliss today. My nails look great. And it was good.



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Location:Orange Grove Rd,,Singapore