Water Adventures

I was talking to my friend Jeff Sladkus this morning and he was laughing because when he told me every time he looks at the weather in Singapore online, it is always 87 degrees with chance of thunderstorms. He is right...Singapore is ~70 miles from the equator so the temperature does not really vary day-to-day or month-to-month - IT IS ALWAYS SUMMER.

When I get home from work, Jane and the kids are often coming up from the pool and we go swimming as a family Saturday and Sunday. Here are pictures from a few places we've been and I think we've only scratched the surface. The closest watering hole is the pool at Great World City, our temporary housing, and you can see Eli & Nathan in their floaties and a yellow tube. It is a great place to meet people from around the world who are also moving to Singapore and are all at the same stage. We had dinner on Friday with a couple originally from Houston (husband designs deep water oil platforms for Shell) and have plans with a couple from New Jersey next Friday. The pool has a reasonably priced snack bar with typical American food [burger, fries, club sandwich, pint of beer, etc.] that we enjoy.

We've ventured out to a couple of other places last Sunday and this Sunday. Last weekend we went to Sentosa Island and found a great restaurant on the beach. You can see us eating pizza and pasta together at "Trapizza" [there is a circus trapeze setup where you can pay and swing from one bar to the next] which is part of the Shangri-la Hotel Resort. Jane and I relaxed at the table while the kids played in the sand. We watched the sunset and saw fireworks in the distance. We had an incredible time seeing the kids chase each other around and remembered the great beach trips we had taken with our family to South Padre Island and Cabo.

http://www.shangri-la.com.hk/en/property/singapore/rasasentosaresort/dining/restaurant/trapizza

This morning we took a taxi to the Jacob Ballas Children's Garden at the Singapore Botanic Gardens - it is a specialized garden dedicated to children. You can see a picture of Nathan and Eli in their swimsuits with water shooting up from the ground. Developed along the theme "All Life On Earth Depends on Plants", it is created as a unique and interactive fun place where children discover how plants provide their daily needs. Jane packed a great snack lunch for us and we played together and ate before coming back and taking naps.

http://www.sbg.org.sg/bukittimahcore/images/map.jpg

Although we are members of the Singapore American Club, we have not yet been to their pool, but it may be the best of all - they have a permanent 'moon walk' type float that kids jump on. It is about a $5 cab ride from our apartment and we really should be going there considering we're paying for it! It's another hot day here and the kids are just up from their nap, so off we go...

Our next big event is our move into our apartment first week of March!

Life Long Vonage Customer

Anyone that knows us is aware that Jane has all the electrical, mechanical and other do-it-yourself genes in the family - the Stein side comes with a long history of using the yellow pages.

However, after blowing the power in the unit and then investing in a Step Down Converter, I acheived a minor miracle...our Vonage service and answering machine is now hooked up! Our Austin home number (512-231-1381) is working. The cost to call us is the same as if we were still in Austin.

I go back to work tomorrow and I know Jane would appreciate a call from ya'll! Singapore is 14 hours ahead of Austin time (for example, 8PM Austin = 10 AM Singapore). A simple website that has the current time in Singapore:

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=236

Talk to you soon.

Day 1 - We Are Here

Although things didn't go exactly as planned, we made it! Thing started off smoothly...we got to the Austin airport for our 11AM flight to DFW with time to spare. We unloaded 11 suitcases + a new light weight stroller (4 people x 2 bags allowed + 3 carryons) and returned the Suburban we had rented from Hertz. We spent some time in the Admiral's Club (Bloody Mary to prepare the mind for the flight) and bumped into Todd Caven who was traveling for work. His wife and I became instant friends when we worked together in Dell's Corporate Strategy group - she had come to our bon voyage party a few days earlier.

We arrived in Dallas on-time and the plane was ready to go, but they decided to hold it back to let passengers from another flight on that was cancelled. We left 2 hours late and we were pretty sure we'd miss our connection. The kids did so well on the flight (as you can see from the pictures, they enjoyed business class). Nathan slept pretty well, but Eli pulled a Guinness Book of World Records with 10 hours of straight television (it would have been longer, but they turn the movies off the first and last hour of the flight). We had been nervous about this flight but were so proud of the kids.

American Airlines had lined up a hotel for us in Tokyo and we checked into connecting rooms. We took the bus to the hotel with "Blake", who is the morning DJ on Disney's radio show apparently (Jane said he is famous with kids). In hindsight, it may have been better to have the layover as it broke up the 24-hour trip. We returned to the airport the next morning to do some duty-free shopping (Jack Daniels, McAllen, 2 bottles of Japanese whisky) and the final leg was also not bad. 6.5 hours on Japan Airlines (sushi for lunch!) and again Nathan slept for almost the entire flight.

Jane took the picture of the kids on the stroller right when we landed. We took a taxi to our corporate housing for the next month and got into our bathing suits right away.
http://www.greatworld.com.sg/residence/resi.aspx (Three Bedroom Grand)
The kids loved swimming and we had dinner at the pool (hotdogs, BLT, beer, etc.). By that time we were pooped and everyone crashed pretty hard after the kid’s bath.

We went swimming again right when we woke and have done some basic grocery shopping at Cold Storage (the HEB of Singapore - they deliver groceries to your house afterward since few people have cars - it is only cash?!?!) Jane did the shopping while the kids awoke from their nap and watched some TV (they have Disney Channel and Nickelodeon)

The highlight so far has been seeing a Chinese New Year ceremony earlier today. High school kids were playing traditional drums, cymbals, etc. banging loudly (like in Rising Sun with Wesley Snipes/Sean Connery) and two long red dragons with people inside danced. The sound was incredible and really overwhelmed the kids (their hands over their ears). The dragon ‘ate’ oranges and lettuce and then spit out candy that all the kids, including Eli, dove after. Jane and the kids are bottom left in the picture

Tomorrow morning we have breakfast planned with a family from Australia who also has a boy and a girl. I work with Tony at Dell and he has been incredible showing Jane and I around in our two previous trips. His family moved from Sydney about a year ago and I met him during my office visit in November. Until then...

Day 1 - We Are Here

Bon Voyage

On February 2, Jane and I were so excited to have a bunch of our friends join us to say 'good-bye' - especially Brian & Dayna Goldstein (Chicago) and Chad Irwin (Houston) for coming in from out of town.



Jane had been dreading the event for a few weeks, afraid she'd be so upset and shed tears...but as soon as we arrived and had our first cocktail we were all smiles. The Boulevard Grill is my favorite place in Austin - best bartenders, owners and specials (I just can't pay retail - Brad Stein understands) - and I don't they disapointed. They called the next day and said it was one of the best crowds they've had and hoped we had fun. I think the fact most of us came in non-NASCAR attire set us apart.



We appreciated the gifts people brought that will remind us of Austin for the coming years. We had a hangover the next morning, but got into packing mode when my mom and dad showed up from San Antonio with bagels and coffee.