Millie is in Singapore!

Here are a few pictures of Millie at the quarantine facitily in Singapore - she looks HOT! And a tad bewildered. We wonder if she has jetlag and gets up at 3am like we do during the first week.

17 Days and Counting

I made a list of things to do while I was bored in a meeting today.  I stopped at 25 things, and that was just off the top of my head.

Here's a quick snapshot:

1.)  Call Gabi to cancel

2.)  Hook up food/water dishes to the kennel

3.)  Update blog (done!)

4.)  Email Mindy about tax meeting

5.)  Call ARC to arrange pick-up of stuff left over

6.)  Post car ads at TA's Automotive

7.)  Call Darin to switch homeowners insurance

8.)  Make dentist appointment

9.)  Make appointment for shots

.... and on and on.

We're driving to Chicago on Saturday to see Millie off.  David is convinced that it is easier to smuggle nuclear arms than ship a dog to Singapore.  She needs three times the paperwork and shots we do, and it costs twice as much.  We can track her progress across the world, though, and they'll send us a message when she arrives in Singapore safely.  Say a traveler's prayer for her!

Jet-lagged, but home

I'm a little tired to write much, but notice that there are pictures now!  I also snapped a few of the delicacies you can find in the Tokyo Airport:

Wierdly, I could notfind where the rice part was.  Maybe inside the squid?  I was not going to pay $8 to find out.

I never considered this combination but it can't be too hard to replicate at home.

What is this?  The only words in English on the whole package were "It's made of good ingredients".  I was not reassured.

Yesterday we took a taxi from the hotel to our new place. We walked around the neighborhood and found the nearest bus stop, wet market and hawker center. We're also really close to the Botanical Gardens, a great place to walk Millie!

Last night we hit Night Safari, pretty much one of the coolest zoos ever. I've never been so close to a rhinocerous or flying squirrel.

It's been raining for 8 hours already today, and it doesn't look like it's letting up. I took a nice long nap and finally sent out some emails. I've been meaning to do some work, but it's just not happening. Maybe tomorrow.

We found a house!

That's right! We have a place to live - 38 Kings Drive. It's gorgeous, near a place called Bukit Timah (boo-ki-tee-mah - a sort of trendy area with fun shops and restaraunts), on a quite street with TONS of room for all our friends and family to come and visit. 5 bedroom, 4 bathroom so we can fit you all. So, start planning to come and visit all you friends and family!

Chris

P.S. We went to Clarke Quay last night for a great japanese dinner and walked around - a little touristy, but great people watching!

Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple

It's only 8:24am here and I've b een up for over 4 hours. It's going to be a long day...

We finally made it out to Little India yesterday afternoon. I really liked the area, it was like being in a different country. Singapore is great (clean, safe, organized, etc.), but sometimes you need a little chaos thrown into make things interesting, and to appreciate the rest. We walked up and down the main road, stopping for coconut milk (straight from the coconut - they hack a hole in it and hand it to you with a straw) and to step inside the Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple. The Kali part of that name it the jist of it, the rest is just all extra letters as far as I could tell.

From lifestylewiki.com:

Hindus congregate at the Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple dedicated to Kali, Shiva's bloodthirsty consort, who epitomises the struggle against evil. Kali has always been popular in Bengal, the birthplace of the labourers who built this temple in 1881. Images of Kali within the temple show her wearing a garland of skulls and ripping out the insides of her hapless victims, and Kali sharing more peaceful family moments with her sons Ganesh, the elephant god, and Murugan, the child god.

From the temple's website:

Kali (feminine form of Sanskrit kala,"time" or "dark"), consort of the Hindu god Shiva in her manifestation of the power of time. A destructive mother goddess, Kali is frequently depicted as a black, laughing, naked hag with blood-stained teeth, a protruding tongue, and a garland of human skulls. She usually has four arms: One hand holds a sword, the second holds a severed human head, the third is believed by her devotees to be removing fear, and the fourth is often interpreted as granting bliss. Kali-omnipotent, absolute, and all-pervasive-is beyond fear and finite existence and is therefore believed to be able to protect her devotees against fear and to give them limitless peace. Finally, as absolute night, devouring all that exists, she is sometimes depicted as standing on the corpse of Shiva, which, like the garland of skulls, symbolizes the remains of finite existence. Kali's worshipers purportedly appeased her in the past with human sacrifices; today she is propitiated with the blood of mammals. Under the title Bhavani, she was invoked by the secret brotherhood of murderers called Thugs. The city of Calcutta (now Kolkata) received its name from Kali; Calcutta is the Anglicized form of Kalighata, the name of a large temple dedicated to Kali.While Kali herself may be shown in the midst of destruction, her most powerful icons represent anything but death

"Bloodthirsty" seems to be a good description.

It's a Small World After All

Wouldn't you know it? I start taking pictures and thinking of good stories to tell about them, and I forget the cord so I can upload the pictures. I mean, really, that's the best part! I'm not exactly a writer so pretty much that's all I have to depend on.

We left MN Friday morning at 9:30am, and arrived in S'pore at 1:30am Sunday morning. The International Date Line stole Saturday on the way over, apparently.

Did I mention that I was finally able to experience World Business Class? Let me tell you, I didn't think it would be that much better, but it totally was! Chapagne before take-off, and big comfy seats that pretty much let you recline all the way so that you can acutally sleep, and the stewardesses even make an attempt to remember your name. I was referred to as Miss Plott, but who cares. 

BTW, I stole a menu:

To Start:

Mixed nuts and sampler plate of mini toasts

with lobster Marsala spread and prociutto chevre canape

Dinner:

Chili crusted cod, white and wild rice blend and bok choy

Dessert:

Fresh fruit

Mature Cheddar and Camembert

Warmed blackberry crisp a la mode

Port Wine

On Arrival:

Cold plate of Italian beef tenderloin with garlic aioli,

smoked scallops, cherry tomato and olive salad

with Mediterranean cous cous

When I get the pictures uploaded, I'll be able to show my total rookie move of taking pictures on the plane. I was embarrassingly excited to be there, and David was mortified that I insisted on capturing the moment, but I totally don't care.

It's Sunday noon, and I've only left the hotel room for 20 minutes for a swim in the pool. There are no Movies On Demand here in the Sheraton Towers, so I'm watching Playing Mona Lisa. Not bad, BTW, I like Alicia Witt - she always seems to be an unlikely heroine. Tonight is Little India if we have the energy, house hunting starts tomorrow!

Chris

P.S. Small world moment: We had the flight from MSP to Singapore with my old boss from SVTA, Peter Chow!

T Minus 38 and Counting

First day of blogging...

Hi mom and dad!  Am I famous yet?  I'm not sure where to start... 

I'm starting this site for friends and family that are interested in my (and David's , of course) adventures in Singapore, and general thoughts.  Because I don't expect a certain generation to all get Facebook accounts, I thought I'd try a neutral site so... ta dah!  Here I am. 

I'll do my best to be entertaining, not add too many smiley faces, and not too many "...".  (Whoops, I just noticed three of those already.)

I think I might be coming down with a cold, and I'm already stressed with the pressure of being interesting.  Signing off,