Saturday, July 30, 2011

Baby, You're a Firework :)

Today turned out to be awesome!

My mom and I started out our day by going Bread Talk this morning, which is this bakery across the street, for breakfast. I really love their "floss bun" which is basically shredded pork on a bun with a sweet coating. It's really good and reminds me a of friend back in the States who loves floss.

Then went to our apartment and did some unpacking of Dad's computer. Well, I sat around and read a book, but I did some unpacking too. Our internet also was set up today. We have cable, which is not really as good as what we had in the States, but it's not bad either. I'm glad we also have TV so I can sit around and relax sometimes. Mom and I then showed Dad how to walk back from our apartment to the temporary apartment, which we do a lot but he never has time to do so. When we got back, there was a lovely high tea in the lobby of the temporary apartment building. The sweets were lovely, but it was a battle to get a cup for tea. Actually, it's a battle every morning at breakfast as well. A little boy got sick so I pretty much left as soon as I could. I do not like sickness. No thanks. 

I took a nap because I've been going to bed so late talking to people back in the States. Eventually it was time to go to Marina Bay to see the "dress rehearsal" fireworks for National Day. National Day is on August 9th and for 2 months leading up to National Day there is a full fireworks show. Before anyone asks me, no I have no idea why they do it for 2 months or where they get the funds to put on an awesome show come for. So while waiting for the taxi there's another kid getting sick not too far away. I mean, seriously? Gross.

We finally got to Marina Bay Sands (I don't know if it's formally "Marina Bay" or "Marina Bay Sands", the second one may be the hotel that's there) and there was a huge crowd of people there. Coca-Cola had one of those interactive piano mat things that children were playing on. They were also giving out free cans of Coke that naturally I hurried into line to get. My parents missed it, but I got a nice cold Coke. Yeah :)

The fireworks started at 8 pm. There was actually some sort of show going on in the stadium but we couldn't figure out what was going on exactly. I was so happy when the fireworks started- they were amazing! I don't think Singapore does anything small here. The show was really special. Not only were there fireworks coming from the barges, there were fireworks coming from the top of some sky-scrapers! I have a video but since video-editing and uploading takes me roughly 3 hours and it's already 20 to midnight, I'll upload it tomorrow. 

After the fireworks we went into the shopping mall that was Marina something-or-another. It's probably the hugest, most confusing mall in the world. Okay, maybe not but we couldn't find anywhere to eat for a while. Finally, we found this place called TWG Tea and had dinner there. It was amazing, there were literally hundreds of different sorts of tea! I had something called Darjeeling Princess Tea that tasted like tea with lychee, pear and maybe apricot in it. It was so good. After we wandered around for a while and saw the random ice-rink in the mall (no one here can really skate), we got ice-cream at the Cold Rock Ice Cream or something like that. Obviously based off of Cold Stone Creamery, it was pretty good. I feel like sometimes all I do here is eat!

Stay tuned for a video of random helicopters, fly-overs, and fireworks (No, the background music I'll replace the boom of the fireworks to will NOT be "Firework" by Katy Perry)!

Friday, July 29, 2011

Attack of the Lizard!

Wow, I did a lot of walking today, everyone.

Today I went to the Singapore Zoo with my father's coworker's daughter, Cathryn. She's a year older than me and has been attending SAS for years. We had lunch at Wisma Atria and chatted for a while before heading over to the zoo by taxi.

The zoo is amazing. It's basically a jungle with animals in it. Well... sort of. I loved it!
Highlights:
- White tigers. 3 of them
- Otters, because I love them
- Giraffes, because I love them
- Kangaroos
- Ring tailed lemurs
- Every monkey you can imagine
- The 3 Ben and Jerry's Ice cream places

We wandered around for a few hours, looking at almost everything but the reptiles and amphibians because she's not a huge fan of them either.

There's this really cool section of the zoo called "Fragile Forest" that I liked a lot. Basically, it's like a biodome in which you walk around and the animals are walking around freely as well. We saw one of the world's cutest duck-looking birds, an interesting blue bird, various other birds, butterflies, bats, and ring-tailed lemurs, that were not the least bit scared of us! It was really neat to see all the different animals so close up.

Got ice-cream after walking around, it tasted so good after sweating for hours!

Ok, ok. I'm sure you're wondering why this post is titled "Attack of the Lizard". Well, Cathryn and I were walking in one of the more wooded areas of the zoo after looking at some monkeys. Something green fell onto Cathryn and she thought it was a leaf or something. Since it had appeared to get stuck, I glanced over slightly before she did and screamed. It was a 5-6 inch lizard with an equally, if not longer, tail! So naturally we screamed and she flicked it off her shoulder. I found the whole ordeal hilarious and was pretty much laughing the whole time. Granted, if it had been me I would have panicked worse than her, so it's probably good it didn't land on me. I had a great day :)

Here's the video...




and here's a link to my Facebook for photos!
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1697608219420.68972.1814328890&l=2863071e3e&type=1

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Thursday Update

Hello, everyone.

I just lost my original blog post and I'm irritated about that... oh well. I think we're starting to get settled into this new area. My mom and I have successfully taken the bus a few more times, walked to our apartment without getting lost, and navigated the underground to find the food court that has a good pasta place. So in a sense, I think we're doing ok. Furniture rental stuff is settling down, the air shipment came in today, and Dad is loving his car.

My vanity arrived yesterday, the first piece of furniture in the house. I'm very happy that it arrived and it is quite beautiful. In addition to the vanity I'm getting a teakwood bed and desk, both which are custom (which is relatively common here, either that or all the furniture is from IKEA) and very pretty. There will be photos, I promise, when I get them in 2-3 months.

Also yesterday I got my school uniform skirts. Actually they're skorts, shorts, and yoga pants. I'll put pictures up when I get the full uniform for all you back in Bedford to laugh at me. I actually don't mind uniforms, it makes my mornings much easier. SAS isn't very strict, as long as you pass dress code (similar to a middle school dress code) you're good to go.

We got thumb-printed for our cards, Dad's EP card and mom and my something-or-another card, that proves we're living here legally. It was really funny because my parent's thumbs were too dry (my mom in particular) so the lady working at the Employment Service Centre had to put cream on their thumbs. We've done a lot of walking around looking at places.

Here's the video of our apartment- finally :D

Monday, July 25, 2011

Justin Bieber and Walking the Wrong Way

Ok first off people, I have not seen JB here in Singapore. Second, I do not particularly like him. Third, JB's hair is not original.

Actually, it's the farthest thing from original ever in Singapore. I'd say roughly 1/3 of Asian guys have some form of a classic swept fringe. So take that JB! You're not creative, you just looked at Asian magazines and got your hair cut to match the boy band members! HA!

Okay, so here's what I did today. My father started working today so he left pretty early this morning. Mom  and I got a late start and first went to Cold Storage, which is a grocery. We bought more fruit, paper towels (really needed/missed those) and some jam. Interesting, I know. We then tried to buy a EZ-link card at 7-Eleven, but then learned you buy those at the MRT station and can top it off at 7-Eleven. Well, then. So we went to Orchard Station and got our EZ-link cards, which was relatively painless.
Instead of taking the MRT to the Expat furniture place (I was all for it) we got a taxi. After initial panic that we were heading west instead of east, we got there and finalised more furniture rental stuff. Thank goodness.

We took the bus back, which wasn't terribly complicated though Mom didn't tap her card correctly and I tapped mine from under her arm as she flipped her card over in an attempt to see what was wrong. Actually on the way to the bus stop my mom accidentally stepped on a dead bird. It was really gross (naturally when I saw it I ran away with a loud "AHHH!"). She probably doesn't want me to keep reminding her of that, but whatever. Anyways after the bus we walked to our apartment. Well, we walked the opposite way to for a while but eventually asked a helper on the street and got to the apartment. It was very hot, took forever, and was totally my fault because I thought I saw our building in the distance (but it wasn't). When we got to our building we actually met our neighbor that lives on the same floor in the elevator and then just sort of wandered about the apartment.

I'm going to be posting two new videos, one of the temporary apartment/car and one of the actual apartment, however I can't finish either video in time for this post, so I'll upload them in separate posts :D

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Success!

It's been a long day, Everyone!

I'm currently working on another video, however it's taking forever to finalise so I'll post it tomorrow. Do you like the fancy videos that have nice titles and all or the videos straight off the camera? Let me know :)

Anyways, today we went back to Demsey Hill and after a decent amount of walking around and some coconut pancakes at Jones the Grocer, we ended up getting me a vanity, desk and bed. While the vanity was in stock, the desk is being custom-made to match the vanity, and apparently all beds are custom made but I'm getting a super-single, which is basically a twin. Very skillfully, I did not take any pictures of the vanity or anything but I'll take pictures and put them up eventually.

Sort of an uneventful day because that's really all we did I guess. Had chicken rice again for dinner.

I've noticed there is a lot of American pop music here, like Jason Derulo (is that how his name is spelled?), Usher, and Pitbull. But taxi drivers will play whatever they'd like.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Another Busy Day

Good Evening,

Today was another long, full day. We actually had an early start because my father arranged for a medical appointment for his back. It was then followed up by a physical therapy appointment, during which I worked on drawing. Afterwards, had lunch at a really good Chinese-style dumpling/soup place in Wisma Shopping centre. 

Went to IKEA afterwards and looked around for a while. IKEA is really the same anywhere in the world I think except there's a halal line for chicken Swedish meat balls. Then went to Courts and looked around but didn't really find anything. Courts has everything from small appliances to mattresses, but I'm not going to lie on this blog, the bed frames were pretty ugly. 

Ended up at Demsey Hill to look for a vanity and bed for me. When I was here in April, I actually found a beautiful vanity I wanted a lot, but unfortunately that one had already been sold. Found another one with a mirror though. 

Here's a picture of a picture of the bed I want:


I believe we are going back tomorrow morning to seal the deal about the bed, vanity and possibly desk. It's kind of complicated because we're leasing most of our furniture with my dad's company, therefore we can never own any of the rented furniture. The furniture we pay for ourselves on the other hand we keep forever and then get to figure out how to send it back to the States. 

Had dinner at Demsey Hill at a Thai brewery, which was pretty good. My food was really, really spicy. Bit into a pepper and had my mouth on fire for a while. Oh, spicy food is fun to eat!

Observation List:
-There are a lot of Muslims here, I think the Malaysians are Muslim and Indians as well.
-There are a lot of little kids/babies/pregnant women here
- If there's a helper in the elevator she'll hold the "Keep door open" button for you to get out
- People don't sneeze or cough on the street. No idea how they pull that off
- The food here is great. 

Things I like:
- Milo
- Egg custards
- How cheap taxis are
- All the greens here, it's pretty much a rain forest


Thursday, July 21, 2011

Second Day

Wow! Today was quite a busy day!

Received the keys for our actual apartment today and got oriented about how everything works. It's a bit confusing because there are a lot of locks and keys, but we'll figure it out eventually. My whole family forgot how grand and beautiful the entrance of our apartment complex is- it's really something amazing! I didn't take a video or photos because I figured I'll have plenty of time to do so once there's less going on. I'm pretty sure my room and closet space is larger than what I had at the States, in addition I have my own bathroom here which is pretty cool. Then we spent a good part of the day picking out furniture, which was mostly easy though the selection wasn't great and we didn't get a sofa or my bed. Ah well.

Went shopping afterwards and explored the network of malls that actually are like streets. It's air conditioned and fairly easy to navigate for MRT stations and such. Mom and I went grocery shopping- bought some fruit! Bananas are like 19 cents per 100 grams or something I think. Super, super cheap.

It's the Great Singapore Sale (Not entirely certain of what it's called) where practically every store has a sale. It mostly ends on July 24th so I'm pretty excited to actually go shopping for clothes, the apartment, and school supplies. Which is slightly odd, but whatever.

Observation List:

- People walk on the left, like how they drive, but not really because in reality if you just keep walking and pass whichever direction people will walk around you and roll their eyes
- Every single tea stand sells bubble tea
- Summer camp kids wear uniforms for camp
-People don't stare at my parents, or at me. They stare at the combination


I have no idea if this video will embed itself properly so I'll post the link as well, but here's the Bedford House video!




LiNk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPe5g9L7arM

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

The First Day

Hello From Singapore, Everybody!


We made it! The amount of relief we all felt as the plane touched down was immense, washing over us like  waves at the beach, we saw it coming but didn't know how powerful it would be until it hit us. I took some videos in the van thing that took us here. We're currently in a temporary apartment across from a relatively small shopping mall. My father's car was dropped off today, a very nice Nissan Qashqai. It's really nice with leather seats and a sun-roof. He kept turning the windshield wipers on while trying to figure out how how to use the brights or something, it was quite amusing. After we got settled in and I was done Skyping, we went to the mall and had a sort of early supper. Mom and I had chicken rice, which is a local food to this part of the world. The rice is cooked in broth and the boneless chicken that comes with it is boiled or roasted depending on what you ask for. I don't know why it's so good, but for some reason it really is tasty. Then we wandered around the mall for a while, picked up a cash card for dad's car (it's how tolls and parking are paid for, it's all automatic), and ended up heading back to the apartment since Mom is really tired. 

Here are some initial thoughts and observations:
- No one here has frizzy hair but me. Need to work on that
- I look like I am blushing all the time from the humidity and heat. Great. 
- If you can afford brand items here, you own them
- Eating local foods out here is really cheap (Mom and my chicken rice was like 12 SGD, Dad's big spicy noodle bowl thing was like 4 SGD)
- Compared to the USA, people dress formally here, and very conservatively 
-Shoes are flats or high-heels
- Though I'm sure returns are tricky, customer service seems good and people are helpful here
- There are a TON of female helpers from the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia

I've been unable to upload videos onto the blog and it's really annoying me, I'm uploading videos to my youtube account dancingdreamer8 and embedding videos here. However, I'm too tired to sort it out tonight but I promise I will upload videos tomorrow!

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Bye, Bedford

Hey Everyone,

So today is the big day, the day my family and I are taking off and flying to Singapore. I'm really excited to move there and start a new chapter in my life. However, I'm sad to have to say good-bye to many people, but as I remind myself, and I remind you, that I will stay in touch with this blog, Facebook, email, and Skype.  I will visit, date still to be determined. And seriously people come visit me, Singapore is a beautiful country and we do have a guest room!

I'm actually not terribly sad to be leaving Bedford, for while it's a sweet little town and I did grow up there, there's a lot more doors open to me now because I'm moving and will be graduating from an international high school. There's actually things to do within walking distance in Singapore in the evening that are remotely interesting to do, and there's places to go in general that are accessible with the MRT. I still find it bittersweet though because I do love Bedford, with Bedford Farms in the summer and school open when every other school is closed. I love the friends I have hear in Bedford, many of whom I've grown up with and gotten to know better over the years. Or they moved in. Whatever. Bedford is a wonderful place that I'll miss but I'm excited for the change.


There are few specific people I'd like to thank for keeping me sane these last couple of months, but since I'm not sure if you read this blog and would like your names up, I'll just say in general I'm so thankful for your support and you all putting up with me whine about how much I wanted a desk to study for finals at.

So everyone, the next time I post I'll be in Singapore. And hopefully I'll finally get those videos of packing the house up, but if not I'm going to put them on YouTube and post links.

~Natalie

* I'm in the SAS lounge at the moment. Google/Blogger is entirely in Swedish at the moment so I hope this actually posts and I don't hit the wrong button

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Hey, Look!

Hi!

I'm probably not supposed to reveal where I live on this blog in case some random creeper finds it and stalks me, but I will tell everyone that my house is on the market!

www.higginsre.com

Then, look in featured houses for a while, it's there. I'm really, really easily amused, if you were unable to tell. 

Yesterday's dinner was interesting, there were loads of people there that I pretty much forget, and my dad didn't even know everyone. I don't have pictures because someone else took them, but hopefully I'll get pictures soon :D

5 Days. It's Official

Hey Everyone,

So I know the last time I posted I was worried that it would be at least two weeks before we'd leave for Singapore (regardless if I actually said that). I'm happy to report my dad's back is healing, he's not on pain medication for it, and he's clear to travel on Monday! YEAH!

The house is being shown today and was on the market as of last night. I totally think someone should think it's perfect and buy it today. Ok, that's not realistic... but... it could happen!

My dad's work people are giving him a party tonight, we're getting picked up at like 4. I'll post pictures eventually. Kind of like how I was going to post a packing video. That the server keeps rejecting. GRR


Sunday, July 10, 2011

Oh, Dear

Hey There,

So we were supposed to leave for Singapore 4 days from now, but it appears we will be staying for at least another 10 days. Why, do you ask?

My father herniated a disk in his back yesterday, which led to an ambulance ride to Lahey and an MRI after a while when he got there. He's unable to fly and therefore we're all grounded until he sees a doctor, however he has to wait 10 days for swelling to go down. 

I'm officially tired of living like this, there's nothing to do, and I hate to ask the same people to keep me company. We're all annoyed to have to be here longer, however it does help my mother tie up loose ends because she has more time. We'd all like to just to get to Singapore, pick out furniture, and move into our apartment! I'm not going to lie, it's a bit anti-climatic to wait and wait and then get stuck here. Bleh. Oh well, it's not my father's fault. 

Monday, July 4, 2011

Photos of House

Re carpeted stairs !


Well, the internet does not allow me to post videos. Isn't that cool. I'll work on it. There are videos, though, don't worry :D


Sunday, July 3, 2011

Bye Bye House

Hello,

So there have been a lot of changes these last couple of days, but I've been without internet for a while, then just too darn lazy to post anything.

The movers came on Tuesday and left on Thursday, and were pretty darn good after we had issues with the painters back in June. It was kind of annoying to have the movers around all the time packing things and not having a driveway at all. Whatever, the job is done and the house is empty now.

Packing was actually rather interesting, and very different than if we were moving within the States. Basically, we had to divide our belongings into Store, Sea, Suitcase, and Air. The "Store" stuff goes in a storage place and we don't see it until we come back, in three to five years. "Sea" is nonessential but important things (like furniture, we're renting a good amount of it in Singapore) that takes six to eight weeks to arrive. Air, similar to Sea, only takes three weeks to arrive and pretty much has paperwork. Suitcase is what we take with us, and is currently what I'm living out of. If you can't imagine it by now, let me tell you: dividing things up was TIME CONSUMING! As well as being pretty difficult in my opinion, because I sort of wanted to take everything with me all at once, while not really wanting to take anything.

We're eating out all the time because we have nothing to cook, and nothing to cook with (even our forks and spoons are gone). Here's a really less-than-subtle hint to my Bedford friends... get me out of the house! Ok, just kidding. But there's nothing really to do and it's hot as blazes in the house since there is no AC.

I performed for what hopefully isn't the last time with Ms. Carrie on Thursday at some dance camp, it was really nice to see everyone that came and also to see her again. If she's reading this, thanks again for being such an awesome teacher and helping me grow as a dancer and a person. To all her dancers, thanks for teaching me so much about dance (even if you didn't know I was learning from you) and about being a better friend and dance buddy.

Other things to note: The house! So we are indeed selling the house, according to my dad the house is going on the market later in July. We're getting our floors fixed up, everything has already been painted, and the kitchen was redone. In other words, I think the house looks great and it's kind of annoying to have to leave it. Oh, well. The apartment in Singapore will be pretty.

I'll post videos and photos tomorrow of the house. If I could find my video camera connector cable, I'd put them in this blog post, but you can't always win.