Chinatown Field Trip

On Tuesday Megan's class took a field trip to Chinatown to take in the atmosphere surrounding Chinese New Year. My friend Rachel suggested we take turns watching each others' kids since her daughter's class wasn't going on the same day, so I was able to tag along as a chaperone. I'm happy I had the opportunity to make the trip because it was quite an experience! We met the children in Chinatown as they exited their buses. A few of the moms found it odd that the children wore "free dress" on field trip days (meaning that they are not in uniform) and we were informed by a seasoned expat mom that it is a security precaution. Apparently the kids are deemed safer in street clothes than sporting an SAS logo on their shirts. While it makes perfect sense to me, it's still disturbing.

The beauty of Chinatown is that if you're in Singapore and you feel like it's not that different from home, this is the spot for you! We started our tour at the wetmarket and it was a crazy place. We found a huge selection of vegetables, fruit and beautiful flowers and as we made our way towards the back of the building, our noses knew exactly what we were about to find. Fish, turtles, frogs, chickens - you name it, they will sell it to you. Men clean the fish and throw hunks of it on ice while you wait. Huge tanks packed with freshwater eels, some of whom looked intent on finding an exit. It was a shopping experience like no other that I've ever had! Megan was taken aback by some of the sights and smells but she had a good sense of humor as well - especially when a local teased her with a giant prawn. I now know firsthand that a wetmarket is a good spot for buying produce but I think I'll save my meat purchases for a more traditional store setting. When a lady in front of me was handling pieces of raw salmon and throwing them back on the counter, it didn't sit well with me.

Following the sensory overload of the wetmarket, we stepped into a Buddhist Temple next door. I received a shawl to wear over my sleeveless shirt and we briefly walked through the temple. I don't recall ever visiting a Buddhist Temple before and it was a lovely building with intricate artwork and golden accents. We then strolled through the outdoor stalls that reminded me of Canton -- Chinese style. Since Chinese New Year is upon us, we saw many vendors selling red and gold decorations for the holiday. I bought a set of red envelopes, called hong bao, to give to the girls with a small amount of money in them to buy something fun. Apparently it's important that the sum of $ we give them is an even number (odd numbers are associated with funeral gifts) and the sum of the $ should never equal 4 because it sounds like the word for death. If you watched the Olympics, you might recall the significance of numbers and how 8 is considered an especially lucky number, hence the date for the opening ceremonies (08-08-08). So, perhaps we'll stick S$8 in the hong baos for our little ones. I'd hate to cause bad fortune later on in life! Megan and Brian are both home Monday and Tuesday during the holiday so we're trying to decide what to do with our family time. A few people have already asked Brian if he's ever been in Singapore for Chinese New Year, so we're not quite sure what to expect.

In the meantime, I'm investigating preschools for Elizabeth. We toured EtonHouse school today and I think it would probably be fine for her for a semester before she hopefully starts at SAS in the fall, but I'd like to visit one more school before making a decision. The hard part is that the schools tend to be 5 days/week and I'm having a hard time accepting that concept for a 3-yr old. At the same time, I know that I can pay for 5 days and make our own schedule of when she will actually go. It's also eye-opening to visit a local preschool and realize that your child will potentially be the only blonde in the entire school! And then I wonder, will Elizabeth notice that too? She's definitely interested in attending school so I'm counting on my instincts guiding me in the right direction on this one.

We've also decided that it's time to start making travel plans in the coming months. We're looking at going to Bintan, Indonesia, over Megan's spring break for a few days. Bintan is a 45-minute ferry ride from Singapore so it serves as a beach playground for the locals. One of Brian's colleagues recommended a resort there so we may try it out for 3-4 nights with the girls. The idea of getting to a decent beach with minimal travel is enticing right now so we'll see what develops there.

I will close by sharing my happiness at successfully programming our new DVR to record the Inauguration Day coverage on CNN. They showed 11 hours of coverage over here (about 10 hours more than I needed!) and even Channel NewsAsia showed the ceremony, so it certainly got attention in this part of the world. Those closest to me know how much I enjoy following politics and government at work so it was hard for me to be far from home during this historic event. While watching the ceremony, I was amazed at the size of the crowd, proud that so many Americans were participating in the event and thinking that Inauguration Day makes a good case for democracy for people watching around the world. The president and the president-elect share a stage together, new president waves goodbye to the old president (and even lends him a helicopter and plane to get home!) and the transition of power is seamless. What an amazing country...