A Boy Girl Pattern, Duh!

To say, "Samara loves to draw" is a big understatement.  We bought 6 reams of paper to prop the bed up when Lizzie was breech in an effort to get her to turn.  I wondered what on earth we'd do with all the paper.  We only have two left.  Samara has developed certain rules about her drawing.  Both sides of a sheet of paper absolutely cannot be used.  Once you draw something anything on one side, it's spoiled.   She draws for everyone and while doing everything.  I love seeing her drawings develop and change.

Last week she was really into drawing families.  Here is our family:

On the left is our current family. To the right is who she hopes to add to our family--a brother (Little Kicker (her baby cousin's nickname) and a pet cat.

She brought this picture to me the same day and I asked whose family it was.  She looked at me confused and very matter-of-factly said, "It's not a family.  It's, you know, a boy-girl pattern."

Silly me!  How did I not know that?!  Boy-girl patterns: it's what all the kids are drawing these days.  (You'll notice how there really is a pattern--long hair, short hair, long hair...)  So cute!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Samara came home from joy school with this cute card:

And we sure felt loved!

Happy Valentines Day from our house to yours!

Hong Bao and a Series of Unfortunate Outings

It's that time of year when this part of the world comes to a stand-still.  Families are visited, decorations put up, reunion dinners held, and these red envelopes, which contain money, are given out to those who are single and younger than you. 

  Samara knows all about the money!  Fish and gold are both auspicious and at $5 a bag, Goldfish are a real treat (though I think we brought these back at Christmas). 

 Lizzie was so excited about the ...

...paper.  It is delicacy to her.  

Ben normally works during public holidays and takes time off other days because it is CRAZY everywhere when everybody has the day off (remember, Singapore is one of the most densely populated countries in the world).  However, this holiday Ben opted to take the time off, which meant a 4-day weekend for us.  We had great plans...

 We thought since everyone was visiting their families, Thursday would be a good day to go to Sentosa.  Ben's Chinese co-worker thought so too.  Well, Singapore's Chinese residents were definitely unaccounted for but I'm certain every Malay and Indian was present.  Together they make up 23.6% of Singapore's population (over a million people).  It was a seriously crowded beach!  And I'm not even going to mention how many pictures were taken of the girls or how we had to walk to the little island via the new boardwalk because the wait for the monorail was too long or how then the bus dropped us off at the wrong beach and we walked and walked some more.

We didn't fare much better Friday on our two outings.  I opened the paper Saturday morning and saw each of three places we'd been, featured on one page, and had a good chuckle!  Sadly, we didn't get to really see much of what we wanted or get any exciting pictures but we do did ALOT of extra walking.  I'm not superstitious but I'm starting to think this is all because I put $4 in Samara's Hong Bao not thinking about how that is a "no no" as 4 is the most unlucky number!

On the bright side the walking meant we got to eat more of these.  Pineapple tarts are a new favorite of mine! 

 Saturday, we headed to the Science Center for a wintry Lunar New Year celebration.  We don't even have a picture of the awesome shaved iced/fake snow (to the left).  We only caught the tail end of a Lion dance.  *Sigh* again.  But hopefully we can catch one in our neighborhood before the holiday officially ends this weekend.  Because you simply can't start out a new Lunar New Year without seeing a proper Lion Dance.

Here is to hopping the year of the Rabbit brings you and yours happiness and prosperity!

Daddy Does My Hair

When Samara was a baby, people told us all the time that she looked just like Ben.  Then they'd make a joke, "Well it must be the bald head."  Chuckle.  Chuckle. Ha. Ha.  We found this shirt when Samara was a baby and thought it was appropriate.

Seeing as Elizabeth is bald as well, we again get the bald comment over and over.   In fact, if we had a billion dollars for every time someone said it to us, we could probably pay off the US national debt. :)  But she is my baby clone not his!

Ben is very proficient at doing the girls' hair when they are babies, among the many things he does well.  But my one complaint about his parenting...he can't seem to keep it straight how he's supposed to carry his young.  

Thaipusam

Last Thursday was Thaipusam, a Hindu celebration of the day Lord Murugan received the "Vel" or divine spear from his mother, Mariamman, so he could kill the feared demon Soorapadman.  Have all those names straight?  Thaipusam is celebrated during the full moon in the Tamil month of Thai (Jan/Feb).  The celebration involves a procession of people bearing kavadis, which are cage-like structures ornamented with peacock feathers and steel plates displaying pictures of Hindu gods.  This is done to give thanks and show gratitude for blessings received from Lord Murugan.   For instance, if the devotee's son is laid up with a fatal disease, he would pray to Shanmuga (another god--they can pray to various gods during this time) to grant the boy a lease of life.  In return for which the devotee takes a vow to dedicate a kavadi to him.  Some spend the month prior fasting from meat and abstaining from worldly pleasures to purify themselves.  Others fast during the day and eat only after sunset.  Some even sleep on hard floors to prepare themselves.

Some shave their heads and cover them in saffron paste. 

I read that those who had trouble having babies will carry their baby draped in saffron robes, balanced on sugar cane stems throughout the journey.  Obviously not what is going on here, but I thought that was interesting.

The simplest form of kavadi is to carry a jug of milk balanced on one's head.

Others carry pots of milk and hook little pots of milk to their body.  They are also skewered on their tongues and/or cheeks.  Remember the Vel/spear Lord Murugan received from his mother.

Some will bear many hooks with attached objects like limes, oranges, apples and even coconuts on their backs and chest. 

Kavadis are made of wood (like this one) or steel and made to balance of the shoulders of the penitent.  They are decorated with peacock feathers, flowers, and other decorations.  The peacock feather is symbolic of the vehicle of Murugan

The steel kavadis, which are all diversely and ornately decorated.

The Vel Kavadi is a movable altar that is pulled with ropes attached to hooks in the penitents back.  First photo shows the hooks in his back.  In the second, look behind him and you can see the Kavadi he pulls.

The devotees are accompanied by drummers, flutists, and 

an entourage of friends, relatives, and well wishers.  Along the way (which is a specific 4.5 km route) they engage in sacificial acts to thank the various gods for answering their prayers.  Some did dances while others sang and said chants.  Others you could tell were struggling just to make the 4.5 km walk from one temple to the other.

Watching the procession was so interesting but watching them prepare was fascinating.

They lay out everything they need to prepare.

Filling a milk pot

Adorning nails shoes

Piercing through the cheek.  I don't even have my ears pierced so I'm not sure how this didn't bother me more.  His eyes went bloodshot and rolled in the back of his head.   Friends and relatives chant while they are doing the piercing to help distract him from the pain he feels.  They also do this during the procession.

The token BW photo.  There aren't too many that have reason to be BW as everything is so colorful and vivid but I loved this image.  

Holy ash (saffron powder) is used to sanitize the areas being pierced.  It is also smeared on their foreheads.  This is common in many Hindu rituals to ward off evil.

The penitent smears it on his family's/supporters' foreheads.

I'll close with this beauty!

Thaipusam also happened to fall on my birthday.  

And my sweet friends treated me to some delicious Indian grub--family style.

Then Saturday a Turkish lunch with my cute family finished off with Kunefe.  It was a great birthday--one I won't forget.  It will take something very unique and yummy to make my next b-day as interesting as this one.   :)

Three Girls, a Guy, and a Pizza Oven

Anyone remember that show Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place?  Well, my girlfriends and I watched it religiously.  We had a very official unofficial fan club complete with "I love Berg" t-shirts.  I'm glad Mr. Reynolds broke it off with Scarlett.  I'm not a fan of her.

That was random and this is my random update on us.  Last year flew by for us.  We knew how the whole year was going to play out--we had Lizzie's birth to look forward to, some trips, some visitors, etc.  We knew what to expect  and when.  That is always nice.  This year we have no clue what is to come.  We've enjoyed so many things about living in Singapore.  And although Ben's not a student anymore, we still feel like students to some degree.  We are ready to be more settled and not have half our income go towards rent, especially as Samara gets older and is very ready for pre-school (the cheapest in our neck of the woods being $400+/month here means that's not affordable).  Everything has been up in the air since we came back and we are finally settling in.  We are going to do a joy school for her with a couple of her friends and our calendar is filling up with other activities.  It's nice to be back.

We really have enjoyed living in Sinagpore, but we're beginning to feel the desire to settle down (we've never lived more than 2.5 years in any place since we were married, which is almost 10 years).  Ben has started exploring options for faculty jobs in the US (and even a job in Melbourne as in Australia.).  We'll hopefully have some idea of our professional options within the next several weeks.  Frankly, I love the idea of spending time in Melbourne.  All of a sudden I hope he doesn't get a faculty job in the US.  :) All the Arnotts products we can eat!  It's pretty unlikely it would happen, but fun to think about.  And there you have it for the guy and here's the update on the three girls.

Though life more often than not looks a little chaotic like this:

I wouldn't have it any other way.  I LOVE having two kids and am very grateful we do.  

I've been busy with photography, which has been a blessing.  I'm trying to make the most of all the cultural awesomeness Singapore has to offer in case we do go home this summer.  And I am always on the look-out for a steal on tickets and a way to take another trip.

Samara is downright hilarious.  She is SO excited and proud about being in primary.  She tries to answer all the questions and would love to be chosen for everything.  She even gave a prayer her second week.  She's into empowering others, "Mom, you're in charge, right?  Ya, you are.  Could I please watch a movie since you are in charge?"  She is always "ON" and life is never dull when she is around.

Sweet Lizzie is almost six -months old.  How has a half a year gone by?  She's a wee lass at 6.15 kg and 68 cm--in US terms that's the fifth percentile.  Contrary to how it may appear in this photo, napping is simply not her thing.  She rocks the 2-3 naps per day schedule.  But they are never longer than 20 minutes.   She is cuter than cute though and we are glad for the extra chances it's gives us to smother her with kisses.  She is starting to eat solids and is taking to it very nicely.

The Pizza Oven:

Ben's brother built an outdoor kitchen complete with a wood-burning pizza oven.  And now I know I NEED one.

The pizza is tres-delish and we had so much fun making pizzas when we were visiting.  Our kitchen does not close off to the outside.  So, I guess I'll be content with my "outdoor" Singapore kitchen for now.

In conclusion, I want to live here:

No, I will live here someday!  I will retire in Thailand.

Our landlord was going to raise our rent substantially so we were looking into other housing options.  Rates in Singapore are at an all-time high and we realized when we started looking around that we got a steal on our place even if it seems like a lot to us.  We looked into a great affordable place available to University faculty.  The only problem was it is literally on the edge of Singapore.  As in there was a fence at the back of the property, a little bit of jungle and then the Johor Straits.  And it was a good 15 minute walk to anything, which is not ideal without a car.  And we'd have to find somewhere to live in the month interim of our lease ending at our current apartment and that housing becoming available.   I had that part all planned out.  I started searching online and found it would be cheaper to rent a condo in Krabi then anything we could have found in Singapore.  The guy could have flown up on the weekends and the three girls could have lived on the beach.  But it wasn't meant to be.  We decided living on the cusp of the island was not the right thing for us.  We were able to negotiate with our landlord (through the realtor of course who gets a whole bloody months rent in for exchanging a few emails) and we are going to stay where we are...at least until this summer.  Then who knows where in the world we will be.  We may just end up being your neighbor!