To Market We Go

Every week (usually on a Wednesday) Louise, Genalyn and Charlotte head to the Tiong Bahru wetmarket. We go early to avoid the heat and subsequent increase in smell from the meat section.

Our children are quite a hit at the wetmarket. Charlotte takes her bum-bag as it's like trick-or-treating for her. She always comes home with apples and one of the "Aunties" often shuts her shop and takes off with Charlotte to buy her lollies!

Our routine is always the same:

Fruit

Say hello to Pau Pau (Grandma) from the clothing shop by our fruit stall

Say hello to the couple at the general homeware stall next to that (mops, buckets etc)

Eggs - chicken and/or quail eggs

Vegetables

Park any children on the ride-on toys outside the sewing aunties stall

Pork

Fish - usually prawns for dinner that night at about $8/kg

Spices - we buy samal (chilli paste mix) which makes the best curry (just add coconut milk)

Chicken - we avoid the ones with heads and feet still attached

Back to the car past the very pretty flower stalls

Not many expats we know use the wetmarket but it's fun and we've learned alot and saved alot at the same time.

December events

Tessa's class "The Possums" had an end of year party. Santa was the guest of honour.

Uncle James stayed with us before and after his Intrepid Journey from Bangkok to Hanoi. We were able to show him around Singapore which was far cleaner and more orderly than anywhere else he'd seen on his trip.

Tessa's 5th Birthday

We held a party for Tessa at our condo clubhouse on Sunday 9th December and invited 15 school friends. Two hours of organised fun for the children including poi making, musical chairs, pin the tail on the donkey and pass the parcel. Tessa had a wonderful time with all her friends.

Tessa's birthday was on Tuesday 11th December. Tessa and Louise enjoyed a pedicure together and invited friends for dinner.

November events

We visited the merlion on Sentosa Island and splashed in the mosaic water feature. The merlion is the symbol of Singapore and is half lion and half fish.

Charlotte's pre-school had its concert and graduation - Charlotte loved dressing up and dancing as a turtle. It was a very professional event - staged in a large auditorium running for two and a half hours. The five year olds wore graduation gowns and mortar boards and each gave a speech.

Lots happening

Sarah, Mark and Cameron stopped over on their way to and from New Zealand. The four children had lots of fun together and Cameron learnt to eat rice. The adults enjoyed some superb red wine together.

A Halloween party was held at our condominium - the kids enjoyed dressing up and their friends Luke and Joshua came also.

Deepavali was celebrated by the Indian community of Singapore. This is the Hindu festival of light and Little India is decorated amazingly.

Josh is enjoying playing soccer with ANZA - here is his team. They are currently second in the competition.

Joshua's 8th Birthday

Joshua was 8 on 19 October, which was a Friday. We had a party on Saturday which was ten pin bowling with 14 friends. The kids all loved trying out ten pin bowling and gave it heaps. Josh had a wonderful day and was very lucky with the presents he received from family and friends all around the world.

October various

Josh and Tessa catch the "number 9" school bus to and from school each day from our gate, here are some photos of it.

Tessa has ballet and tap once a week and loves it, here are some photos of her class.

We visited the Kranji War Memorial which was a wonderful history lesson albeit very sad. The site includes the graves of thousands of Allied troops who died in the region during WWII. New Zealand's main contribution during WWII was Air force. The following weekend we visited Changi Prison Museum and Chapel to complete our history lesson. Changi commemorates the Allied POWs held by the Japanese during occupation 1942 till end of WWII.

Tessa now has a Singapore Airlines flight attendant outfit, and is very proud of it. It is actually based on Malay traditional dress, so she wore it to school for Hari Raya (a Muslim celebration).

Tioman Island - Malaysia

We went to Tioman Island, Malaysia for a holiday 5 to 7 October. We travelled by bus and ferry which took a long time (next time we fly!). It was very interesting crossing the boarder between Singapore and Malaysia but a tad stressful with children and luggage and crowds. Many thousands do this every day for work.

The best part of our holiday at Tioman was taking the children snorkeling. We went by boat to a floating platform quite a way from the beach. They dropped us there and came and picked us up when we had had enough. We all wore life jackets which was good as the current was fairly strong. We took food but the fish were so inquisitive anyway. It was really deep but Charlotte sat on Louise's back for a while then just floated on her tummy holding her hand. Tessa swam holding Wayne's hand and Josh did really well on his own. We were out for about an hour and a half. When we needed a rest we got back on the platform for a while then got back in. Amazing coral fans and antlers (even pink for Tessa). We found orange Nemos. The fish nibbled at us a little (Tessa didn't like that but Charlotte did).

Louise had time for a scuba dive. That was great - she saw 2 turtles very close (1 very big), a cuttlefish (like a big fat squid) and barracuda. Lots of real Nemos. It was just beyond where we had been snorkeling so many of the other fish and coral too. It's about 18 months since Louise's last dive so great to do another and remember what to do. When she came back in Wayne had brought the children up to see. The 4 tanks went into 2 large bins full of water - the size of spa pools. Josh was so interested in the scuba gear that eventually all 3 children ended up in the spa bins with their masks or goggles on breathing through the regulators. The staff and the other 2 divers were amazed at how much they loved the water.

Watching the All Blacks lose at 3am was the low point of the holiday for Wayne. The children went to bed happily shattered both nights. The only other way we could keep them still was at the sunken pool bar - how unfortunate!

Bum boats

Time to be tourists in Singapore again so we took a bum boat ride alone the river. It is Chinese Lantern festival time so there were some pretty sights to see.

The bum boats chug chug along and you get an interesting view of the city. A relaxing afternoon outing was had by all.

Extra curricular activities

Josh has started playing soccer and is in the ANZA Bombers under 8 team. Check out his cool playing kit. His games are at 8am on Saturday morning, thankfully before it gets too hot but but no Saturday sleep in for us.

Tessa has started ballet and tap dancing. She is very proud of her costume and shoes.

Louise and Josh are having tennis lessons together. Both are improving. Louise also plays ANZA social tennis weekly.

To finish a Unit of Enquiry on Majulah Singapura (looking at where people in Singapore come from) Joshua dressed as a Maori warrior to represent New Zealand.

Gary comes to stay

Gary stopped over for a couple of nights on his way to London. Charlotte attached herself to Gary the entire time. We visited the zoo, Sentosa Island, shops and enjoyed chilli and black pepper crab at East Coast Seafood Centre.