(I found this cool site looking for sunrise/sunset times: http://www.gaisma.com/)
]]>But either way, having Stuff is much nicer than not having Stuff. Even if we're not quite sure where we're going to put it all just yet.
The kitchen was the first priority. We actually filled up all those cabinets pretty well, but the best part is now the MO has cooking utensils, and he has set to with a vengeance. First thing he made? Mexican food, of course :-) It requires a bit of ingenuity here and there, working around missing or not-sure-if-this-is-the-same-thing ingredients, but so far so good. Salsa? Check--with Thai chilis instead of habaneros. Drunken beans? Yep--brown beans instead of pintos, some kind of big green chili instead of seranos, and something that looked like cilantro but is neither cilantro nor parsley.... Nearly every dish he cooks involves some experimentation.
Another interesting part of the Singapore cooking experience is the stove. No pilot light, you get to use a match. And watch out, because that big wok burner is one serious flame! (Actually two flames--one ring inside the other.) I think one of those spark-on-a-stick gadgets is in our future. If you don't twist the knob just so, the flame goes right out, so (for me, at least) it takes a few matches to get it right. If I don't remember to buy some more matches (or a sparky thing) pretty soon, no more soup for us!
Next we tackled our offices. Oooooh, did you notice the "s" on the end of that? OfficeS. As in, we each have one. Two, count 'em, two. One for he and one for me. Rooms of our very own.... This is a huuuuge luxury. The MO is building a man cave in the basement, the coolest (temperature-wise) room in the house, and I'm claiming the back room on the top floor, the coolest (view-wise) room in the house. I've already learned to make sure everything is weighted down or tucked away, because the breeze up here is prodigious. With all the doors and windows open, I'm comfy all day. (So far. We'll see how July goes when we get there.) The only bummer is that I can't leave everything open when it rains. There are no window screens, so even if it's just sprinkling, it splashes in. And when it really comes down, well, forget it. As much as I'd love to listen to a soothing downpour and take advantage of the lower temps, I can't exactly justify hosing down the wood floors in the process.
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(I found this cool site looking for sunrise/sunset times: http://www.gaisma.com/)
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The heat isn't that bad, although my neighbors assure me it gets worse towards July and August. The saving grace is the breeze. I can imagine that if the summer months are still, it will be rather unpleasant. But meanwhile, most of the day is livable, and the mornings and evenings are quite nice. And we do have aircon, after all, so it's not like you can't escape when you need to. Oh, and there's the pool! I am really loving the pool. It's a lap pool, so you feel kind of compelled to go back and forth a bit, but what a lovely way to cool down in the afternoon.
I was expecting to enjoy the food, and I haven't been let down on that front. Fruit and veggies everywhere, and you can go days without even being tempted to eat anything fried. Lots of chicken, lots of seafood, and of course rice. Yum :-) More garlic than you can shake a stick at, and many dishes are really spicy, in that omg-it-burns-but-I-can't-stop-eating-it kind of way. Sometimes they warn you, sometimes they don't bother.
I know the MO is missing "real" iced tea, but I never really drank it at home, so the sweet lemonade-type stuff they pass off as cold tea here doesn't bother me at all. I have one every now and then and figure it's the same as drinking a Coke. As I've mentioned before, you can get hot tea anywhere, and I do like that. It does suck that alcohol is so expensive. If you see a bottle of wine at the store for $20, you're wondering just how plonk it might be.... A six-pack (cans, warm) runs about $15. Sooooo, drink less and figure it's good for you.
And walk more! Not having a car is interesting. For the most part, it's not too bad, esp. when the MO is in town, because he does have a car, so evening or weekend trips are possible. It's about a ten-minute walk from the house to the local MRT/mall. Uphill on the way home, though ;-) (And thus many excursions conclude with a dip in the pool.) I love wearing cute sandals all the time, although sometimes my feet protest the thin soles. I generally don't go barefoot in the house just because it is hard on my tootsies. The ground floor is marble and it's really hard. And here's a thing: when people come into your house (delivery guys are the only visitors we've had thus far, but this has been true for every single one) they take off their shoes and leave them on the porch. It can't be an I-don't-want-to-get-your-floor-dirty thing because the windows are wide open, so the floor is already dusty. I wonder if I'm supposed to be offering house slippers or something?
I know, all that's great and all, but you want the dirt on all the bad stuff! Well, there really isn't much. Here are some things I still haven't quite adjusted to:
Oh! And the po-po carry EBRs! That'll stop you in your tracks the first time you see a squad of them moseying down Orchard Street. (And it might make you a bit jealous if you had to leave all your guns on the other side of the ocean.)
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I haven't seen what kind of bird this is yet, but they seem to be abundant and they are definitely loud. I love the noise they make (the attached recording is kind of soft).
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Sent from my iPhone
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Sent from my iPhone
]]>Everybody wears sandals here. All the time. That makes me ever so happy! I figure I won't have to put on socks for the next three years, and my toes think that is just grand. I plan to amass a lovely collection of skimpy flat shoes--every shop that even sort of sells shoes has cute sandals, or at least flip flops. I may be the only woman on this whole island with unvarnished toenails, though. That's going to change pretty soon!
Last night we went to a fancy Cantonese restaurant. Most of the menu was New Year's set dinners, which we couldn't do because there were just the two of us, but we enjoyed our food just the same. The MO was a bit more adventurous than I was. He actually tried the venison tendon. I just drank the soup it was in (which was delicious). We also had jellyfish, which was tasty. It's a very odd consistency, sort of crunchy feeling without actually being crunchy. Rubbery isn't the right description either. I'm sure there's a word for it, but heck if I know what it might be.
And finally, we saw the video for this song a few days ago and it's been stuck in my head ever since. I finally gave up and bought the album, and haven't stopped playing it.
Oh, and we finally moved out of the hotel! The guest bed was delivered today, so I went and bought sheets, and we're officially in our house now :-)
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