Thanksgiving in Singapore

Thanksgiving is one of our favorite days of the year.  We usually spend it with my family in Upstate New York.  John (my brother) and Renee (his wife) usually host, and we start the day with a game of touch football.  (Renee would argue that HER day starts much earlier than that, and she's right - thanks Renee).  Most of the time, there are no trips to the emergency room.  Most of the time.  I missed out on this year's game, along with watching American football on television.

Since Thanksgiving is not a recognized holiday in Singapore, Bryce had to attend school for the second time in his life on Thanksgiving Day.  Yep, he attended school on Thanksgiving Day in kindergarten when we lived here the last time.

We decided to host our own Thanksgiving Dinner with friends.  While it wasn't the same as having the whole family together, we had a nice dinner at our place.  Friends from USA, Australia, Singapore, India, Brunei, Norway and Philippines joined us for a traditional (well, at least our traditional) Thanksgiving Dinner with all the fixings.

Heading back to the USA tonight for Christmas!  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

Basketball in Singapore

Basketball in Singapore is played under FIBA rules, for the most part.  I say "for the most part" as not all courts have a shot clock.  Basketball is basketball, except the rules here are meant to speed up the game.  For instance, there is a 24-second shot clock, and you have eight seconds to cross mid court (instead of 10).  I love both of these rules.  If you are fouled, and it's a non-shooting foul, the shot clock will reset to 14 seconds, assuming there are less than 14 seconds remaining on the clock.  Oh, and there is no such thing as "one-and-one".

There are a couple of things I had to get used to.  First, during a close game the other day, we were down three with under two minutes to go when we scored on a put back.  I called timeout.  However, timeout wasn't granted.  It seems you're not allowed to call timeout after your team scores.  The other team came down and scored, putting us back down by three, so I called timeout.  We get the ball at half court after the timeout.  I like that, but I don't like the fact that I can't call timeout after we score.

After that game ended, I discovered that you cannot call a timeout at all when the ball is live and you have possession!  What?  Now THAT is different!  I don't know the rationale for that rule, but it will take some getting used to.

Oh, and if the ball is knocked out of bounds on the sideline, on your basket side of half court, you must inbound the ball in the front court.  This takes some getting used to on my part, both offensively and defensively.  I think that's an advantage for the defense, and will coach it that way.

My introduction to basketball in Singapore was via email prior to my move.  The girls' coach, Dale, from United World College (UWC), receives a newsfeed on anything with "basketball" and "Singapore".  The Hartford Courant ran a quick blurb about my resignation at E.O. Smith, and Dale reached out, inviting me to look him up when I arrived in Singapore.  I did just that!  I helped him at a couple of practices, and he introduced me to John, the boys'  coach at UWC.  John runs an organization called Asia Pacific Sports Management.  John has had me help at a few clinics, and introduced me to Domenic, who has two sons that I help train.  While watching a UWC girls' game, I met a local woman who was looking for a private coach for her son.  He became my first client!  She introduced me to a local coach with ties to the Basketball Association of Singapore, Coach Chan.  Chan invited me to one of his U19 Club practices.  He handed me a whistle and told me to run the training session.  18 guys on an outdoor court with two hoops.  After that, he invited me to help with a couple of other teams, so I guess I passed the test!

So far, I've been involved with one-on-one coaching and running practices (they call it training) for Orchid Park Secondary School and Teck Ghee Elementary School. I've also helped with the Titans U13 boys club team and helped with a clinic for all entrants in a local 3-on-3 tournament.  Additionally, I helped out for several Sundays at a clinic at the Canadian International School.  I have also helped coach the U13 and U14 boys at Orchid Park in a U16 tournament with predictable results.

Right before Thanksgiving, I worked the Slam Jam camp at the Basketball Association.  It was a great week with morning, afternoon and evening sessions.  We had beginners and National Team members, boys and girls, and some very good coaches.  The camp was run by Avi Meyerson from Impact Basketball, Australia.

Alyssa's Visit

We had our first visitor from October 30th to November 5th. My niece, Alyssa, came to visit on her way to a two-month backpacking trip through Thailand. Yes, she's got moxy, for sure! The first order of business was getting over her jet lag. She managed it pretty well during the short amount of time she spent with us.  Our third bedroom will forever be referred to as "Alyssa's room".  We hope she is just the first of many visitors from the USA.

Her first night in town we took her to the Banana Leaf restaurant in Little India.  She had her first Tiger Beer and ate with her fingers.  The streets were all decorated for the Deepavali, or "rows of lights" holiday.

Deepavali Decorations in Little India

Dinner at the Banana Leaf in Little India

I took Alyssa to the Singapore Zoo.  She took quite a few pictures and realized just how hot and humid it is here.  She was happy to stop at Ben and Jerry's inside the zoo to take a break.

White Tigers

     

Alyssa near the zoo entrance

Since we knew Alyssa wouldn't be here very long, we tried to hit some of the highlights.  I took her to lunch at Marina Bay Sands' Sky 57 Restaurant.  It's located at, surprise, the 57th floor of Tower 1 at one of the nicest hotels in the world.

Lunch Menu at Sky 57

Alyssa's First Course

Here are are a couple of pictures from the outside plaza at the hotel.

Marina Bay Sands Hotel

Floating Stadium Across From MBS

No trip to Singapore would be complete without a day trip to Sentosa.  The locals say it is an acronym for "So Expensive Nothing TO See Anyway."  Yes, it is, basically, a tourist trap, but it is also where many of the most expensive homes in Singapore are located, and there are many "touristy" activities, along with a casino, Hard Rock Hotel, and Universal Studios.

Here are a few pictures from Sentosa.  The luge was fun, and the sky ride has some nice views.

Alyssa Framed in the Palms

Bryce and Alyssa at the Luge

The Merlion

Sky Ride

The food in Singapore is very good, and if you want to eat for a reasonable price you have to go to one of the many hawker centers around the island.

Dinner at the Hawker

On to Thailand

The Mathematics of the Metric System and Currency Conversion

375 degrees F equals how many degrees C?

 

What do Liberia, Myanmar (formerly Burma) and the USA have in common? They are the only countries in the world that do NOT use the metric system. Let's face it - I don't think in metric units. Everything here is in meters, milliliters, kilometers per hour, degrees Celsius, etc. Therefore, I have to convert to units that make sense to me on a daily basis. It's the same with the currency. I have to convert to US dollars before I can understand the value of different items. After a while, it gets easier, though I still don't like that our GPS is set to kilometers rather than miles. 800 meters sneaks up on you pretty fast when you're in the far right lane, in four lanes of traffic, and need to exit left, particularly since Singaporean drivers tend to speed up when one wishes to change lanes!  Here are a few examples:

 



330 ml?

25 meters?

  

 

 

1. The maximum speed limit on the highways in Singapore is 90 km/hr.  The conversion factor is: 1 km/hr = 0.621 mi/hr.  Thus, 90 km/hr = 55.89 mi/hr.  Speed is not encouraged here.
2. A can of Coke (or Tiger) is 330 milliliters.  The conversion factor is: 1 ml = 0.0338 oz.  Thus, 330 ml = 11.154 oz.  Not quite the 12 oz. cans we get back home.
3. Keeping with volume, 1 liter = 1.056 quarts.  In other words, we get a little more than a quart when we buy a liter of milk.
4. If we ("we" means Pattie) need to bake something at 375 degrees Fahrenheit, we first need to convert to Celsius.  The formula is: C = (F-32) x 5/9.  Thus, 375 degrees F = 190.56 degrees C.
5. On the other hand, if the temperature outside is 30 degrees C, in order for that to have meaning, for me, I must convert it to degrees F.  The formula is: F = 9/5 C + 32.  Thus, 30 degrees C = 86 degrees F.  We reach that temperature pretty much every day of the year.
6. The US dollar is slightly more valuable than the Singapore dollar.  S$1 = US$0.80.  In other words, it will cost you 80 US cents to purchase one Singapore dollar (excluding fees).  This conversion is easy. S$10 = US$8.
7. Gas prices here are charged by the liter (or litre as it's spelled here).  The average price per liter today is S$2.13. This is a tougher conversion, as we purchase gas by the gallon back home.  So, S$2.13/liter x 1liter/1.056 qts x 4 qts/1 gal x US$0.80/S$1 = US$6.45/gal!  

 

Yes, I am a geek!

From Fraser Suites to The Orange Grove

We stayed at Fraser Suites in a two-bedroom service apartment, from September 8th through October 31st.  Fraser is a very nice place, with daily maid service (except on Sundays), complimentary breakfast, swimming pool, workout room, basketball court, and shopping area very nearby.  We stayed much longer than anticipated, as our sea shipment (mostly furniture) did not arrive until October 24th.  Once the sea shipment arrived, we had to turn on gas and internet - each took longer than anticipated.  Our lease at The Orange Grove started on October 1st, but since we didn't have any furniture we were left with staying longer than expected at Fraser.

Boxes Started Arriving

Then More Boxes

When the movers arrived on October 24th they delivered 90 boxes.  Everything from bunk beds to couches, tables, chairs, etc.  Here are a few pictures of what the condo looked like as we were moving in.  Boxes everywhere!

Still More Boxes

Poor Blake didn't know what to do with himself, so he found an open box of Pattie's clothing and took a long nap.  The movers were at the condo from about 10 am until 8 pm, and then had to come back for about an hour the following day.  They unpacked and put things together, and were very accommodating.  They assembled the bunk beds, shelves, bikes, etc.  The more they accomplished, the less we had to worry about later.

Blake Taking a Nap

 Fraser Suites was three bus stops away from Overseas Family School.  The Orange Grove is also three bus stops away, so Bryce's commute hasn't changed much.  The YMCA is almost directly across the street, and the Tanglin Community Club is a short walk down the road.  I've held a couple of private basketball lessons at the Tanglin Club.

We're starting to look forward to the holidays, and will be returning to the USA for two and a half weeks just prior to Christmas.  Our biggest adjustment, other than the time difference, will be the weather.  The  average high temperature here is about 87 degrees, while the low is about 74 degrees - all year long.  We'll go from wearing shorts and t-shirts with sandals to hoodies and boots for a short while.

Moving In

Pattie accepted a new position within United Technologies Corporation (United Technologies Aerospace Systems, UTAS) - an expatriate position in Singapore - where she is working in import/export compliance.  UTAS recently merged with Goodrich Corporation (the ones without the blimp).  She flew to Singapore to start her position on or about August 1, 2013.

Bryce and I flew over on August 7, arriving in Singapore on August 9.  Yes, it's a LONG trip!  It takes about a week to adjust to the time change.  Singapore is 12 hours ahead of Connecticut during daylight savings time.  I flew back to CT on August 14, as I was still principal at Windham Tech and had some loose attends to tie up before my actual move.  During this time we stayed at the Singapore Marriott and Marina Bay Sands.  Five stars all the way!

From August 9 through August 14, we looked at many different condos for rent.  Prior to my arrival with Bryce, Pattie had already viewed dozens of places, and screened out the ones not worth seeing again.  In this short period of time we viewed about 20 different rentals.  There were many nice places, but we were looking for something close to downtown, close to Bryce's school, and, most importantly for Bryce, a bedroom for him with its own bathroom.  We decided on The Orange Grove.

Also, during that short period of time, Bryce viewed the Canadian International School, the Australian International School, and the Overseas Family School (OFS).  Bryce had attended OFS for kindergarten during our first tour of duty in Singapore.  He felt most comfortable at OFS, so that's where he enrolled.  He played basketball during the fall season, and is about to start swimming for the Fighting Fish club at SACAC (Singapore American Community Action Council) for the winter.

I returned to the USA on August 14th and continued packing and cleaning out bedrooms.  We were looking to potentially rent the house while we were overseas, so a thorough cleaning was in order.  Bryce has been in Singapore ever since.  He started school, made some friends, and has established a routine, sort of.  Pattie returned to USA in time to drop Murphy off at SCSU.  That was a bittersweet day, but we know Murphy will do very well in college.

I returned to Singapore on September 1st, and Bryce and I stayed at the Marriott until September 8th.  The Marriott is in the heart of downtown, so it was very convenient.  On the 8th, we moved to a service apartment at FraserSuites.  Our apartment is on the 13th floor.

Master bath

Outside Facade

This provided Bryce was a little bit more privacy.  It has man
y amenities, including daily maid service, breakfast, swimming pool, workout room, etc.  Our condo was ready on October 1st, but our sea shipment was just delivered today.  Thus, we extended our stay at Fraser through the end of October.

Living Area

Kitchen

Master Bedroom

Second Bedroom

View from our balcony

Bryce has already been to three concerts: The Killers and Rihanna during the Formula 1 event, and Jay-Z.  Concerts are relatively inexpensive here.  Bryce's friends say the concerts here are "the cheapest in the world."

Blake's First Day in Quarantine

I have been doing some private basketball coaching and helping out at local weekend basketball clinics.  I've also done some substitute teaching at the Singapore American School.  I'm still looking for a "real job", but coaching basketball full time has a nice ring to it.  Most recently, I joined a men's basketball league with a bunch of 10 to 13 year-olds (and one very talented 24-year-old).  The first game was a lot of fun, and I didn't get hurt, so that's a bonus.

Blake left the USA on October 5th and arrived in Singapore on October 7th.  He needed to stay for ten days at Sembawang Animal Quarantine Station, where we visited him every day (except for Sunday and the Public Holiday).  He was delivered to us on October 17th and is very happy to be home.

 Our sea shipment (furniture, etc.) arrived today and was unpacked.  We'll be moving in to our new home at The Orange Grove soon!