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.