St. Patty's

A little late posting but here it is. We enjoyed a little St. Patty's celebration here in S'Pore. We had a fun time with friends. It poured down rain just as the parade started. The parade kept going as we took cover. We managed to catch up with the activities on the other side. It was quite interesting to say the least complete with Asian bag pipers. I got a kick out of that. I took lots of video which unfortunately is still in the camera. Anyway, the committee in charge of putting this whole thing together must have a great sense of humor. There were several Star*Wars characters in full gear also part of the the parade and then photo op. What the heck to they have anything to do with St. Patty's day - lol!! After the activities most of the group went to an Irish Bar & Grill for some good food and more fun. I'm loving this place! There's a little bit of everything for everyone!

Sean and I have our 10 year wedding anniversary coming up in a couple of weeks!! We are planning an exciting trip to Hong Kong to celebrate the occassion!!! Kylie is thrilled and keeps asking when we are going to "Hong Konk". We haven't even told her we are going to Disney*land yet!

Swim*lessons

Every weekend Kylie would look through our window towards the pool and often comment about the  people swimming out in the pool. The people she was referring to are instructors and their eager students with the black and bright orange wet suits. She often told me that she wanted to join them. One Saturday as we were spending a relaxing morning by the pool, I decided to observed an instructor. I was so impressed with how great he was with the little ones that I decided to ask him a few questions. One thing led to another and next thing you know we formed a new little swim team to begin lessons the following week. We feel that Kylie is a pretty good swimmer as evident by our previous videos where she was swimming before she had even turned two! However, the swim lessons are focusing on the importance of breathing techniques. I'm very impressed by how brave and resilient the girls always seem to be. They got a little water up their nose and they were ready to try it again. Our little friend William got a little water up his nose and well let's just say he was not happy about that and let everyone know. The Instructor was pretty good at calming him down although William looked all over for his mom whom I was trying to hide. Thank goodnes it was the end of that lesson. Boys are so silly! -lol! Let's just hope Kylie thinks so until she's at least in her 20's. Here are just a few of the cute pics from their second lesson and Kylie's new friends.

Sentosa*Beach

We went to the beach today! We got together with a few friends to celebrate our friend Jen's "forty two-rrific" birthday. The beach is located on the island where we work. Although I've yet to join them, some of our colleagues go to the beach for lunch. Enjoy a glimpse of where we work and play. I have to warn you though, some of the photos you are about to see look like we are on vacation, but please do not be fooled...we are working very hard to get this project up and running:-)

The entrance to the Island

The Beach - I LOVE the Palm Trees!

Happy girl!

It's aaaallll good!

Happy in Sing Sing

A visitor

Picture perfect!!

Wish you were here!

The monorail to and from. There are aslo cable cars that we have yet to experience.

We will be moving to this site office on April 1st. The office overlooks the inter coastal and the port for cruise ships. It's beautiful! It was raining when I took this photo.

The Port.  Some day my shipment will arrive...sigh...

Universal*Studios*Singapore.  Very exciting stuff!

Kylie LOVES this TV show currently on Playh*use D*sney Asia. It's called Dib* the Magic*Gift*Dragon. She lights up with excitement and loves to dance to the intro.  In fact, she just realized that I had a picture of Dib* on this post and ran to her Daddy and insisted that he come see. I believe it's of Korean origin. I'm not sure if this is playing in the states currently but it is as cute as can be.  I've added a link of the intro song I found on Y*utube so that you can enjoy the happy song that makes our beautiful daughter beam with such excitement. It's quite a catchy tune.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVWWw5twmEA

Happy Chinese*New*Year

I know...I am soooo late with this post...I'm such a slacker!! Hope everyone had a happy Chinese New Year. Year of the OX! This is about a fifteen day celebration. We celebrated by going to Chinatown, hanging out with friends playing a game of golf and enjoying a yummy BBQ feast. There were plenty of shows and events throughout the weeks leading up to the big day. I enjoyed every single one we happen to come across especially the elaborate costumes featured in some of the shows. Kylie learned about CNY in school and was very excited about it. She got to enjoy a party in her school complete with dragon dancers and all the gold she could get her little hands on. The gold was filled with a delicious milk chocolate treat she so nicely shared with her mommy:-)

Corporate*partay!!

We attended our first corporate party on Friday 1/23!! It was a Chinese New Year (CNY) celebration and it was a blast! The entertainment was pretty darn funny, I participated in my first "Lo*Hei" and of course there was karaokee.  We stayed pretty late and in fact, we were the last ones to leave. It certainly helped that there was alot of free flowing booze all night long.  By the end of the night I loved Singapore and everyone in it - lol!

We've attended two Lo*Hei's the second being this past Monday. A large group of 20+ from work got together for a nice lunch on a golf course near work. We had a lovely breeze and a beautiful view. Lo*Hei, pronounced "lo hey" is a focal point of Chinese New Year celebrations in Singap*re and Mal*aysia. It is a salad made of julienned vegetables, a few sauces, sesame seeds and strips of raw fish among other items.  The salad itself is called Yu*sheng (I found this out while trying to find a link to attach to this post). Everyone gathers around and use their chopsticks to toss the salad up in the air as high as they can for good luck while yelling out wishes for the new year. It is customary that the higher you toss, the greater your fortunes. So you can imagine what an interesting and humorous scene this can be for us. Sean and I enjoyed participating in this tradition. Here are a few photos from my phone camera.

Sky Tour

One of my coworkers planned and arranged a little outing for us. My department which currently consists of 10 people, decided to go on a sky tour during our lunch break. It was a great way for us to see the progress of our construction site. I'm thrilled to be able to share these pics with you. We live on a beautiful island and every day for work we get shuttled into yet another beautiful island.  Our commute consists of a short walking distance to the MRT (train station), 4 train stops, drop Kylie off and right outside her school we catch the resort shuttle bus to work.  It just couldn't be more convenient than that. My first day riding to work almost 3 wks ago and even now occasionally, I get goose bumps from the amazing sights on my way to work. 

Isn't this picture just breathtaking?!?!

Pic below - Top right is a port. On the left is a huge mall and next to it is Kylie's school. This is the bridge we cross daily. Bottom is one of the hotels in progress.

We watch huge cruise line ships arrive and depart regurlarly. We're getting cruise fever...

Singapore's icon - Merlion

Welcome to *IKEA*

Welcome to our *IKEA* showroom. We've become quite efficient in our space planning. Most of our furniture serves multiple purposes. I'm actually getting used to living in half the space than we are used to. There is less to clean - yeah! We've gotten pretty creative with the space planning so the space does not feel cramped. It is still a work in progress but most of you have expressed interest in seeing our new home...so without further adeu...

We are walking distance from *IKEA* I thought big deal...and then I became a fan...

Our livingroom.

The chaise on the sofa is storage space. This couch is also a sofa bed. Talk about multi-purpose!!

Kylie's room is still a work in progress. The bed frame is actually one huge storage area. The bookcase is a bit lonely for now.

This multi-purpose room is Kylie's playroom as well as a guest room and Sean's closet is in here as he was generous enough to let me have my very own in the master bedroom.

More pics to come!

Simple pleasures

Today we enjoyed a day of leisure. We actually had a lovely long scenic walk and we let Kylie pass out at 3pm. She slept until a little after 5pm which usually means trouble getting her down for the night. But today was special. No worries, just relax and enjoy the simple pleasures including a sugary donut sweet after 9pm. We are not losing it here in S'Pore, we are just enjoying the simple pleasures of tropical evening breezes and enjoying conversations with friends by the pool. Of course, Kylie was wired which was fine as she was having a blast. She finally slowed down around 11pm and she and I came back upstairs to call it a night. Her happiness brought me back to the good old days when happiness for my sister and I meant a glass of chocolate milk and whatever host*ess treat we had in the pantry right before bed. Now as an adult that simple pleasure meant an *appletini* or Malibu* & pineapple topped with an adoring husband and perfect daughter to complete the perfect Saturday.

CNY Preparations

The whole island is buzzing with Chinese*New*Year preparations. We've been venturing out on the weekends exploring new places. We have not taken any touristy tours yet but we are not ruling them out either. It is so easy to get around town via public transportation. Even Kylie learned the names of each train stop to and from school before I did. Speaking of school, Kylie loves it and she is learning quite a bit. We sat down for dinner Friday night at a new Thai restaurant (new to me) and Kylie showed me that she could write the letter Q, V, X and attempted a few others that were not as apparent to me. But imagine how impressed and proud I was to see that she has learned this in just one week into her new school? 

I love my new job. I'm busier than ever and best of all I know what the heck I'm doing. We have alot of fun in the office and everyone has such a great personality. We laugh alot and everyone is working together as a team. From the moment I walked in the office after orientation on my first day, the team had a great laugh at my expense. You see, I had just discovered that Sean and I would be working together side by side and I do mean our desks are next to each other with a short cubicle divider in between. That seemed to break the ice right away and not once did I feel like the newbie or an outsider or a foreigner - well you get the idea. I have to admit it's been great working next to my hubby. He is so helpful and a great resource not to mention he is freakin' smart too. Another perk is that I've had a permanent lunch buddy:-) We will be working together in the same office for a few months. Then we will go to our respective locations. 

More tidbits on my new adventures to come. In the meantime I have tons of pictures to share. I just haven't taken the time to crop them. So I hope you still enjoy the real deal!