Happy Chinese New Year!

As you may know Chinese New Year is a big deal over here in Singapore. It is like our Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years all in one; and it lasts almost the entire month of January and part of February as well. This past weekend we took Daisy on her first Singapore adventure to the Chingay Parade. It was the world's longest parade! (Ok I don't know if that is factual but Daisy and I had enough after about 3 hours of it and it still wasn't over! I was falling asleep because it was soo hot out. And as many of you know, I can pretty much fall asleep anywhere. . . even at a crowded, noisy street parade!) Even though it was long it was entertaining and we saw some amazing local dances and performances. It was a great cultural experience.

Before the parade started Jeremy got some snaps of the city view from the bay.

This was a floating dock in the middle of the bay. Daisy wasn't allowed on, so we sat right outside while Jeremy took some pictures.

I think these trees with the flowers are beautiful, and so Asian looking.

Traditional Chinese New Year decorations.

This was one of the first floats. I thought it was awesome. It's a huge lion. All the dancers were also dressed as lions and they did a cool little performance.

Such a cute little family! (Of course Daisy wasn't looking at the camera!)

A dragon float.

This was proabably the most exciting part of the parade. Those guys you see in the bottom right hand corner, would take balls of burning embers out of the can of fire and toss them in the air. Then the other guy would smack it like hitting a baseball and sparks would go flying everywhere. It was sorta like really dangerous homemade fireworks. The sparks would fall all over their bare backs. I'm not sure how they didn't get burned.

Here's a picture of all the sparks flying everywhere. Just beautiful! Something you would never see at a parade in the States.

All in all it was a great night. Especially since Daisy actually got to come. She was a trooper allowing the local children to mal her all night. And she didn't even complain about the hot, sticky, humid weather or the loud banging noises! I'm not sure Crew will be such a good sport once he arrives. ;) We sure can't wait to find out.

Home Sweet Home

This Monday was Chinese New Year, and Jeremy had work off Monday and Tuesday. . . being the good husband he is, he helped me finish unpacking instead of enjoying his short break. But at last we are out of chaos and our apartment is feeling like home.

The guest bedroom, complete with your own teddy for cuddling with! What are you waiting for? Come VISIT!

Jer's bathroom. Notice there is no counter or cupboards, hence the reason we have to have our own bathroom for all our stuff.

Mine and Daisy's bathroom. Luckily we bought a few shelves and brought them with us.

The masterbedroom; AKA Daisy's room. Look how she just thinks she owns the place!

Here is baby Crew's room, not quite ready for him. We have just ordered his bedding and can't wait for it to come. And as I mentioned that 'big American' furniture is definitley too large for this room. :) But I am so grateful to have such a beautiful set up for our little guy!

The kitchen.

I call it my barbie kitchen because everything is so much smaller than what I'm used to. My cookie sheets don't fit in the oven, and our water pitchers don't fit in the fridge. But hey it's all about the experience! And really it is a nice kitchen.

The living room, slash office. Oh and I forgot to take a picture of the dining room. But If you look out that window to the balcony, that is where we eat. It's so nice to eat outside and enjoy the amazing weather, everyday. (The only downside is the wind that occasionally tries to spoil the meal:)

The living room from the other direction. Notice all the white. . . white floors, walls, curtains. It can be painstaking to keep it all clean! But it sure looks bright and inviting.

Weekend Fun and The Famous Durian

Singapore is known for its 'King Fruit' Durian. In an earlier post I described the fruit and its accompanying smell. A smell so strong and repugnant, it is banned from public transportation. People won't even bring it into their homes, for fear the smell won't leave. After that kind of a reputation, who wouldn't want to try it. . . right? Well for some reason Jer has decided that you can't live in Singapore and not at least try it once, and our new found friends Lehi and Kate agreed. So come along with us on our quest for Durian! A quest it was, at 11:30pm on a Friday night; we could not find the infamous fruit. . . until we followed our nose (Literally we could smell it long before we could see it.) through China Town to this remote little Durian Stand. Really how bad could it be? Look at this man, he is LOVIN it! And that was his second round!

The durian "King's Fruit" Stand

After choosing your very own durian, the man slices it open and gives it to you in a basket.

Hmm. . . that just looks so tasty! Too bad I just had a wonderful meal and dessert. I think I feel it coming back up. . .

Here is clark right after he dry-heaved and retched a few times. (He was the biggest pansie out of us all! Even me the prego was stronger!)

Jenna's look says it all!

This is Lehi and he was a champ! He just bit right into and said, "Not that bad." He thought it tasted a bit like onion.

His wife, Kate was also a trooper. She bit into and sucked out the succulent juices. (barf!)

Here is Jer getting ready to indulge . . .

He took the first bite and began to chew . . .

He was surprised that it wasn't as disgusting as he thought it would be.

Playing with my food, trying to prolong the inevitable! It looked like a little mouth with a tongue.

I didn't take a big bite like Jer, but I did eat a small amount off my finger . . . and that was more than enough! I couldn't get rid of the smell off my hands. When we got home, I went to take Daisy out she sniffed my hands and refused to go near them! I'd have to say baby Crew didn't approve of my bravery either. He kept me up all night with 'durian burps'! The next morning I still had durian breath! YUK! Glad to mark that adventure off the list! What's next?

Total Chaos!

YEA! We finally received our cargo shipment! But we are now living in total chaos. These pictures were actually taken on the 5th, now the huge pile of boxes is somewhat more manageable. The problem I'm having is we brought too much and we don't have anywhere to put it. Everything in Asia is small and all about conserving space, so not really meant for 'big American' furniture. :) I guess it will be a good chance for me to get rid of stuff we really don't need. Once I get everything organized (don't hold your breath. . . I'm moving pretty slow these days.) I'll post decent pictures of our flat. (AKA apartment)

Oh and I thought I'd throw this picture in, since everyone is dying to see my pregnant belly! :) Remember that this picture was taken on the 5th, and has already grown since then. I swear I wake up each morning to find my belly has gotten bigger. I worry about the size of Crew when he's ready to come out! When we went for the 5mo scan, they measured all his body parts, bones, organs, everything; he was measuring in the 95th percentile for EVERYTHING! Mostly I am just worried about his head. Since the doctor assured me he would have a big head like Jeremy! We are so excited for him to come now that it seems more real since I feel him moving more. (Usually at night while I'm trying to sleep!) We have his room mostly set up with the crib, changing table, and glider. (and yes that pretty much fills up the entire room with not much walking room. . . again that 'huge American' furniture!) Daisy is very skeptical about that room and rarely goes in. She just sits in front of the door looking in as if there is something inside that's going to get her. I dunno, maybe she is already sensing that whatever gets that room, is going to make her take the back seat. LOL! She sure is smart!

Sweet little surprises. . .

We have the most wonderful neighbors anyone could ask for! They have been so kind, generous and welcoming to us. They just moved here from Korea yet they have really extended themselves to make us feel welcome and at home here in Singapore. In addition to being so kind, Helen is also the most amazing cook! I am going to try and learn from her how to make such wonderful Korean food! Just the other day her sweet family brought a gift over for baby Crew. . . his first pair of crocs! He is going to be a stud in these! They are his first pair of shoes. :) Thanks again!!!

I wanted to show how tiny they were by holding them in my hand and taking the picture at the same time. You get the idea.

Helen said her two children picked them out just for Crew. What good taste for a 10yr old and an 8yr old!

My other little surprise came as a delivery the other day. They were flowers sent from Jeremy's office back in the States. They were absolutely beautiful! I can't wait for Monday Jan 5th when our shipment arrives so I can have a dinning table to put them on! YAAAAEEEE!