First Day in Singapore

Well...we made it.

That was a long flight my friends.  Melissa said it best; flying to the other side of the world is like childbirth, if you haven't done it in a few years, you forget how painful the experience is and you're willing to do it again.

Honestly, we have very little to complain about.  The flights were long, but they went just fine.  Everything was on time and aside from one crying baby, there were no troubles on the plane. We had about a three hour layover in Tokyo-Narita.  The whole time we were in the terminal, we were staring at the plane that was taking us to Singapore.  Lucky Jack was able to sleep on that entire flight.

We landed a bit after midnight and (after a quick stop at the duty free) our driver was waiting to take us and our 7 suitcases to our temporary apartment in the Newton neighborhood.  The apartment is a bit small, but it's very nice.  It has a great pool, gym and continental breakfast on weekdays.  It is also only a 5 minute walk to the subway station.

Today (Thursday) we were able to take a somewhat easy day.  We went to Starbuck's for breakfast and then spent the rest of the morning unpacking. We went back out around 2:00 to get lunch and pick up some groceries.  We were pleasantly surprised to find out that our MRT (subway) cards from four years ago still worked just fine and still had about S$20 on each of them. For lunch, there was only one choice.  Melissa has been dreaming about dumplings at Din Tai Fung since we left Singapore 4 years ago.

Jack was even able to practice his chop stick skills.

After lunch, we went to the grocery store and quickly remembered how expensive it is to shop here.  That is going to take some getting used to.

We made our way back to the apartment and went for a quick swim.  We've been talking about making dinner, but I really don't think it's going to happen.  Jet lag seems to be getting the best of us and it looks like we are going to crash.  A quick peanut butter sandwich may be all that happens for dinner tonight.

We've got a big day tomorrow.  I'm going to run into the office in the morning, and then we are going to spend the afternoon looking for a permanent place to live. I think we've got seven different apartments and condos on the agenda for the afternoon.  Wish us luck!

Packing

We are getting toward the end of our first day of packing up our stuff for the move. The moving company has a team of 5 people that plan to be here for two days packing up all of our things that are heading to Singapore with us.

While two days seems like a pretty short amount of time to pack for this kind of move, the packing really started months ago.  Since June, we (ok, mostly Melissa) have been cleaning and sorting trying to plan for what we want to go with us and what we want to stay in the house in Texas. It has been a different experience this time trying to plan what to bring. We want to have our favorite things with us while leaving enough in the Texas house so that it is comfortable for anyone staying there.

The word is that the sea freight containers are only taking about 5 weeks to make it from Houston to Singapore, including the time to get through customs.  That's pretty good time.  Hopefully, we will sort out a permanent place to live in Singapore within about a month and the delivery timing should be just right.

The Calm Before the Storm

Not a ton of exciting stuff to be posting about these last few weeks.  We’re really in the calm before the storm part of getting ready to go.  We’ve been doing a ton of paperwork and slowly getting the house ready for the packers room by room. There are always more plans to make for all of the little things like bills and mail and such.

This Thursday, Jack flies off to Boston so that my mother can drop him off at summer camp on Saturday. The lucky guy gets to spend 2 weeks on Lake Winnipesaukee sailing and swimming and just having fun in general.  Camp Lawrence is a beautiful place that I remember fondly from my summers there as a kid. Hopefully, we will get a letter from him this year!

On Saturday, we went out for a nice dinner at The Melting Pot in Houston to celebrate Jack’s good grades this year.  It is a fondue restaurant that Jack really likes.  It is fun to be able to cook your own food at the table and try something a bit different.  The best part is definitely dessert.  You can’t beat dipping fruit, brownies and marshmallows into warm melted chocolate.

While Jack is off at camp, Melissa and I will be enjoying ourselves as well.  This Sunday we are sailing off on a cruise leaving from Galveston.  We are going to be visiting Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. We are really looking forward to it as it is the first kid free vacation we’ve had in years.  We love spending our holidays with Jack, but it’s going to be a whole different kind of vacation without my favorite 12 year old there to entertain.

This is also the last real break we’re going to get for a number of months.  After we get back, it will be "Go, Go, Go" until we are really settled in Singapore.  From the 24 hour flight, to starting work and temporary apartments, to finding a new home and starting a new school, we’re about to kick of a few crazy months.  Wish us luck!!!