Chinese New Year

Our neighborhood was ready for Chinese New Year weeks and weeks ago. The grocery stores, the mall and especially the outdoor market were all decked out. Lights, lanterns, red and gold everywhere.

Chinese New Year follows the lunar calendar and started on February 14th this year. The year of the Tiger. Everything is decorated in red, with a tiger, other Chinese symbols or things that are considered auspicious.

Auspicious, isn't that a great word? It means favorable to promote success, a good omen, or lucky. The Chinese fill their homes with auspicious things so that they will have fortune, success and luck in the coming year. And lots of things are considered auspicious - its very precise and detailed - certain colors (red), certain numbers (evens, couples, or 8), certain fruits (pineapple, oranges, pomelos), certain plants (pussy willows, money trees, twirly bamboo), certain meals. For some of them its because their name sounds like another word in Chinese - like the word orange "jin ju" sounds like the word for gold.

We have learned so many Chinese traditions for the New Year we can hardly keep track of them all. But here are a few of our favorites: celebrating with a big family reunion dinner where they retell stories of the past year, eating Yusheng together - a salad that everyone tosses with chopsticks at the same time to symbolize starting the year together and bringing in good fortune, giving out hung bao to children - red envelopes filled with money or chocolate coins, always eating a fish dish - because the common phrase "let there be abundance every year" sounds like "let there be fish every year," and of course the Lion Dances.

Noah's preschool had a great Chinese New Year party. The kids wore chinese clothes, sang chinese songs and ate chinese treats. Little brother Gage decided he was part of the class and joined them during the performances.

Over the weekend David and I went down to Marina Bay to see the HungBao festivities with some friends. We saw huge dragons made of porclian plates, or melted sugar. You could catch gold glitter from the God of Fortune himself or ring in your own fortune by hitting a bell with a coin. There were dance performancs and sumo pandas fighting each other - we didn't understand the chinese commentary, but we did enjoy the scenery. And ice kachang afterwards really hit the spot.

We celebrated Chinese New Year at a friend's BBQ - hung bao was passed out to the kids, and we did firecrackers. The next day we had our own little dinner. Put up some decorations, had shrimp stir fry, and fortune cookies.

And we made it out to Chinatown the next day. Started at the Buddhist temple, then shopping and dinner along Pagoda St.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

THAILAND - Phi Phi Islands

We took a tour of the Phi Phi Islands one day. A full day excursion with a very funny crew. Miss Lucy!

Our boat stopped at 4 different islands, including Phi Phi Lei and Phi Phi Don island. (Although the boys missed one because they fell asleep on the boat - life jackets on and all.)

It was gorgeous. Really gorgeous.

I could have floated on top of that water with my snorkeling gear forever. The coral and the fish were beautiful in most spots. Some had been destroyed no doubt by the endless tourists. The boys loved feeding bread to the fish. And never got sick of playing in the sand. And Noah loved snorkeling with his dad. We had a wonderful lunch on Phi Phi Don island - but don't forget to bring money to use the bathroom or to sit in a lounge chair on the sand, and try to avoid the ice cream vendors heading straight for your kids. And don't get off the boat at Monkey Island, just don't. Trust me.

We collected shells, ate pineapple, swam around to the caves on the side and snorkeled and snorkeled and snorkeled. Then some uninvited clouds rolled in, we peeled David away from the water and our speedy speed boat raced away from the storm.

After a day like this, the boys are pretty easy to put to bed. Especially with some classic cartoons to help. Old school Fantastic Four or Scooby Doo were the favorites. Every night.

THAILAND - elephant trekking and the beach

There was a baby elephant at the place where we started our trek. Noah and Gage were so brave holding out bananas for Jumbo, to take with his trunk. Patting him on the head and feeling his tough tough skin. He sniffed them with that trunk and I swear he smiled at them. It was adorable.

But mama and papa elephant were the ones giving out the rides. So, a little nervously (ok, a lot nervously for one of them) the boys climbed on and we were off. Down the dirt path, up a mountain and through the jungle. The elephants were amazing, the ride bumpy, and the scenery gorgeous.

I had to fight to urge to hop down, untie all the ropes, and set that elephant free. But I did whisper in her ear that she should look for an opening at the Singapore Zoo. It's quite nice.

And we spent a lot of time at Karon beach. A lot.

Wouldn't you?

THAILAND - Big Buddha

One afternoon we went to see Phuket's Big Buddha. It's huge. Colossal even. Its sits on top of the highest point of the island and can be seen from all over.

First, we walked through a temple area where buddhist teachings are displayed and monks are praying. Souvenirs are also sold and photos and explanations of the Big Buddha's construction are displayed.

Then a hike up to the very top. There are two Buddhas there. The huge marble one and then a much smaller gold one.

The grounds are still under construction. And can you believe the funding is entirely from voluntary contributions? You can write your name and a message on a slab of marble that will go into the statue, or drop a coin in the 32 buckets surrounding the shrine, or buy a gold bell to hang from a tree. Your name goes on the bondi leaf attached to it and the ringing is supposed to bring you good karma.

The grounds were nice and quiet the day we were there. I can see how this Buddha brings hope and peace.

THAILAND - and a service project

1 hour and 40 minutes from Singapore to Phuket, Thailand. 1 hour and 40 minutes to a new country, a new atmosphere, a new people. On the plane I thought about December of last year. 3 hours and 40 minutes from our Michigan home to family in Salt Lake City. Still haven't wrapped my head around this, but we all quickly learned how to say a Thai hello, "sawa dee!"

View Phuket Thailand in a larger map

The boys loved the red tuk tuk trucks. Some of these taxis had flashing lights, others music.

David and I loved the green curry, pineapple rice, and pad thai noodles. And the prawns! Can we get it to go please? I am eating mine on the beach.

On the way to and from we saw lots of colorful fruit stands, shops and restaurants. Every business and home had a Buddhist shrine in the back or respectfully off to the side, some were even peppered along the road. There were also lots of pictures of their beloved King Bhumibol Adulvadej, which reminded us that Thailand is a monarchy, and this king is the longest reigning one. Impressive, especially if you remember that Thailand is the only country in Southeast Asia that was never colonized by the Europeans.

Our first morning there we headed to Phuket Town to do some shopping. We brought our little jar of money we'd been saving. A coin here and dollar there. That little jar got us piles and piles of shoes and a stack of school books, which we brought to the kids at The Sunshine Village. Where 120 kids live who lost their families and their homes in the tsunami of 2004. (If you're looking for a project, they are always in need).

We wanted the boys to watch those pennies go into our jar at home, exchanged into baht, given for supplies, and passed onto those kids. They saw. But mostly they wanted to play on the playground and talk to the kids as they went off to school. Will they remember?

Our stroller

All I’m missing are two excited boys.

This is what you do when you don’t have a car. with a trunk.

On this afternoon we picked up Noah from school, had a picnic lunch at the park, went to the library and walked home.

To have beautiful clean streets with no traffic on a small island of 4.9 million people takes some pretty strict road regulations. The Singapore government tries to limit the number of cars on the road by making them really expensive.

To buy a car you have to bid on a COE, a Certificate of Entitlement. The government only releases a certian number of these a year so depending on the demand the cost can be outrageous. Anywhere from $900 for motorbikes to $15,000 for cars.

But ERPs are fun. Every car has an electronic device on the dash. Every time you drive under a toll, a fee is automaticallly deducted from your account. BEEP! Tolls are higher during peak hours to discourage congestion.

So, cost of car + registration fees + COE + road tax + customs duty + ERPs + insurance + gas = no thanks, I’ll just catch a taxi.

Good thing Singapore has really good public transport. For now, we’ll keep packing up the stroller.