Happy Halloween

Here they are, the Mario Brothers.

Mario and Luigi.

They've been hatching this idea for months. Ever since the summer when they played retro Nintendo at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Hats and mustaches, those were the important parts.

And those mustaches held up pretty good. An entire night trick or treating and playing games at the school carnival. Mummy bowling, kleenex ghosts, cotton candy, fishing for eyeballs, even a haunted house.

I loved watching Gage learn about pixie sticks and fun dip. I loved overhearing big brother remind little brother how to trick or treat. I loved making paper pumpkin faces, frosting cookies, carving a real jack o lantern, and singing silly songs. And I loved Noah's little grin in the mirror while we were drawing on that mustache.

Happy Halloween!

Today

Today I:

called the plumber
swept up a thousand sprinkles off the floor
wiped caramel from the corners of cute cheeks
sorted pictures from our trip
gave sickie his antibiotics
read 'The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything'
over
and over

and loved every minute of it.

Firewalking

My feet are still yellow from last night. Just a tint.

I met a couple friends at the Sri Mariamman Temple for the Hindu Thimithi festival to watch the firewalkers. Around 1AM.

To show their faith and devotion the Hindu men walk across a bed of hot coals. They believe that if they are pure the fire will not burn them.


There was a long line outside the temple of thousands of men waiting their turn to walk.


They would pray before they entered the temple door. This man is carrying his offering of kaffir lime leaves.

In this picture the man is walking across the coals from left to right. Some men walked very slowly. Some men ran. There were men near the coal bed to help anyone who looked like they might stumble.

After walking across the hot coals they walk through a big pool of milk and then put tumeric on their feet. Bright yellow tumeric powder. The temple grounds were covered with it. So were my feet.

Can you see how the coals are red hot?


They would leave their offerings on the statues of their deity.

Everyone watching and supporting their friends. There were men, women and children sleeping and waiting everywhere. In the back there were men brewing huge pots of coffee and rice and curry to give to the devotees.

We met a woman who was there to support her brother. It was his first year. When she asked him how his feet were, he shrugged with that Indian nod that looks to me like a shake and a nod put together. She said he started waiting in line at 11pm and finally walked across the coals at 2am. For one week he’s been fasting and preparing for this. If you have enough faith you will not feel the pain she said. She also said that in Tamil - Thimithi means to touch fire, not to fire walk. It doesn’t matter if you walk or run. To touch the fire is enough.

I left a little earlier than I wanted. It was 3am and I knew I needed some sleep. I took a taxi home, scrubbed the yellow off my feet in the bathtub and then crawled into bed. But I couldn't stop thinking about that long line of men. Waiting and praying. To whom and for what I might not understand but I felt the reverence of that place. I felt inspired by the devotion of those people. And that is easy to understand.

The Pottery Jungle

Out on the west side of nowhere, down a dirt road is the Pottery Jungle. You can't tell from the pictures but this place is huge. It's filled and stacked and toppled with pottery. Gorgeous pieces, great prices. Perfect excursion for a Saturday morning when four busy boy hands are home with their Daddy.

Things are stacked inside and outside. Both are massive. It just keeps going.

And they have a traditional Dragon Kiln. Martha Stewart herself was here to light it up on her trip around South East Asia (look for the ceramic clip on the right side bar of her website).

There was no action at the kiln while we were there. Just shopping to do. Lots.

Rainboots and popsicle sticks

I've been taking a lot of mental pictures lately. These boys of mine make me stop and smile a million times a day. Some things I don't want to forget:

Noah and his spaceship. Noah is always rescuing materials from the recycling bin. He made his spaceship completely on his own while I was making dinner. Cutting and taping it into just the right shape. He used: one chips ahoy box, one egg carton, two paper towel rolls, two popsicle sticks, and tons of tape. The next day a coat of red paint went on and the third day the water bottle rocket boosters were added.

Noah sneaks into Gage's room after I've already tucked him in bed, tells him a story, gives him a hug and kiss and then sneaks back out of the room and ever so quietly shuts the door.

Little Gage was sick and very sleepy. He was headed to his room then stopped and said, "I'm going to my bed. No, I want to sleep on the carpet" and fell asleep on the carpet in the living room.

Noah gave his last piece of pizza to his hungry brother. Gage's eyes turned squinty and he smiled his super big smile "Thank you so much Noah!" "I love you a lot!"

Gage and his boots. Green rainboots. They are inseparable. To the bus stop with his pjs in the morning. To the playground. To the grocery store. Everywhere.

"Doei Doei"

We are learning that part of this expat life is always saying good bye to someone.

Our good friends moved back to Holland last night. Noah really wanted to make Luca a friendship bracelet before he left. In his favorite color - green. Little Indy got one too. Blue and white to match Gage's with some pink just for her.


Things we will remember: Noah and Luca talking into the walkie talkies - one in English the other responds in Dutch, Hagelslag lunches, pizza by the pool, walking to East Coast Park for coffee and my bottle of water :), girls night out to the movies, girls night out for Indian food and a buddha museum, futsal every Monday night for the men, kids playing pirates, playing at the playground, swimming, fitting all 4 kids into at taxi, walking to preschool and back, brownies, birthday parties, dinner at Clark Quay, Claudia's designer plastic plates and her dreams of a Manny, lunches with the ladies, laughing about being a foreigner in Asia, and that one time Claudia threatened to beat up the old man that pushed me out of the way and called me a 'stupid foreigner'. And I believe she would have.


Now who am i going to get to water my plants, teach me dutch, or tease me? really? echt?

We will miss our friends.

Cultural Celebrations

Last week Noah's school had their 'Cultural Celebrations' week, starting with a big parade where the children wore their country's authentic costume and crossed the stage with their flag. Some countries had big groups of kids (Japan, U.S.A, Australia, Germany, U.K., Korea, Singapore) and some countries had only one or two kids (Peru, Ireland, Hungary, Romania, Cambodia). All together there were children from 44 different countries. And each one cheered for and celebrated. Definitely one of my favorite things about Singapore.

I swear the room filled up with rainbows and I really truly expected Michael Jackson to come out and sing with the kids.


Noah in his authentic American costume.


In Noah's little class there are 3 from England, 2 from India, Australia, and Vietnam, 1 from Germany, Korea, Israel, South Africa, Japan, Pakistan, Canada and the U.S.

The next couple of days they had a big Food Fair (I made apple pie) and more cultural performances. One day he came home with Indian henna on his hands and showed me a Fillipino dance, the next he had left over salami cake and was singing a French song.


After the parade the first day, Gage wanted to walk back to Noah's classroom for snacktime. Noah says to me, "Don't worry mom I can handle him."