Normalizing

Orchard Road and too much image editing. But oh, how much fun!

Finally, we're all aligning, getting into the groove, feeling more at ease. I wouldn't say we're settling, because we're going to be on the move for a lot longer, but hey, we've already been grocery shopping three times in Singapore! That must mean something.

Emi eats her bowl of cereal every morning, and every
other night. Served with a million Singapore $ smile!

2014 is the year of the horse. Not counting January. From January 31 (or 30, according to some sources) until February 2 (or even a week later), the Chinese Lunar New Year is celebrated. Sometimes when we've bought tickets, meals, or something else, we've also received a "free gift", which is normally a set of envelopes. I believe they are meant for money, i.e. gifts for family and friends during the new year celebration.

Horses everywhere

Guess what.

Yesterday, I went for a walk in the vicinity North of East Coast Road, in order to buy a kite at at Passion Kites (they ship worldwide). Ever since  I set foot in Singapore, I've been curious as to how clean the city would be. I guess I was slightly disappointed, because I've been extremely biased. Don't get me wrong, it's very tidy and basically spotless here, even in public restrooms, buses, side roads, and generally all over the place, but if you look for trash, you'll find it.

Little fat man

The most trashy place I've found so far.

Homeless people.

I'm sort of relieved to see Singapore pass this reality check. It's not squeaky clean. Not everyone is well off. On the other hand, most people seem to be extremely environmentally conscious, and at no point have I felt threatened, in danger in any way, or harassed by anyone. People in general are almost overwhelmingly helpful and show the utmost respect to their fellow men (and women and children), and people have come to our rescue even before we knew we needed their assistance a number of times and always give up their seats on public transport for parents with children. That is amazing!

Anyway, I did find the kite store. It was very small, but they did have a cool collection of kites! They were particularly proud of their American goods, such as the cow underneath:

Watch out for flying cows

Beaing a cheap, grumpy old tourist with a strict self-imposed baggage allowance, I went for a small 20 SGD "dragon" as we Norwegians call it.

Emi, her kite, and the writer of today's blog post

East Coast Park

We took the MRT (subway) to the southern tip of the city and the monorail over to the resort island Sentosa, where we visited a wet playground for short pirates. Emi had too much fun, and I got to swim in the muddy waters of the Singapore Strait. In return for her patience, Astrid gets to go to Chinatown on any given day - which might be tomorrow.

Having a thrill at the Port of Lost Wonders at Sentosa island

Uh, this is a bit unsettling. A bomb at the subway? Forget about "don't ask don't tell!"

Back to the everyday life. Every once in a while, instead of throwing our dirty underwear in the trash and buying new at the mall next door, we too do our white washing. The hotel charges a ridiculous amount for doing it for us (which is OK, since they also provide a self-service laundry room), so I've got the responsibility for changing money (each machine takes 7 x $1 coins), washing, and drying. Which means everything goes on the same program (colored). That's as easy as it can get!