birthday present

i asked for one thing for my birthday this year. it was that steve would write on the blog twice a month being his witty and charming self. so with that, please welcome steeeeeeeeve littlefield.....

CONFESSION OF A LONELY MAN

Malia has always been the girl for me. The first time I saw her beauty I was paralyzed. In my awe-struck stuporous state, the initial sight of her and these four words were seared in my memory like a brutal branding into a steer's hindquarters: "wow, she's unbelievably hot!" While I find myself too often taking Malia's exceptional beauty for granted, I can honestly say I haven't thought that about anyone else since... until I came to Singapore that is.

I spent my first 3 weeks in Singapore without Malia or the boys, alone, in a hotel near the always-hoppin' retail-mecca that is "Orchard Boulevard." While it's not a worthy justification, I have never been away from her for more than a week and missed her terribly. Maybe it was the loneliness that let my guard slip--I don't know for sure... but while there I saw this husky, well-equipped, dark-skinned beauty and those same four words, previously reserved only for Malia, rushed uncontrollably into my mind like a surging flood, "wow, she's unbelievably hot!"

cheeri-OH!

S$10.70 for a box of cheerios

that's hot

i'm a sweater. i always have been. but never in my life have i sweat so much, not even during hell week at high school volleyball. i have sweat bead jewelry on my back. hot. embarrassingly, i haven't run 5k at one time since i left utah in july. i need to find a time and a route with sidewalks. that or i need to take up swimming. it's less sweaty.

the lorries

lots of british english words are used here:
lift = elevator
queue = line
lorry = truck
a funny story: one day i was driving and all of the sudden i see a whole bunch of indian guys on the side of the road start to get up and move to the curb. i'm freaking out (remember i'm new to this whole driving on the other side of the street and random laws here). anyway, i think that this whole sea of men are going to spill into the street, and possibly jump me. then i look in my rear view to change lanes and i see it. an empty lorry.
oh.
i guess they were hailing a ride the same way you hail a taxi around here.

chinatown wet market

suspect smells, but awesome place.
one of the few things that are open "early" are the food stalls at the wet markets. we arrived around 8am and while the basement (where all the food vendors are) was bustling, the second floor was just starting to open. we bought a couple silk robes for me and a pair of jammies for ty. and yes, we bargained. S$78 for S$56 :)

they sell all kinds of things here. dried fish.

fish aisle with an escapee.

meat section. i was too afraid to snap a picture of the guys smacking the frogs on the table to kill them. or the butchers hacking away at some...thing... they're pretty aggressive.

fruits. we stocked up. steve makes the best juice.

cute aunties selling vegetables.

we even bought our eggs. i don't know why, but eggs aren't refrigerated here.

gorgeous flowers. we've got to find a wet market closer to our place.

sunday dinner

enjoying spaghetti (with ikea meatballs), fresh juice, and a singapore sunset from our balcony. rhett's "cheese" face is awesome.

missing utah.

i'm allowed, right?

cut the mullet

MOM and muffins

we could smell the yumminess from around the corner. i didn't find a sewing machine, but we did find some amazing muffins, even though they were a bit more like cake. they were fresh out of the oven. steve said they were the most amazing muffins he's ever had. i have to agree! i'm beginning to realize why singaporeans don't cook or bake at home. there are so many treasures to be found!
so if you're ever hanging around the MOM which by the way has a fantastic view of the singapore flyer and marina bay sands building, be sure to stop by.

quail eggs

when i go to the grocery store, i pick up something i haven't tried before.
i'm working my way up to durian. :)
i tried these cute and tiny quail eggs. as you can see, they're miniature versions of eggs that i'm used to. they taste the same, only harder to open.
i think they're beautiful too. i wonder how they'd hollow out for easter.

not the same

i'm dying for my stuff.
the shipment is scheduled for delivery on thursday am.
hallelujah.

i'm looking forward to using a towel and not having to worry about it drying out the next time i want to use it because...i can just get a new one!

cs5 and photoshop in general so i can change this horrible blog banner, crop and spice up some photos. plus i haven't even opened the cs5 box. can't wait to see all the upgrades from cs2.

my kitchen stuff. i'll be able to make chocolate chip cookies in my tiny oven on a baking sheet instead of mini cupcake molds. if we were playing a game called improvisation in the kitchen, i bet i'd win. i've had lots of practice this month.

walks

we live in an awesome place. i get to take rhett on walks here, steps outside our community.
the military trains in the jungle. it's very clear where you can and can't go though.

ice cream

what a deal! a pint for only S$11.45

blonde boy

people love rhett here. he's a magnet. i think it's because of his blonde hair. everywhere i go, they love to wave and say hi.
they want to touch him and his face.
and they want to pick him up and hold him.

ikea

the purchase at ikea looked like this:
that yellow guy waaaay back there is where our stuff ended. i've felt like a freak show many times while living here. this is one of those times. i think we ended up with five trolleys and two shopping carts on this trip. i felt sorry for the delivery guys who had to deliver all of the stuff. and even more sorry when the communication barrier was so evident. "no, no the white desk goes on the top floor. the kids beds on the 3rd."

we're slowly moving in. right now, we look like the ikea showroom.

we'll get there cricket. :)

spitting

hungry ghost festival

to my understanding, people will burn incense and money and leave food out to appease the ghosts during this time. you see offerings like this all over the place - in parking garages, stores, all along the street. they have these huge festivals too.
for more info
all of the different cultures here are fascinating. i can't wait until we are all settled to get fully immersed into all of this culture!

youth olympic games

singapore hosted the youth olympic games.

we didn't get to see any of the events. the closest thing we got to it was having to yield to the yog busses on the road. it was hard to miss though. advertisement was everywhere and it was highly publicized on tv. i can't figure out which sport the purple guy below is. fencing on ice, with a pistol?

driving

i need to get me one of these stickers.
in the heart of the city. orchard road. gps: the best purchase by far. ps. don't ever think you are smarter than it. you aren't.