Officially Homeless

It is with pleasure that we announce we are officially homeless!  Yesterday the buyers and our relocation company closed on our house.  It only took twelve days on the market before we got an offer which was also just a week before we moved out.  Everything happened so fast but we are very thankful it is over.

When we moved out in August we knew we would never live in that house again so we said our goodbyes and haven't looked back.  It is nice to know that we no longer have to worry about maintenance, utilities, insurance, and everything else that goes with owning that house from half a world away.

It was bittersweet walking away from the house on Misty Leaf Lane as it was our very first home.  We thought we would be in Houston for at least five years so we intended to grow into it.  We enjoyed living in Summerwood for two years and made a lot of great friends and great memories. We are happy to be on this great adventure in Singapore but will never forget how much we loved that house.

Purchased!  It was just an empty lot at the time.

Closing Day.  Ready to move in.

We chose this home because we loved how open it was.

Loved how big the master was and how it was downstairs.

Master bath.  Not pictured - amazing walk-in closet

The only almost finished room in the house.  We decorated
but needed to update the furniture.

This room is why Derek and I will NEVER paint a room red
or a room with rounded corners ever again.  It took over
seven coats of paint and it still wasn't even so we gave up.
We also had to hand paint the lines at the rounded corners.
Terrible experience.

Maddie's favorite part of the house.  She misses her yard.

So long Misty Leaf!

The Food Court Phenomenon

I've never been much of a food court eater.  Eating at a mall food court for me is usually a result of desperation or a craving for Chick-Fil-A.  While we don't frequent the food court in the US, in Singapore we eat at the food court almost every day.  It takes some getting used to and I'm still learning my way around the different stalls but it is definitely becoming my go-to for a quick, cheap meal.  The mall is the closet place with eating establishments to my office so everyone wants to go there all the time.

Doesn't this sound appetizing?

Every mall has a few American fast food establishments (McDonald's, Subway, KFC, Burger King, Carl's Jr., and Pizza Hut), a few local chain sit-down restaurants, and then a food court or two.  These food courts are filled with dozens of stalls serving every Asian cuisine you can think of - Indian, Chinese, Indonesian, Thai, Vietnamese, Korean and more.  There is even a stall that sells Western food and is conveniently called just that, Western Foods.  A western meal sounds exciting until you realize its just fish and chips.  The most interesting stall I have seen has to be Pig Organ Soup.  The names really aren't creative, they sell what they say.

I always intend to try different things when I go but since I have no idea what many of the choices are I usually end up with one of three dishes - Thai Chicken Curry and rice (with breast meat!), #4 Fish Meal from the Indonesian stall (unknown fish type that is grilled and dipped in this teriyaki like sauce served with rice and egg), or Yong Tau Foo (you get to choose 7 items like fish balls, mushrooms, eggplant, eggs and other stuff to be flash boiled in chicken broth and served with rice or noodles).  All of these meals cost S$5.40 ($4.30 USD) or less which really isn't too bad.  Derek gets his lunch at a Food Center and spends less than S$4.00.  The only difference between my lunch and Derek's is that I got to sit in an air conditioned mall and he had to sit outside.

A few things to know when eating in a food court or food center.

• Napkins are not provided. You must carry your own pocket tissue or napkins if you need one.  I keep a small pack of Kleenex in my purse at all times.
• Drinks sold separately.  Separately as in a different stall.  There is only one stall that sells drinks in the whole food court and most people will not drink anything with their meal.  They wait until after to go get a coffee, tea, or juice.
• Don't take your trash.  Almost every eating establishment including McDonald's has people to clear your dishes or trash.  I still feel awkward leaving my trash on the table.

Air conditioned mall seating

Just one line of stalls.  This was taken late in
the lunch hour so not very many people
in the Q (yes, they call lines Qs and not
queues).

Harry Potter Exhibition

http://www.harrypotterexhibition.com/

Derek and I have always been fans of Harry Potter.  We've read all the books and seen all the movies multiple times.  When I was here on my business trip I saw that the Harry Potter Exhibition was in town so I made sure to get us tickets while it was still here.  We went this past weekend and really enjoyed looking at all the costumes, props, and sets from the movies.  I wish I could have taken pictures but photography was strictly prohibited inside the museum so the best I can do is a picture of the museum and a list of the awesome stuff we saw.

Singapore Art Science Museum

Costumes for:

• Quidditch
• Yule Ball
• All the professors 
• All the main character school robes
• Ron's "R" sweater
• Everyday clothes for many characters including the outfits from Prisoner of Azkaban when they do the time travel and Hermione punches Draco, complete with mudstains

Props:

• Wands for all main characters and professors
• Death Eater masks
• Nimbus 2000 and Nimbus 2001
• Quidditch set
• Sword of Godric Gryffindor
• Marauder's Map
• Triwizard Cup
• Tea cup with the grimm
• Various issues of the Quibbler and other publications
• Wanted posters for those who escaped Azkaban
• All Horcruxes
• Sorcerer's Stone
• Talking picture frames including The Fat Lady
• The Golden Egg
• Delores Umbridge's many rules she implemented while Headmistress
• Katie Bell's cursed necklace
• Most of the textbooks including the furry Magical Creatures one

Life Size Models used in making the CGIs for:

• Kreacher
• Dobby
• Head of the Hungarian Horntail
• Buckbeak
• Fawkes
• Cornish Pixie
• Dementors
• Baby Thestral
• Centaurs
• Nigini
• Aragog

Things we got to do:

• Pull mandrakes out of their pots
• Throw quaffles
• Sit in Hagrid's chair

There was more to see but these were just the highlights.  If you made it through these lists and didn't have to look anything up, congratulations!  You are as much of a Harry Potter nerd as I am!  I think its time to watch the movies again.

Maddie's Journey

Yesterday was an exciting day for us as Maddie finally came home!  It may have only been 13 days since we dropped her off at the airport in Houston but it felt like an eternity.  A lot has happened in those two weeks and it just didn't feel like home without her.  I previously wrote about Maddie's moving plan but I will tell you how it really went.

On September 1st, we dropped Maddie off at the Lufthansa cargo center in Houston.  It was a difficult experience as she was clearly nervous and could sense all of the change going on.  Everyone at Lufthansa was great and made us feel comfortable so we knew she would be in good hands but just didn't know how she would respond to traveling for 36 hours.  I left the cargo center with tears rolling down my face because after seeing the fear and uncertainty in her eyes, I felt scared for her and guilty for putting her through this (the whole move also became very real at that point).

Maddie left Houston that afternoon on a flight to Frankfurt.  Upon arrival in Frankfurt she was let out of her crate and allowed to use the restroom, eat, and drink before being checked out by a vet and returned to her crate for the next leg of the flight.  She then took off from Frankfurt headed straight to Singapore.  When she arrived she was transferred to the cargo terminal where we went to pick her up and take her to the Changi Animal Quarantine Station (CAQS) to be checked in.  When she saw me her tail started wagging so hard she was shaking the whole crate and I knew she was okay.  At CAQS we were able to go into her quarantine cell and spend some quality time with her.  It was such a relief to have her happy and healthy in Singapore.

Maddie and Derek at CAQS  

The following day, Maddie was transferred to Sembawang Animal Quarantine Station (SAQS) where she would spend the next nine days before her quarantine was complete.  The staff at SAQS was excellent and greeted me every afternoon I stopped by to see her.  They have visitation times every day except for Sunday and I went as much as I could.  During our visits to see her we would take her out to one of the pens and let her off the leash so she could get some exercise.  They only allow 15 minutes in the pens but Maddie rarely lasted that long as she was always ready to get out of the heat.  We spent the rest of the time in her little room (5' x 8' concrete room with a door) coaxing her to eat her food and giving her lots of love.

Enjoying being outside for a bit

Maddie cooling off after her outside time

Yesterday she was released from SAQS and has been loving being home with us.  I know she misses her big Texas backyard but is getting accustomed to apartment life once again.  Overall everything went smoothly thanks to Air Animal coordinating her move and completing the paperwork for us.  I honestly don't think I could have gotten Maddie here without their help.

Welcome home, Maddie! We missed you!

Happy to be home!

Catching up on sleep.  She slept all day when she got home.

Introduction Tour

On our second day in Singapore our company arranged a six hour private tour of the city.  Our guide tailored the tour to our specific needs and took us to some really great places.  We were pleasantly surprised with how good the tour really was.  Here are some of the pictures we took on the tour:

Marina Bay Sands 

The Merlion with the city in the back ground.  We will
have to go by when Merlion is working.  They are giving
him a makeover for his 40th birthday

Lanterns lining the streets in Chinatown for the Lantern Festival

Moon Cakes in Chinatown.  The cakes are popular around
the Moon Cake / Lantern festival time.  We tried one and
wasn't really crazy about it.  

Live frogs for sale in the Chinatown wet market 

A few fruit stands in the Chinatown
wet market

Buddha's Tooth Temple -
They apparently have a tooth that was
once Buddha's. 

One of the altars in Buddha's Tooth Temple 

Altar in another room of Buddha's Tooth Temple

More lanterns!

Cars are Expensive!

Something I am learning in Singapore is just how expensive it is to own a car.  If you want to buy a car you must first get a certificate from the government.  There are only so many certificates available each year and they go to the highest bidders.  Right now the cost to get just the certificate is about $80,000 SGD ($64k USD).  This certificate then allows you to go to a dealership and buy your car.  The cost of a car is double what it is in the US so just a standard compact would cost over $50,000 SGD ($40k USD).  If you do the math that comes to $104k USD....for a car that is a VW Golf, Toyota Corolla, or Honda Civic!  What I didn't mention is that this car you just paid $104k USD for, you can only keep for 10 years before you have to buy another certificate and another car.

When I imagined myself driving a $100k+ car, it was NOT a Toyota Corolla!  I really can't complain as I'm very lucky to have that Corolla.  Most people here are never able to have a car at all and they consider it a huge luxury. *Please note that I don't own this car nor would I ever spend that much money on a car.  It is leased by my company and I just get to drive it while I'm here.  Like I said, I'm very fortunate.

It's hard to believe with the high price of cars that you often see Lamborghinis, Maseratis, BMWs, and Mercedes.  The fact is, there is a LOT of money in Singapore.  During a recent tour we drove by a house that had four Ferrari's in the drive way.  They had a fifth car which was a Maserati.  Each of these cars cost almost a million dollars a piece!  Why would you ever need that many Ferraris!?!

Single Car Family

Before we left Singapore we sadly sold both of our cars (okay lets be honest, we were happy to sell the Audi).  It was very strange to walk away from CarMax and realize that for the first time since we turned 16 we haven't had a car of own.  The Audi and the Highlander were our first real cars as they were the first cars we picked out and paid our own money for (technically Derek only paid for part of his; it was part graduation present).  No matter what, they will always be special to us.

Derek and I taking his car out when he first got it

Derek saying goodbye to the A4 at CarMax.  May it live long
and torture others.

Me with my beloved Highlander.  113k miles in just less than
 5 years and it was still running strong. Highlander felt most
at home on I-10 between Houston and Baton Rouge.

We were having issues with the Audi and had considered trading it in back in December.  We did a lot of car shopping but just couldn't find the right deal so we held on to it.  We are very thankful that we didn't spend money on a new car right before this move!

Now that we have moved to Singapore we have one car which is leased due to cost (more to come in a future post).  With the expansive public transportation system and Derek working at a location in-town, it makes it easy to be a single car family.  I have to admit it is nice to know that the only time I need to drive a car is when I go to work or need to take Maddie somewhere as dogs are not allowed on public transportation.  It is so liberating to not be dependent on our cars to do everything we need!

My 2012 Toyota Corolla Altis.  What makes it special
is the steering wheel is on the wrong (right) side of the
vehicle and I have to drive on the wrong (left) side of the road

The Journey to Singapore

It's hard to believe that it has only been a week since we back in the US packing up our house.  Derek and I both admit this has been one of the longest weeks of our lives.  We have sold our cars, packed up our house, flown half way across the world, and started new jobs in less than a week.  All I can say is we are ready for the weekend!

All of our bags.  It was not easy making it to the counter
with all this luggage.

So one thing I haven't talked about yet is our actual journey to Singapore.  No matter what they tell you, there is no direct flight from Houston.  Every plane stops somewhere if only for an hour or two.  I took the Houston-Moscow-Singapore flight last time and wasn't crazy about the Moscow stop because we had to go out and back through security so we decided to try Houston-Los Angeles-Singapore.  We had to change terminals in LA so we still had to go out and back through security but at least it was in our home country and everything was in English.

During our 3-hour layover in LA we went to the club lounge and enjoyed watching the second half of the Clemson/Auburn game.  We were excited to find another Clemson Alum in the lounge and cheered our Tigers on to victory.  I even made myself a mimosa since that is my favorite tailgating drink.  I blame it on too many noon games while I was a student.

The flight from LA to Singapore is one of the longest in the world clocking in at 17.5 hours.  We must have had some great tailwind because we made it in 16.5 hours.  Thank goodness for business class seats, although that is a long flight no matter where you are sitting!  We slept for half of the flight and then ate and watched movies for the rest of it.  We flew Singapore Airlines which is quickly becoming my favorite airline.  Their service is amazing and their food isn't too bad.  It's a nice change from the angry US airlines.

I took this picture of the flight path screen.  About the
only thing we crossed over was water.

We landed in Singapore at 4:40am on Monday morning (we left LA at 9:30pm Saturday night) and after passing through customs we were greeted by our driver who took us to our temporary apartment.  We unpacked our bags and took showers before heading out for a day of exploring.  The key to getting over jet lag is to make sure you stay up the whole day so the best way to do that is to keep busy.  We did some shopping, bought new cell phones, and transferred Maddie to quarantine which helped distract us from how tired we were.  We managed to stay up until 9pm when we completely crashed from physical and mental exhaustion.  We have been busy since we landed which I will share in future posts.