Out and About

Downtown Singapore

Sean, Steven, and Dewi

Clarke Quay

King's Ice Cream time

Ion Center

With my cousin, Yoke

On-Campus Housing: Our Apartment Complex

View from our patio

Harbourfront view

Our very own Stead Park

Our building

Koi pond behind our building

Stu-stu-studio... oh no!

One week ago we thought we would be moving into a studio apartment on campus. That was not the plan, mind you, as I'd applied for the largest apartment available to graduate students, which is a 1 bedroom. We'd been mentally preparing to downsize to a single bedroom for the three of us, and strategizing on how we'd best manage sleeping in one room. We did it for the first four months of Dewi's life, so what's another four months, right?

Well, when we received confirmation on our housing for the semester, back in early December, the offer was for a studio apartment. And I was devastated. I've roped my wife and daughter into this little adventure, and, guess what, the only privacy we'll ever have is when we shut the bathroom door! I know that families make it work in cramped quarters. In fact, the grad student apartments here (studios and 1 bedrooms) are set aside for families of up to 4 members. I don't care how well behaved one's children are-- that's a lot going on in just a few hundred square feet. But people do it. The "limits" on room sharing for public housing is something like 3 people per bedroom. I was in a one-room, four person quad my freshman year, but we're talking about shoebox-sized bedrooms here in Singapore.

From the sounds of it, kids here spend most of their time running around outside anyway, so maybe that's part of the solution. We're eleven floors up, but with every window in the apartment constantly open, we catch almost every yelp and squeal from the playground below. Oh, and the amphitheater outside. That was an interesting choice on the part of the architects. I don't know if we'll be treated to any organized performances in the amphitheater, but the little kids have figured out physics and acoustics pretty quickly. Karina and I check on Dewi (unnecessarily) a couple of times each day when we swear that it's her crying, only to see a silent, sweaty little cherub sleeping on her tummy. With 200 apartments full of young families, there's a chorus of cries and giggles around here all day into the night.

But back to the studio. Karina and I convinced ourselves that we could manage to live with Dewi in a studio for the semester. I was told that all the 1 bedrooms (which are only 25% of the apartments) had been allocated. My pleading was not going to get us anywhere. But I made one final effort, and shortly before we left, I received word that a 1 bedroom was available and that my offer would be adjusted accordingly. Suddenly, having a bedroom and a little extra square footage sounded extravagant! Now that we're moved in, we realize that we still have to be creative with how we use the space, to make it feel like our home. And by home, I mean Dewi's personal playground.

Our First Outing: Vivocity

We had all intentions of hitting up Ikea Singapore on our first full day (shower curtain, floor mats, dishes, etc) but all 3 of us were so jet lagged that much of the day was spent napping, playing Angry Birds (thanks a lot for getting us hooked, Kevin and June!), and making runs to the PGP food courts.

This morning, we finally got ourselves out of the NUS compound and headed to  one of Singapore's great malls: Vivocity. After much online research (for those of you who know me well, you know I'm all about the economy of motion) I decided that Vivocity would be able to help us with many of the things that were on our initial to-do list: banks, phone stores, baby stores, toy stores, houseware stores, and food courts. And if one doesn't find everything that they would need and want at Vivocity, not to worry because right next door is the Harbourfront Centre, which also has banks, phone stores, baby stores, toy stores, houseware stores, and food courts. Hey, one can never have too many options when it comes to goods.

Our wonderfully productive morning taught us some lovely things about Singapore: 

1. Taxi rides are much more costly during peak hours. Though cabs are quite cheap to take,  avoiding going during peak hours can save you at least a couple Singapore dollars since cabs charge a peak fare increase for rides during rush hour. Such a smart idea! 

2. Kaya toast is an amazing invention. Last night we had a kaya waffle from our local PGP Snack Bar (just steps away from our apartment). Both are delicious. I wish I had introduced kaya into my life earlier than now.

3. I'm not sure why I packed pots and pans in our shopping boxes. For one, our kitchen burners are as big as the Pottery Barn Kids' Play Kitchen. Second, we are surrounded by amazing food everywhere that is quite cheap. My favorite is the amazing Food Republic. It is filled with delicious culinary options from all over Asia, including one stand that will juice you your very own fresh dragonfruit and mango juice. Sometime this week, in the cool aftermath of an afternoon Singaporean rain shower, Derek promised me a trip to a real hawker center. Bring on the sweat! Too bad Angelo won't be preparing my hawker food of choice. 

4. The Giant store here is not like the Giant by our DC home on 9th and P. Instead, it is huge and carries food, housewares, furniture, shoes, floor mats, you name it, they have it. Our most important purchases there were our new cheesy house slippers and bolster pillows. 

Please take a closer look at my house slippers. At first glance you'd think it was strawberry themed, but upon detailed inspection it is actually watermelon-themed. And as for the bolster pillows (a.k.a. guling for my Indos), after 7 years of knowing me, I have convinced Derek that one's nightly slumber is never complete without your very own guling. Give it a try, your life will be forever changed.

Welcome Home

We're here! After 3 phases of traveling (Wisconsin with the Vollmers, California with the Kiranas, then Singapore), we have arrived. We arrived late last night after taking two flights: the first was from Los Angeles to Tokyo, then from Tokyo to Singapore. They were long flights but surprisingly went by faster than I thought it would. Dewi did great on both flights. She was a bit squirmy and restless on the first, but slept most of the second flight. I watched bits and pieces of a couple of movies (The Town was so good, now I just need to find out what happens at the end..., You Again was super cheesy, you can definitely wait until it is released on TBS), Derek and I drank lots of free wine (thank you, United Business Class!), and Dewi flashed her smile at every passenger that walked by her on the flight.

We checked into our new apartment this afternoon at National University of Singapore's Prince George's Park Residences. We are on the 11th floor of graduate student housing that has been  set aside for grad students with families. We look out to lots and lots of green and lush trees, a confirmation that I am back home in Asia. Our apartment is small and a bit run-down but fully functional. It definitely has that on-campus housing/dorm room feel. With a few trips to stores for some TLC and Vollmer touches, our one-bedroom will be a great new home for us. It is hot and humid out here, but surprisingly nice and cool on our floor. Regardless, Derek and Dewi both rocked it shirtless today.

Food-wise I'm happy to report that that we will be just fine. Derek already ventured out in the afternoon rainstorm to our nearest food court, right in the apartment complex where we are living. He came back very pleased with his purchases: 2 chicken platters (coconut curry & honey chicken), summer rolls, and 2 sodas, all for just 8 singapore dollars. We were also surprised to find an oven in our apartment, which is not that common in Singapore apartments from what we understand.

Both Derek and Wi are passed out right now, but I'm tempted to fight this jet lag and stay awake until a decent hour tonight. Stay tuned for pictures of our new home.

White Christmas

After finishing our last days of work and experiencing 10 grueling days of packing, shipping, cleaning, painting, purging, and prepping- we have left our home in DC. It was a lot of work, but we managed to take some breaks here and there to attend happy hours at Ping Pong Dim Sum and Beacon Bar and Grill, drinks with good friends, a get together with neighbors, and much-needed hulu time at the end of the evenings. Derek and Josh Lee even managed to hack up a sleeper sofa and love seat into pieces, which warranted a lovely trip for Derek to the DC dump, an experience that both he and Tracy Davis described as a unique DC experience that all should partake in. Leaving DC, our home for the past 6ish years was bittersweet, though the excitement of our new adventures is outweighing our sadness of leaving DC.

Now we are happily and cozily lounging at Derek's sister's home in Neenah, WI. I'm happy to report that after 2 straight days of sitting around in our PJs, eating, and snacking, Derek and I finally ventured out to run some errands in preparation for Christmas festivities. Pretty sure that Singapore won't have a Wal-Mart or Pick and Save/Roundy's. Nor will there be bountiful bagged cheese curds or summer sausage, though I'm looking forward to embracing char kway teow and Hainanese chicken rice.

I'm happy to report that Dasher survived his first flight experience and is loving his time with the other Vollmer dogs, Charlie & Niles. All the space in this house and in the backyard is quite exhilirating for him, especially given that Gina's and Aaron's backyard is much bigger than the Logan Circle dog park that Dasher frequents. A few more days here, and we are off to California to see my parents. Finally, on New Year's Day, we board our flight to Singapore and our new adventure begins.

Packing up and/or selling our life

It's incredible how much stuff one young couple can acquire and store in a little townhouse, and how easily they can part with it when they learn how expensive it is to ship cargo halfway around the world. It's also incredible that I've managed to hold on to a report card from kindergarten, but can't seem to locate my 2009 tax return. I credit my mother for the report card-- pretty sure I didn't acquire that until she decided to clean out her own house a few years back!

I've moved around a fair amount in my lifetime, as has Karina, but this move is a different experience for us. We are literally examining every item in our house, and then performing complex calculations based on its Craigslist market price, its weight and volume, and level of personal attachment. In my kitchen, the Cuisinart SmartStick hand blender makes the cut and moves on-- the mandoline did not fare as well. Fortunately, we're finding good (or at least willing) homes for a lot of our items.

It remains to be seen whether or not we stay permanently downsized and also seize this opportunity to become far more organized with our stuff. Dewi is sort of the wild card, since families with kids seem to acquire new stuff at an exponential rate. We've been pretty restrained with regard to buying her toys here. Can I help it that her favorite toy is a plastic takeout container? I'm going to have to read up to see if one can build a tricycle out of household items.

Actually, I think living in a small space in Singapore will just force us to prioritize things that will get a lot of use. I can't tell you how many things I've pulled out of cupboards or boxes here that were barely touched. I have coats that I've worn maybe once a year. I have a silk robe with dragons on it. Okay, some things will be with me the rest of my life. But silk doesn't take up much space in a suitcase anway...