American Adventure - In Pictures

At the airport - off to the US. For Sophia and me - a homecoming full of visits with family and friends. For Myrna, her first time out of Asia. We were in for a fun, yet tiring trip. Myrna was in for a trip of firsts.

Already exhausted and we were only on a layover in Japan.

At the Air and Space Museum in DC. Explaining rocket science to Myrna (and she believed what I said). Cool waters.
Myrna and her new friend Eliza Marcus.
Estee - last time we saw her she was an infant, now she is a real person!
the Marcus kids at play.
Nothing like a sunny day at Mount Vernon. Pondering whether I can toss a silver dollar across the Potomac without throwing out my arm.

Myrna's first apple tree. If it wasn't so cold for her (she was frozen at 55 degrees) she would have waited until the blossoms became pickable apples.
The Colegroves, Marge and Homer.
Famous coxswain of the 2001 Miami University 7 man Crew team
Luz and Fernando in "fockus"
Glamour girl by the river.

Sophia and Samantha. First visit in two years. They grow up so fast....
With Sam and not so little Antonio.
Myna's second wish - to fish in the US.
And she got one. Biggest fish ever hauled out of that little pond.
Tom Wherry, fishing master, pulls the big prize off the hook.

"What to Do?"

Hot girls of Venice Beach, CA
Third wish, to be like a typical American. We told her all Americans wear glasses like this....
This dude was putting on a show.

Barefoot on a pile of broken glass.
Then he jumped off of a chair.
Tough way to earn a living but I'm sure he clears about $50 a show.
San Diego - the panda and the bamboo.
I see my nephew Elijah wherever I go. Looks like be put on a few lbs.

Spot the monkey
This mouse escaped from the zoo and made it big.
Fourth wish, as far as you know, to go to Disneyland.
Here are Happy and Dopey but where is my brother Grumpy?
Yes, that's the real Pooh.

And Tigger too!
Good to see this float of Beauty and the Beast as I always fall asleep during the movie.

The love rodents.
If you believe in Tinkerbell, she will be there.

Moving Day!

New Street, new Hood

Lucky ours is tan or I wouldn't know which gate to enter.

The new digs.

Ready to help the movers (by telling them what to do).

Sophia's intricate system.

"Is it over yet?"

Myrna, in her new kitchen.

Strength in numbers - The KC Dat Asian Tigers in the house!

How many tigers does it take to move a table?

Luxurious rooftop deck off the master bathroom.

...and an outdoor soaking tub.

Still have a open air well.

She says she has a plan.

The boxes and paper pile up.

View from the third floor.

The lions in place to stand guard.

The craziness hasn't stopped. Extremely busy at work, moving house, leaving for a long trip and a few other odds and ends have kept me from the blog for a while. I'm back and thought I'd share a few moving pictures, or rather, pictures of moving.

Only a few short weeks ago we though we might be staying at our happy home on Emerald Hill road. Great place, location and great neighbors. Hard to believe we had been there for 2 years. Sadly the rent skyrockets way beyond my housing allowance and our landlord refused to do a few things to make the place more livable at the higher price like adding a second bathroom or upgrading the power so we could run all the air conditioners at the same time. That plus the fact that here in Singapore every time a building gets to be about 10 years old they tear it down and build a new one. In our old neighborhood we have been subjected to jack hammering 7 days a week from 7 to after 11PM. Two or three other big buildings within earshot were scheduled to come down soon. It was time to change the venue.

We found another old shophouse in a totally different area of the island. We are now on the East Coast in an area called Joo Chiat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joo_Chiat

http://www.the-inncrowd.com/joochiat.htm

It is a real neighborhood filled with some of the best, cheap, local food in Singapore as well as many very interesting shops and businesses. Our place is on chapel Road which runs between East Coast road and Marine Parade. A block or so out the door and to the left and we are in the Joo Chiat zone, a right, across a bridge, a walk through an HDB block http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_and_Development_Board, through a tunnel and you arrive at East Coast Park. http://www.nakedsingapore.com/singapore-east-coast-park.php. About a 10 minute walk away and yes there is a beach!

The house has more rooms then our other one and importantly, more bathrooms. It does seem a bit smaller as out 4 full truck loads of stuff doesn't all fit. We have an open airwell like before and this time we have a little water feature. The lovely tinkling can be heard throughout the house. For any potential visitors with weak bladders - - beware. We also have 7 air conditioners instead of the 4 we had in the old place. the kitchen is big and opens to the back porch. There is a nice balcony on the second floor and a rooftop deck with an outdoor soaking tub on the third floor. Lots of glass and lots of light.

The place is still full of boxes and I guess I need to head home now to help unpack....

Busy Busy

Sorry for the lack of updates of late. I've got a pretty full plate these days. Good news is things are starting to fall into place. We found a new place to live (lease is almost up and rent has soared), I've been planning a conference and it is finally going to happen next week, planning a US trip and dealing with several crisis's and emergencies at work.

I will be back soon!