Singapore :: by mama

When we first moved to Bangladesh, I remember commenting to Chris that I didn't understand why people kept going on vacation to Singapore.  What was the point of going to a first world country, I wondered, when we all came from first world countries and went back home every summer?  Why not go somewhere different?  Well, in the 2.5 years since then, we have had quite a lot of different in our lives.  When spring break came around this year, I was more than ready for a trip to Singapore.

Singapore did not disappoint.  It is clean, orderly, modern.  I thought it would be cold and sterile, what with all the malls and the no-chewing-gum craziness.  Instead, it was diverse and colorful and a wholly entertaining place.  We were there for five days, staying with my cousin and her husband, who were fantastic hosts (despite having their apartment turned upside down by two small person-shaped tornadoes).  We managed to fit in quite a bit in those five days.  Some of the highlights:

:: Singapore Flyer, which is sort of a giant ferris wheel in the middle of the city, but instead of seats, there are capsules big enough to hold about 20 people (as seen in the bottom left corner of the photo).  Also, it doesn't so much "fly" as inch along, taking about 40 minutes to complete one circle.  However, at the top are spectacular views of the city. 

:: Singapore Zoo and Night Safari, where we spent approximately eight hours.  Chris and I both find ourselves a bit uneasy at times when it comes to zoos.  However, we kept hearing that the Singapore Zoo is among the best in the world, so we decided to pay it a visit.  They certainly had enough to fill the day and evening, with tons of animals, a large children's play area, shows and feeding times, and restaurants.  It was fun to actually see tropical animals in a tropical setting, and so nice to walk around and be surrounded by nature. The Night Safari opens at 7pm, after the sun has gone down, at which point you can take a tram to see all the animals doing their nighttime thing.      

:: Singapore Botanic Gardens, which was probably my favorite place that we saw.  I would love to go back there someday to spend more time exploring the beautiful, peaceful gardens and the enormous diversity of species they have there.  It's a huge area, and although we spent a couple hours walking around, we only saw a fraction of it.  Still, Kaya had a great time feeding the fish and turtles and having open space to run around. 

We also went to the Jurong Bird Park, Chinatown, Little India, the famous Orchard Road shopping district, and Clarke Quay, saw a movie (Rio) in a real movie theater, and took a river cruise during which Kaya had his first experience of peeing in a plastic bottle because there were no bathrooms on board.  Whew!  All that, and we are already looking forward to our next trip back.  What, again, was my question about the people who keep going back to Singapore?

Housekeeping and a half :: by mama

[First, the housekeeping: I am aware that it's been about seven (eight?) months since the last post on this blog.  What can I say?  I started working more this year, and the blog has suffered.  I wanted to keep up with it, but I could never seem to find the time, and as the months passed, a sort of inertia set in.  I started thinking, "Well, it would just be weird to start posting again now, out of the blue, after so long."  And it does feel weird.  But it also feels important.  When I was posting regularly, I sort of thought of this blog as a family journal, a record of our family's activities and adventures, the big and little things that made up our life overseas.  As I wrote, I thought about how it would be fun to look back on the blog years from now, the way one would look back at a photo album... or a very wordy scrapbook.  I want to have that scrapbook (which is getting wordier by the minute, I realize) someday.  And so I am re-committing myself to the blog.  I hope to post more regularly from now on and to fill in some of the blanks from the past months.  Starting now.]

So today was Kaya's half birthday.  For those who have not experienced a Team Hesse half birthday celebration, we don't go all out... we go half out.  Chris once had a surprise half birthday party for me at which I had half a cake and where all the guests were half-dressed (i.e., in their underwear).  It was pretty awesome.  Kaya's half birthday today was a little more tame than that.  I informed him that since a full birthday entails cake and ice cream, he could have half of those things today.  In other words, he had to choose: cake or ice cream.  Unsurprisingly, he chose chocolate ice cream at the Westin.  We had a fun little family outing, and afterwards, when we had family journal time in the evening, he drew a picture:

Since I expect Kaya to be reading this someday as we reminisce about the good old days in Dhaka, allow me to say this.  Kaya, your father and I love you to pieces, to smithereens, around the universe and back again.  You are bright and witty and sweet and affectionate and mercurial and, at age five-and-a-half, still so little boy cute.  I love the sparkle in your eye and your unabashed grin when you are happy.  I love your wacky dance moves when your dad plays your favorite songs on the iPod (currently Millions of Peaches and Sheela ki Jawani, no joke, '90s pop and Bollywood, it doesn't get any better).  I love your little belly.  I love that you are big enough to make your own peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and to turn on the tv by yourself on Saturday mornings and to have an extended conversation about just about anything, whether it is any of your business or not.  I love that you talk our ears off, even when my ears are tired of listening, because I know it will not last.  I love that you love your mama, and I hope that will last.  Mama loves you, Kaya, my half birthday boy, forever.