Singapore ZOO friends!

We are settling into our new home, but took a break and went to the Singapore Zoo yesterday! It is a huge zoo that is like walking through a rainforest, a far cry from the traditional concrete confines of most zoos. The most amazing thing is the free roaming monkeys that are swinging above you on the trees and just "hanging" around! The kids got to sit next to a group of Orang-utan and get their photo taken. What an amazing experience! There was a baby orangutan sitting behind Grant that was trying to play with his hair. Very funny! Ok..back to unpacking/shopping/decorating.....

Oaky and his jail time

Oh, little Oaky is VERY mad at us. We visited him on Saturday and then on Monday. The first visit he gave us the cold furry shoulder.

He was very aloof for a while, sort of ignored us. He is punishing us. Poor kitty Oaky. I was just happy to see his little face and hug him. I had been having nightmares that the Pet Relocation Company messed up and when we visited him for the first time he was a White Persian cat, and they tried to convince me that it was him. :)

The Quarantine Facility is a clean air conditioned building that has 30+ large rooms for each cat. There are levels in each room, so the cat can explore and get exercise. There is glass between each room, so the cats can look at each other. Oaky has next door "neighbors" that are 2 creepy looking cats that stare at him constantly. He does not seem to like them. He will be released in 2 weeks, not soon enough.

Opposite driving....left left left

We got our car today, Friday July 13th, let the fun begin.

In Singapore they drive on the opposite side of the road. They also let you drive without taking any courses or tests . You can get a car and drive on a US licence, without any guidance or a book to tell you what signs mean or laws that we need to know about. Lucky for us, most of the signs are clearly written in English, but some of the signs are just symbols...what do they mean?? They also have cameras everywhere, and that is how you are issued tickets via the mail. One day you can check the mail and receive a ticket for not yielding, stopping, or speeding. YIKES! Certainly makes Brian, the wanna-be race car driver, very nervous! He is the only one who has driven so far, I have not attempted it. He will quietly chant "LEFT LEFT LEFT" when he is turning at an intersection. He has also turned on the wipers instead of the blinker many times(as these are also on the opposite side of the steering wheel) . I am happy to use one of the many taxis that are around. No rush in driving for me!

Welcome to Singapore!

We checked into our temporary furnished apartment as soon as we arrived, and the kids were buzzing to go and explore. We met with our realtor and got the keys to our new house, and took Maddie and Grant to go see it. They ran and picked out their rooms, Maddie picked the one with 2 windows (and the best view) before Grant could realize what had happened.

By 12:00 in the afternoon, we all were feeling the time difference (it is 12am at home in the US)....so we decided to take a SHORT nap before headed out to visit Oaky in Quarantine. The visiting hours are only 4-6pm each day, so we were sure that we would wake up in time to go see him. Brian and I woke up at 5pm, and could NOT wake up the kids. We opened the drapes, rubbed their little heads, etc....they were so tired, nothing could wake them. They finally woke up at 6:30 and we missed our day to visit Oaky, but we felt so much better afterwards. Maddie just kept saying "I feel weird"...gotta love the jet lag.

On our way!

On July 10th we were on our way-left the house at 12noon headed for SINGAPORE.

We were booked on a non-stop flight to Singapore via Newark, but could not get a direct flight from Boston to Newark. The only airline that flies directly is Continental airlines, and they REFUSED to let Madeline be on board, due to her severe peanut/nut allergy!! When we called to book all of our flights, the customer service rep from Continental told us that she should take a BUS to get to Newark, and that they wouldn't let her on the plane. We couldn't believe that she was being discriminated against, due to her allergies. What year is this??? I was fired up, but what could we do? So, we rented a car and drove 5 1/2 hours to Newark to catch our flight to Singapore.

It was a long day of travel, all in all about 25 hours!! 5 1/2 hrs to Newark, and then a 19 1/2 hr straight flight to Singapore. The kids were SOOOO great! Singapore Airlines was superb; amazing food, great perks (everyone has their own tv screen with 100s of movies,kids channels, tv shows, radio, etc), and amazing service. No wonder they are rated one of the best airlines in the world. The flight didn't seem as long as it was, due to the kids being really well behaved and happy.

We arrived at 5am on Thursday July 12th, and we were all wide awake and excited. The jet lag will set in very soon.....