Maddie's Post

HI! This is Madeline, and today I am 9 years old! It's my birthday! HOORAY!

Living in Singapore is very cool. But very hot. The people here are very nice and they seem to really like my curly hair. Wherever we go, the locals (Singaporians) all like to pat my head and touch my hair. There aren't many curly haired people around here. Sometimes I forget I am living in a foreign country because when you look around everything is written in English and there are the same stores and places to eat that we have at home. But then I listen, and I hear lots of different languages being spoken by people. I've heard Mandarin Chinese, Indian, Malay (language of Malasia), and lots of tourists from other countries. There are a lot of people here on this small island, and sometimes we have to wait a long time for a taxi.

The best part of living in Singapore is meeting new friends and the worst part is that it gets REALLY hot some days and walking to places is really not fun.

I start school in 5 days at the Singapore American School. It's a huge giant school with cool stuff. Like there are 3 different playgrounds just for my grade! The school doesn't seem any different than in the USA, except that I get to wear a uniform. I am a little nervous to start because I am worried that the teachers won't like me or I won't like them!

I will post more in a few days, after I start school. MISS YOU GUYS!

love Madeline

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.....

Dance Recital

Madeline had her last dance recital at Dance Academy the other night, and she is very sad. She actually had 2 recitals this year, one on Wednesday and Friday night, and she did amazing job!


This year she had 4 dances in the show and loved every minute of it. She had her Competition Team dance, Tap, Ballet, and a Jazz dance. If she had her way, she would have signed up for a solo too! :) She has already informed me that she plans on doing a solo this next year. After the show on Friday night she was very upset and feeling very sad that she would have to be at a new studio in Singapore. The teachers, staff and owners of Dance Academy are like family to us. (pictured above with the owners Christine and Micheal) She has been dancing with them since they opened their doors three years ago, and she spends a lot of time, almost 3 hours each week. We will certainly miss all the kids, parents, and staff over the next 2 years. We actually had people coming up to us after the recital telling us that they wanted to meet Maddie, and that they thought she would be famous one day....she certainly is comfortable on stage and loves to dance! Maybe our little curly girl will be on Broadway, in a World Tour Ballet, or on "So You Think You Can Dance?" one day. :) ha ha

"Sibley Sling" blog name-what does it mean?

When we decided to make a blog, I asked Brian if he could think of a name for our page. Of course, at first he came up with some crazy names for it. But after a few minutes he came up with "Sibley Sling". What does that mean, you might wonder? Our page is named after the famous drink, The Singapore Sling, which I did have a few while on our househunting trip! :) It is a YUMMY cocktail that is famous at The Long Bar at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore.

Here is the history that I found online about the drink:

Way back in 1915, a Chinese bartender of Hainese dialect, living in Singapore, concocted a cocktail of gin, cherry brandy, pineapple juice, lime juice, Dom Benedictine, grenadine with a dash of angostura bitters and garnish with a slice of pineapple and a cherry. It was aptly named Singapore Sling and originally this drink was meant as a woman's drink, hence the attractive pink colour. Today, the world famous cocktail is very definitely a drink enjoyed by all, without which any visit to Singapore is incomplete.

And if you can't make it to Raffles Long Bar or the Ritz's Lobby Lounge here's what's needed to create one for yourself (and save yourself the $18+ dollars for one).

1oz - Gin

1/2oz - Cherry Brandy

4oz - Pineapple Juice

1/2oz - Limejuice

Dash Cointreau

Dash Dom Benedictine

Dash Grenadine

A Dash of Angostura Bitters

Garnish with a slice of Pineapple and Cherry

Place ice cubes in a cocktail shaker and add the gin, cherry brandy, limejuice, Cointreau, Grenadine pineapple juice and bitters. Shake well and strain into a highball glass. Garnish with a slice of Pineapple and Cherry.

Those of you in my Book Club seemed to enjoy them when we had our "Singapore" theme when we found out we were moving-we went through a pitcher pretty quickly! :)

Hence the name "Sibley Sling" for our page.

Poor little kitty Oaky!

Today we spent most of the day with the cat at the Vet.

Due to Singapore rules, he has to undergo a bunch of things to be "imported" into the country AND then be in Quarantine for 30 days once he arrives!! We are shipping him ahead of us, so he can get his time over with and be in our new house as soon as possible. Oaky will be leaving in a week and we have hired a Pet Relocation company to do the move for us-so glad for that. But very sad that he is leaving us soon. We are able to visit him at the Quuarantine Facility as much as we want, and the vet recommended as frequent as we can. Knowing the kids, we will end up being there every day until his 30 days are up. Poor kitty Oaky!

Oaky now has a Microchip in him, has been poked and proded and had so many vaccines he is safe from any and all possible diseases that an animal might get! Ahhh, the joy of moving overseas with an animal. But he is worth it! He could be the best cat in the world! :)

Moving to Singapore!

We are moving to Singapore! Can you believe it? We are sort of in a state of panic and excitement. The flight arrangements have been made and now we have about a month left before we move.

After a few requests, I decided to try this whole BLOGGING thing and make a blog of our move and time there. Maybe people (friends & family) will actually read it, and feel like they are sharing our experience over there. Maybe? Maybe not?

It's funny how I meet people and everyone seems to know someone who has lived in Singapore. And they all say that they "love it!". Hoping for the same thing for our family-I think it will be great.

Here is a photo of our house over there, hoping they sign the final lease this week so I can actually be sure we have a house to live in.