Katong and Joo Chiat

Posted on June 19, 2013 by Naomi

While my mom was visiting back in April, we took a day to explore the areas of Katong & Joo Chiat. A melting pot of Peranakan (Straits Chinese), Eurasian, Malay, Indian and Chinese, we learned that coconut plantations went from Geylang River to Siglap Road.

Joo Chiat Road was named after Chew Joo Chiat, a wealthy land owner and philanthropist who bought large plots of land in Katong and was known as the “King of Katong” (“Katong” refers to a species of sea turtle that was found in Singapore at the time).

Our first stop was to walk along the rows of conserved Terrace Houses (150 East Coast Road). Single-story terrace houses stand beside a former sea wall where the beach used to be. The living area is built on raised ground to protect against the rising tides then. They held a certain charm and their varied pastel palette of colors was really pretty!

Next up was a visit to the Chin Mee Chin Confectionary (204 East Coast Road), one of the last remaining Hainanese coffee shops.

I’d definitely say that it has retained its authentic 1950s ambience! If you go, try the very strong coffee (and very sweet!) and hot kaya toast (traditional jam made from eggs, sugar and coconut juice).

The pastries? So great!

When we first walked in, we noticed there was nowhere to sit, but we asked these two girls if we could share their table. They were more than happy, and we ended up talking all through breakfast!

Feeling rather full, we then walked two doors down to the Katong Antique House (208 East Coast Road), a museum of peranakan artifacts, collected by Peter Wee.

Not that we were hungry, but next up on the itinerary was a visit to the Nonya Laksa Stalls, (75 East Coast Road). As we walked in, this guy says “Hungry?” to which we responded yes, and received a “Sit!” command.

Just around the corner is the Sri Senpaga Vinayagar Temple (19 Ceylon Road).

Its history dates back to 1875 and was built by a Ceylonese Tamil pioneer as a hut under a Senpaga tree. It was said that a statue of Lord Vinayagar (Elephant God) was found there.

Reaching 21 meters high, it is one of the tallest Indian temples in Singapore.

Starting to run out of time at this point, we quickly made our way to Kim Choo Kueh Chang (besides Rumah Bebe). Step into the back to watch a quick tutorial on how to make dumplings!

Our itinerary took about three hours, but you could definitely speed it up or linger more, depending on the time you have available. Go and explore!

On the art of purging.

Posted on June 17, 2013 by Naomi

How to properly purge for an upcoming move – whether international or local!! I’ve broken it down into weekly steps so that you too can successfully master the Art of Purging!!

Week one — Start meticulously purging and sorting!! This is fun! Everything into very distinct piles. Utilize multiple colored sticky notes. Keep in mind your next home. Give away nice items. Throw away the rest. Take a second look at the room you just finished and decide to go through it again to see if you can make the “keep” pile even smaller. This is a perfect time to purge and do a bit of spring cleaning!

Week two — Get frustrated with sticky notes. Start forgetting which color means what! Realize that you have spent much too long reviewing old take out receipts for pizza from 1998. Threaten to take a torch to the whole thing.

Week three — Watch as your children go through every single trash bag that was meant for the thrift store. Listen as they declare you the “meanest mom ever!” because you were throwing out the eyeless stuffed tiger that has no left foot. Vow to go to the store and purchase black bags so that the children can no longer see through to the contents!

Week four — The moving company arrives for the survey. You sheepishly tell them that you are still purging and to promise to get rid of more by the time they pack out.

Week five — Packers show up and you plop yourself in a corner of the room, sit cross-legged with a cup of coffe and watch them pack half empty bottles of shampoo, ziploc bags of batteries (knowing full well that only half of them work), clothes that no longer fit anyone and already completed crossword puzzle books. Know that at this point it’s the simplest thing to do.

Week six through twelve — Wonder where on earth your other black flip flop is, and sigh dejectedly as you realize that due to your incomplete purging/organization job, it is likely on the shipping container in the middle of the ocean.

Week thirteen — Watch the packers unpack all of your things, including trash cans with the contents STILL inside, including a PB & J sandwich and a paper towel that cleaned up the nervous dog’s deposit just before boxes started getting moved out of the house.

Week fourteen – Vow to do a better job next time.

Ok, so that was a bit tongue in cheek, but it has happened … so to speak. What’s your least favorite part of moving houses?

Weekend Whimsy : 15-16 June 2013

Posted on June 15, 2013 by Naomi

READ IT :

What a great way to stay connected, in touch and add a pretty cool “mark” on what otherwise is a normal email. Send a Kiss with Burberry (watch the delivery of your SWAK envelope even!).

Michelle on Joy. (must read!)

What Briana wishes she knew in college. Did I already share this with you?

Gabi on Sanity.

LISTEN TO IT :

I don’t like playing this song too often around the kids because the lyrics just don’t sound appropriate when coming out of the littles’ mouths, but this is pretty cool. Which decade is YOUR favorite?

PONDER ON IT :

(shared by Caz at Mojito Mother)

YOUR TURN :

What’s something good for the weekend? A new recipe? A new blog post that is a favorite? Fun photo or image you’ve seen recently?

MMF seeks friend of any size, race, color, political persuasion

Posted on June 14, 2013 by Naomi

She looks nice, I think to myself.

She was standing in front of the blue cheese in the salad dressing aisle. Yes, there is an entire side of an aisle dedicated to salad dressings, bacon bits and sunflower seeds, etc.

I love blue cheese. She loves blue cheese.

Maybe we can be friends?

Or maybe she’s buying the blue cheese for her husband, and doesn’t even eat salad. Which would be a derailer for me in my new effort to eat better and lose weight.

Hmm. Moving on.

As I turn the corner and near the sushi counter, I notice a chick in running gear, laughing with the sushi chef about unagi and mango rolls. I daydream about meeting her at the corner up the street and going for a quick 20 minute run, followed by a sushi lunch.

But then two more girls in running girls whip around the corner and they all three erupt in a fit of more giggles, about something that I’m not privy to.

Their friendship quota is already filled, I say to myself.

I meander through the rest of my grocery list, and find myself at the checkout counter. She asks “is plastic ok?” but what I hear is “Do you want to be my friend?”

Yep. I’ve got it bad.

Living overseas has meant for me that friendships fall into your lap, almost literally. You meet people at school, at the fresh air market when you are obviously the only foreigners navigating the tight, cramped aisles. You attend workshops and tours and by way of casual conversation, strike up conversations that create a lifelong banter of emails traded, SMS jokes sent and evenings out together.

However.

I want to be intentional about making friends this time around. I want to decide who and what I need in my life and then actively seek out people who can fill those designated pieces.

What are some of those pieces?

Activist

First and foremost, I need to re-engage with my people who hold action close to their hearts. I will be continuing my work with Room to Read after settling in Orlando and I need to find my tribe of people (men and women alike) who boost that energy and feed into the need to truly make a difference.

We may not all play for the same team, but world change must be at the core – whether on a local or global platform.

Local Explorer

I totally need to find some girls who are down with the local scene. I need to find those chicks who are ready and willing to go find the little unexplored pocket of Orlando, take photos along the way and get lost for a day.

I need friends with an adventurous spirit!

Encourager

I am typically the encourager. The one prompting someone to take a leap, or go out on a limb. But that can be exhausting and tiring if you’re never getting the same dialogue fed back to you.

I am insistent on finding someone who will sign up to be my motivation, my cattle prod.

The Constant

I have been lucky and blessed to have these women already present in my life and I hope to grow and cultivate those relationships even still. They are the ones who don’t need a re-introduction to kick-start the friendship. They require nothing but a “hey! how have you been” email to get the discussion going again. It doesn’t matter if it has been 1 month, 1 week or 1 year … they will always be there.

I will maintain my constant friends!

Global Girl

Oh boy, do I ever need my global girls. I need women folk who have experienced life abroad and who are better for it. I don’t need whingers or people who can’t balance the good with the bad from their time overseas.

I need women in my life who know what it’s like to see poverty, make a difference in the world and see the bigger picture.

Athlete

I need a couple of people in my life who can tell me to put down the StoveTop Stuffing and grab a banana instead. I need some (virtual or physical) who can be the hard core push, that inspires me to get out and run the miles every morning, to get some sleep and drink more water.

I need some people to pony up and agree to be my backbone and my drill sergeant.

Artist

After leaving Stitch N’ Bitch in Ohio, and then dabbling in an online workshop that friends in Delhi made a weekly occasion, I have missed my creative connection with other people. I am not a painter or a musician, by any stretch, but I happen to be able to play the piano, create interesting things and express myself a bit.

I will likely never be paid for my contributions to the art world, but I have realized that I need people in my life who WILL. People who look for the beauty and the story in the life that is happening around them.

I need friends who are artists, who create and who want for more.

I find it interesting that while I was at the grocery store several days after first writing this post draft, I picked up a Real Simple magazine and inside was an article written by Stephanie Booth about this very thing. Having friends on an intentional level. Check it out.

What do you think? Is that silly to try to do? What things would be on your top list of five when it comes down to the friendships you keep?

I think it’s called adjusting.

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Naomi

“How could my parents do this to me? How could they just whisk me away from all my friends, and my school, my soccer team, and then tell me what a “great new adventure” I was going to have? That they could just pick me up like some dumb stuffed animal and set me down any old place, and I’d be fine?”

I guess moving to a new school is like anything else you hate. Even though you can’t stand the thought of it, and you plan to hate it for the rest of your life, after you’ve been doing it for awhile, you start getting used to it. And after you start getting used to it, you forget to hate it as much as you’d planned. I think it’s called adjusting.

Tony’s 4th grade teacher sent this book home with him last week, and he sweetly spent some time reading it to Mia during some of their bedtimes before we left Singapore. I happened to catch the bits shared above, and thought they were really, really great.

(The Kid in the Red Jacket needs to be added to the list of books about moving, whether abroad or to the bordering state!)

* * * * *

We’ve barely notified the school that we’re leaving, let alone told all of our family back home and we’re already being bombarded with requests to show the house to potential new tenants. At times that are not convenient at all … with children who haven’t yet said goodbye to their current home, with a dog who sheds all over the place, during dinner, with a house full of boxes, piles and to do lists everywhere.

The Husb and I have different levels of what is important and different priority lists. My list tops out with items that keep the disruptions to a minimum while his focus more on the equally important financial side of things.

When we communicate correctly, it means that everything on the list manages to get done effectively. When we communicate incorrectly, we spin our wheels, argue about things that the other person is really better at handling and we waste our precious energy and time!

We haven’t ever talked about it, but I think we both feel that our piece of the adjustment process is more important than the other side.

adjusting present participle of ad·just (Verb)

Verb

Alter or move (something) slightly in order to achieve the desired fit, appearance, or result.
Permit small alterations or movements so as to allow a desired fit, appearance, or result to be achieved.

To alter or move something slightly in order to achieve the desired fit or result.

I think that is the key — SLIGHTLY –

Relocating a family, making decisions, searching for the answers that will allow a family to truly adjust – in a healthy way – is a big deal. Not until I read that definition of adjusting did it start to make sense.

Recently I held a workshop in my home with ten other women from around Singapore. The discussion was moderated by Jacinta Noonan and we focused quite a bit of our time talking about the amazing pocket of women (and men) around the world that are doing the amazing job of creating an atmosphere that allows for healthy adjustment - for their spouses, children, dogs, and family/friends who are left behind.

The key isn’t to simply jump into the big move with to-do lists and signed contracts, but to work together as a family to make those small and slight movements to reach the desired outcome – a communicating family who is now simply living in the next location.

I’ve given this some thought, and I’ve decided that adjusting is one of those things that you can’t control that much. It’s like learning to like girls. It sort of makes you nauseous to think about it, but you know it’s going to happen.

Box 53b

… snippets and collections of my thoughts