Lantern's at the Neighborhood HDB Festival

As we walked into the HDB courtyard, we were drawn to the sounds of the drums, wandering towards the sound, we found the percussionists dressed in uniform; they looked and sounded terrific!  This is just a clip of what their performance:

Don't they sound terrific?  They are very talented!

After the percussion performance, we stepped back to take in what was around is.  We were surprised to see right behind us lanterns made by children:

Looking closer, we found the lanterns were made of recycled materials:

Check out the tealight candle bases:

I loved this one, though I can't figure out what drew me to it... the kitty or the colors:

Two of our favorites was were these:

Aren't they adorable?  The dragonfly was made with cups and bowls!

Imagine our surprise when we had a chance to meet the young lady who made them!  I was even lucky enough to get a picture of her:

Isn't she adorable?  She was shocked and pleased that we loved her art, but she was not sure about having her picture taken by me.  Her mom had to encourage her to take a picture for us with her art.  She seemed a bit shy, but I am glad she allowed us to do it.  In all honesty, all of the children did a great job.

The festival had other things made by the little ones:  Here are a few coloring sheets:

It is fun going to a festival that children are such a huge part of.  I would rather go someplace that supports children's activities and family involvement.  This festival definitely fit in that slot.  We had a wonderful time.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that we won a fan!  

We got tickets with the $3 bag of loot and our number was called.  Of course it was called in Chinese and then maybe in English... I heard a couple of them called and I didn't hear the English, but maybe it was covered by the noise... or maybe they didn't expect westerners to be taking part of their celebration  :-)  Regardless, thankfully they wrote them down on a whiteboard and when we checked were surprised to see our number there!  We immediately donated it to the HDB housing board for this complex.  I hope and trust it went to someone who needed it.

We are blessed in so many ways being in Singapore.  I know God has a reason for us to be here and I think I may have found part of it.  I am enjoying learning the Indonesian language and working with the children in the school - and I am sure I will love working with the children at the children's home. We go back to Indonesia October 1st, and I will at least know how to greet them.  That is progress!  I have been assigned the school once again this next trip, but I hope I eventually get to work at the children's home.  It really doesn't matter though - I love working with kids so I will be happy doing it either place.

I am going to close with a picture of a child holding a lantern (and we saw many!) that was given out in a bag for a $3 donation.  We have no idea what the money went to, but we hoped it went to the HDB community in a good way.  Here is the sweetie and her lantern:

Selamat Malam... which means good night.  Sweet dreams or good day if you are on the flip side.  More tomorrow...

"No Cheesecake?"

Before I start today's blog, can you please pick up your cell phone right now and update your ICE (In Case of Emergency) contacts?  If you have several, just list ICE 1 wife, ICE 2 daughter, ICE 3 son.  It will make it easier on those trying to contact your loved ones... believe me, those needing the numbers would appreciate that little bit time you took to do this.  Go ahead, do it right away... 'in a minute' may never come... Do it now - then come back and read my blog... ok? 

We enjoy entertaining informally; having friends and family over and grilling on the weekends is our favorite form of entertaining.  We don't do anything special, just pull out the grill, toss on some food, sit around visiting, laughing and enjoying relaxing.  Unfortunately, since we live in a tiny condo in Singapore, it is  more difficult to do, but we still find room to invite friends over on the weekend.

My hubby's company has another condo unit in our complex for the rotation guys so that the ones working here have a place to stay while working in Singapore.  We often have the crew over, squeezing everyone into our little corner of the world and we cook.  It seems only natural that over time the guys have found favorite dishes they always look forward to - and I cook according to who is coming.  I know that Soup likes the green bean casserole, Kimberly likes chicken and fried potatoes with onions, Dallas likes pickled beets, Bernard seems to like anything, and Davey loved cheesecake.

Once when I went home to the states, Steve messaged the clan as usual and said he was grilling at 7 and asked who wanted to come.  I think that weekend only Soup and Davey were in, and replied they would be here.  Davey was quite a 'ladies man'. He always, always, always, brought something for me; flowers, chocolate, wine (until he figured out I didn't drink it), or candy.  He never came to a meal here that he didn't have something for me.  One time he picked out flowers but was quite embarrassed to find he had gotten silk flowers.  It didn't bother me though - I put them in the living room so I can see them all the time.  From that moment on, when he brought flowers, he would hand me the bouquet and say, "They are real this time".

As I said, that week, Soup and Davey were the only two in and replied they would be there.  When 7pm rolled around, Steve answered their knock and was surprised to find that Davey had bought a big bouquet of flowers for me - of course he had no idea I was in the states.  Steve immediately told Davey that he was sorry he forgot to mention that I wasn't there.  Steve says Davey instantly got the funniest look on his face and said, "No cheesecake?!"  He was honestly disappointed his cheesecake would not be part of the meal that evening.  We still smile when Steve tells the story... Davey loved cheesecake.

Davey was not married.  He had an ex, and had a 9 year old son that he loved deeply.  He was concerned about his son needing a permanent home and went through a heap of obstacles so he could buy his ex a house so that his son would always have a place to live.  Can you imagine an ex doing that?  He finalized all the details a few weeks ago, finally accomplishing the mission he set out on a long ago; purchasing a permanent home for his son.  He was so proud that his son would have a permanent place and he would not have to worry about him.  Steve and Davey had a chat about it on a ride home, and Davey was ecstatic that it was finally over and done with.

Two days ago, Steve came in and quietly told me Davey was no longer with us.  They have no idea what happened, just that he died on the job.  No one was with him so no one really knows the story, and honestly it doesn't even matter.  What matters is that Davey is no longer with us.  Davey was only 43. 

His death reminds me how fragile life is.  We are not promised another moment, just the breath we are taking right now.  One moment you are here, but the next you may be a memory.  Tomorrow may never come. 

Davey Slater

10/04/1966 - 09/20/2010
Rest In Peace 

Davey's death has hit us all hard.  As I type this blog, I pause and look out the window...  I reflect on our lives; we truly are but a speck of dust in a sea of eternity.  The world does not quit twirling because we lost someone special, but that someone special is part of what made our world twirl. 

Good bye, Davey.  We will miss you.  And I hope you always have cheesecake.

Not a Good Day :-(

We have had a death in our extended 'family' here in Singapore... someone we knew very well.  I cannot elaborate right now, but please be patient with me.  I will not be posting for a couple of days, but when I do, the first post will be about who we lost.  Please keep everyone who loves this person in your thoughts and prayers - we need all the prayers we can get.  I will get back to the Mid-Autumn Festival after our lives return to 'normal' - at least as normal as it will ever be.

It sucks to lose a friend.

Chinese Dragon Dance at the Neighborhood HDB

We walked to the neighborhood HDB to see what the Mid-Autumn Festival was all about.  An HDB is like a small village of buildings (vaguely like condos).  Most HDB's here in Singapore are like low cost housing unit's built for Singaporeans to purchase.  There are quite a few (dare I say hundreds?) of families that live in the complexes.  I say complexes because most of the HDB's have multiple units; mulit-level flats.  Generally, in the center of the HDB complex, there is a large courtyard where everyone can sit & chat (much like a park), children can play and everyone can come and go from the shopping areas.  Often there are water features in the courtyard for the children to play while the elders chat.  

Most HDB's have shopping; small convenience stores, produce wet markets with a small selection of fresh (and inexpensive) veggies, fruits and meats, there are also small family owned hardware stores, food courts and even a few small restaurants.  In the complexes, there are also schools, day care centers, Drs, Dentists, and traditional medicine shops.  See?  Like a small village within and city!  The idea, I think, is that Singaporeans can live in the HDB's housing and never have to leave their little community.  Very cool, isn't it?  You can read more about it in the link above, but there are thousands of different HDB communities in Singapore; each named differently so you can distinguish your 'village' from another.

We have an HDB within a block of us just as most areas of Singapore do.  We walked over to enjoy the Mid-Autumn Festival that the HDB was hosting, but not knowing at all what to expect.  As we closed our condo door and locked it, we heard the rhythmic traditional Chinese Drum sounds drifting into our foyer.  When we walked into the courtyard, we knew instantly it was going to be a lot of fun.  They were having a Chinese Dragon Dance when we walked in.  It was fun watching the dragon being swung around on poles by a bunch of young men.  It actually made it seem to take a life of its own.  We enjoyed standing back watching the action:

As you can see, I have not mastered the art of taking night (moving) pictures yet, but I will get it.  It is taking a bit more time than I would like because I am trying to learn it on my own.  I hate it when I miss the really good things... Anyway, the Chinese Dragon Dance has Chinese (go figure) music to it.  I recorded this so you could hear it:

Pretty darned neat, isn't it?  Obviously, my camera wasn't focused before I clicked record... that is one downside to the Nikon D-90.  Must focus first.  But you can still see what the dance was like.  It was great entertainment, the dragon interacting with the crowd and prancing around the entire courtyard.  There are some things about Singapore that you just cannot replace... the Dragon and Lion Dances are just a couple of things I will miss when we leave.

While we were watching the Dragon Dance, I noticed a line of coloring pages behind me:

The children of the 'village' participate in the festival in many ways.  It is so fun to look at all they made.  Next to the coloring sheets were the lanterns, but I will have to give you just a taste of what is to come:

Now I must get ready for the mosquito police... they are coming to our condos, and I am double checking to be sure I don't have any standing water anywhere (however, I am very careful about not ever having any) and the two places I have it in are flushed properly.  Yes, they check the toilets too!

And then, I will go to my bahasa Indonesian lesson!  Have a great day/night or in between.  See you tomorrow  :-)

Mid-Autumn Festival - A Mini Concert in Our Neighborhood

Debbi clued me in that our neighborhood HDB was having their Mid-Autumn Festival tonight.  After supper, we walked all the way over to it (Ha! it is a block from us) to enjoy the festivities.  

There were a lot of activities going on, but my favorite was a student Chinese Orchestra.  The different instruments in it were interesting to look at - and even nicer to listen to.  Take a look at them:

The instruments in the back row were interesting:

I took a few pictures of the necks of them:

These instruments have keyboards:

But they blow into them as well:

Check out the wooden flutes:

Listening to the children's orchestra was so intriguing... all the different sounds... they were so beautiful.  It sounded much different than the orchestra's at home:

The students did a wonderful job playing, didn't they?  

All the hard work they put into practice sure pays off.  As I have said before, kids go to school very early in the morning and get out late in the evening.  Often they go to several different schools.  I am impressed at how much the students study.  If we go to McDonald's when they are out of school, there are student's scattered about studying - dozens of them. More often than not they are in groups.  On the MRT's there are students studying... darned near every where you look, they are studying.  They seem to be very dedicated to their education.  The students take education very seriously - how do the parents instill that in them?  They are very grounded, respectful and happy, and I love to see families interacting - but more on that tomorrow.

Hope you enjoyed the mini concert - I wanted you to be able to hear them play.  Wasn't sure it would work here, but it seems to have done so quite nicely.  More about the festival tomorrow... off to play again today.  It is the weekend and I love being with Steve.  :-)

The Event at The Sail

Last night's event at The Sail was wonderful!  Relaxing with colleagues of Steve's, enjoying the view and laughing with friends... what more could you ask for?

Kazbar served Mediterranean food - in a wonderful spread.  We had:

Mousaka (layers of ground, herbed lamb, aubergine, potato and tomato and topped with melted cheese)

Cheese Borik (Herb and Feta Cheese Pastry) in back

Falafel (Chickpeas and beans tossed in aromatic spices)

Sayadaya Fish (char grilled dory fish in middle eastern sauce):

Vegetable Stew:

Semolina:

Rice:

Desserts were Um Ali (toasted croissant with rose water, sugar, milk, pistachio, almond, and topped with cream):

And everyone raved about the imported (from Brunei) Baklava (filo pastry with assorted nuts and honey:

They intend to open a facility here in Singapore so they don't have to import Baklava in.  Not sure when that will happen though.   For now, the imported Baklava is delicious!

And several different kinds of... I am sorry, I don't know what it is called.  If someone can remind me, I will be glad to post it - but it was all beautiful:

Of course there was Pita bread, but I neglected to get a picture of it.  However, supper was delicious! 

We also had an incredible view from the windows surrounding the entire room we were in:

Look at this picture below, you will see the overly bright lights on the highway.  I should tell you it is lit up for next weeks F1 race.  Steve and I will be going on Saturday nights qualifying run!  Do you think I can get a better picture than he did 2 years ago?

I have to tell you, for once I didn't feel the need to take a lot of pictures last night.  I took none of the actual party and none of the babies that came.  I sat back and enjoyed the festivities.  Can you believe it?  Neither can I!!

The caterer's information is:

Kazbar PTE LTD

33 Cuppage Rd

Cuppage Terrace
(65) 6836 - 5738

There is also more information on the link at the top of this post.  If you dine at Kazbar, you won't be disappointed.  The food was wonderful!  One of the great things about living in Singapore is that we get to try foods from so many parts of the world on a regular basis.

Thanks to Anjana and hubby for offering their event room for our pleasure - it was a pleasure indeed.  We had a great time and I am sure everyone else did as well.

Off to an HDB Autumn (?!) Festival tonight.  Someone should tell the weatherman we need a blast of Autumn here... a few degrees less than 95 would be handy about now.  I will look for the fall leaves on our stroll over to the HDB...