The Name Game

Have you ever played the Name Game?
Yes, I know there are countless versions, but in this instance, I refer to the one where you see the same people all the time, but don't know their name, so you designate names for them.
Let me give you an example: last semester in the Ballroom dance class, almost all the boys had desginated nicknames... of which they were oblivious. There was Emo kid, Classy, Expendable, Two beers in, Chad (who was just a little too weird to even get a nickname) etc... Get the picture?
Well I have some of those here in Singapore as well. There is Frumpy Dog Lady, who walks often with her frumpy-looking dog around the apartments. There is Loud Workout guy who.... you guessed it!.... works out very loudly! There is also Basketball Boy, who seems to always be playing basketball when I want to play Squash.
Lately, we have a new name... someone who we (meaning my family) have dubbed: Our Friend. That's it. That is all we call him. We see him every friday when we pass by the Hawker Center or stop in for Pizza. He is an old guy who comes right a six... probably every night and sits for a long time sipping his large Tiger beer. Later he gets a plate of food and sometimes sips on some tea. Old reliable, he is. Never misses a friday!

So that, my friends is the Name Game. I must say, I highly recommend it!

Maid Prep

We have a maid.

I believe I may have mentioned in a previous post that many of the population in Singapore have live-in maids. Well, we caved and decided to get a maid of our own. Not a live-in one, but just a lady that comes a few hours a week to clean. Our apartment gets unbelievably dusty and things build up around the sinks and toilets... you know, the usual general stuff. So today she comes for the first time and what are we doing.... cleaning.

Please don't ask me to diagnose the complexities of my parent's minds.

Mischief Managed

It's happened. The time is finally here: Harry Potter 7 part 2 has come to theatres!!!
I write this on the eve of July 14th, though it is posted now due to laziness. yeah, sorry about that....

So there is a good side and a bad side to the release of the new movie in Singapore. Good side: The movie comes out in Singapore an entire day before the US plus the added 12 hours ahead that I am.... awesome for me, right? Down side: No midnight release. That's right, they apparently don't believe in things like that here!
There also was a significant lack of costuming... though it was not all together missing.

The review: liked it! Yes, there were differences.... some that I approved of more than others, but over all, I really enjoyed their take on what happened. It's sad, really, that the Pottermania is over, I mean I started reading the Harry Potter books in the third grade... let's see, that would have been around 1997 I guess and it is 2011 now... so 14 years? Wow, that's a huge hunk of time! At least one more Harry Potter adventure remains for me.... Harry Potter World at Universal!... that's right, I have never been. Aggghhhh!!!!
*sigh* But anyway, just thought that I, as an avid fan, would throw out my two cents there!
As we great Potter fans like to say at the end of everything great: Mischief Managed.

Break for a book!

Okay, I know you are probably expecting more tidbits about Singapore, but I thought I might instead enlighten you with a little book review!
The Book: Fat Chance by Julie Hadden
Julie Hadden was a contestant for Jacksonville on The Biggest Loser a few years ago. To be honest, my mmom made me read the book, and I was sure it was not going to be as interesting as she insisted it was. I was wrong. (Don't tell her!)
If you are interested in loosing weight, but can't seem to get the motivation to do so, or have ever wondered what life on The Biggest Loser is really like, or for life after, then read this book! It is completely inspirational! It's kind of hard to describe it in a way that will make you go "oh, I should read that"...  I mean, it is about a women who has struggled with her weight all of her life, about how it effected her, bout how she was changed, about how teh changes she went through are still effecting her today... really, a great book!
Read it!
Next book on the list: Dracula.

American Celebrations

Still running a little behind on my postings....

So might be wondering (though I sort of doubt it) about how one goes about celebrating the 4th of July while abroad. Well, this is the third time I have done so, so maybe I can give you a few pointers. The first time was in England while on a family vacation. I think I wore a red shirt and felt oddly out of place... it just seems wrong to celebrate your independence in the country you became independent of, you know? Also, I was mainly focused on getting my chance to see the Queen (which, by the way, I did get to do). Second time: Spain, last year. Well, to be honest w didn't really do anything. Fireworks are illegal in Spain or else some of the boys might have procured some. Third time: Singapore. Well now there are a lot of Americans in Singapore as well as an American base. On the 2nd of July, which was a Saturday, all us American headed on down to the base, though really whoever wanted to go was invited. Highlight: they had REAL hot dogs and LEMONADE!!!!... good lemonade!
They had balloons, games for kids, ice cream, bands playing and temporary tattoos and face painting all set up. After 8pm, we were allowed to shoot off fireworks. It was a pretty nice setting.

Of course, the funniest part was the strange looks we got on the metro ride home. I guess they didn't get the memo that there were American flags available to paste on your face! lol

Shanghai Adventures

** okay, so this is part 2 of the below post :) Again, it was typed before, but I guess I forgot to publish it! Don't forget to read the post below for aaaallll the info on my China experience!**

So what to do in Shanghai?
A tour of Shanghai! Let's see.... we went to a silk factory and learned about the silk-making process. We also went to a pearl store.... they get like 30 pearls from one oyster! We also visited a Buddhist Temple where they had these two really famous (according to them) white jade Buddhas. They had a tea show there where they made tea for us too. Another place they took us was an old Chinese Garden. So these Gardens are pretty amazing. The entire household of the family living there is spread in sections throughout the garden.  

The entire garden is completely man-made including the lake and the hill. They say that in a proper garden no matter where you point your camera, you should have a perfect picture. Oh, in case you were wondering... of course there were koi fish :)
Anyway, so another day in Shanghai, I went with my mom and my brother to the zoo. It was huge! So they had most of the normal animals you would find there and all, plus some pandas, of course, but they also had dogs. A LOT of dogs. They had every sort of dog pet that you could imagine there... it was so strange!
Another cool thing about Shanghai: The pearl TV Tower. The say it is higher than the Eiffel tower.... I'll let them be the judge of that, but it was certainly more interesting in many aspects.... it had a glass floor, for one thing!

That's right....epic!
Okay, so let's see.... another day I went to a small, old river town. Now let me just flush that out.... when I say old in Florida, I think of St Augustine.... oldest city in the USA, right? Well that does NOT compare to these old cities in China!!! I mean, their museum stuff dates back to B.C!

Well, so those are some of the things that are most memorable from my Shanghai trip! It was a good trip, but I would not want to live there! Its an expensive place to live in, and there are just too many people. Did you know that most of the people take at least an hour to get to work and another hour to get back... and that's AT LEAST an hour, not most!.... many people take even longer!  No thanks!

Well, that's all for now.... but remember to read the post below if you haven't!... there's more China there too :)

China

**a little note from me, Christy Sunshine. I wrote this a while ago, but I apparently didn't push "publish" how embarrassing! So I hope you enjoy it... better late than never. I think I will split it up into two posts....**

China! Wow, such a quick word to say is not enough to encompass all that my experience has involved.
So my first impression of this huge country was that it was flat. Soooo flat. We were visiting Shanghai which is definitely in the flat part of the country. Also, the fact that they drive on the right side (as in both the right AND correct side haha) of the road brought me an unexpected feeling of comfort... a feeling that did not last the whole ride to our hotel. The streets of Shanghai are crazy! There are cars everywhere, as expected of course, but there are also every variation of bike, moped, scooter and motorcycle that I could think of. They drove through the streets as swarms of bugs might rush through an abandoned picnic table with leftover food. It was utter madness. Street lanes are, apparently, just for show, and the little green man doesn't necessarily mean it is safe to walk... just that it is the safest time to walk as long as you're still on the look out for approaching vehicles! (and no, that is NOT an exaggeration!) They don't just honk when someone is about to hit them or something, but instead, they honk when they abruptly switch lanes and don't want anybody to do the same in front of them, or when they are going to zoom past you instead of let you out, or when they are going for it, but aren't sure you are paying attention, or.... well, you get the point. If Shanghai was a musical, the honking could be the refrain for every. single. song.
There are so many people in Shanghai, that at times I was utterly overwhelmed with the presence of them all. They added to the already present stress of trying to navigate a city where the dominant language does not even use a recognizable writing system. Thankfully, Shanghai is more accustomed to outsiders than many other Chinese cities, and the English versions of their people, places and products where often displayed... though even that doesn't help much when you can still hardly pronounce them correctly much less understand them!
Eating the food in China was always something to feel wary of. No, it is not because I was afraid I was eating cat or dog...usually, but for different reasons all together. Traditional Chinese meals dictate that the platters ordered are shared, usually on a table with a lazy susan in the middle. I don't like tea, but it is usually served with your meal. The first obstacle was to order... the waiters often spoke no English at all. Since the menus were virtually all picture menus, this helped immensely. Still, however, there were several times when we would attempt to order something and the waiter would insist that we could not have that. I am still thoroughly confused by several of our restaurant experiences, and there was more than one time when what showed up wasn't quite what we had been expecting to receive, or that something was missing from our order. Then there was the added uncertainty of whether or not we would even like anything at all. Thankfully, we managed to enjoy most of our meals there though I admit that several of them took place at locations such as KFC, Pizza Hut and McDonald's.
One thing that I had considered beforehand, but wasn't really sure about, was whether or not I would be able to use my computer the same. I wasn't. There was no access to facebook as well as a couple other sites I tried to reach while I was there... including this one! Well, I guess that could be expected from a country controlled so tightly by the government.... which brings me to my next topic.....
Communism.
Now we Americans know about how Communism is portrayed in the US. It is bad stuff, right? Well to tell you the truth, I didn't know what to expect from China on this front. Yes, it was weird walking through the metro where tiny communist flags were hung as you walked down the hallways, as well as the CUBA! products (sporting attractive communist graphics) that were available from days when China and Cuba had been close buddies, but other than that there wasn't much of a visible difference. Again, I don't know what I expected to see, but I somehow expected there to be something! The first tour we took in Shanghai, our tour guide spoke of the government. THAT was where I was first surprised. The communist party in China, isn't a free-for-all, everyone-sign-up-here type of party.... it is an exclusive and privileged one.... ironic, I think given the basic concept of what communism should really mean. She spoke of the communist party with a sort of adoration, awe and pride... not that she was a part of it personally. She talked about how the children are brought up learning about their great country and even sang up a song about the great communist country with it's strong communist leader.... it really took me by surprise. I mean, obviously to her it was normal, but that, my friend, was a culture shock for this born and bred American, I can tell you!
Since I feel that this is one area where people seem to be interested, I will also tell you quickly what I learned about the One Child policy. I don't remember what year exactly this law went into effect, but they generation that right now is around 30 years old is about the age of those who began not having siblings. My first tour guide was a girl that probably mid twenties or so. She did not have siblings, though she did have many uncles, aunts and cousins since the law had not been in effect at the time of her parent's births. My second tour guide was also an only child.... he was in at least his early 30s. When he had been born, his parents, who did not live in a major city such as Shanghai, could have had more children, but had decided not to. He was married and had just had his first child, a son. He told us that there were many economical problems that were probably going to develop as a result of the One Child policy. For starters, much of the Chinese lifestyle revolves around one's family. This includes how people are taken care of when in need, holiday activities, trades.... you get the picture. Children that are being born now, when grown up and married, will have two sets of parents to look after, four sets of grandparents and, because until this generation, people had children at very young ages, they are likely to have great grandparents to care for as well! This creates a lot of stress on the children. Also, many holidays are times when you are supposed to gather with family, which before, could have included aunts, uncles and cousins.... these are family members that the children being born now will no longer have. Our tour guide also told us that, because of these concerns that there will not be enough young people, married couples who were both single children are allowed to have two children. There are also other situations where more than one child is allowed, such if you are a minority, or if you are wealthy enough to pay the fines. Well, I could talk more about this, but I will leave off for now because my post has grown rather long...