Happy Birthday, Boon. Happy Marriage, Christian. Happy Hangover, Mel and Matt

We have had a really relaxing weekend. I went to shul on Friday night and met a wonderful woman who is from Singapore - third generation Singaporean, originally from Iraq. I have mentioned that I haven't found that community so welcoming, but this woman was so amazingly nice. That was good news.

Saturday we had someone clean our air cons (that's what they call a/c here), and we found out that we have a gas leak in one which has led to our living room and dining room air cons not working since we moved in here. It's not "light on fire" gas, so we're okay. He's going to come back in three weeks to fix it.

We also had someone come and replace our toilet pump. Unfortunately then the toilet started leaking, so he had to come back, but it's all good now, and now we can actually go to the bathroom in our bathroom in the bedroom. We haven't used it in about two months. We're so lazy that it doesn't bother us.

We also went grocery shopping, which is crucial.

Then, we met Matt's friend from grad school, Courtney, out for a drink. She was AWESOME. She's working for Catholic Relief Services in Aceh, and she was just a super woman, and I REALLY enjoyed talking to her (and just connecting with SOMEONE!). We were then going for dinner for Matt's friend, Boon Yian's 30th birthday. Turns out that we are American, so since they called it for 7:00, we showed up at 7:15. No one else showed up until after 8. So we drank. And then people got there, but no one was eating, so someone ordered finger food, so we didn't end up eating dinner, but we kept drinking. Boon's friends were excellent - particularly one guy who pays Asians to write op-eds that he sends to newspapers around the world. He had lots of opinions (which are sometimes hard to find out here), and he was super. Matt went with Christian for his bachelor party, and they went to some club with Thai women all over the place. Sounds really high class, I know - but Matt said it was. Whatever.

He left me to get drunk with Courtney (the friend from SAIS) and Boon's friends. Luckily we WERE drunk, because there was an air guitar contest there, and that wouldn't have been funny sober. It was hilarious, though. One person was dressed like Van Halen. He played the "guitar" with his teeth, behind his neck, and he was great. The winner actually won a guitar. A real one. Overall, it was a fun night...

Until I left my phone in the cab, and I didn't realize it, so Matt worried that something happened to me and came running home. I had to pay the driver $30 to bring the phone back. Matt was a disaster last night. I got to stay up to listen to Michigan pull it off against N'western - thank god.

We learned a valuable lesson - we are not 22. We have been HURTING all day. Really bad. Still feel sick, and it's 9:30 pm. There's just no excuse.

This is the most undeep blog posting yet. I hope you all still respect me (and Matt).

Escalator Completed Before Finishing Date

In Michigan, when they're fixing the road, there's sometimes a sign that says, "Work to be completed by..." The work is NEVER completed by that date. Never.

In our MRT station, one of the escalators was out of business. It had a sign up that it would be completed by 28th of September. It wasn't. It was completed WAY before then! Like two weeks before that date!!!

It's unclear if this means that:
-in Singapore they're simply more realistic
-in Singapore they're simply WAY MORE productive and efficient
-in Singapore they put a date far off so that they APPEAR way more productive and efficient when they finish "early"...

I guess we'll never know.

Singapore Theatre and JBJ

Last night two volunteers from my work invited me to see a play with them. We saw The Campaign to Confer the Public Service Star on JBJ. It was hilarious. I had no idea that there was space for this type of discussion in Singapore, so it was also pretty enlightening to me.

Essentially, JBJ is a super controversial guy. The way I heard it - he's the only person who has been willing to stand up to Lee Kwan Yew and tell him he's corrupt and talk about nepotism, etc. He was the head of the opposition party in Singapore, and apparently even if people agree with him, they don't vote for him. He's just a lone dude.

This play was basically making fun of Singapore politics and culture. They talked about how difficult it is to get things done with crazy bureaucracy and about how people don't like to talk about controversial things. One of the ladies I was with said that people will go to these plays, and they'll laugh, but then they won't talk about it. They said that there are spaces to complain and make fun of Singapore, but they're not common. It was really funny.

The best part was that this morning I was meeting with the president of our organization, and her phone rang and talked to someone for a couple of minutes. At the end, she said, "Okay, JBJ, thanks for calling. I'll talk to you soon." I asked her whom she was talking to, and then I told her I saw a play about him just last night!

Chag Sameach.
Happy moon(cake) festival.

God on the MRT

This woman was trying to hand people pieces of paper that talked about Jesus and god (God?). The guy next to me ignored her. I said, "no thank you." The guy standing next to her said, "I don't think you're allowed to be handing out things on the train." Someone else standing near her said, "I don't want you to get in trouble, so I will not take it. It is illegal to hand people things on the train."

Singaporeans love rules.

Three More Interesting Things about YK

1) It was the first time I heard a rabbi talk about when the Torah was canonized.
2) The cantor started off yizkor by playing guitar and singing a song from Wicked.
3) There was no PAINFUL part at the end where you have to stand for an hour.

Before you get the wrong idea, I will tell you that I liked all of these things.

1) The Rabbi did a study session on Yom Kippur afternoon, and it was looking at a piece of Torah that we read that afternoon (which, btw, is something different than all congregations I have been a part of reads). I really enjoyed the session and the way he conducted it. One of the points that he brought up was that one of the sentences we were studying - in Leviticus 19 - has a very similar sentence in Deuteronomy, but it's sort of the expanded version. Then a discussion went about which might have been written first. I have to say that I DO NOT believe that God told the Torah to Moshe at Sinai. I do not believe that Moshe wrote it all down and it has been passed down in that form for thousands of years. However, nearly EVERYONE I have learned with HAS believed that (or at least they act like they do), and it was a bit shocking for me to hear the discussion around when the Torah was canonized - led by a rabbi!

The good news is that I enjoyed this session, and I think I respect this rabbi more than so many others, because the conversation seemed so much more real and honest (and for so many other reasons too - he's really great). Maybe I should go study with some progressive people.

2) At the beginning of Yizkor (where you remember the dead), the cantor started singing the song, "For Good." I heard myself singing the words, but I could not place it. Was it a cheezy song from camp in the early 90s? Was it Dar Williams or some other folky person that I learned about after college? I really couldn't place it. I asked Shoshana, who was sitting next to me, and she didn't know, but she also recognized it. Matt didn't know. I finally thought - maybe this is from a musical? Finally it hit me that it was from Wicked. It was really beautiful, and really enjoyable. It was also pretty hilarious that I had the book, Wicked, with me at services...

3) I hate fasting. Being hungry is seriously one of my least favorite things in life. I know most people don't like it, but I have fasting-anxiety. I really hate it a lot. I think that a major part of my hatred actually has to do with the fact that growing up, we had to stand for an hour at the end of Neila (the ending service of YK) each year. The ark is open, so you really can't sit down (or you feel super guilty). My back would hurt, my knees would shake, and I was really hungry. With this service, we did stand at the end, but it was for about 15 minutes, and it wasn't painful at all. Is it really necessary to stand for the entire amidah and the repetition AND the sh'mas AND havdalah? No. I like it better the way we did it in Singapore (Reform). Are we becoming Reform Jews? Probably not - but we (MATT TOO!!) just really like Rabbi Thal and this great community.

In addition, Rabbi Thal's sermon totally related to something I'm going through at work, and it really spoke to me. I appreciated that. It took a conversation I keep having with Matt one step further.

In other news, we went out with a bunch of great Jews after break fast. We were with a couple from Australia who are living on an island in Indonesia, Lombok, near Bali, a girl from DC who is doing some relief work in Aceh, Indonesia, a girl who went to grad school with Matt and lived on his hall in DC who is living in Cambodia, and about three people young Jews living in Singapore. Great people.

Cheshbon Nefesh

Matt and I went to Kol Nidre with the Reform Movement here. It was one of my only meaningful Kol Nidres. I *really* enjoy Rabbi Thal. He does a few things that really make his services stand out. One thing is that he talks about real issues in his sermon - it's not about supporting Israel or being a strong Jewish community. It's about paying attention to the life that's around us, or paying attention to our inner selves. (Matt also likes that he tells good jokes - he had a really good one tonight which I'll share below). He also shares a poem or a little ditty before the kaddish. During RH it was about how a woman wishes that the older generation was still around and how she didn't appreciate them enough while they were there. Tonight it was essentially The Giving Tree, and how there's always something to take/learn from someone else.

On the way home, Matt and I were doing a bit of Cheshbon Nefesh - talking about who we are, what we've done over the past year, and some general good thinking. We started with last year at this time when we were in Michigan saying good-bye to his Zaydie. We essentially moved through the year, remembering trips and visits with people. We couldn't believe that we returned from South Africa, went to Michigan for Matt's cousin's wedding, went back to NYC for three days, then went back to Michigan for Thanksgiving and then back to NYC. Also, we were remembering going to Israel, Florida and Georgia three weekends in a row, I think. How did we do all of that?

We were talking about how our life is supposed to be so much more exciting now, since we're living in ASIA, and that's exotic and all that, but really life just feels normal. When we do get off of this island, it does feel new and exotic, but traveling on the weekends is exhausting with our long hours. Hmmm. Not sure what to make of that, but I do know that we're going to Cambodia and Thailand in the next couple of months, and possibly Malaysia for a weekend her or there.

The funny story that Rabbi Thal told - in old-time Europe, when men went out with hats, one man lost his hat. He felt frustrated that he lost it, and he wasn't prepared to buy a new one. He decided to go to synagogue on Saturday morning and leave a bit early after stopping in the coat room and taking a hat. The rabbi spoke about the ten commandments for the sermon, and the man ultimately decided against his plan. He spoke to the rabbi afterwards and told him the whole story of what he was going to do. The rabbi asked, "so, what did I say that convinced you not to steal someone's hat?" The guy said, "while you were going through the commandments, there was one dealing with adultery, which reminded me about where I left my hat."

One more thing that the rabbi said that I really liked. He said that Yom Kippur is really Yom HaKippurim in Hebrew. K'Purim means "like Purim." Purim is another Jewish holiday where you dress up and feast. How is Yom Kippur like Purim? Masks. On Purim we put on a mask and pretend to be someone else and on YK we take it off and show our honest selves to ourself and god (maybe). I liked that a lot.

G'mar Tov - and we should all be written in the Good Book (if it exists) and have a meaningful Yom Kippur - or at least a day of reflection.

Holland India London Denmark England Burma Rwanda America Netherlands Denmark Thailand

Okay, they probably wouldn't include Rwanda.

When I used to spell my name I would say "Birnholtz, B as in 'boy' i - r - n - h - o - l - t - z as in 'zebra.'"

Now, I say "Hildebrandt, H - i - l - d as in 'dog' - e - b as in 'boy' - r - a - n - d as in 'dog' - t as in 'tom.'"

In Singapore, they jump right in with the countries. They don't even say "Tan, that's T as in Thailand, A as in America, N as in Netherlands." They say my name is Cheryl Thailand America Netherlands.

I take a lot of messages at work, and it's pretty confusing when I think people's last names are always countries.

I was so productive after work that I suffered an hour and twenty minute commute, went to the dr office (it was just as pleasant as the last time), swam 24 laps, made veggie lasagna and ate it.

Flying Roacheroos

MOM - DO NOT READ THIS POSTING!!!

Sunday there was an upside down, dead cockroach outside of our door (not to be confused with the lambchop which was outside of our door some weeks ago).

Last night the cat ran out from some hiding spot and watched a big bug flying around the light in our hallway. I decided it was too big to run the risk of it coming into our apartment, and I closed the door.

Matt and I were then playing backgammon in bed, and a big bug flew in. I thought it was a moth. I thought that Matt should kill it. I saw it land on the curtain. It was a MAMA-HUGE-FLYING-COCKROACH! I had heard about them, but I had never seen them. It looked just like a normal cockroach, but bigger and apparently winged.

YUCK YUCK YUCK YUCK

Matt shooed it out the window with a broom.

I kind of wish we killed it. Is that unethical?

We went out with a great Israeli couple tonight. Ate amazing Japanese food. Doesn't quite make up for the cockroach...

Community Centre Porn

Matt and I were on our way from our hawker dinner to our Mandarin class. We passed by the community centre's (that's how they spell it here) computer lab. There was this little boy on the computer at the end. He was about 11 years old. I saw that he was scrolling down on a page, and the page had a NAKED woman on it. I pointed it out to Matt, and he tapped on the window, and when the kid looked at us wide-eyed, Matt shook his finger at the boy. It was pretty hilarious.

We went up to our classroom, and we saw the terrible teacher going in (we had an excellent teacher for the past few weeks), so we left. We felt bad, because he saw us, but oh well.

In other exciting news, the New York Times has a super piece in it today -

When I first moved to New York, I loved the Metropolitan Diary, on the second page of the Metro section on Mondays. It's basically stories that people send in about experiences in New York. People write about the passengers on a bus, they write about cell phone conversations in restaurants, they write about random things they see in Central Park...it's things that make New Yorkers say, "YES!! I totally know that!!!"

Today, one of the "Dear Diary"s is written by my good friend, Ruthie! Check it out - it's a great story.

Relaxing Weekend with the Real Maria

We are in the midst of a relaxing weekend. Thank the lordy. We were exhausted by Hong Kong and not sleeping in for such a long time (we're not ready to have kids).

Since I last wrote, I went to shul at (one of ) the Orthodox shul. Yes, this is the one that I have had terrible experiences with, but the Reform congregation only does one day. I got there at ten am, and I was the first woman there. I thought maybe I was in the wrong place, since it started at 8:30, and they were almost at the Torah service. EVERY seat was assigned to someone. I was pretty nervous to sit in any of them (though there was LITERALLY NO ONE there), because of the experiences I have had with this community so far. I had emailed and called to find out if I could show up at services, and no one got back to me, so I did NOT have a seat. I finally just sat down, and it was fine. I didn't recognize any of the people or any of the tunes, but it did the job.

Friday night this wonderful couple welcomed all of the progressive Jewish community into their home. It was a beautiful home, and the Rabbi (my friend Ariella's dad) and the cantor did a really beautiful service. Then there was a potluck dinner, but it was professional potluck - not like when you're in college. There were full fish, amazing lasagna, tons of fancy salads and great home-made desserts. The people there were great, and Matt and I had a wonderful time and met some nice people.

Remember when I wasn't working and didn't talk to anyone all day, and I named Rosemary, George and Maria? Maria was the name that we gave to our imaginary maid. We were looking for a Philippina name, since nearly all of the domestic helpers are from the Philippines, and we chose Maria. Then I started working, and it turned out that the woman who cleaned our office was named Maria. Then she mentioned that she was looking for some extra cash, and if any of us needed something done in our house, she would love to do it. So, a real woman, named Maria, came to clean our house yesterday. It was our first experience with someone external cleaning person coming into our house. It was awkward (and she didn't do the best job). I'm not sure we'll do it again.

Our Hildebrandt Open got rained out yesterday, so we're going to have to try again today (tennis).

We went grocery shopping to get the weekly watermelon and everything else. We chilled all day with Splinter, and then Christian came over for some Settlers. We went out for dinner in Changi Village, which is where we got the boat to when we went to Pulau Ubin. There were a whole bunch of restaurants there - most filled with people watching a soccer match. We had a big dinner and some beer and made it back for two games of Settlers.

I won't brag, but I did win four of the five games last night.

We were very happy to wake up to the news of Michigan beating ND. Finally something good. They even looked pumped, which I didn't think was possible after the last two weeks. I am still a bit embarrassed to say that I'm a Michigan fan, but we really can only go up...

Rosh HaShana

I went to "shul" this morning at the American Club. There were three remarkable things (but no earthquakes).

1) The guy who did Hagba and held the Torah during the Haftarah was chewing gum. He was chewing gum in "shul." He was chewing gum and holding the Torah. Neither of those things were too exciting for me - the part that totally shocked me was that he was chewing gum IN SINGAPORE!!!

2) At least half of the kids were half Asian. There are MANY mixed families who are part of the community. Sometimes when I think this is really just any other American Jewish community - because it feels super warm and there are kids running around, and most people aren't really paying attention - and then I look around, I realize that it really is pretty unique.

3) I would say that 70% of the women were crying when they sang Debbie Friedman's MiSheberach (prayer to heal the sick). Though I have never actually heard this during a service, so it could be a totally normal thing, it struck me, because I was thinking that these people were probably crying because their sick loved ones are really far away. Everyone is really far away in Singapore.

Matt came back from KL today. He gave a presentation to some big dudes. He said it went well, and he really liked KL. He even got to stay in the Shangri La hotel. Fancy shmancers.

New Moons and New Years

I remember walking down the street in Jerusalem about three years ago. It was midnight, and it started to rain. It was the first day of the year that we started saying the prayer for rain, as opposed to dew. I felt super connected to the earth - as if there really was some method to this madness we call Judaism.

In general, I do not feel connected to a lunar calendar or a Jewish annual cycle. Sure, I appreciate meals with friends and/or family, and I even enjoy shul (though only the torah reading, really), but I could have Purim in the fall and Sukkot in the summer without getting too confused.

In Singapore, it's different. Though NO ONE in my life here is celebrating Rosh Hashana (my colleagues have NEVER heard of it, and there certainly wasn't a rush of people going to shul before yom tov), I can feel the vibe. The reason is the moon.

Tonight started Rosh Hashana - a new month, a new year. It also started Ramadan. It also ended the seventh month of the Chinese calendar, when all of the ghosts get let out of heaven (and it's a pretty bad luck month here, so ending is good...). Nearly everyone here is connected to the moon. That's cool.

On to Rosh Hashana...Matt is in KL for work, so I was alone. I went to the progressive services through UHC. They are held at the American Club ($15,000 to join, plus $600 application fee plus $300 per month...), and my friend, Ariella's dad is the rabbi. He has been coming with his wife for the past fifteen years for the high holidays - so he has outlasted 99% of this rotating ex-pat community. Though we have emailed, this is the first time we met, and he and his wife were wonderful.

The service itself was uncomfortable for me, since it was Reform, and I am simply not used to it, but it was really nice. People participated, the room was full, the text was reflection-provoking. In general, it was fine.

Halfway through, I felt the guy behind me pushing my chair. I was shaking - legs, machzor, and all. I started to get really annoyed - didn't he realize that I was moving? Could he please STOP? Then, the guy in front of me turned around and asked me to stop kicking and shaking his chair. Since my legs were nowhere near his chair, I was confused. Luckily, it was a not-so-halachik audience, and the guy next to me then got a message on his blackberry - there was a huge earthquake in Indonesia, and we were feeling the aftershocks. It was my first earthquake. I have to say that it was much longer than expected. There was enough time for me to get really annoyed at the guy behind me.

I stayed for dinner and met a whole bunch of great people. I left with a handful of business cards, which makes me nervous in the states but excited here. In the states, anyone who takes their business card too seriously makes me feel gross. Here, it means that I might have new friends.

In other news, the cat learned how to jump up on the couch to be pet by me. She also enjoys watching me type, though it makes her walk on the computer and need to be scratched by my typing fingers.

Shana Tova to all of you.
I definitely hope we/I don't have too many more holidays TOTALLY away from all friends and family (and husbands!). It's not the happiest of holidays, but as I have learned with tough times, life goes on.

In Judaism you're not allowed to pray for something that is already determined. Example - if you're driving to your block and you see a fire engine, you can't pray that it's not your house that is on fire. It either is or it isn't, and it has already been determined. If you are pregnant, you cannot pray that it will be a boy, because it is already determined. I won't pray that the people in Indonesia who are affected by the earthquake are okay, but I will hope that they are okay. I hope that it didn't affect too many people, and I hope it wasn't in terrible ways.

Enjoy your family meals, your brisket, chicken soup, hugs, friends and apples and honey!

Fragrant Harbour

We just got back from a superb weekend in Hong Kong.

The bad news: Thursday, as I was leaving work, a mere 12 hours before our flight, I got an email from Fred who lives across the hall from us. He lived in HK for 15 years. All it said was, "don't stay in Kowloon. I will write a list of things to do in HK, but the most important thing is don't stay in Kowloon." I immediately called Matt. Turns out we stayed in Kowloon.

The good news: We loved Kowloon.

We stayed on the 22nd floor of a very plain hotel. We had a view of the bay and a view of the HK skyline across the water. Friday, after an early morning three and a half hour flight, we checked in and took the Star Ferry over to Kong Kong Island. The ride wasn't that exciting, but approaching that skyline was pretty cool. We ended up walking around the CBD for hours, and we met up with Kurt and Amy downtown. They had been on a three week tour of China and HK was their last stop. They're Matt's Peace Corps friends that I love, and they're the reason we went to HK originally.

We ended up going out with their group for their last night of group activity. This included watching the light show of the skyline from Kowloon. My favorite part of the light show was when they introduced each building and that building did some special light/laser trick. There was one that was my favorite, but the name was too long for me to remember - something like the "People's Republic of Blah Blah Building." It was funny. The energy generated from that light show could definitely feed a small country, but it was cool.

We had dinner with the group. It was at a restaurant that displayed all of the seafood before it was cooked. The only problem was that it was ALL still moving. Yuck. We ate veggie, and one of our dishes was really good. It did confirm that we don't really love Chinese food - or at least we're sick of it.

Saturday morning we had the dim sum experience. We went to a big restaurant down the street from our hotel, and we explained how Matt and I prefer vegetarian. He seemed to understand...until all of the food came. Apparently we ordered about ten dishes, and we ate shrimp or pork in everything (except for these super good yellow filled buns and the random dessert that he brought us). It was damn good. Really good. We kind of decided that dim sum with shrimp resembles a ball sack, pretty closely.

We then walked and walked and walked. We took the long escalator all the way to the top - up the hill behind the skyline. It goes from the MTR (like the MRT, but with two letters switched) halfway up the mountain. It's many pieces of escalator put together into an (effective) people mover. We walked through the botanical gardens, saw primates, reptiles, and then we went back to Kowloon so I could visit a fruit/veggie (and of course meat and dried fish) market and we could rest.

We had a super nice dinner and then took the Peak Tram up to the peak behind the HK skyline. It was really overwhelming. I didn't really think that cement and skylines could excite me, but it really did. It feels so exciting and alive. The buildings aren't like New York, where they all seem to look the same - each looks different, and it's as if they're each so proud of their existence. It makes me proud too. We really enjoyed being up there. We even had sorbet/ice cream.

Sunday Matt and I checked out and trekked around Hong Kong Island. Obviously we had whole wheat organic blueberry pancakes for breakfast, and then we headed off to Stanley - a city on the south side of the island. It was very ex-pat-y, but it was pretty on the water. They had a crazy market there. Lots of clothes and stuff. We then went to Aberdeen, which seemed to have no ex-pats. We just walked around for a bit. I saw fish getting dried. That was the highlight for me, since I always see dried fish here, but I don't really understand how they all get dried.

We took the bus to Causeway Bay, where Matt stayed when he was in HK last year for work. That's what I would expect Hong Kong to look like. It was like Chinatown on drugs - all of those signs and the same products, but much more like the rest of New York looks. We then took one of the old trams to the other side of the city.

I'm exhausted and have to go to sleep, but I wanted to note a few things.

First, thanks to Fred (neighbor), Lisa (cousin), and Joanna (colleague), who all gave advice on what we should do. They all win. It rocked.

Second, it was surprising to me that many people didn't speak English in Hong Kong. I thought the Brits held it? The drive on the left - doesn't that mean you should speak English? Just kidding - but it really was surprising.

Third, there was vibe and authenticity there. I really have been craving that.

We really appreciated the internationality of HK. We think it might be the second most international city that we have been to - second to NY. We appreciated that we could get Italian food, Middle Eastern food and pancakes (and dim sum).

On Sunday, there were literally thousands (maybe millions) of Philippino and Indonesian maids on the streets. It was CRAZY. I have never seen anything like it. They all come out in Singapore on Sundays also - they cover Orchard Road. There, though, it was a whole different level.

Click here to see the rest of our pictures.

Shana Tova to all of the Jews (and Jill)!

By the way - Hong Kong means Fragrant Harbour. History for another time...

Oh, and what is WRONG WITH MICHIGAN FOOTBALL????

Next Year in Jerusalem...This year in Singapore!

Matt and I went to see Prime Minister Lee Hsein Loong tonight. An amazing woman, Rachel, formed a group that bridges (Gesher) the Orthodox community and the Reform community. She invited the Prime Minister to spend a night with the Jewish community to see who we are. It was super interesting. It was basically mingling for two hours. He mentioned Ashkenazim, Sephardim, and he said, "Next year in Jerusalem, but THIS year in Singapore." He got a few laughs. I forgot to bring a camera, or I would post a picture here, but I'll steal someone else's and post one soon.

In case any of you is interesting, you can check out the article in Sunday's Times about Singapore. It speaks a lot of PM Lee's father, Lee Kuan Yew and his ideas about modern Singapore. It's actually pretty good. He really brought Singapore out of the third world, and he is quite a hero here.

In addition to PM Lee, the night was a success. Matt and I even met a few young couples without kids! We met an Israeli couple that we liked a lot, and we met a few other couples - mostly someone went to INSEAD in each of the couples. I also met the head of the day school here. Everyone was really really nice (which was a good change for me).

So tired.

Twenty Seven

Yesterday was my brother, Kenny's birthday. He would have been 27. I can't even imagine him at 27. Would he have a real job? Would he have gone to law school and then found some other way to not work? Would he have gotten out of Michigan? So crazy to think that Kenny could have ever been older than 23.

When he died, my biggest fear was when the rest of us grow older, and he stays the same age, and for the first time this year, it is happening. The last picture we took as a family actually looks out of date - Jeremy looks a bit older, my parents look a bit older (and less happy), and I definitely look older. Kenny looks the same. I think 30 and then 40 will be worse.

On happier notes, there is no Labo(u)r day in Singapore. We worked today, and in fact, Matt is still working (at 10:30 at night!!!).

We had a really nice, relaxing weekend. I went to shul on Friday night. It was interesting, because the shul looks like an old, beautiful shul you would see somewhere in Europe, but the decorations look like a simple, Sephardic shul in Israel. The davening was actually really hard for me to follow. I enjoyed parts of the davening. The disappointing part is that I said "hi" and "Shabbat Shalom" to people, and only ONE person spoke back to me. Women were actually sitting next to me and turning their backs to me. I even said to one person, "hi, I am new here, and I don't think I have met you," and he said, "I'm really late, so you'll have to excuse me as I walk fast," and then tried to walk away (though I kept in step with him just to make it awkward).

Saturday we did our ritual shopping and then Settlers. Thank the lordy that Lee Fong loves Settlers. It was so fun. So fun.

Saturday night Matt and I went on a romantic date to Holland Village. I didn't even get sick afterwards (first time...).

Sunday we met a family that we're friends with at the American Club for brunch. It was awesome. We got to eat lox and capers, and tomato juice, waffles, pancakes...you get the idea. I even had a five year old make a sundae for me - so I got lots of m and ms and also LOTS of rainbow sprinkles (those were the most important).

Then our friend, Arkadi came over. We had a Hildebrandt family fun day - first swimming, then hanging, and then we played tennis. Arkadi is good, and it was so fun. I also made a lasagna. It was my second time baking, and it was damn good.