Pulau Dayang (2008)

This weekend Matt and I took our second trip to Pulau Dayang, off the coast of South East Malaysian peninsula. We hopped on a van on Friday after work (and after the best chicken rice I have ever had), and took it all the way across the boarder to Mersing. We got off there, waited for a few hours (until 2am), then we got on a dive boat - I was selfish and went in near-first, and grabbed a bed for us - and we slept on the rocky four and a half hour boat ride to Pulau Dayang. We arrived and slept in beds for a few more hours.

Basically for the whole weekend we dove and ate and then dove and then ate. Literally this was our Saturday and Sunday:
Breakfast
Dive
Lunch
Dive
Snack
Dive
Dive (night dive)
Dinner
Sleep
Dive
Breakfast
Dive
Lunch
Boat ride back to Mersing and bus ride back to Singapore.

Luckily the food was good - and the diving was excellent. This was our first time using our new underwater camera and case, and we loved it. Now I don't have to link to wikipedia to show you what we saw!

Matt did his underwater photography specialty, so we had an instructor just for the two of us, and we loved her. We had met her last year when we went to Pulau Dayang. I had my longest dive (69 minutes), and I don't think we went deeper than 16 meters the whole time. It was super relaxed, great diving.

We were with a fun group of people as well.

A few thoughts about diving and Melanie - diving pushes me. I am not comfortable on boats. I take dramamine, and I listen to NPR on my ipod. Somehow that makes it okay. I am totally scared of the dark, but I pushed myself to go on a night dive. Somehow after a minute or two, I felt pretty comfortable under water, and I didn't think that the coral boogie monster was going to come after me. Sometimes we are getting pushed by currents, and it scares me that I am not strong enough to swim into them, but I always am, and it's always okay. I think I have learned a lot just by pushing myself to do this.

The pictures that are on the blog are (in this order):
The "resort"
us
giant puffer fish
blue spotted ray
turtle
sea worm (it was HUGE!)
starfish
bumphead parrotfish (these are the ones we swam with in Perhentian - not a great photo, but they're huge and so cool!)
clownfish (Nemos!)

Click here to see more pictures.

2nd Anniversary

Though we just had our Singaporeaversary...yesterday was our second wedding anniversary. We're not much for these types of celebrations, so at the last minute, I decided I would skip out on my Spanish class, and we went out for Italian food. I think it was the same place we went for our anniversary last year (but this time I didn't get sick after). We talked about how much we've grown over the past year, blah, blah, blah...it was nice.

Tonight we went out for our friend, Selina's good-bye dinner. She's going back to the States (she is Singaporean but studied at SAIS with Matt) to do her PhD. We went to a local restaurant in Geylang and had great food. I was offended, though, because I was one of three white people at the table, and the "waitress" lady brought ME (and ONLY me!) a plate, fork and spoon!!! I swear I'm a chopsticks expert. I have been complimented by the locals! I was totally offended.

My Chinese Day

This morning we were supposed to hike McRitchie reservoir, but it was thunderstorming and had been for hours, so we went for dim sum instead.

We met Jeff and Tenley at a dim sum restaurant recommended by a Singaporean in my Spanish class. It's on the seventh floor of an hdb (public housing) complex in the middle of nowhere, but still downtown. It is the most random thing ever.

It's a huge dim sum hall filled with Chinese families. We saw two other white people, and we literally saw hundreds of people waiting in the line and eating...It was a place where they have carts of dim sum and other foods that they bring around and you choose what you want. We ate so much food - we had no idea how much it cost. I ate chicken feet. Why not. I didn't like that I could feel the little toe joints, so I'm not sure I would do it again, but I wanted to try. My picture of them didn't come out too clearly. The rest of the food was outstanding. It was S$50 (about $35 US) for us all to stuff our faces for hours. Not bad.

Then I went to find a cheap pedicure or foot massage. This week was rough on my feet, so I thought I would treat them to one of those. I found a foot reflexology massage. It was outstanding. There were only two places that were too ticklish to touch. That I would do again.

The third Chinese thing I did was use a squatter toilet. I did it three times today (I drank a lot of tea this morning).

The Water Show that Wasn't

Today was a busy day for Hildebrandts in Singapore. We got up, went to the market, Matt and Peter got hair cuts by the cute Malaysian Chinese lady. We got back and ate some left-overs from last night, and then Matt and I went to see our friends Tali and Alon's baby. We hadn't seen her for a few months, and she is so cute and fun! It was great to see her. Then we headed to our dive shop, and I got my first diving mask and some booties. Now I will not get bruises in my uni-brow area and blisters on my feet. I think I will enjoy diving more. Then we hopped on the MRT and went to the mall to meet up with a bunch of friends to see You Don't Mess with the Zohan. I cannot believe that is a movie. I was DYING the entire time. It's so outrageous. He is hilarious. I have to see what Arabs are saying about this movie, and I'm 99% sure there's not much positive, but I can tell you that we were entertained and that 70% of the movie went over the heads of most of the people in the audience. There were so many funny jokes. I HIGHLY recommend that people see this movie. I think I'm the target audience for it - N. American Jew who gets the Israel jokes and appreciates silly penis humor.

Then we took cabs to the Bedok Reservoir, where there was supposed to be this Dutch music thing on the water that closed the Singapore Arts Festival. We walked and walked and we saw a bunch of people sitting on the grass. We asked if it was happening where they were sitting, and they said "yes. That is why there is this wooden platform here." Okay. We believed them. Then I called our friend whom we were meeting there, and I heard music, an announcer and realized that there was something we were missing. She couldn't describe WHERE on the reservoir she was, so we walked around the reservoir. We walked for about 10 minutes, and we passed literally hundreds of people who had set up chairs around the reservoir - looking at nothing. You couldn't tell anything was going on, but Julie swore it had already started. Okay - so we turned around when we ran into a European family who said there was nothing in the direction we were going in. We walked back, passed those hundreds of people sitting in chairs and on the platform near the water. There were no signs. The sound was NOT traveling across the water. We saw some small lights far away. Finally, we got there, and you could not see ANYTHING, because everyone was standing, and we are too short. I sat on the grass at the back with some friends. We saw a bit robot that had fire coming out of his eyes and water spurting out of his head. Then there were fireworks. Then it was over. Julie and Paul said it sucked, so I guess we didn't miss anything, but it sure was annoying not being able to get there...

Please enjoy this photo I took at our friend's condo. It says "poo" on a public sign.

Manicured Piggies

This week was really hard and tiring. Luckily it ended up with a super fun Shabbat dinner in our clubhouse with 16 of our friends. I ended up figuring out how to deal with only one little fake oven...but I found out that we can really only use two of our four burners at the same time if we're using the wok. There's just no space. Anyways - I made one oven dish (carrot kugel), and one cold dish (couscous salad), and green Thai curry, rice, and lentil soup. People brought other food, and it all worked out swimmingly. We are lucky to have people we like so much - and to be able to have shabbat dinner with 18 people one year after we move here is a pretty cool thing.

Other than dinner, I had to be at work at 7:15 on Thursday and Friday, and we had big events, so I was "on" for a lot of hours this week. I'm happy this week is over.

Since I don't have much to write about this week, I wanted to write about a phenomenon I have seen here that blows my mind.

In the US we do (not ME, but WE) get manicures and pedicures. Pedicures are usually to clean up the feet and keep the toe nails short and cute looking. Here, there are women who have super manicured - and LONG!!! - toe nails. This means that these feet NEVER go into shoes (they wouldn't fit!). Can you imagine never wearing shoes, only sandals? Such a weird concept. It makes me feel a little nauseous when I see it.

Catching my Attention

On the way home yesterday I saw three ads that made me laugh.

1) On the side of a mall, there was a picture of a happy couple and next to it was a picture of a diamond ring. I then had the word "monogamy" and a definition. It looked like it came from a dictionary. I didn't catch the whole definition (I was on the moving bus), but I did see the last line which was something like "for a life of guaranteed intensity." In Malaysia there is a lot of talk recently about how men need to recognize monogamy more...I didn't know it was a problem anymore in Singapore...

2) I saw an ad for a cream or soap. The ad said, "You are the sparkle. You don't need diamonds." My first thought is - GREAT! Focus on the woman, and not the things she HAS. Then I saw that the product advertised guaranteed that your skin would be lighter in just three weeks. So much for that idea.

3) I saw an ad with fake newspaper headlines. "Hand Food and Mouth Disease Hits Singapore." "...3 more in China." There were a bunch of headlines that implied that it is killing people in Singapore and China (which isn't necessarily UN-true). It was an ad for soap, and how if you use this soap you can keep your family safe.

Singapore definitely bases much on fear, and this is another example. This makes me think that after 9-11 in the US, that ads would have sprung up like - "The terrorists are coming to your neighborhood. Use this protective sealing tape so you don't die of nuclear god-knows-what."

Bollywood Gardens

On Saturday I went with my friend, Peter and a family he knows to Bollywood Veggies. We took the bus to the MRT, took the MRT for about an hour and 15 minutes, then we took a taxi for about 20 minutes, we passed Malaysia, we drove (we convinced the taxi driver NOT to turn around), and finally we arrived (two hours later...).

It's this great garden that grows nearly everything we see in our stores. I took some pictures of the foods that we eat growing.

I loved the banana flowers.

I also ate pickled kedong dong. I have no idea what it was, but I love picked things. The guy said it was sort of like a mango, but it was picked, so it wasn't really like a mango. He said it was like a gurken. I had no idea what a gurken was (I'm sure I'm spelling it wrong), but then I found out it's a cucumber, and then I realized that's neat, because "Ogurek/ogurki" is cucumber(s)/pickle(s) in Russian.

Help

This past week I stayed at my friends' house while they were away. Mom (the one I'm closest to) is in the States to be with her family, and Dad was working out of Beijing for a few days. They have three amazing kids, and Mom took the littlest one with her, which left two boys - ages 6 and 8 - in Singapore with their helper for the week. I happily agreed to hang with them as well. This meant that Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I would go straight to their place after work.

They have a helper who lives with them. I would say that most ex-pat families in Singapore have a helper, and I actually only know one that has kids and DOESN'T have one. They're usually Filipina, but some are Thai, Indonesian or other nationalities. This week was my first long experience with a helper. Our Israeli friends here have one, and we have been to their house for dinner, but that's about it for my experience with helpers...

Anyways - it was amazing. I arrived from work, and dinner was MADE and the table was set. There was nothing on my part that was required other than eating. I loved it. After dinner, rather than cleaning up, we went upstairs and watched Star Wars (one day) or played wii (two days). When the kids were asleep, and I came back downstairs, everything was clean, lights were off, and there was nothing to do.

I have stayed with my cousins before, and the hardest part is getting them fed, up in the morning, etc, but Inday did ALL of that. She was amazing. This means that their parents get to hang out with them in the evening. They can entertain guests and move to the living room without worrying about dishes sitting in the sink. I just can't imagine how nice it must be to live your real life this way.

I believe it's about US$600 per month to have a helper here in Singapore.

I also believe that it would be nearly impossible for me. Most won't stay in a proper room - they are more "comfortable" staying in the maid's quarters (ours is TINY! I would NEVER put a person there!). They don't eat with your family. The whole fact that there is someone who is living in your house who is not equal to you is hard for me to digest.

We do talk about it, since we talk about having kids while we're living here, and we wouldn't have any family or most of our friends from childhood (that would drop anything for you...) around. Something for us to ponder.

More Babies!!!

It's raining babies!!! Hallelujah!

Mazal tov to Rachel and Steve who had a baby boy this week (don't know when, since we're 12 hours ahead)...Aaron Noah.

Mazal tov to Amy and Brian who had a baby boy, Michael Gus.

Between these babies and the pregnant friends, you would think that we hit our thirties or something! Oops, I guess we did.

My Singaporeversary

Yesterday marked one year exactly since I moved to Singapore (Matt arrived one month before me). I probably learned more my first year of college, or even my first year of grad school, but I feel like I have learned so much and grown so much in this past year. When I stopped to think about it, it totally blew me away.

1) Matt and my relationship (how do you write that correctly?)
In New York (and DC and Michigan, and particularly when I lived in Israel), Matt and I had more separate lives. We had many separate friends, separate activities, and we were pretty separate people. This isn't to say that we didn't love each other a lot, spend a lot of time together, and learn a great deal from each other, but we were just not as much of a unit as we are here.

In the past year, all of this has totally changed for a variety of reasons. I have heard that moving abroad makes or breaks a couple, and I am extremely happy to say that it has made us. We share one life here, maybe too much of a social life, and we depend on each other way more. In NY there was always someone else we could each turn to if need be, and here it's not that way. I love my friends here, but the ones that I'm closest with have only known me for 6 - 10 months. That's not a lot. Another big reason is that I'm not as Jewish here, and the Jewish community that we are a part of - Matt likes (which we can't say for New York), so it's something we get to share rather than something that drives us apart.

All in all - this year has made us so much closer, and we enjoy our time together on a whole different level.

2) Traveling
In the past year, I have traveled to Pulau Dayang (Malaysia), Bangkok (Thailand), Hong Kong, Melaka (Malaysia), Siem Reap (Cambodia), Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), big trip to Thailand including: Chiang Mai, bike trip to Chiang Rai, Bangkok, Khao Sok National Park, Krabi, then back to Phuket (Thailand) a few weeks later, Perhentian Island (Malaysia), Michigan, Cleveland, Toronto, New York, and Petoskey/Harbor Springs.

That's a lot for one year. Granted we used to travel a lot when we lived in the States, I didn't find that places we went as exciting as the places we're going while we live out here (imagine that). I could never have guessed that I would be so lucky to go to all of these places, and I know that there will be more before we leave Singapore. I have to say that the traveling has been the best part of living out here (though we have not gone ANYWHERE since we got back from the States!).

3) Eating
I have eaten more and more different things than I have ever eaten in my life. I have kept kosher or been vegetarian for nearly all of my life, so I have had my first:
Chili crab
Yummy prawn in butter and garlic
Fishball noodle
Prawn mee (prawn noodles)
Peanut pancake (the best)
Malay food
Dim Sum (including the yummy soup/pork ones that explode in your mouth)
Pork
The best curries
The best salads (papaya and mango)
And SOOO much more good food

4) Asia in general
I have learned an insane amount about Asia. When we moved here, I literally had no idea where Singapore was, what language they spoke, etc. Now I can look at a map and quickly identify countries and cities (I could even draw a map!). I know the languages they speak in different countries, I know the currencies they use, I have learned a bit about their economies and histories. When we were in Geylang the other night (with the prostitutes), I could even identify where the girls were from based only on their looks. That is quite an accomplishment.

Matt and I weren't able to have conversations about Asia before - now I'm not great at adding things, but at least I know what he's talking about.

5) Jobs
I learned a whole lot from my two jobs I have had here - and my lack of jobs.

I learned that I do not want to not work (at least while I don't have kids).

I learned that I'm pretty sure I don't want to work in an NGO in Singapore. At least not a local one - maybe a multi-national one. I learned a lot about women's issues in Singapore from working at AWARE.

In my current job, at Moody's, I have learned an insane amount. I understand a lot about debt markets, finance, big companies, Bloomberg, excel...I have learned more than I can even comprehend. Other than my first job, I have probably learned more in the past 6 months there than at any of my other jobs.

6) Three weird things that have happened this year
A lambchop appeared on my stoop.
I fell in love with two cats - Kitty and Splinter.
I started working in a corporation.

Tai Dai

Tonight after a super fun pot-luck dinner at my friend Rachel's house, me, Matt, Peter, Maria and Peter's friend Will (who is vising from St. Louis) went to Geylang. This is the red light district of Singapore.

Apparently the ladies in the brothels are legal and legit - get tested and what not, and all of the ladies on the street are not so legit.

I'm pretty wasted right now, so this will be short, but I have a few points.

The girls were SO pretty. I feel like when I have seen prostitutes in Amsterdam or NY, they look sort of used and dirty. These girls looked 18 and gorgeous. I have never seen so much Chinese cleavage in my life. I was really impressed with their looks.

Will is black, and when he went up to a woman with Peter, she said that she wouldn't go with Will. She said "Tai Dai," which apparently means "too big." She said $80 for Peter.

Also, in this area, we got BIG bottles of Heineken for $6 per bottle. This is totally unheard of.

Basically we walked up and down streets and alleys. There were girls and migrant workers all over the place. Also hotels. Lots of hotels.

The Sounds

Yesterday I did the unheard of (so to speak).

I forgot my ipod.

My dad tried to convince me to get an ipod for at least two years, until I caved nearly three years ago, and I got the nano. I listened on my 1/2 hour walk to work everyday for the last two years in NYC, and I have listened nearly everyday in Singapore.

I have about 200 songs on it, but they're only for emergency.
Priorities are in this order:
1) NPR Most Emailed Stories (downloaded daily)
2) WNYC's On the Media (only 1 hr/week)
3) This American Life (only as a TREAT or for working out - too precious to commute with)
4) Marketplace (gets out of date after a few days)
5) Music on mix (but my ipod is in Spanish, so it's actually aleatorio canciones)

I listen on my way to work now, because I found an express bus that goes directly from our house to the CBD, and I get to work in 25-30 minutes (which is UNBELIEVABLE since I thought an hour was good before). I can read my New Yorker on the MRT, but since I get car sick, I can't read on the bus.

I certainly listen when I walk around busy places. Walking around busy places in Singapore is my least favorite thing in the world. I try to pretend it's not happening.

I listen when I browse in shops. Otherwise it bothers me that the vendors constantly ask you what you're looking for or suggest other things. For some reason I think this is funny in the wet market, but it annoys the crap out of me in a proper store.

I listen all the time. Sometimes Ira and I have moments all to ourselves. Sometimes Kai Ryssdal and I are totally on the same page about the economy. I'm believing in "This I Believe." I am IN the Supreme Court with Nina Totenberg. It gets me through my days, and I learn a lot.

Yesterday was my hell. I had to listen to the sounds and remember that I was in Singapore ALL DAY LONG. This included:

• The weird bell that dings every four seconds on the bus on the way to work
• The stupid people talking on their hand phones on the bus
• The constant sound of the two beep nokia phones receiving text messages
• It made me THINK about the people who walked in front of me and cut me off for no good reason
• I met my friend Rachel to study Jewish stuff at the mall last night, and I had to WALK AROUND IN A MALL - bad walkers AND annoying people trying to sell you things - with all of my senses.

So, basically my ipod makes me unaware and disinterested, which usually I really appreciate, but it actually concerns me now that I'm writing it out.

Today I heard a rap about the Economist which made me think of Matt and his obsession with the Economist.

I heard something about the anti-folk music in Juno that made me think of my dad...I just like my life better this way.

Chicken at Long John Silvers

When I was 15 and went to Camp Ramah for the summer, my friend Chris sent me a drawing he did on his computer. It was a pirate in the high seas (patch and all), fishing for chickens. He was a representative of Long John Silver, and this was Chris trying to figure out why the company had a whole pirate/sea theme going on while they were serving a lot of chickens. I think his main question was if there were chickens to be found in the seas.

That was back in 1993 or 1994. Luckily, a lot has changed between then and now. I don't even know if Long John Silver exists in the US - I don't think I have seen it since high school - but it surely does here. And this picture is what I found on the bus stop on my way home tonight. The have changed from the sea into war chickens equipped with bullets. We still have the pirate thing going - peg leg and eye patch - but no seas at all. I guess they learned their lesson.

Hot Dishes for Dinner

So in Michigan, DC, Jerusalem and NYC I was a big Shabbat hostess. I LOVE hosting dinners, and I always had big ones, and I loved cooking for them. It was a big prob with me and Matt when we moved in together in NYC, because I always wanted to have people over, and he doesn't like it as much. Well - I could have big meals after working all day...I'm telling you - I was an expert.

We decided to host a shabbat dinner in a few weeks. Our house is not big enough (or air conditioned enough), so we're having it in the club house in our condo (a whopping $20 for the air con, tables, chairs and space). We invited a bunch of people last night. I was really excited about it.

Until...I was in the shower this morning, and I realized that I have a counter top oven that fits one 9" x 9" pan, and that's IT! I have no idea how we're going to have more than one warm dish. I finally thought of soup, but I think we can only have one baked dish, one freshly cooked stove top dish (that can only take about and hour total to prepare!) and a soup (that also must be very simple to prepare!)!! I will return from work at 7, though I will try to get them to let me leave by 5, and will not be able to just stuff everything in the oven to warm up.

Maybe I should have thought this through before I invited everyone? Maybe they just won't mind that everything will be cold?

By the way - if you live in Singapore, and we're friends, you're invited, so let me know what you're bringing (and if you live near-by - bring something warm!!).

What Life Would be like without Settlers

Friday night we went to Sembawang to hang out with Jeff and Tenley who live out there. We went to a nice restaurant on the straits where you can see Malaysia across the water (they live REALLY far from us!). It was a totally enjoyable dinner - great people, great discussion and great food. Then we went home and were in bed by 11.

Saturday we watched the Pistons lose (it was on live here).

Then I went to the market, cleaned the house, Matt looked at our taxes (that are still not done...), I went to see Sex and the City with two friends, Matt went to play basketball, then I came back and made dinner. Two friends, Peter and Justin came over, we ate good green Thai curry, veg stir fry and then they went home at 9, and we were in bed by 10.

That's what our life would be like WITHOUT Settlers. Now...reality is that we went back to Jeff and Tenley (and Koa and Kismet's) house and played Purto Rico and then Settlers, and we didn't get home until after two. Last night Peter, Justin and me and Matt (incorrect grammar...) played Settlers, and then Maria came over to play too. Again - in bed by two.

Might be pathetic to play board games two nights in a row on a weekend, but the reality is that life is just better with Settlers, and I would be happy and not pathetic to play everyday of every week.