lifeonplanetmum.com

Last night, Christina and Elan hosted a dinner for us to say goodbye at the very upmarket China Club. The view from the 52nd floor was amazing, especially at night time, we got to see the whole skyline of Singapore’s business district and the Marina Bay. However, as I did not have my tripod, I could not take a decent photo and I didn’t really want to go about snapping photos of the restaurant with my giant camera. The interior was everything Chinese.  Badges from the military uniforms, pictures and statues of Chairman Mao was adorned everywhere, amidst latticed woodwork and silk curtains.

We had a private room. Eric and Martha, Jenny and Andrew were there, forming our closest friends. It was very special.

Not a very good group photo. The poor waitress was struggling with the weight of my camera and thus the shakey picture.

Good friends.

Our husbands. It amuses me to see how men don’t sit close together when they take photos. Matt is the only one who does not speak a second language. They all speak Mandarin fluently - and they learnt it out of high school in the USA! We found out that Elan speaks Spanish as well!

The menu on our table.  When I opened it, this was what I found:

It had been personalised with our names on it.  Wow! It was an amazing over the top night. Last night reminded me why I should stay in Singapore. No, but I will miss them all so much. I hope to find friends like that in the USA.

As the week is passing, the local news has not stopped reporting about Michael Jackson’s untimely passing. It has been so unreal. He has lived such a wonderful yet strange life, something that we cannot relate to; almost a god-like figure, worshipped by so many fans all over the world. So it is very hard to believe that   I first heard his music when I was 15 when he won so many grammy awards for his Thriller album. I remembered feeling fearful when I watched it; back then, it was the most expensive music video ever made and he brought music videos up to new levels.  My favourite song back then was “Beat It” and I can remember my youngest sister, Janice, singing to Michael Jackson’s music instead of nursery rhymes.

For the last few days, I have been going through all his videos on youtube and it has slowly dawned on me that he is well and truly gone from our lives.  Michael Jackson was a genius, there is no one like him in this world - and no one ever will fill this void he has left.

The only other person that I remember the world reeling from her death in the same manner was Princess Diana but she was not an artiste, but she was loved, just as MJ was loved. I mourn your loss, MJ, you were taken away from us too soon, just as you sang these words above.

I just wanted to share a picture of my very good friend C, who is Canadian and has four beautiful daughters, one who has appeared on the front cover of a magazine here in Singapore. They are always getting offers from people off the street for TV ads or magazine shoots, I have lost count of them! They are so super cute. 

We have been friends since 2000 when I worked at a bank where her husband worked and she decided to be friends. She made a great effort to call each week and organise to go to movies, restaurants. Over the years, I had my first baby and she organised my baby shower at her place. I was very touched by that. Then 6 months later, she was pregnant. We shared a lot of stories and tips about parenting together. Then I was pregnant with C and 3 months later, she was also pregnant with her second child.

I wanted three kids but stopped because having two kids was not as easy as I had thought. She went on to have another two. 

She moves in a different social circle from me but one thing I have always appreciated about her is that she never has any airs or graces.  I love the parties at her place, they are always so glamorous and allowed me to meet some pretty amazing people. Usually the police came to check their whole condo hours before the party started because there were so many VIPs attending! I remember meeting movie producers, artists, politicians, ambassadors, humanitarian aide workers..and then there’s us! :D 

I always go to her when I want to know how to respond to a situation, she has this wise and calm ability to know what was the best thing to do. The outcome was always very tactful and people would always be happy. She is a graceful person, very careful about preserving people’s feelings. 

Here is a photo of us and C’s youngest (she has blue eyes! Recessive genes at work!), me looking absolutely jet lagged after my 27 hour flight back from New York to London to Singapore.  I swear if it wasn’t for her, I would still be stuck eating at my favourite hawker stall joints. Here we are, just before having a very nice buffet lunch at the Raffles Hotel.

C and M have been good friends and I will miss our yearly birthday lunches and other girly get togethers. I am going to miss them both so much. We were going to do a shopping trip to Bangkok at some stage but I hope we still get to go, even though I am so far away now.

Anyway, the best thing about moving to the USA to date is that C’s mother in law whom I have met several times, lives in the state where we will be moving to! She is just 20 mins away from us and she is such a cool lady, very friendly, open and kind.  We met over a cup of coffee and she asked me if I would be her “adopted daughter” since her only child (C’s husband) lives in Singapore. I said yes very happily and look forward to spending time with her.  She will be like family - she misses her family in Singapore, as I do in Malaysia, and we will both keep each other company. An absolute bonus!

My friend Jenny and her family invited us to the Art Museum in Singapore where there was an exhibition of Verner Panton’s work.  There was a workshop for kids to produce a collage based on his ideas so we all went to have a look.

This is the National Museum of Singapore. Can you believe, this is our first time there? My boys are monkeying around in the foreground.

I love the architecture of the building.

The big sign outside, advertising Verner Panton. I don’t profess to be very knowledgable about design and its concepts but I appreciate a thing of beauty when I see it.  He designed some revolutionary furniture and lighting. Everything was in darkness and it was only illuminated by non direct light.

This art piece greeted us at the entrance. I am not sure if it is his work (I wasn’t really concentrating because I was talking to Jenny) However, I do like how the tanks are in pink and the nozzle is a heart shape. A bit of an oxymoron. Pink, hearts and tanks on a pile of broken bricks.

Another view.

Panton’s famous furniture pieces. Can you believe, some of these were designed in the 1950s to 1960s? They look so timeless. Many copycats have taken from his concepts and we see them in offices and homes today.

Panton never liked to use glaring white lights, preferring to play with light and simple geometrical designs. (I wouldn’t call it simple - his designs look like there was a lot of thought into it)

There was a room which the boys absolutely loved. Flash photography wasn’t allowed so this was one of the times I thanked my lucky stars I had a DSLR.

So the children went up with a lady to a lab where they put everything they learnt on a piece of paper, conceptualizing and planning their collage. This is what they came up with:

James’ Work

Cameron’s work.  We noticed that most people did their collages in circles but C was the only one who did his in squares. He was very excited and attentive during the talk, he kept asking questions and giving answers which I thought showed that he was quite drawn to art.  The workshop was meant for 7-12 year olds but he was tall so no one thought to ask his age.

What a great day it was!

I have been extremely lazy about everything. It is as if I have hit the “laziness” bug, I haven’t packed or organised anything for my move to the USA. I haven’t made anything, done any craft. (Oh but I have, I just haven’t bothered to take many photos or put them in here) Can you believe I have 5 weeks left before we move to the USA? I am STILL thinking of pulling the plug on the US move. But I know I won’t do it because it is me being a big fat chicken, afraid to fail, afraid for my kids. I will not be ruled by fear!

On to other things, I wanted to say how horrified I was to hear of the Metro train crash in Washington DC this week, where 10 people died. It was the Red Line. Guess where I was most of last week? Sitting in the Red Line train in Washington DC, between Arlington and Twinbrook. Every single day. I got horribly nauseated because the trains go so fast and they tilt. I don’t normally get motion sickness but here I was, gulping down gusts of air to stabilise. 

The other news I wanted to write about was how I logged into Facebook and read that Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett had died.  I knew FF was on her deathbed because she had been battling anal cancer for a while and the press had mentioned on Thursday she was on her deathbed.

Michael Jackson, your time was up too soon. I never believed all those stories about you and the molestation charges. You were manipulated by people around you, including the press and I hope that your last days was happy. My thoughts go out with this three children who have lived with him all their life and now they are parent-less.

Sorry, been missing in action because I have been so jet lagged. Back in Singapore and boy have I missed the heat. It was about 18 degrees Celcius in Washington and NY, however, it rained a whole lot more than normal.

I flew there on the Airbus 380 on business class to London and it really made a huge difference. I did not feel tired at all.

This was how wide the seat was.

Another view. There were 4 seats in a row. 

I am happy to report that we have found a school and home near the school. It was such an impromptu decision on my part. What had happened was that we went to the USA the first time to look at some schools. We looked at Virginia and liked some of the public schools there.  For this trip, because we had heard so much about the good schools in Maryland as well, we stuck in two appointments with some public schools there.  We were set on Virginia and I was just going to go the second time around to find a house and perhaps look at 7 more schools.

However, when I was in Maryland I really liked the curriculum because they accelerated children who were able to go further by giving them work from a grade above. Based on that, I made a decision to go with the school there, without even seeing the children there. Everything then seemed to fall in place, I found a really neat place within walking distance from the school. Also there was a community area behind our house, which had tennis courts, a pool and a river that ran through a small park.

So with all that done, I went up to NY for a weekend of catching up with my cousin Ken, see my friend Ann Marie and for a spot of shopping.  I really LOVE NY. It is very much like Singapore without the aggression and modernity.  If Matt were given a job there, I would have jumped at the chance to move there without hesitation.

Ann Marie and I were nuts - we knew Robert Pattinson was filming “Remember Me” in NYU and we were walking everywhere looking for him. We spotted Kirsten Dunst outside a restaurant, I walked back and forth to see if I could ask for an autograph but she kind of freaked out I think and went into the restaurant.

Here are some shots of Hoboken, NJ and the view from Ken’s apartment overlooking the Manhatten skyline.

Ken’s apartments.

View from Ken’s apartment

Ken. I have not seen him in over 8 years and the last time we met, we did not have much of a chance to catch up. It was great seeing him again after all these years. He is such a great fashion advisor! Looking forward to more shopping trips with you in the future!

I really liked the buildings in NY. This one in particular, i don’t know what the name of it was but I love the details on the building.

Sorry for being absent for a while. I am now in the USA, on my own, looking at several schools before the school year ends.  Matt was so sweet, he organised all the appointments for me so that I did not have to do much, just turn up!

I flew on the Airbus 380 on business class, thanks to Singapore Airlines points, they have to be used up by Sept this year so what a lovely way to travel. It really makes a big difference travelling on business class, especially with long distances. I could lie flat, even though I did not sleep, I felt rested.

So now I am in Arlington and feeling very much at sea. My parents came to Singapore again and everytime I see them, I feel really sad and don’t feel like leaving Asia at all.  I still have not seen a school that has jumped out at me and this is why I am back here. However, I have found 2 very good public schools but as they are very good areas, rental properties are rare and to buy is around the range of US$700K to more than US$1.4 million. I am very glad that we sold our property in Bishan so that we at least have some sort of down payment to afford a house here.

Anyway, I am at a public computer place so I have to scoot. Will write to update again.

After J did something naughty, he said a quick prayer under his breath and I overheard it.

“Lord please punish me by giving me the biggest boogie that will get stuck in my nose and won’t come out no matter how hard I try to dig it out!”

I went out for a shopping spree yesterday and spent er…quite a lot..and can I justify that too! LOL.  I am afraid that I may not find sizes that fit me so I decided to get my essentials here, like jeans (I am a shortie by Western standards and over here, I very seldom have to alter the length of my jeans) and the white shirt.

Went to CK Tangs, they were having their Great Singapore Sale and there were some good deals. I was looking for locally designed clothes and was not disappointed.  After a while of being there, I was swamped by the retail staff, all eager and so helpful. I was so pleased with their service that I asked to speak to the Customer Service Manager and praised the staff, saying that they made my shopping experience a real pleasure and I felt I was shopping amongst friends. One lady recommended a dress I would never choose but when I put it on, I loved how it felt on me.

I also like to make it a point to call managers downstairs to meet me so I can give feedback about their staff.  Good customer service here in Singapore is a rarity and when you do encounter it, you want to praise it and make a big fuss. My logic is that by doing that, you are doing your bit back to encourage more of this to happen. However, CK Tang has always had a good reputation for good service.

Anyway, I am digressing.  Here are three of my many purchases - I love this shop, last month I bought four pairs of shoes at one go because they were so cheap.  There is a good side to recession. They bring down the prices to encourage spending and boy am I living it!

Excuse the face, just concentrate on the dress.  I LOVE this dress. It is plain white with a bubble skirt. It was a real steal at $59.00 reduced from $120. It is slightly large for me but I am anticipating that I will put on weight in the USA from all the good food!

This is the one that the saleslady recommended to me.  It is a light flowy dress that has a belt and obviously can be worn many ways.  It feels so feminine! Again, excuse the horrible hairband on my hair. It is running amok and I can’t control it.  This dress happened to the be the most pricey of the lot (don’t some of you be saying, “The saleslady saw you coming, Grace!”)

This one has a very Japanese feel to it.  The Japanese ones tend to be these big shift tunics and this one has a fitted waist. The local designer also did the one above.  I love the fabric, it is made from a heavier cotton.  It needs a thick belt around it somehow. More of my purchases later. Thank you for viewing! I am being a bit of a camwhore today!

This is the tradition that the school does on the last day. Mr Schunk and Mr Hoss are there, faithfully doing their duty - with obvious love and care for the children.  It was so loud that my neighbour heard it, and we live about 3 blocks away from the school! There are so many buses as you can see them pulling out, one by one near the end and this is only the primary (K-Grade2) and Intermediate (Grade 3-5) schools!