In the Tower of Expats

It's Tuesday and I realize we missed Cinco de Mayo yesterday. We had other reasons to celebrate.

Hapny and Sofie check in at the doctor's office.

Hapny's doctor appointment went well and everything is proceeding normally with her pregnancy. Sofie and I even got to see the ultrasound images and listen to the tiny heartbeat of Blossom Clover! Next appointment will be in two weeks. We had already packed and after a quick lunch, we checked out of the Oasia and took a taxi to Orchard Scotts Residences a block or so from the Newton MRT station. We even managed to fit in a visit to the Indonesian embassy, but that's a whole 'nother story....

$9 for this tiny bottle!

Later, after unpacking and neatly storing my stuff in the drawers and closet of my own bedroom and private bathroom, I chose the moment to celebrate with the last half of an over-priced and very tiny bottle of shiraz cabernet I bought week before last. The first half I drank straight from the bottle in keeping with our then meager surroundings. This time, in a metaphoric twist, I relished pouring the remainder into an elegant stemmed glass from our apartment cupboard and relaxing on the living room sofa gazing at the sunset through the large bank of glass windows. The feelings of contentment and joy were indescribable. No more living out of suitcases eating every meal out. We are HOME at last!

We're on the third floor of this bldg.

OSR is a complex of 3 angular highrise buildings surrounding a melange of fountains/pools that are visually appealing and family friendly with various spouts and cascades of water to play in.  None of the interconnected pools are deeper than one meter, so even Sofie can stand in any area and keep her head above water. Adults watching their kids have some ease of mind with the set up. A separate deeper adult pool is a short distance away. The three of us enjoyed the pool for the first time this afternoon. The other two buildings are for longterm tenants/owners. Our building of furnished apartments appears to be a haven for expats--people from all over who have chosen or are assigned by employment to live outside of their home country.

Hapny signs papers at the dining table.

Our apartment features recent issues of "Expat Living" magazine and Singapore guidebooks.  There is a large contingent of non-Asian families in our building, and while everyone likely speaks English, it cannot be assumed that English is their first language, much less assume that they might be from America.

Welcome basket from management.

At our first communal breakfast this morning (offered weekdays and included in the rental cost) it felt like dining at the UN, just based on the variety of languages and accents I heard. I've wanted to ask strangers if they are from the States, but have resisted the urge. Which is why I was so thrilled in the grocery store this afternoon when a woman stopped and asked me where I was from!  "The States! Tennessee!" Turns out she is a neighbor, sort of, from Arkansas. She and her husband have been living in the area for 3 months. She said she heard me speak to Sofie and noted a familiar accent. She offered some suggestions for other grocery locales and I'm sorry we didn't exchange contact information.

View of the playground.

We have a corner apartment on the third floor overlooking the children's playground. Sofie checked that out yesterday. We get housekeeping services weekdays and 24/7 building and property security. When we returned from an outing today, there were two new magazines dropped at our door. The appliances are so high tech, we had to call for assistance to figure out how to operate the tv and cable remotes. There's a DVD remote as well.

Our laundry room.

The washing machine is a combination washer and dryer and we just kept trying various combinations of button pushing to make it work....but we did it! Thank goodness there was a manual for the oven, which was so different I couldn't tell if it was a microwave or convection or what.  The answer is...both and more! Actually, there are 8 combinations of cooking, roasting, baking and broiling that can be done in that one oven. Tonight, I fixed my own dinner--a baked potato with butter and sour cream! Mmmm! Hapny had brought home leftovers from our lunch at the Chinese place we like that she and Sofie ate. Tomorrow we have the fixin's to make tuna sandwiches and we'll make a return trip to the grocery store for dinner. We're investigating getting a collapsible cart with wheels for conveying groceries home on the MRT. Carrying bags like I did today has already taken a toll. Happy to say the bed in my room is conducive to healthy sleep!

My bedroom.

Tomorrow, we return to the Indonesian embassy for the fourth time. Yes, there's a story there, but I'll save it for the next blog post!