So not quite Dixie..in fact probably 10 C hotter than Dixie in the winter…but we celebrated the traditional late fall and early winter holidays in Singapore..complete with shorts, tee shirts and trips to the swimming pool.
Halloween featured two excellent costumes (Jay even one a best costume prize) and a limited Trick-or-Treating…
For Thanksgiving (not a holiday here),..Mom taped all of the parades and we watched on Saturday while Mom, Jay and Bee baked the traditional feast as we hosted two friends for an excellent evening…
Other November highlights includes Jay’s performance in the Wolves of Whilloghby Chase, Bee taking his class two-night, 3 day trip to Pasir Ris, DaResort and MacRitchie Nature Resort (Mom resisted the urge to sneak into his suitcase) and a visit by our good friend Markel Simpson – who came bearing gifts of German Christmas treats. Add to that Jay going on another camping trip and getting two merit badges, Bee visiting the science museum and Jay and Dad checked out the awesome Sultan Mosque…another full month! Bee’s birthday capped off the month- complete with laser tag, a movie birthday party and great family meal with some of Singapore’s best Italian!
2000 Santas literally ran into town to start the holiday season..as Jay, Bee and Bob joined Bee’s den for the Santa 2.5 k run. What a site with all of the goofy Santa and Elf costumes…very cool to ride the subway down to the stadium area. We even found these cool giant bubbles in a water pool that Jay and Bee tried to stay upright in…
N& N visited again a few days later to bring more holiday cheer. On their 1st day in town, we 1st toured both Little India – to check out the Hindu temples – and get a feel for what our trip would be like..(really awesome statues of the Hindu gods)…then had lunch on Arab Street and got to check out the beautiful cloth markets along with the awesome Sultan Mosque again. Check out the killer kebabs Bee and Nonno shared!
Sports picked up with Jay taking the bronze in the standing triple jump at the Dulwich Year 7&8 Field Day (The standing triple jump was an Olympic Event way back in 1900 and 1904..where American Ray Ewry dominated) and Bee starting to take serious cricket lessons at the Singapore Cricket Club on the Padang…bowling wickets and hitting 6’s (bee wants me to mention that a six is the highest possible score of one hit in cricket)! Bee also had a great swim meet at Dulwich, rocking out the 25 m free and 25 m kickboard- complete with a great fist pump at the wall!
Mom put it best- Christmas threw up on Orchard Road in our neighborhood…neon blue and pink lights lined every part of the big street – with plenty of Disney character’s and princess..every mall decked to the hills with Christmas spirit…and lots of great street performers…tacky but kind of pretty…We checked out the Christmas Winter Carnival at Gardens by the Bay- beautiful lights but the clear highlight was glicing- ice skating on plastic…Jay and Bee became experts after 30 tough minutes and lots of sweating…
Jay and Bee had great times with Nan and Nonno – laser tag, seeing Aquaman in the theaters, an escape room, Jurong bird park, bird watching at Sungei Buloh, the Art Science Museum, and of course lots of swimming and board games! A highlight of the visit was Nonno getting 1st place in laser tag!
As we got closer to Christmas a true highlight was the Chocolate Buffet at the Fullerton Hotel with Nan and Nonno..a few savory and a lot of great sweet treats with all kinds of dark, milk and even white chocolate…our favorites were the delicious cakes and chocolate fountain, but the coco rubbed ribs and the risoto with chocolate baked in were suprisingly good!
We celebrated Christmas twice- once with Nan and Nonno on Dec 22 – complete with an excellent brunch cooked by Mom. We also tried the British traditions of Christmas Crackers and Figgy Pudding!
Then on December 25th- more presents for Jay and Bee (snorkel sets, scooters and a go pro- not bad) and a full day of tracking Santa. We also tried the awesome tea buffet and the Shangri La..finally on Dec 26, Mom, Jay and Bee got to see the Return of Mary Poppins- rave reviews!
Don’t freak out, I’m not actually cut in half 
