Uus vahetus

Nyyd on mul siis siin uus vahetus - poisid koolis ja Beatrice kodus. Teeme nyyd Beatrice'iga neid asju, mis enne poistega ja mis temal veel tegemata. Tana kaisime raamatukogus ja leidsime seal muu hulgas lastele moeldud DVD Eestist. Ei ole veel joudnud vaadata. Beatrice'iga on raamatukogu kylastamine kyll monevorra rahulikum ja pohjalikum yritus kui tema vendadega. Homme lahme koos Mia ja Alexiga Mozarti naitusele, mis Beatrice'il ka nagemata on.

Eelmine nadal laks nii kiiresti, sest nii palju oli teha enne kui "vaba aeg" loppeb. Reede ohtul kaisime valjas Roberti too inimestega. Enne seda olin kasutanud yhte kinkekaarti ja kainud linnas yhes spordiklubis trennis. Trenn oli hea ja jousaal muidugi toredam kui meie vaike siin, aga see votab liiga kaua aega, et sinna ja tagasi soita. Siis kaisin poes ja joudsin koju just 5 minutit enne, kui Beatrice koos oma sobranna Nickyga tuli. Siis poisid, siis kiiresti ujuma, siis kiiresti syya koigile, siis Nickyle isa jargi, siis lapsehoidja ja siis minema. Klaas veini maitses kyll hasti peale sellist paeva. Nyyd kolan nagu toeline yummy mummy.

Laupaeval oli poistel teine taekwondo yritus. Yllatuseks leidsime sealt yhe poisi nende klassist, kes juba 4 kuud on kainud. Imelik kokkusattumus kyll. Treener oli seekord Raouliga natuke rohkem hadas. Ta tahtis enamasti ikka midagi muud teha kui vaja oli - kae asemel jalgadega ja vastupidi.

Pyhapaeval kaisime "dragonboat race"i vaatamas. See on iga-aastane kuulus voistlus siin ja paate on mitmelt maalt ja palju kohalikke voistkondi, nii et kestab mitu paeva. Oli ka mitu expatide voistkonda - britid, ameeriklased, sakslased, kanadalased. Motlesime, et teeme Eesti draakonite voistkonna jargmiseks korraks, aga meil jaab aerutajaid vaheks, sest kaks inimest kuluvad juba trummilooja ja tyyrimehe ametisse ara. Paris lahe oli neid vaadata, trummid porisesid ja paadid olid toredad draakoni peade ja sabadega.

Parast soitsime East Coast Parki, mis on pikk mereaarne park mooda kogu idarannikut. Seal on muu hulgas yks huvitav atraktsioon, mida ma mujal pole nainud - veesuusatamine jarve peal, kusjuures suusatajad ripuvad traatide kyljes, mis kaivad jarve peal ringi. Paris raske seletada, igatahes ilma paadita, vaid traat ripub ohus ja suuskadel, voi oieti "veelaudadel" on saapad ka kyljes. Jarve peal on mitu kunstlikku kyngast, kust osavamad tegelased yle soidavad ja hyppeid sooritavad. Algajad kihutavad ainult niisama ymberringi.

Martial and other arts

This is my week as lady of leisure (kind of). Have to use up some lovely vouchers for facial, excercise class, pedicure as long as I have all kids at school. The boys are back now and it is Beatrice's last week of the schoolyear.
The boys had become quite naughty by the end of their holidays, just testing the limits constantly. So as a result they were barred from their Saturday sweets and we have started a star chart for this week. So far it has however only motivated Beatrice but even that is good enough.
Well, to introduce some more discipline we thought training taekwondo would be a good idea and the boys had their test lesson on Saturday. That was absolutely brilliant. The class had 3 instructors for 6 children! Where do you find that kind of a ratio these days. Although they had been looking forward to it since days both were quite shy to start with and were trying to hide behind and under my skirt. But after a little while the main trainer managed to win them over and then there was no stopping. They had so much fun! And at the same time followed orders quite nicely, even rebellious Raoul was good and stood still when asked to or sat down nicely with crossed legs. So we signed up and got the uniforms.
Beatrice liked the class too and wanted to join the school. Now she already has a class booked and her uniform here and is starting to chicken out again. So we will have to see, if she is going to be brave or not. Well, maybe the starchart will help us out.

On Saturday afternoon there was a nice concert in the Botanical gardens "Opera in the park" with the Singaporean opera performing all sorts of opera classics from Mozart to Verdi, Puccini and Gershwin. The setting was superb with the stage in the lake and people around it in the palm valley. So many had brought a picnic and we would have loved to have taken a bottle of wine along but then - we had the kids and would not have been able to enjoy the wine anyway. The concept of sitting down and listening quietly is not entirely familiar to the boys, so they had to run around and that of course made us worry that they will disturb other people so we couldn't enjoy it as much as we would have otherwise. But I guess we did alright in the end, no complaints.

Sunday was rainy and we decided for an indoor adventure this time - went to see Kung Fu Panda in the cinema. Another first-timer for the boys. Raoul stood most of the time and commented and asked questions. Beatrice was scared. Karl enjoyed it a lot and afterwards moved along the overcrowded Orchard Road in real kung fu style jumps and leaps.
So that's it for today, Beatrice is coming home, the boys will follow shortly and then I have to go to Beatrice's school for parent-teacher meeting.
Oh and she has finally lost her first tooth!

Voitluskunstid ja muud kunstid

Eelmise pyhapaeva synnipaevapeost mojutatuna tellisime poistele laupaevaks taekwondo koolis proovitunni. Karl oli juba neljapaeval valmis minema ja kysis iga natukese aja tagant, kas nyyd. Lopuks laupaeva hommikul siis joudsime nii kaugele. Poisid ei olnud oma laupaevaseid komme see nadal valja teeninud, aga eesootav taekwondo tund kaalus selle mure isegi yles. Mlemad olid suured hakkajad, aga kui kohale joudsime hakkasid molemad habenema ja minu kleidi alla peitu ronima. Lopuks onnestus treeneril nad siiski "high 5" abil matile meelitada ja ylejaanu on juba ajalugu. Pole neid ammu nii ohinas ja hoos nainud. Ja isegi Raoul, kes on muidu isepaine ja mingitele grupiviisilistele korraldustele ei allu, osales tublisti ja seisis vagusi kaed korval jalad koos, kui vaja oli. See nn "monster's class" on 3-5 aastastele ja peale meie oli seal veel neli last, nende hulgas yks vaike tydruk. Kuue lapse peale oli 3 treenerit! Sellist opilase-opetaja suhet ikka naljalt kuskil ei leia. Ja nad olid lastega nii fantastiliselt toredad! Kooli omanik on koigi laste suurim iidol. Loodetavatsi inspireerib Raouli ka vahegi distsipliinile alluma. Nii et kui tund loppes, siis registreerisime ennast muidugi liikmeks ja hakkame nyyd iga laupaev kaima. Poisid said kohe omale ka oiged taekwondo riided ja Karl yritas neid omale selga toppida, et kohe jargmises tunnis ka osaleda. Aga peab kahjuks siiski nadala ootama.
Beatrice, kes oli vahepeal otsustanud, et ta siiski ei taha taekwondo kooli minna, muutis poiste tundi nahes meelt ja on nyyd ka reedeks kirjas. Riided vottis suure entusiasmiga vastu ja kais nendega eile pool paeva. Aga tana teatas jalle, et ta ikkagi ei taha minna. Eks paistab, mis tuju tal reedeks siis on.

Laupaeva ohtul oli kultuuriline programm - botaanikaaia kontserdilaval toimus "Ooper pargis" - selline vabas stiilis piknikuline yritus, kus kohalik lyyriline ooperiteater esitas populaarseid tykke (Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, Gershwin jne). Hasti ilus ohtu oli seal palmide orus. Lava on keset jarve all orus, mille kylgedele mahub palju rahvast. Olime koos lastega ja seetottu ei saanud muidugi mingit monusat veinipudeliga piknikku korraldada. Poiste teatri- ja kontserdikogemused on piiratud, nii et nad ei suuda kuidagi noustuda vaikselt istumise plaaniga. Aga kuna oli ju tegu vaba yritusega, siis keegi ei pahandanud nende ringiliikumise peale, paljud tegelesid niikuinii rohkem oma kaasatoodud soogi-joogiga.

Tana siis jatkasime voitluskunstide teemat. Kuna oli igavesti vihmane, siis otsisime mingit tubast tegevust ja otsustasime veel avalikus kohas paigalistumist harjutada. Laksime "Kung-Fu Pandat" vaatama - esimest korda kinos poistega ja esimest korda kinos siin Singapuris. Film oli tore, Beatrice kyll kartis vahepeal. Raoul oli pohilise aja pysti ja kommenteeris kova haalega, Karl ikka istus enamasti ainult kais vahepeal uurimas, kas veel midagi syya saab. Ta sai sellest vist suurima inspiratsiooni, sest parast filmi liikus mooda tohutult ylerahvastatud Orchard Road'i ainult kung-fu hypetega.
Homme hakkab poistel jalle kool. Raoul teatas, et tema ei lahe, aga Karl ei joua ara oodata "esiteks magan ja parast lahen kooli". Nagu ikka.

Playdate Singapore style

There is a major difference to arranging playdates here compared to back in England. Now we have to ring the bus company to see if there is space for the child to go on a different bus (as for some reason the ones who want to play after school happen to live all over town and do not usually take the same bus home). And then they will have a few hours fun at friend's house after school and then it takes a few hours to get back home (well, nearly). Beatrice was invited to a friend's house yesterday and as it happened, they live on a sailing boat in the Sentosa Marina. That meant for me and the boys that we had to start getting there even before Beatrice left school. Well - mainly because you wouldn't want to make this long journey just for a pick-up but try to combine it with something else. The plan was to spend a few hours at the beach - boys in sand and water and me in shade with a book. However when we were on the bus it started to pour down and we ended up with a very wet afternoon in a beach resort. There are luckily indoor attractions but that not my first choice. So after having spent ages on 3 buses we got to the Underwater World. Went to see the fishes and crabs. There is quite a long tunnel where the sharks and other beasts swim over you, a good collection of crabs, but I would say the London Aquarium is a bigger attraction. The entry price included a dolphin show in the dolphin lagoon - meaning we had to take another bus to get there. Luckily it had stopped raining and we had some sand play while waiting for the show to start. They have 3 pink dolphins - very well trained. But it all felt a bit artificial with the loud beaty music and Indian tourists invited to hug and kiss the dolphins.

Then it was high time to go and get Beatrice. Luckily there was a taxi right outside - or so I thought until he asked me 20 dollars for the trip that would normally cost max 5. Well peak hour etc. I called another taxi and ended up paying nearly 9. Taxis here are cheap until it is peak hours, then the prices climb steaply and you don't get one unless you call one which in turn means 3.5 extra. A real nuissance - and of course pickup time from playdates is always peakhour.

We got to the boat in the end and the boys enjoyed their dinner there as well. They were a bit disappointed that we didn't actually sail but it was exciting anyway as it was the first time on a proper sailing boat for all of them. Beatrice's friend has been living on it for 2 years - they have sailed around South-East Asia while homeschooling the kids. Now it is stop in Singapore for a while.
On the way to taxi Raoul had a bad fall and the way home was a bit painful with everybody completely exhausted.

Peod ja muud

Sain lopuks siia moned pildid yles. Need on koik reedeohtuselt synnipaevapeolt Sentosalt. Beatrice'i klassist yhel poisil peeti seal 7ndat synnipaeva reedel peale kooli. See tundus kahtlane plaan, kuni olin valja moelnud, kuidas saata Beatrice sinna koolist otse yhe sobrannaga, et saaksime poistega juba ise varem minna, et natuke rannas mangida. Ja nii oli lopuks vaga tore. Palawani rannas on lastele vaike veemangu ala, mis on madal ja monus - meres nad eriti ei tahagi olla, sest lained on vahest liiga suured. Olime siis alustuseks seal, kus Raoul selle mereroovliga suhtles. Siis kondisime teise randa, kus Beatrice'i pidu oli. See oli yhes restoranis, mille juurde kuulub siis see kuulus trapets. Harjutustrapetsil ei olnud mingeid raskusi, aga kui siis lapsed hakkasid yksteise jarel sinna korgele ronima, vottis Beatrice otsustavalt oma voo ara ja teatas, et "no way ...". See oli kuidagi yllatav, eriti kuna isegi tema vaike sobranna Hannah (kes ei ole Karlist pikem) julges minna. Pealegi on Beatrice ju tykk aega trampoliini treeninud Inglismaal ja see on ju ligilahedane asi. Poisidki yritasid loogile paaseda, aga nende suureks meeleharmiks oli vanusepiir 4 aastat. Lopuks, kui enamus lapsi oli juba oma kaks ringi teinud ja soogilaua poole siirdusid, teatas Beatrice, et nyyd ta tahab ka proovida. Ja siis laks muidugi vaga hasti ja ta kais koguni kaks korda. Ytles parast, et ta oli arvanud, et peab seal korgel yleval ka jalgupidi pea allapoole rippuma nagu harjutustrapetsil ja selleparast ta ei julgenud alguses. Noh, lopp hea, koik hea.
Siis said oma pizzad ja joogid ja kui lapsed meres ja liivas mangisid, limpsisid hastiriietatud vanemad shampust. Meie istusime vahe eemal lauas ja millegiparast see pudel sinnapoole kunagi ei liikunud, ega mitte ka jargmine ega ylejargmine ega yle-yle ... . Ju siis ei olnud piisavalt peened. Synnipaevalapse pere elab seal Sentosal ja see ei ole just yks odavamaid kante, kus Singapuris elada.
Igatahes, kui koogisoomiseks laks, olid poisid piisavalt hoos ja sattisid ennast jarjekorda ning olid nyyd edukamad kui trapetsil. Kell 7 oli juba kottpime ja paris romantiline koigi laevadelt paistvate tuledega jne. Siis ilmus valja veel mustkunstnik ja allesjaanud lapsed, k.a meie omad vahtisid suud lahti, kuidas ta suurest taringust vaikse valge janese volus. Poisid olid igatahes taielikus vaimustuses. Ja shampus voolas ikka.

Pyhapaeval olime jarjekordsel laste synnipaeval, aga seekord ei olnud mingit shampust ollagi, kuigi olime vahe paremad riided selga pannud ... . Aga see oli hoopis teistsugune pidu. Mia Aleksi taekwondo-synnipaev. Korealasest Taekwondo treener tegi koos oma abilistega igasuguseid temaatilisi mange ja kes koik kaasa tegi, sai paraja trenni. Poisid olidki paris agarad, aga Beatrice jatkas oma reede-ohtust jada ega tahtnud yldsegi osaleda. Imelikul kombel ytles ta parast tagasiteel, et tahab kyll hakata taekwondot treenima. Voibolla paneme siis koik kolm, sest ta votab juba 3-aastaseid ka. Ja treener oli lastega vaga tore. Poisid olid eriti uhked, kui neil onnestus ta kahekesi koos pikali lykata.

Robert alustab varsti uut projekti ja on vahepeal kodus olnud, nii ka tana. Siis kasutasime seda ara ja laksime koos poistega pikale matkale puude otsa ehk labi pargi mooda korgteed puulatvade vahel. Esialgne plaan ei olnudki eriti ambitsioonikas, kuid sellest kujunes ligi 4-tunnine matk, kuna yhest pargist valja tulles sattusime jargmisse ja siis uue korgtee juurde ja siis jalle ja jalle. Esimene oli Kent Ridge Park, mis on korgel ja sealt on toredad vaated merele ja lounapoolsetele saartele. Nagime korgel puu otsas yhte toredat vaikest lendavat sisalikku ja moningaid ilusaid lindusid. Siis alla tulles sattusime Hort parki, mida kuskil raamatutes ei mainitagi, aga mis oli ka paris tore - selline vaikeste aedade naitus, kus oli manguplatse ja muu hulgas vaike Volur Oz'i aed. Motlesime, et kui teisest otsast valja tuleme, otsime midagi syya, aga siis sattusime kohe yhe korge sakilise silla otsa, mis viis edasi jargmisse parki ja oli tublisti pikem (ca 1.5 km) ja korgem kui meie esimene korgtee. Seal hakkas poole tee peal juba virinat kuulma, aga tegime siis peatusi ja saime ikka edasi. Korgtee loppes jargmises pargis, kus ei olnud ka midagi syya. Siis oli hada juba suurem, aga saime ikka kuidagi edasi - jargmise sillani. See nn Hendersoni laine oli onneks ise nii huvitav poistele, et joud tuli tagasi - toesti laine kujuline, puidust looklevate vormidega, poisid kasutasid selle yhte kylge liumaena. Sealt joudsime Mount Faberi juurde, kus ei olnud enam muud valikut kui edasi minna kuni lopuks tulime valja tippu, kust lahevad gondlid Sentosale. Seal leidsime lopuks ka yhe restorani, soime hea lounasoogi ja poisid said oma hasti valja teenitud jaatised. Kogu teekond paistab kaardil linnulennult voibolla 5 km aga kuna koik see oli sakiline ja kurviline ja yles-alla, siis kaisime kindlasti 7 km kui mitte rohkem. Ja seda ainult osaliselt varjus. Nii et poisid olid vaatamata vaiksele virinale hammastavalt vastupidavad. Beatrice oleks ilmselt peale esimest juppi maha istunud ja edasiliikumast keeldunud. Lopuks joudsimegi nii hilja koju, et Beatrice oli juba siin. Siis veel vaike suplus ja muidugi jai Raoul jalle porandal ilma ohtusoogita magama. Karl oli taksos vaikese uinaku teinud ja sellega hoidis ennast ikka tavalise magamisajani yleval.

Beatrice'il hakkas 10 paeva tagasi esimene hammas loksuma aga hoolimata suurest porgandisoomisest ei ole veel valja tulnud. Ta ei joua ara oodata.

Here she goes ...

Beatrice - finally!

Raoul practicing / Raoul harjutab

Karl

Karl on the practice trapeez / Karl harjutustrapetsil

Raoul Sentosal

A very different birthday party and tree tops

It has been a party weekend really. We were all invited to Mia's son Alex's 8th birthday party on Sunday which was quite different. As Alex is a keen Taekwondo student they had the party at the studio where he traines. The trainer and his helpers put on lots of TKD-related games for the kids and it was really great. Raoul and Karl joined in happily and were very proud when they pushed the trainer until he fell backwards (pretend of course). Beatrice followed the pattern from trapeez and didn't want to join in, playing with two korean girls instead. She did finally though. And to our surprize on the way home all three said they wanted to train Taekwondo. (Well 4 actually) The trainer was really great with kids, so we might sign up. We had all dressed up but there was no champagne in sight this time. What a bad luck!
In the evening we walked to our nearby seafood place - very simple outdoors but very very popular which is a good sign. It was extremely busy yesterday due to father's day probably. But we had some lovely BBQ stingray and sour-spicy crayfish which was yummy. All too spicy for the kids still so they stick to fried rice.

Today we did a great big walk with the boys. Robert is going to start a new project soon and had a few days off. So we took a chance and went to explore a tree-top walk in the Kent Ridge park. There are some lovely views over the water and islands off the south coast. The walk is pretty but we didn't see a lot of animals apart from a small lizard that flew from one tree to another and some pretty birds. However when we got down we ended up at the Hort Park, that isn't even mentioned in our guidebooks and that was good fun too. It was like an exhibition of ideas for small gardens but also playgrounds and other outdoor ideas. Very nice. We continued to the main exit in search for something to eat. We got out at Alexandra road only to discover another treetop walk that leads to another park. So instead of lunch we followed that trail. It was a lot longer and harder than the first one and the boys started to get tired but we did it and got to the next park. From there they have recently opened another connecting bridge - the Henderson Wave - to the Mount Faber. That is quite an impressive footbridge, unique desing in wood and really the shape of a wave. That was exciting enough for the boys to find new strength and continue. And after we had crossed it there was no choice really but to continue all the way to the top of Mount Faber to where the cable-car to Sentosa departs. There we finally found a restaurant and had some nice lunch with well-deserved ice-cream for the boys. We were really truly impressed by their stamina. A lot of the path was in shade but quite a bit wasn't and they hadn't eaten a lot apart from a small snack along the way. It was 2 pm by the time we got to the restaurant having been on the go since just after 10 am. Judging by the map in birdseye view the distance was probably some 5 km or so but as the track was rather winding we guess we did at least 7K. Beatrice would never have made it! We got a taxi home from there and were so late that Beatrice was already here from school (5 minutes or so). We can definitely try some challenging walks with the boys again, like nature reservoirs where we hope to see some monkeys and more animals. Had a little swim here and Raoul was so tired he fell asleep on the floor without dinner.
Beatrice has her first wobbly tooth since 10 days already. She keeps eating carrots but it still hasn't come out. The toothfairy has to wait some more time.

Island life

Beatrice had a birthday invitation today and the party was going to take place on the Sentosa island right after school. I was very sceptical about it to start with as it seemed quite a challenge to get everybody out there in the peak-time traffic on Friday afternoon. But it turned out a rather nice and probably typical singaporean experience. I arranged for Beatrice to go with a classmate instead of getting her home inbetween and we went already earlier with the boys. There is a part of the beach that has a nice water-play area for small kids. Complete with a balloon-blowing pirate. So the boys had a good runaround there and we walked along the beach to the restaurant where the party was going to be. Their attraction is trapeez - very high and scary and all the kids were tied with ropes and had to climb up a really high ladder. To our surprize Beatrice chickened out at first. They had a little practice run on a low hanging trapeez and were encouraged to hang head down. So she thought she is expected to do that 10 meters up in the air as well. And then jump several meters down on the net. But that of course wasn't the case. It took her a long time to get the courage but in the end she did it and even twice in a row. Karl was very eager to go on it - and he is usually the chicken - but he was under the age limit which caused a lot of tears and distress. Then they had their pizzas and played in the sea and sand while the well-tanned designer-dressed parents sipped champagne. The birthday boy's family lives on Sentosa and this is not exactly the cheapest place to stay in Singapore. Karl and Raoul made up for their trapeez misery by getting in line for the birthday cake and had more success there. Darkness falls very quickly here so a little after 7 pm it was already dark and a magician turned up and put on a good show. The kids were really mesmerized to see how he turned a big dice into a white rabbit. First time that the boys saw a magic show and they actually sat and watched with mouths open and joined in when asked to. Everybody fell asleep in taxi as was to be expected. Another party coming up on Sunday! I'll try to get some photos up here soon.

Kilpkonnad ja kirgiisid

Olen olnud vilets kirjutaja viimasel ajal, siis teen kohe eesti keeles ka - emale ja nii ...
Karl vahemalt on juba koolivaheajast tydinud ja kysib mitu paeva "kas homme saab kooli minna, palun!" Peab siiski veel vahe kannatama. Et elu paris igavaks ei laheks, viisin poisid eile "Hiina aeda". Meiega koos tuli yks uus hollandi naaber oma aastase poisiga, kellega poisid niikuinii alati basseinis hea meelega mangivad. Hiina aed on meilt 3 rongipeatust laane poole. Ja oli vaga tore elamus, isegi sellele vaatamata, et seal ei olnud ei kohvikut ega mingit korralikku manguplatsi, mis on meile ikka vaga olulised. Selle eest ronisime korgele pagoodi tippu, tegime pikniku betoonist laeval (Beijingi Suvepalee marmorlaeva replika), vaatasime Konfutsiust. Lisaks on seal Guinnessi raamatusse sissekantud maailma suurim kilpkonnade kogu - kilpkonnade muuseum, mille on asutanud yks abielupaar alustuseks oma kodus ja hiljem siis seal pargis. Neil on yle 1000 elava kilpkonna igas suuruses, varvis, kujus. Taiesti uskumatuid vorme oli seal ikka. Yks oli selline helekollane, mida peetakse eriti vaartuslikuks, kuigi minu meelest oli natuke haiglane. Enamus loomi on ikka kuskil kinni, aga sellised tavalisemad ujuvad tiigis ja konnivad ringi. Laksime tiigi sillale ja siis tulid molemalt poolt yles sajad pead suid matsutades ja soogipalakesi oodates. Moned olid isegi sillale roninud aga Raoul aitas nad lahkelt vette tagasi. See muuseum oli hiljaaegu suurelt pressis, sest keegi kilpkonna-armastaja oli sealt mitu eriti vaartuslikku eksemplari varastanud. Aga onneks saadi loomakesed ruttu katte, sest ta oli enne oma kuritegu kahtlaselt kaitunud viibides muuseumis mitu paeva tundide kaupa.
Hasti uhke oli ka bonsai aed - kindlasti tuhandeid puid, paljud neist yle 100 aasta vanad, traditsiooniliste hiina paviljonide keskel. Vaga rahustav. Kusjuures need puud maksavad kindlasti vahemalt sama palju kui kallid kilpkonnad, aga neid ei valva vahemalt paeval mitte keegi. Poisid leidsid yhe monitor sisaliku ja ajasid seda taga bonsaide ja nende vanade keraamiliste pottide vahel.

Ohtul kaisime kontserdil - kesk-aasia spirituaalne muusika. Hasti lahe Kirgiiside band oli. Mangisid oma traditsioonilisi pille, kitarri moodi ja mitmeid floote ja parmupille. Eriti tore oli yks vanamees, kes mangis seda kitarri moodi pilli ja laulis selle juurde. Tekst oli tolgitud ekraanile ja see oli selline naistemehe vark. Sellest oleks vist isegi niisama aru saanud, vanamees oli nii ilmekas. Ja vehkis selle pilliga paris uskumatult. Ise nagi valja nagu oleks see bandi muusikaline juht ta just kuskilt karjamaalt yles korjanud, puhtaks pesnud, korralikult riide pannud ja lennukisse ajanud. Parast Kirgiise laulsid kaks kasahhi tadi ja aserbaidzaani traditsioonilise muusika grupp. Need olid minu jaoks vahe liiga "sygavad", vahemalt ei joudnud nii kohale nagu kirgiisi vanamees.
Kui kontsert loppes hakkas akki kovasti sadama, mis tahendab Singapuris yhtlasi, et taksod ja nende telefoniliinid sulavad ara. Ootasime ja otsisime ja lopuks tulime metrooga kodu poole. Meie jaamas oli siis vihm yle jaanud ja taksod olid ka jalle valja ilmunud. Ime kyll.

1000 turtles

Although I have been trying to entertain the boys as well as I can Karl keeps asking "if he can go to school tomorrow, please!". Still over a week to go. Yesterday we ventured out to the Chinese Garden together with a dutch neighbour and her year-old son. It was a very pleasant experience. It is very much a recreation of the Beijing imperial gardens - summer palace and similar, including the marble boat (well not marble in this case). We enjoyed climbing the pagodas and having picnic on the (concrete) boat. Also there is a Guinnes book attraction - the turtle museum which has the world's largest collection of live turtles. Over 1000, plus several thousand turtle shaped artefacts. One could almost get turtlephobic in there. Really amazing sizes and shapes and colours! One was bright yellow - appearantly considered very attractive although I found it slightly sickening to be honest. Most valuable species are kept in aquariums but the more common ones are roaming free and as we walked onto the bridge over the pond there were hundreds of heads out of water fighting for a bite to eat. Some had crawled on the bridge and Raoul kindly helped them back in the water. The museum was big in the press recently as a turtle-loving person had stolen several animals worth many thousands of dollars. They luckily captured him soon because he had behaved suspiciosly in the days before the crime spending several hours at the museum!
Then we had a very calming walk to the bonsai garden which was quite amazing - amongst traditional chinese pavillions there were surely over a thousand bonsai trees, many over 100 years old and certainly more valuable than the turtles. And the garden isn't even guarded! The boys spotted a monitor lizard and had a fabulous time chasing it between the bonsai trees in fragile ceramic pots.

For the evening we had tickets for a concert of the arts festival - spiritual sounds of Central Asia. (Robert's choice!) It was held at a concert hall in Raffles hotel - quite a remarkable setting. I really enjoyed the first group from Kyrgystan. Didn't have any expectations and it was very interesting and amusing. They played very unusual instruments but obviously extremely well. The highlight was an old guy who played a guitar-like instrument (only smaller and different sound) and sang to it. He was really cheeky. The lyrics were translated on a screen and these were slightly dirty. And the old chap just gleamed and the expressions on his face told everything even without reading the translation. To that he threw his hands and feet over the guitar and performed one trick after another. He looked just like someone the group leader had picked up from herding his cattle. Just put some proper clothes on and off on the plain to Singapore. Such a character.
The other two performances from Kazakstan and Azerdaidzhan were too "deep" and spiritual for my taste. Well and then we experienced the late night rain which means in Singapore that all taxis melt away together with their phone lines. After waiting a while and looking for something to eat we finally went on the MRT and when we got to our station the rain had stopped. Then the taxis had resurfaced!

Olen poistega vihmavangis. Kuigi nad on olnud vaikesed paharetid viimasel ajal, toin nad sellisesse laste ronimis-mangimispaika, mis on iseenesest paris tore. Kohvik, internet ja nad on nyyd juba 2,5 tundi roninud ja rabelenud. Aga paistab, et peame takso votma, sest kallab kovasti.
Kaisime see nadal ka manguasjamuuseumis, aga see oli kerge sissekukkumine - ainuke muuseum seni, kus lastele ei olnud midagi katsuda ega kiskuda. Tore kindlasti suurtele inimestele, kes koguvad mingeid vanu manguasju voi seeriafiguure. Isegi enamus riiuleid olid nii korged, et minagi pidin pea kuklasse ajama. Voibolla tegeleme jargmine nadal jalle rohkem Vietnami kunstiga. Kaisime siin korval yhes vaikeses galeriis ja Karlil oli paris palju kommentaare piltide kohta.

Maidless

I was struggling with my bamboo poles again today to hang up the washing and had to think of the lasting discussion topic - to have a maid or not. We are one of the few "maidless" households that I know of. Some other European families don't have one but for the Chinese it is a must. Probably if you can afford to live on a condominium it is a matter of face. Many moms never go to the pool with the kids, it's always the maids who sit around with bored faces. One lady here whose husband is a pilot even has two live-in maids since she has three children and it would be to hard for her otherwise.
Of course it is a tempting thought every night after dinner when I am clearing the kitchen that actually somebody else could do it. And living as an expat in Singapore is one of the few opportunities when a normal family could actually afford to have one. Wouldn't have to worry about going out in the evenings or even shopping.
I still can't get my mind round to having a stranger in the house all the time. Would she have to sit at the table with us? What do I do with her when we go on holiday? How can I let her take care of my kids when she has probably some of her own back home who never see their mum? How can I teach the kids to make chores if somebody is being payed to do everything? How can I let somebody sleep in this tiny windowless, AC-less room behind the kitchen?
So far no maid for us. But maybe after half a year we will have given in to the social pressure. Who knows.

We did another museum with the boys today which unfortunately was not a great success. Went to the toy museum but of all the places this was the one with nothing to touch and even with the friendly unofficial twin discount from the curator who is a twin himself, rather expensive. It would probably be a good place for big people who collect some sort of toys. I found the handmade dolls from China interesting but for the boys it was not the biggest hit.

Joudsime eelmine nadal lopuks poistega teisel katsel siis botaanikaaia "laste aeda". See on vaga ponev, manguplatside, veemangude, puu-otsas-maja ja igasugu muu tegevusvaarsusega. Oli igavene pikk soit meil sinna labi pargi aga seekord olid koik tublid.
Reede ohtul kaisime jalle valjas, seekord siis kultuuriliselt. Eri Klas juhatas Singapuri symfooniaorkestrit. Mangisid Beethoveni 7 symfooniat ja viiulikontserti, mida esitas Kanada viiudlaja Leila Josefovich, kes oli vapustav. Mind muidugi ehmatas, kuidas Klas on akki nii vanaks jaanud, aga samas ei ole ma teda ka juba aastakymneid vist nainud ja piltide peal on ikka sama. Muidugi sara on ikka silmas ja muusika korgel tasemel. Aga ikkagi, akki oleks nagu vana inimene su ees. Tuletab enda vanustki meelde.
Kontsert oli siin suuremas ja uuemas kontserdimajas, mida kutsutakse selle arhitektuuri tottu "durianiks". See on selline ananassist suurem hasti koleda haisuga vili, mida koik asiaadid viljade kuningaks kutsuvad. Meie meelest soodav, aga mitte just maailma parim puuvili. Enamasti on kallites hotellides selle kaasa toomine keelatud. Aga kontserdimaja on igati uhke. Restoranid ja shopping mall jne. Ja asub otse joe aares, nii et seal on kena promenaad ja koik. Ohtuti ongi nii monus linna peal kaia, sest on natuke jahedam ja koiksugu toredad tuled ja inimesed liikvel. Meiega oli kaasas Mia ja Roberti tookaaslane Koreast. Mia oli yllatunud, et publik seekord nii tsiviliseeritud oli - ovatsioonid olid pikad ja keegi ei helistanud ega soonud/joonud kontserdi ajal, mida tihti pidi juhtuma.
Laupaeval siis said lapsed oma osa - viisin nad Dora muusikali vaatama. Poisid olid esimest korda teatris ja hea oli, et sellises, kus ei pidanud paigal istuma vaid sai kaasa laulda ja tantsida. Raoul andis parast oma esimese teleintervjuu. Ytles, et tema lemmiktegelane on Boots the Monkey. Aga ma ei tea, mis kanal see oli. Ja siis karjus poes yhe ostmata jaanud auto parast nii, et kogu lahkuv publik teadis meie kohalolekust. Nii et kahjuks rikkus see auto tema paeva taielikult.
Robert oli samal ajal Chinatownis shoppamas - midagi, mida ma kogu selle lastekarjaga kuidagi teha ei taha.
Tana nagime jalle oma sopra monitorsisalikku - seda suurt siin joe aares.

Even more culture

We had another night out on Friday being very cultural. Went to a concert in the "Durian" - which is the main concert hall here and called so as it resembles this smelly fruit. The concert hall doesn't smell and is rather grand including lots of restaurants and of course a shopping mall. It is right by the river so there is a nice promenade as well. The concert was Beethoven - violine concert played by a Canadian violinist Leila Josefovich and Symphony nr. 7 - all conducted by Eri Klas (one of the 2 most prominent Estonian conductors). We sat in the first row and due to the brilliant accoustics heard very well as well as saw the artists close-up. I was shocked to see Eri Klas aged so much. But then it has been ages since I last saw him. He still has the spark in his eyes and worked the Singapore orchestra brilliantly. The violinist was quite sensational - technically perfect and very emotional and expressive as well. So really a lovely evening. Mia, who knows the concert scene here better was quite impressed by the public. It happens quite often that people have no manners and talk on their phones and go out during concerts etc. Nothing like that on Friday. It is also so nice to walk around town in the evenings when it is a bit cooler and all the lights are on and people out and about.
Then on Saturday to even the score I took the children to see Dora the Explorer. It was the first time in theatre for the boys which was just as well. Don't think they would have sat still but luckily that wasn't expected. They enjoyed joining in and dancing and singing and shouting. Raoul was interviewed for TV afterwards - he said his favourite character was Boots the Monkey. I don't know however which channel. The show tours the world so it could be anywhere. After that he had a tantrum in the 7/11 shop because of a car I refused to buy so that everybody leaving the Expo grounds knew we were there. As a conclusion ofthe day he said in the evening he didn't like Dora. So here you go.
Today we did our big weekly shop with the boys and hopefully will tick off another museum tomorrow.