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.

Tana on hirmus aikeseline paev jalle. Poistel on nyyd koolivaheaeg ja proovime iga paev midagi ette votta. Just tana ei olnud suuremaid plaane ja kavatsesime basseinis mangida, aga ilm on liiga jube. Nyyd istuvad ja vaatavad Spidermani ja hoiavad korvu kinni, kui valjas liiga kovasti myristab.
Eile kaisime muuseumis Mozarti naitust vaatamas voi oieti katsumas. See ongi lastele moeldud ja peaks neile naitama, kuidas sel ajal elati, nii et saab kostyyme selga panna ja hobuse vankrisse ronida ja hambapulbrit teha ja parukaid jne. Ega nad nyyd kyll aru ei saanud, kes see Mozart siis selline on, aga tore oli niikuinii. Pean siis uuesti minema, kui Beatrice'il vaheaeg tuleb.
Pyhapaeva ohtul kaisime parast pikki kohklusi Boat Quay'l Kunstifestivali avamisel. Ja oli muidugi tore, et laksime. Siin on alati ohtul palju lapsi valjas, koik on tsiviliseeritud. Soime seal joe aares korea sooki ja vaatasime prantsuse vee-teatri etendust joel. Hasti vagev - vee peal soitsid auto, karavan, jalgratas, voodi, mingi hasti suur ratas, kus onu oli sees ja tadi istus korgel, igasugu vee-elukad, inglid torvikutega jne. Koike saatis muusika ja ilutulestik, mis oli eriti uhke, kuna see peegeldus ymbruse korghoonete pimedatel akendel. Eemalt paistis ka varviliselt valgustatud Singapore Flyer - ehk siinne uus korge vaateratas - kus olime just laupaeval kainud. Nii et koigil oli ponevust kui palju.