Singapore Update

Yea - we finally got our shipment and so we now have a computer. I was told after I got here that I should have sent my computer with my air shipment so it would have been here right away. I guess you learn these things with experience. It's hard to live without a computer (or phone - I didn't have either for a while). I don't have much time (I have a house to unpack an organize as well as the rest of life) but I wanted to post some pictures from our first few weeks here in Singapore.

We arrived on a Saturday and then Monday was National Day here in Singapore - like our 4th of July. We went downtown to see some of the festivities. The streets were lined with army tanks - getting ready for a big parade.

We went to the Raffles Hotel. Singapore was first established as a British colony thru the East India Trading Company (sounds familiar if you've seen Pirates of the Caribbean). There are many buildings downtown that are from this era of Singapore history that have a very British look. This hotel is quite famous (as is the Tiffin Room restaurant is houses). It's really a beautiful structure and grounds.


We walked around some of the government buildings, both old and new.

Looking out over the Singapore River.
This picture is for Grandpa Bruschke. Before we came he sent us information about this unique hotel/casino (The Sands) that a big Las Vegas company built to help increase tourism here. Apparently it has an amazing 'no end' pool that is the entire length of that upper 'ship' looking thing. Hopefully one day we'll make it up there to see it.
The kids started school last week. It's been nice for them to have a schedule and routine. We moved into our house a week before our stuff came and just camped out with mats for sleeping and cardboard boxes for a table. The kids wanted to be close to school so they could just walk and our hotel was so far away. It was nice to have a place to call 'home', even if it was empty.
Our shipment arrived Saturday - yea! Never has couches, beds, and tables looked so good. It was a HUGE blessing because Craig left Sunday for a two week business trip so it was super nice to have him here to help get everything set up and organized. We're still unpacking boxes and trying to find a place for everything - it may take a while. It's nice to know that if we need something, it is here somewhere - although sometimes a treasure hunt to find it (still haven't come across the power cord for the printer). We're also moving on to trying to set stuff up and plug things in. Just this morning, Ashlyn and I blew a power strip and electrical outlet - it's all very confusing - what can plug into what without blowing. Hopefully we won't have too many casualties.

We're getting used to our new life here - in some ways it's just the same and in other ways it's very different. We miss our friends and family back home but look forward to getting out and seeing what this part of the world has to offer.