Serendipity!

Yes, I am finally posting after a few busy weeks.  So much to tell and not nearly enough time!  I started a post earlier today and was telling everyone the detail of our most recent trip to Thailand and as I thought about it I just wasn't into to the process.  Then I remembered why I am doing this blog.  To have an outlet to write.  Yeah, I know, you want to know what it's like here.  Well, I hope I do that too, but today it is about the thought and the feeling that go along with all that.  I promise, I'll post lots of photos, but for the written word I think today I will write from my heart and soul.  

It has been a wonderful few weeks here.  My hubby's Mom, "Grandmommy", has been visiting.  I have explored more of the city and gotten to see things that I haven't seen yet thanks to being a tourist with my Mother-in-law.  Thanks Grandmommy!  Not only that, the hubby and I have gotten to explore a bit as a couple.  Oh how I wish we could do more of that.  It brings back memories of our early days, romance, thoughtful conversations, and just time spent alone!  I really miss that sometimes.  By the way, if you didn't know, we celebrated our 10th Wedding anniversary last Thursday, Oct. 20th!    For me, I need to get out of my box to be able to relax and "let go".  That equals being on vacation and a very different me.  I get the feeling that there are no rules, no agendas and just plain life without boundaries.  Ah, such is the life!  I think that also gives me a bit more desire to explore.  To be honest, I haven't been feeling the urge to explore here.  I'm not sure if it is the fact that I was settling in or that I was focusing on making friends and a life for myself.  I can't say that I want to explore all the time, but I know some downtime has helped.


So, this takes me to my latest and most profound musing.  Serendipity!
I first began giving this word thought when the movie "Serendipity" came out.  Yep, one of my favorites.  So, what does it mean, Serendipity?  Dictionary.com defines it as:


Serendipity - "an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident."

Ah how I wish I could always live my life via Serendipity!  I would be a much better person for it.  Not always trying to plan, think ahead, make so many decisions.  For someone who is good at all of those things you would think that Serendipity would be hard for me to embrace, but let me tell you, it is the greatest joy I have.  It's the times when E and I discover something while we are at the park, the shop that I find when I was looking for something else, the friend I made just by going somewhere I have never been.


These past few weeks have been full of Serendipity.  On my exploration of Chinatown with Grandmommy,  I was looking for a particular temple.  I kept following my instincts that I thought I remembered where is was, as I had been there before.  As we looked we didn't find it, but found the Buddha Tooth Relic temple.  As we entered the building, it began to rain and then began to pour!  It was perfect timing!  We entered the temple and I was in awe.  Not only was it beautiful, but we entered right before the monks began their chant.  Their chant made me want to close my eyes and let the sound run through my veins and calm every part of me.  What a great find!


Another serendipitous event was when the hubby and I were riding through the mountains on a motorbike looking for waterfalls in Koh Samui, Thailand.  We started following signs for Tartain Waterfall, the "wonder of nature".  We rode and rode!  Keep in mind the weather was kind of yucky and I was wearing a skirt.  (it was the only thing I had that would dry fast if it got wet)  As we rode we came upon a Durian farm and we happened to be riding through on harvest day.  I have never seen anything like it.  If you remember my photos of Durian they are large like a football or bigger and are kind of prickly like.  They grow on trees and hang from the limbs by a long stem.  They men were up in the trees in their bare feet, climbing and climbing to reach the fruit.  They would clip the fruit and it would fall fast!  As it neared the ground a man at the bottom would catch it in a piece of burlap.  They made it look so easy and boy were there fast!  As we rode that road in search of the Tartain waterfall we saw more Durian that you can imagine!  I bet we saw thousands.  You would think that with Durian being so smelly that it would be overpowering, but to be honest, we didn't even smell it.  There was a very faint sweet smell in the air, but I think because it was so fresh and they weren't cut open there wasn't a smell.  So we did get to Tartain waterfall after an hour motorbike ride and a 30 minute hike into the forest.  To be honest, I wouldn't even call it a waterfall.  It was a large creek with lots of rocks.  Not at all what we expected.  As the hubby went further into the forest to see if he could find "the actual" waterfall I decided to stay put.  I sat on a rock and thought about that Durian farm and how amazing it was.  That's when it hit me - "Serendipity"!  On the way out there was a sign that said Singha beer for sale.  When we asked the only person that was there if we could get one, he looked at us like we had just asked if we knew where God was.  We decided that it just wasn't worth trying.  To end our journey we saw a sign for the Peak Restaurant touting that it had "the best view".  Ok, maybe we are suckers, but we went.  Not to mention we were thirsty for more than water and hungry.  I will say that the Peak restaurant was just what the doctor ordered.  They handed us a beer in a coozie and we had the best Thai meal!  I had my favorite Tom Kah soup and it was divine!  Oh yeah and it did have the best view!  Even with the clouds and rain!  Ah, to another serendipitous day!


Hope you enjoy the photos!

Buddah Tooth Relic Temple

(Singapore)

The temple I meant to find

Sri Mariamman Temple 

(Singapore's oldest hindu temple)

Shoes lined up outside of the temple

Wat Plai Laem 
(Koh Samui, Thailand)

 18 Arm strong Buddha

Laughing Buddha (aka Big White Buddha)

 Funky mermaid coming out of the water (not quite Ariel)

 The "Big Buddha"

 The Monk that gave us a blessing.  Did you know that monks can't touch women?  The monk gave each of us a braided bracelet.  Scott had to put mine on me.

 Nothing like keeping your cleavers on the back of your scooter!

Gas!

The gas pump!

 Gassing up!

Durian and more Durian!

Durian Fruit on the tree

The Durian harvest

 On our way to the "falls"

 The beautiful falls?

Taxi?  Really?

 The walk to the "Peak Restaurant"

 Havin' a beer on top of the world!

Yummy, yummy Tom Kah!

On the way back to civilization - guess the floods in Thailand have taken their toll.  Good thing it didn't happen while we were driving on it!

 Grandfather Rock (yep, looks just like what you are thinking)

Happy 10th Anniversary Baby!

Mystery fruit revealed, Settling in

Well, I know you all have been wondering what the mystery fruit I posted was.  I could tell by the overwhelming response.  (really, only 1 person responded - LOL!)  At first I thought it was a Longan and had posted that and even had some good facts about Longans, but alas, it was not. It took me a while to figure it out, but the mystery fruit is a:

Langsat Fruit

http://www.fruitipedia.com/langsat%20Lansium%20domesticum.htm

With my research i discovered Fruitipedia!  Great thing to have around here.  Check out the link for more information than you ever thought you might want!


Unfortunately, I have no new fruit this week.  I have become a bit less adventurous these past few weeks.  I have noticed that my weeks focus either on creating my social network or exploring our new city.  This past week we have focused on settling in and make new friends.  


So, we have finally moved all of our stuff into the house and we think we have found a place for everything.  One thing that is very important with living in a small space is that everything must have a home.  I have even managed to organize my craft room.  I still have a few things that need a "better" home, but all in all it is coming along.  I can't wait to start some projects and have already started one for E's birthday party which is coming up at the end of the month.  We have decided to make it a Halloween party since we weren't sure if anyone celebrated Halloween here.  Can't wait to show you all of the fun goodies that we are planning for that.  Oh yeah, big news, I bought a new sewing machine.  Yes, I broke down and did it.  I had been in withdrawls and saw one for sale and bit the bullet.  Funny, I had a machine for years back in the states and didn't use it half as often as I had planned.  Then when I didn't have one, all I could think about were the projects that I couldn't do without one. Interestingly, I have met more people here who sew than I had ever met in Charlotte.  Some are even experts at sewing and creating.  Humm, is that a sign?  Maybe I will finally have the time and the creativity to get going on some things!


So besides getting our home in order we have been exploring the East Coast of Singapore.  The beach has been great and we have tried out several of the restaurants that are within biking distance.  That makes living on this side of Singapore worth it.  E has become quite proficient at riding her big girl bike and has amazed both my hubby and I.  On longer distances we still use the trail-a-bike so that she doesn't get too tired.


This past week was full of lots of fun social activities.  We had playdates with friends and I had some of the neighbor ladies over for tea, coffee and snacks.  We are so fortunate to have met the people that we have.  The ladies and I had a lovely time.  When a group of expats get together there are a lot of things to be discussed.  Where to shop, what to look for where, how to get around, and many other things.  Not to mention getting to know one another.  Saturday night we were invited to cocktails at a neighbors home.  Our first real adult social outing.  What a great time!  E went with us and entertained everyone with her drawings.  Later she fell asleep on the couch and the hubby and I ended up staying out way to late!  We had a great time and enjoyed the company very much.  


The one topic of conversation this week was about how different countries use different words in different ways.  For example, did you know that only the US has jelly?  Australians and Scots don't have jelly and for them jelly is like our jello in the US.  So funny!  They couldn't figure out why we would put jello on our bread.   Another was the use of the word "pants".  I had mentioned wearing pants to my Scottish friend and she got this big smile on her face.  Pants in the Scot culture are the same as underwear here in the US.  Guess I will have to be more specific next time.  So, why is it that we don't use the word trouser in the US?  How is it that different countries have different meanings for the same word.  


We ended the weekend with a visit from our friends from Australia.  An old friend and his family came to Singapore for holiday.  We got to spend the day with them Sunday and enjoyed showing them the East Coast as well as the Marina Bay area.  They probably ended up seeing more of Singapore in the 6 days they were here than we have seen in the 8 weeks that we have been here.  Oh well, we still have 3 years!

So this week is another big week for us.  E is out of school on term break and we have been enjoying late mornings and a more relaxed schedule.  Thursday my Mother-in-law comes for 2 weeks.  We are all very excited to have her visit!  This coming weekend we head to Bintan for a weekend at the beach and then the following weekend the hubby and I will celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary, hopefully in Bali.


So, to another great week and looking forward to more.  BTW, we booked our trip back to the US for December.  Another thing to look forward to!