Starting the transition

Some things I’ve noticed this week that I’ve been back in the United States:

• I still don’t like driving!

Ok…..it is convenient to just hop in the car & run to the store.  But here I have to do that because there’s not a bus that I’ve figured out that can do that as well!  There is a bus station just a block over….I’ve found the Metro Trip app which I’ve downloaded on my phone.  We’ll see if it’s as good as MyTransport Singapore!  It does show that there’s a bus that will take me down to the Kroger about a mile away!  Yes, I could walk there…..

• Not only are there light switches & outlets inSIDE the bathroom – right next to the counter so I can dry my hair in front of a really big mirror – there’s an outlet in the toilet room!

Just a toilet…..and an outlet…..

Hmmmm…..it’s a room with just a toilet, a door that closes….I’m not sure I know why there is an outlet in there.

• The days are longer!

I’m no longer on a 7am sunrise / 7pm sunset schedule.  It creeps up onto 9pm without me even realizing it!  It comes from being further from the equator.

• Targets are awesome….and overwhelming

It really is great to walk into one store and get everything you need (literally….I don’t think there was anything on my list that I couldn’t find).  And what you need runs from cleaning supplies to throw pillows to iced tea & eggs!  However, to tell the truth, I have been very overwhelmed walking through.  I’ve gone from “IF I’ve found what I’m looking for, I’ve found ONE”, to “I’ve found what I need, but now I have 5-7 brands & types to choose from”!  I’m happy to find a grill brush easily, but do they have to be made in 6 versions?  A brush is a brush, isn’t it?

• Buying dairy products is no longer just a ‘treat’!

Remember my Cost of an Addiction post?  Check out the receipt below!  That’s a PINT of whipping cream for $2.24!  (And another treat…just above it:  almost a 1/2 gallon of UNsweetened iced tea for $2!)   Ok…..I could get used to this again.

And probably not the cheapest I can find it!

Overall it’s just been busy here as I’ve settled into a new house with not much more than a card table & folding chairs (thank you Lacey!), as well sleeping on air mattresses, buying beds and waiting for our storage items to be delivered this week.  Then another few weeks before the sea container arrives.

The hardest thing?  Feeling claustrophobic.  Odd…but true.  We have a lovely new house – empty – with lots of windows.  But it’s hot, humid, and buggy….you’d think not much different than Singapore.  But that 29th story allowed a long-distance view to Macritchie reservoir & breezes to blow the bugs away.  Even during the hottest times of the year, I could open the patio windows for a few hours in the morning.  Not so much here.

So I’m taking advantage of my porches, and trying to make sure I have my coffee outside before the day starts…..it helps.

Not in any ‘mood’ right now…..not missing Singapore greatly yet, not doing the happy dance being back in the States quite yet either.  But I’m chugging along, and taking each day at a time.    On to start another day…..

Cost of an addiction

I love cream.  The heavier the better.  I love whipped cream – with absolutely no sugar in it.   I enjoy whipping cream in my coffee, and will settle for half and half.

I didn’t realize that moving to Singapore would cause me to have to make some hard decisions.  Yes, we’re an island.  Yes, pretty much all food (except for chicken and eggs!) is imported.  A bottle of wine will put you back a paycheck.  Six cans of Tiger beer will run you S$17.  Yes, a six-pack.  And that’s the cheap beer!  S$28 for 6 bottles of a good beer!  And, you remember my post about not having pigs in a blanket because crescent rolls are S$15 a can?  There’s a Reason I don’t make Pigs in a Blanket here

Moving here I realized that milk and cheese products are expensive as well.

I’m cheap.  I really don’t need a lot of wine, we can eat chicken, and I do limit the number of recipes that call for a lot of cheese (probably healthier for us as well!).

I’ve also realized I do have a breaking point.  Cream.  I have lasted over 2 years, ignoring the cartons of half and half (when I can find them – which isn’t at every store, and isn’t every week!), trying the very (VERY) small cartons of ‘cooking cream’ and ‘whipping cream’, that are NOT the same, but are S$4.00 for a 200 ml carton, on sale – thinking I’m saving money.  The cream in these cartons is horrible….sometimes I cut the top open, and it’s solid inside!  Ok, I like whipped cream, so I just scoop it out and put that in my coffee!

I give up.  I want my cream.

I figure if Mike can pay S$50 for a bottle of wine, I can pay S$10 for a carton of 1/2 and 1/2.

So just to prove to you, here are the pics:

 

A PINT of Half and Half…the SMALL one!

Yes, I paid S$10.20 for this carton.

Friends – do me a favour:  would one of you head to the store in the States, check out the price for a pint of 1/2 and 1/2, and let me know how much?  Maybe I just remember wrong, and it’s just as expensive over there as here – and I’ll feel better about my addiction!

I accomplished TWO things today!

….with only minor damage to my feet!

If you recall an earlier post, it referenced needing two hours to go to the grocery store – quite a daunting thought for this ‘run to the corner store for milk’ girl.  I’ve been here just shy of two weeks, and I am proud to say I made it down to the bookstore (picking up a rice cooker cookbook!), and then back to the grocery store, before heading back home.  All in under 3 hours!

Now, it doesn’t sound like I really have done much, but you need to realize what occurred prior to even getting to the bookstore:

• Talk w/Jagruti back in the States, and catch up with Helen!
• Pull everything I’d need together, before leaving the apartment (to avoid that “oops….forgot (whatever)….back upstairs” set of trips…)
  • don’t forget:  bus pass, grocery list, bookstore list, coupon found in magazine for bookstore, cheat sheet for bus numbers
  • also – find bookstore location!  I was told:  Prologue in Ion at Orchard.  Do you KNOW how big ION is at Orchard?  It’s a huge mall.  And the Orchard MRT is like a spider, with about 8 exits to multiple malls
• Put bandaids on already sore feet!  (hoping for no more blisters!)
• Head to bus stop at end of lane, catch bus to MRT
• Take MRT to Orchard (see note above…..this station is confusing!)
• THEN wander thru ION mall (once I follow the correct signs) for bookstore

Not too bad – loved the store.  Went for 1 rice cooker book, bought 2.  Plus 4 books for kids.  Plus stickers.  Plus dividers.  Stop me!!    As Helen notes, my money first goes to books, and anything left over goes to food and clothes!

Stopped by a coffee shop, had an iced latte (yes, Sarah, I am still drinking them!) and a Singaporean Spicy puff (don’t really know what it was, but it was good!).

Once rested, headed back to MRT, to reverse my trip back home.  Felt so accomplished, I decided I could still make it to the grocery store & get just one or two necessary items:  ginger, garlic, and the real reason – cream for my coffee!.

Timing was great for all – no waits on buses or MRTs.  Didn’t get rained on.  And made it home with only current blisters a bit worse for wear – no new ones!

All in all, a good day.