Chinatown

Brandon and I survived our second night without Steven, but we miss him so much! When we woke up, I decided to try to call Steven's hotel on Skype. It was about 7 am Singapore time and midnight London time (both Thursdays). (FYI - It was also about 7 pm Louisville time and 6 pm Chicago time (both Wednesdays).)

I wasn't sure if I would be able to get through to Steven's hotel on Skype, but sure enough I did! The hotel connected me to Steven's room phone, and he was there! Although we didn't have webcams, it was very nice to hear Steven's voice. It sounded like he is having a good time in London and enjoying the experience. He was able to go out to some bars last night. I'm happy that he had some time to see a bit of London.

After our morning Skypes, Brandon and I took a cab with Jo to Chinatown. We hadn't been to Chinatown before. Our first week or so here we took the train to Chinatown, but it was so hot outside, we ended up leaving for Vivo City (mall).

I loved the experience of Chinatown! We walked around the streets and outdoor shops.

I saw this t-shirt which described the many ways in which Singapore is a "fine" city. Ha ha!

We saw these live crabs. Unfortunately, they were just waiting to be cooked up into Singapore's local chili crab dish. Steven has tried this dish, but I have not... yet???

We saw a couple of Buddhist temples. So beautiful!

This is the back and side of one of the temples.

This is the front of the temple.

The incense was burning. Behind the incense you can slightly see into the temple.

This was the other temple. Such unique, elaborate architecture!

We walked into the main entryway of the temple, without our shoes, of course.

This is a view of the side of the temple. You can see the back of the main entrance.

After walking around outside, we went into one of the malls. When we have company visit in June and July, I know exactly where I'm going to take them. I'm going to treat them to the spa. The fish spa, that is.

People sit and put their hands and feet in the water.

The fish then eat the dead skin off of their feet and hands. Supposedly, this just tickles slightly. The fish don't bite. Jo offered to treat me to the spa. I passed this time. :) I was tempted to put Brandon in there to see if he liked it. However, I felt a bit cruel subjecting him to the fish spa if I wasn't willing to try it myself. I had to remind myself that he is my son and not my guinea pig.

Funniest part about today -

Jo and I were taking the escalator down one floor in the mall. I was holding Brandon and standing in front of Jo. The man standing in front of us turned and smiled at Brandon. When he did this, Brandon reached out for him!

What? I thought that maybe Brandon was confused and thought the man was a grandpa or even Dino from our apartments. I thought that Brandon would realize that this man was a stranger and then cling to me.

Instead, Brandon continued to reach for the man. Out of curiosity, I handed Brandon to the man. Brandon went right to him. I was in awe!

The man carried Brandon down the escalator. Brandon did get a little shy and looked away from the man a couple of times, but then he put his face right up to the man's face.

The real kicker is that when I put my hands out to take Brandon back, he didn't reach for me! What!!!???

When I reached for Brandon again, he actually turned away and grabbed at the man's neck tightly to avoid me taking him.

Now, I was really confused! Who was this man? Was this Brandon's long lost Singaporean grandfather? What was it about this man that Brandon was drawn to?

Part of me was happy that my son isn't totally consumed with stranger danger. Then, another part of me started to get scared at how easily Brandon might go to a stranger. He might need some stranger danger instilled in him. I didn't think we needed to have the "don't talk to strangers" talk quite yet, but maybe I was wrong?

Jo and I were laughing so hard. I really wish I had a video of the whole thing. It was hilarious. Scary and confusing, but hilarious.

I called my mom's cell phone on Skype today. It was 4:50 pm our time, so only 4:50 am her time. Just wanted to leave her a message. It was so strange calling her phone and not calling her on the computer. It was so comforting to hear her voice on her voice message...

Brandon and I were suppose to go to our AWA playgroup this afternoon. However, Brandon didn't wake up from his nap until 4:30! Too late to make it to the afternoon playgroup today!

Since we were in for the afternoon, Jo invited us back down to her apartment for dinner and wine. The kids played. We talked. We even put on American Idol so I could watch the results show.

Brandon loves Jessie and Jake! I have noticed the last couple of times we've been around them though, Brandon has taken a special liking to Jake. Jake is like Brandon's big brother. Brandon hugs Jake and pats his head. Jake hugs Brandon. So cute!

Tonight the kids made a tent. Brandon still doesn't quite get the fun of homemade tents. Hopefully, soon. :)

Before we left, Brandon took a bath with Jessie. Jake was in a bit of a funk by this time of the night, so he opted out of this bath and took his own bath in the second bathroom. Maybe next time. Brandon only played in the bath for a few minutes. He wanted out of the bath to be with Jake.

Jo, Jessie, and Jake walked us back up to our apartment tonight, and we all said "night night"! Until tomorrow!