Mid-Autumn Festival

The Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated by many Asian people and takes place between early September and October. It is also called the Moon Festival, Mooncake Festival and the Lantern Festival. It has a cultural and religious background which reunite the ideas of giving thanks, praying and gathering with family and friends. Here in Singapore, the streets of Chinatown are lit with colourful lanterns and Gardens by the bay host the largest lantern carnival with lantern displays from around Asia. Mooncakes are sold all over the city and shared with friends and family. I've tasted a few varieties of mooncakes as well as the original which mainly consists on flour, lotus seed paste and egg yolks. It is not my favourite treat but definitely something you should try if you are here during this time. Here are a few pics from around town during the festival. 

Palau Ubin

Yesterday I visited the small island of Palau Ubin. With a population of around 100 inhabitants, the island is on the north coast of Singapore. To get there, I took a small Bumboat that took about 10 minutes to cross the Johor Strait between Singapore and Malaysia. The ride costs $2.50 each way and you pay the "captain" once you're on. The island welcomes you with many bike rental shacks and local food stands. After renting my eight dollar bike I ventured around the island with a hand drawn map. Many palm trees and mangroves surround the island as well as some camouflaged wildlife. As I was enjoying my ride down a green path I noticed what I thought was a vibrant green branch. To my surprise it was a snake, which I believe I scared off either by running over the end of it or with my high pitch scream. Many crabs, spiders, blowfish and other marine life, live happily on this island as well as wild pigs. Many beaches surround the island but they are not swimmable. As mentioned in a previous post, Singapore has one of the biggest ports and thus the ships waiting to unload their cargo, unload their waist in the sea. Fortunately mangroves also surround the island which are known to absorb pollutants even heavy metals. Here are some pics of the day...

Third Week In

Hello everyone,

 

I’ve now been in Singapore for three weeks, three very busy weeks to say the least. I found a condo, a 20 minute walk from school, which isn’t so bad if it weren’t so hot and humid. I live in an eclectic part of town with many shops, restaurants and a few sketchy businesses. Other than the few 6 legged visitors to my condo, I can ‘t complain. The pool is just a few steps from my front door and hardly used. Most of the time I have it all to myself. A few kilometres from my condo is the East Coast Parkway…a great place to bike and run (slowly).

School has also been keeping me busy. We have had many staff meetings, going over procedures, programming, organising and team building. Everyone, I have met has been extremely welcoming and helpful. Although, I am excited to start the school year, which is Monday, there are few things that will take time to adjust to, such has having no bells to designate the start and end of classes and no intercom/telephone in the classrooms. If you forget to send your attendance, the office staff comes to your classroom. Could you imagine Bonnie?!! I will be teaching French to students in JK to grade two. I share an office with the other language teachers, who are mostly Chinese and have a classroom for my grade one and two students. Most of the students opt for Chinese as a second language, as would be expected. That being said, my classes are fairly small.

 

Attached are a few pictures of my surroundings

Along the river we go

Last night the new staff and department leads were treated to yummy treats at the RedDot Brewhouse 
and a boat cruise along the river. Here are some of the sites along the way...

Hello Kitty

On my layover in Taipei!

Suntec City

Hmmm... What could this possibly be?

Here I am

It has been almost a week since I said my last goodbyes to friends and family... I arrived in SG this past Saturday. It has been a whirlwind since I arrived, meeting many new staff members staying at the hotel, house hunting with them, combined with my own search and attending a few functions here and there. 

My first impressions... People are extremely helpful and friendly, the architecture is stunning and most of all IT IS HOT and HUMID! As much as I had prepared for the heat, when you're running around like crazy getting things done, it hits you like a heat wave! 

I have yet to secure a cell phone, since I am waiting for my employment pass, which they require you to have before making any "big" purchases. Not having a cell phone has been the biggest adjustment so far...we do rely heavily on our electronics, I'm pondering how I ever got through a week yet alone a day without one!