The New Place

We moved into the new place yesterday, a little earlier than expected. I was a little bit apprehensive after our first night here. We had been living very close to a lot of restaurants, and other business, and a short bus ride to practically everything (except for quarantine). Last night, maybe because I was a little more tired than normal, I started feeling antsy, like we were so far from everything, and like our neighborhood is really depressing (I don't know how I arrived at that last conclusion).
In the light of day today, I gained new perspective, and after a few trips around town, I realize that we live in a great neighborhood, close enough to everything.
I took the bus into town earlier, from right in front of our building. There is only one bus line that runs from our place, and it comes about every 15 minutes. Tonight we walked to the MRT station (about a 10 minute walk), and took the train three stops down into the heart of downtown. I timed the trip home, from a wonderful food court, and it took a total of 34 minutes, door to door, and that included a stop at 7-11 for snacks, and a six minute wait for the train.
Before dinner, we took Benson for a walk in a park across the street from our building. There were tons of dogs, running around off their leashes. The owners were a great bunch of people from all over the world. Obviously they were nice people, they are dog people. One lady told us that there are groups of people that all walk their dogs at the same time every day, morning and evening. Not a formal meeting, but they get to know each other. That alone is enough to make me love the neighborhood. Also the dogs were really friendly, and Benson got along with them all. Dogs of all sizes... Golden Retrievers, a miniature poodle, a husky, a lab. Side note: red poodles are popular here. Miniature ones. They are adorable.

The Pets are Out!

The pets got out of quarantine today. It is so good to have them with us. They seem to be doing pretty well. Lucy is hiding out, but she is doing okay. PJ and Benson seem, for the most part, unphased. I took Benson for a walk by the river behind the apartment a little while ago. He came back in and wallowed on the cool wood floors. Here are some pictures of Benson and PJ. Lucy hides every time I try to take her picture, so more on that later.

On the menu

Last night Erin and I went walking in search of somewhere nice to eat. I had passed some places along the river earlier in the day while out for a run and suggested we check out some of those. We ended up at an Australian place called Boomarang. The place was packed because they had several flat screens, and it was after all, the first night of the world cup. I think people were staking out their tables hours before the game started, planning on just staying for hours, probably.
The food was great. There were a couple of interesting items on the menu, including peppered kangaroo loin, and pizza with kangaroo meat as one of the toppings. When I was little, my sister told me that Steak-Um, the mystery meat that we would sometimes have for dinner, was made of kangaroo. LIttle did she know that were it actually kangaroo, you could charge $40 a plate for it.
One other interesting thing about this restaurant... they allow dogs. Its an ope air place, and sure enough, people had their dogs lying on the ground next to their tables, or sitting on the bench between a couple at a booth. Needless to say, we will be back.

East meets West

It is about an hour trip each way to visit the animals in quarantine. I will be so glad when they are able to come home. Just two more days. Yesterday I listened to my iPod the whole way there and back. There is something wonderful about listening to distinctly American music, like Jerry Lee Lewis or Jay-Z, while riding a bus through a large Asian city. Its a great soundtrack, and a great accompaniment to my feelings... the usually loud American, alone on a bus full of locals, sitting quietly with obnoxious, fantastic music blaring secretly into his ears.

Camera Cord Found

I finally have been able to track down a cord to attach my camera to the computer, so I can now post pictures. Unfortunately, I have not been taking many pictures so far. Here is a good one, though.

Working Out

I have often said that if I did not have a job, I would run and exercise all day long. For the time being, I am going to have to live up to those statements. So far so good. Running in Singapore is not the easiest thing to do, but with six months until the marathon here, that I have already signed up for, I need to get used to it. Yesterday I made it 2 and a quarter miles, before deciding that I did not want to risk getting lost. Today, Erin and I were at about 2 and a third when thunder and lightning sent us indoors. I finished off the workout with 10 minutes of rowing. If I keep this up, and don't indulge in food quite as much as I would like, I might end up in great shape (especially considering that stepping outdoors is like taking a steam).

Day Three

We are beginning our third full day in our new city. I woke yesterday morning, and went for a run. I made it 2 and a half miles, which, given the heat, was an impressive accomplishment. We have looked at apartments, visited our pets in quarantine multiple times, and had a number of delicious meals, and all before we have passed out from jet lag immediately following dinner. I really want to post some pictures, but am still looking for the cord that attaches the camera to the computer.