Mark was invited a little while back to play on the
Singapore travel hockey team, the Manimals.He had to miss the first tournament he was invited to play in due to his
work schedule so he has been looking forward to the Singapore tournament, as
well as tournaments in Hong Kong in May and Bangkok in October, for some time.After becoming an official member of the
team, the next step is to be dubbed a jersey name which is usually something
funny or ironic.The guys had a lot of
fun with the fact that Mark moved to Singapore from Texas when coming up with
his name, Oh Bama.
Mark's Manimal jersey
The 8th annual Singapore hockey
tournament took place from Wednesday, February 27th – Saturday, March
2nd.In the open division that
the Manimals played in, there were 9 teams, 2 from Singapore and 7 other teams
from all over Asia with players from all over the world.In order to get ready for the hockey
tournament Mark decided to go to a scrimmage game Tuesday night.He was caught with a high stick that split his nose open early in the
game.He
managed to play the rest of the game (obviously I was not there as I would not
have encouraged this) but then had to go to the ER.The bad part is that he required 11 stitches and
had a broken nose.The good part is that
he wore a full cage the rest of the tournament!
My favorite pic from the week :)
Following the stitches and broken nose, Mark had a
small string of bad luck – broken skate lace in the middle of a game, broken bag
after the game, and lost first game.At
this point, the tournament wasn’t looking so good.But, after losing that first game to a team with
2 former NHL players, the Manimals won the next 5 games to win the open
division championship!All-in-all, not a
bad turn around from starting the tournament in the ER.
Champions!
Receiving the trophy
Handshakes and medals
Drinking from the Singapore Champions cup (I got to do this too and I felt like a winner! I never win anything haha!)
Colt has had a pretty exciting past few months with
an extended stay at boarding while we were in The States and with the condo move!Despite the excitement, he’s maintained a sense
of normalcy by keeping up with his usual antics of shoe-chewing and hiding
from storms (the new place has even given him some new hiding spots).
Last picture at the Watermark
Colt was in boarding while the movers packed the condo. I had just downloaded a new app that let me watch him on my phone while he was at boarding. I turned into a super stalker. Feel sorry for my future children.
Still chewing shoes...Another pair bites the dust...
Still hiding from storms (although he is getting more creative)...
Still thinks he owns the couch...
We think he likes the new condo which has more
space overall and a window seat in his room, it also has a more spacious
balcony which is perfect for bone-chewing and sunbathing.But, what he has liked even more than the new
condo is his new find – a soccer ball from a nearby ditch (YAY for free toys!).He likes having it kicked, tossing it
himself, and carrying it in his mouth while he runs like a crazy beast (reference video)!
First picture at the new condo - no furniture yet!
Since living in Singapore, we've adjusted to seeing/hearing
festivities revolving around more holidays than just the ones that
we’ve become accustomed to in The States.Two such
holidays that have taken place recently are: Thaipusam which was on January
27th and Chinese New Year which fell on February 10ththis year.
Thaipusam is a Hindu festival which signifies the
day the Hindu god, Lord Muruga, received his spear, blessed by Mother Shakti.
Legends say that Lord Muruga managed to overcome all demonic forces and liberated
his people by using his spear. Thaipusam also signifies the day another Hindu
god, Lord Shiva, opened the Wisdom Eye of a group of sages by dancing the
Aanantha Nadanam (dance of bliss).Hindu
devotees can be seen carrying a kavadi (two semicircular pieces of wood or
steel, bent and attached to a cross structure. This is then balanced on the
shoulders of a devotee. A kavadi will be heavily decorated with flowers, peacock
feathers, pictures of Lord Muruga and will have two small pots filled with milk
on either sides), as a form of thanksgiving to Lord Muruga, in fulfillment of a
vow. One can carry the kavadi as a thanksgiving for prayers answered, some even
do it to develop their spirituality.These festivies take place at the Hindu temple.My friend, Melissa, and I were lucky enough
to go see this first hand.The kavadis
were very beautiful but looked very painful, as well.
Aside from piercing the skin, shaving the head, and walking on coals,
some devotees also fast for long periods. Considering they're walking 3
miles in sweltering heat carrying large kavadis fastened to their bodies
via piercings and punctures, this can be dangerous. We saw several
people passed out and being carried from the extremely hot temple. This
received very little attention which made us suspect that it was
probably a pretty regular occurrence. Despite the heat, it was fascinating to be submerged in
something that I knew nothing about before moving to Singapore. Below are a few pictures I took at the Sri Thendayuthapani Temple during Thaipusam.
As for Chinese New Year (CNY), even if you don’t know
the exact date or what all it entails, you always know when it’s coming because immediately following
Christmas and the January 1st New Year, it seems that everything is
decorated Chinese New Year style with lots of red, lanterns, oranges, and
colorful Chinese Dragons! You can even tell a difference at the grocery
store where they begin to sell more traditionally Chinese foods as well as more
oranges (represent good luck and fortune) and the lines get much longer!While the long lines are a pain, that is
made-up for by the fact that there are several firework shows during the nearly
month-long celebration of CNY.We even
had a pretty good view of the ones near the Central Business District from our
balcony at the new place.
Chinese Dragons at a shopping mall doing a festive dance in honor of CNY
CNY fireworks from our balcony
Below are the Wikipedia links if you are
interested in more information on either holiday.
When Mark and I came back to Singapore in early
January after a 3 week trip back to The States, we were anxious to get back in
the swing of things here.Mark dove into
work, I started another online class, and we both began working towards getting
out of our current lease as we were STILL dealing with water leaks over a year
and a half into our tenancy.
But, keeping busy doesn't mean we didn't make any time for
fun ;)!I joined a coffee group that
meets every Wednesday morning at various coffee shops throughout Singapore.It’s women from all over that have
been transplanted to Singapore, so we are all in very similar situations having moved away from our friends and families and wanting to meet people.And I have met a lot of really nice women through
this group, as well as joined in some other activities with the ladies – birthday
parties, pool parties, and I organized another Pulau Ubin ride and an Oscar
party!
Drinks at Black & White (L to R: Mark, Niki, Evan, Nick, Grace, Brad, Miranda, and Amy)
Celebrating the 39th birthday of Coffee Group member, Danielle, at Lucho Libre
Dinner and drinks with new friends (L to R: Mark, Niki, Evan, Amy, Melissa, Dan)
Niki's 2nd Annual Singapore Oscar Party!
Kayaking with Bahar at Pulau Ubin
Just a little tandem biking with Amy! (We didn't really rent this bike but it made for a fun picture!)
Staying hydrated with (L to R) Amy, Niki, Danielle, Bahar, and Kristy
Luckily, I was able to host the Oscar party at our new
condo as we finally got the landlord to let us out of our old lease.We moved into a new condo at the end of February. The new place is in
the same area, about a block away from our old condo.We are completely settled now and like the
new place much better! In addition to not having water seeping up through the
floors, it has 3 bedrooms, bigger balconies, and just an overall bigger living
space.Another aspect we are really
excited about is having tennis courts and the nicer pool, although we’ve yet to use either of them. But, we do have a BBQ/housewarming party planned for the first Saturday
in April where we will get to take advantage of the pool!
New Condo - Rivergate
Dining and Living room
Disregard the clutter on the table, I was getting ready for the Oscar Party
Balcony off Living Room
Kitchen
Colts room (2nd bedroom)
Study (3rd bedroom)
Study view 2
Master bedroom view 1
Master bedroom view 2
Master bedroom balcony
Master bathroom with separate shower and tub - YES!
