Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Lectures

Steve has understandably had a few tired moments after a big month of lectures and marking. Over the past four Wednesdays he has had to present a series of Economics lectures to two groups of approximately 250 students each. During this time he also had over 200 essays to mark within a specified time frame.
Sleeping is socially acceptable in public places in Singapore. You see people asleep in all sorts of places - their lunch break at work, in the classroom (students that is), on the buses and trains, even on the footpath! Celia's violin teacher often has to be woken by the receptionist because he is having a wee kip in the next room prior to her lesson.
The work and study ethic is very very strong.. people definitely burn the candle at both ends... and therefore it is understandable that there are a lot of tired people about. Some of Jess and Rhian's class mates will try to set up on-line conferences to discuss school projects right up till midnight. They may have tried this in Alexandra, but not to discuss schoolwork!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Thank you Mum




Grandma flew out of Singapore last night and will be back in Invercargill by tea-time today. Thank you Mum for saving every last cent to come all this way and see us. We had so much fun. You did amazingly well. Two great weeks - thank you.

Adam turns 1




Our beautiful boy turned  1 on Monday 20th July 2009. He had a great day. Click on the video clip for his 'ice-cream explosion' afternoon tea at Swensen's. We didn't think he needed a party, with a family dinner at night and Grandma here - that was party enough. A very happy, funny, and active wee boy... just delightful... that's our Adam.

P.S. The ice-cream platter was delightful. I chose the 8 flavours, and unfortunately decided to try 'durian' flavour as one of them. It is the strongest, most pungent smell/taste you can imagine. Durian is a well known fruit here - looks like a green porcupine but even bigger!

Clarke Quay





Out and about with Grandma



Saturday, July 11, 2009

Singapore Flyer

The Singapore Flyer goes the equivalent of '42 storeys high' and gives (obviously) a very good perspective of the whole of Singapore. It really accentuates how small the island-country is, and how built-up it is. There has been a lot of land 'reclaimed' from the sea!
Adam didn't get at all phased by the experience.



Welcome to Singapore Grandma

Grandma has arrived safely, and by Day 4 has already seen a few of the sights. Grandma has clocked up 4 swims too!



Friday, July 3, 2009

Term 3

Term 3 is under way. Steve, Jess and Rhian are back at National Junior College, and the home-schoolies are back into it as well. Adam likes Celia's activity book!
Jess finished a week of exams today - what a relief.




Temperature-taking

This is Adam getting into the swing of temperature-taking.

Art assignment

This is Jess's art piece recently submitted for assessment. The canvas is  over 1 metre high.

Adam walking

In the last fortnight Adam has gone from staggering a few short steps, to walking freely around the house. He is very proud of his newfound skills. He is 11 and a half months old. Hopefully you can access this video clip, complete with mum's sound effects!