Singapore - a great destination!

I don't think I can recollect how many times I have been to Singapore; whether it has been for work or a transit stop, the stops and stays are far too numerous to count.  However, I have never holidayed in the city and never contemplated touring a seven year old girl through it.  

Together, Teagie and I spent a week wheeling through the streets and shops of Singapore and it now fits, as a destination city, into my "will holiday again" category.  We have very good friends living in Singapore so we enjoyed a central location and a built in playmate.  For both of us the highlights were: the Cloud Dome (Gardens by the Bay), the Zoo - day visit and a second night safari, and finishing off with High Tea and Raffles.

As an honourable mention - Mr Micro Maxi, deserves accolades!  One has now discovered how to keep walking through city streets with a kid in tow (or in this case, in push).  Now that the Madam is too old for a stroller we had changed our travel style away from pavement pounding but WOW, a smooth gliding scooter returned me to the walk, with merely a hand on Teagie's back (or under her own power when not on a busy street) we covered some distances!

A few days in Singapore

It is the Easter break for Teagan in Doha and that means "holiday". This year we have handled it a bit differently with a friend and her young son traveling up to Doha for a week from Singapore and then Teagan and me traveling down to Singapore for the second week and it is flying!

Our Singapore time began with purchasing a new scooter - a Micro Maxi. A fabulous replacement for Teagan's beaten-up two wheeled heavy Razor. We have covered what seems likes miles and miles of ground using a scoot / push approach to movement. Needless to say, I have one incredibly happy daughter!



















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Location:River Valley Green,River Valley,Singapore

It is definitely over two months since.....

Computer activities in a threesome

It is definitely over two months since I last loaded a blog post.  The second school term is closing in on me and nothing "too much in particular" has happened; this I should be ever thankful for.  Which brings me to what to write about!  Normality, me thinks.

Villa and compound life has entered a "new" normal for us.  Mostly this is due to Teagan growing up.  Today for instance is a Thursday.  Usually it is a day where after school we do something special together: make something, watch something or draw something.  For the past term, this "together time" lasts less than 15 minutes so today, I didn't plan anything and thank goodness because, yet again, I am alone in the house as she is out and about.

Injury repairs!

Some kind of game

When you live in a gated community such as our compound, community is the operative word.  Teagan 7 yrs, IS. (7 yrs), D. (7 yrs) and A (4 yrs) spend their after school hours kicking around on their bikes between the street and the playground.  It seems that this mindless racing, playing, and competing is far more interesting than any adult could possibly imagine. If the children aren't outside making noise then I only need to look for a pile of bikes and I can guess they are in one or another of their houses "doing something just as interesting".  Once the street lights go on it is all parents to the helm to locate find and return moving, living children. Between all of us (parents that is), grounding has become the best lever; invariably if one normally present 7 year old is missing, that child has been grounded and is watching from an upstairs window feeling mortally wounded as life continues below without them.  Needless to say, I have a relatively well behaved child!

A BIG Brownie

One other thing I have noted is that  Teagan stays up a lot later and joins Ross and me for our supper, popping herself to bed for a short read after partaking in a cup of tea and a partial quality documentary.  Normal now is having a lovely second person for me to enjoy, with what ever moments I can get.

The vege man

Book week character!

The last few days

We pondered for some time about planning for a "stop" in Amsterdam. With the Dutch-Flyer, Amsterdam became a sensible option so we spent New Year's Eve there. Hotels were hard to book even back in November so we booked a Novotel a bit out of the centre. Thankfully, we have a good status with the Accor Hotel chain so scored a room with an exquisite view over the canals. Following a VERY long day, we bedded down early (8pm) but managed to be awake to welcome in the new year along with a firework spectacular; definitely worth the night in Amsterdam!

Anne Frank's secret annexe was my main pulling to Amsterdam. Advisors had told us to pre-book tickets into the house. Looking at the length of the line, I think we saved a good hour or more! As for taking a seven year old in to the museum; that was not a problem at all. The content and introduction to the holocaust was certainly not too much for her. Whilst there were a few photos with some challenging images, they were all explainable. I believe that Teagan is now well aware of the terrible times that our world has inflicted on itself and the importance of thinking about other people and the value of EVERYONE. Naturally, we had preprepared her with a picture book about Anne in the annexe. Now, along with Pompeii, Henry the VIII, 15th Century Belgian artists we can add Anne Frank to the "fixated" list.

Leaving Amsterdam was not smooth. Due to our late night we slept in pushing our ability to eat breakfast and make a leisurely low cost trip to the central train station. As a good breakfast came first, we caught a taxi to the station - a luxury for us! Then we discovered the "other side of DB train travel". As I had selected a direct trip to Berlin, the train was an IC (InterCity) as opposed to an ICE (InterCity Express). This meant that in spite of 1st class tickets we: (1) had no carriage, (2) no seats (3) no functional restaurant car and (4) no toilets in our section. Never mind, the conductor sorted us out into a closed cabin where we had some really pleasant traveling companions which helped pass the six hours . The madam's hungry tummy was fixed through the hoard of food that all mothers have in their shoulder bags (the sandwich that you make at breakfast, fold into a napkin, the apple that you pick up as you leave the restaurant, and the packet of crackers that are always available) and of course there is always plenty of drink available at vending machines along the way.

Now it is our last night in Berlin. We have spent the day shopping picking up the extensive list of necessities that we cannot get in Doha.

Another good trip is just about finished and one little girl is ready for her own bedroom!




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Location:Anhalter Straße,,Germany

The Dutch Flyer

Sometimes there are some tricks and interesting major city transfers available. But, the problem is; how to know about them. One of my key advisors is www.seat61.com and for this trip, which is a circuit, a trip called the Dutch Flyer was recommended. We travelled from the heart of London to the heart of Amsterdam via a rail-ship-rail connection that was so stream-lined that it shocked my over-prepared nature!

We literally caught the underground line (Hammersmith & City), connected via a very short platform hop at Liverpool St to a train departing at 7.02 pm for Ipswitch that dropped us at a station called Manningtree (aka: the middle of nowhere) where we changed platforms to a nice sprinter train that put us at the Harwich International Terminal. It was quick and streamlined - happily we travel with backpacks so it wasn't really an issue moving between all the trains.

Once we got onto the ship we were amazed. I had booked a Comfort Class cabin and it was better than most of our hotel rooms (including those of the Novotel). The mini-bar was free, however, we skipped the dinner as Teagan needed to sleep and only hit the restaurants for breakfast.

Disembarkation was trouble free and again we had to use connecting trains (sprinter plus intercity) as we entered Amsterdam Central at 10.00am.

All of this was for around GBP200 (2 adults and one child). If anyone is contemplating the route, I would recommend familiarising yourself with the route. Even though it all connects up and works seamlessly, it could be disconcerting at Manningtree if you are not sure what you are up to (as Teagan was surprised that we were "nowhere").





















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Location:Europaboulevard,Amsterdam,The Netherlands

Hell in a hamster's wheel

Oh joy, Ross has gone exploring in higher floors in London's Science Museum and I am sitting in what seems like a hamster wheel. The noise of spinning is incredible, speed of action frenetic, happiness of small creatures exceptional and the view for me from the sidelines somewhat challenged.

We have a full day left here before leaving for our overnight Ditch Flyer train/boat/train to Amsterdam. Teagan had free activity choice today do it was the Launchpad in the museum and it is my turn on duty!

It is amazing how travel dynamics change with a child on board.







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Location:United Kingdom

No, there is nothing wrong with her sight!

I don't know how many times the little miss has convinced us that she is ailing in some way. Never, however, has she given us reason to doubt her seemingly perfect eyesight.
Several weeks ago a letter came home from the school nurse suggesting that we should get a professional eyesight assessment. Accordingly, but with no belief and no urgency, we did our parental duty. Finally we found a non hospital based optometrist (Qatar, Germany and Belgium will not test children under 12 years) in London. Following a full assessment I discovered that the kid actually does have a moderate problem and couldn't see a lot at a distance! Two hours later just before the first of two London shows, the child could see! Imagine her delight when she found that should could see the stage sets from her seat especially for Matilda which was in the Upper Circle!
She sports two pairs of glasses now - one is Mr Tickle and the other Little Miss Sunshine, her eyes have that slight bug eye look, and we as parents are so thankful for the school's health check systems.




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