Singapore Fling

So I've jetted off to Singapore for a few days on my medevac and immediately began my love affair with this beautiful, wonderful, amazing city. Although I've only been here for a day, I can already tell that this is a place I would love to live. From the moment I stepped off the airplane into the gorgeous, clean, quiet airport* to the lovely greenery and parks that whizzed by as I took my clean, sleek cab down traffic law-obeying streets and through the working infrastructure of an Asian city that clearly works. It was like Japan except everyone speaks Chinese. Yay! Actually, I shouldn't say everyone. True there are many Chinese speakers here, but I have been astounded at the multi-culturalism I've encountered. In my hotel I've already had pleasant exchanges with other visitors from Japan, Australia, India, Brazil, and the UK. Jus in my small doctor's office I heard French, English, Chinese, Hindi, and Japanese. I loved it!

Today was mostly full of doctors appointments and a quick visit to the Embassy here to get my medical clearance back.** I did a lot of walking up and down Orchard Street, which is the main shopping drag but also the street where my hotel and the hospital were located. Tons of high end stores like Gucci and D&G mixed with other smaller malls touting more reasonably priced good and hiding tons of little food courts. Malling here is even more of a national sport than in the Philippines! After my walk to the Embassy, I stopped by a grocery store in one of the malls and had a bit of sticker shock (a liter of milk is about $10!). I did splurge on some cheese and cold cuts, though, because you simply can't get them in Manila. I also picked up a delicious spicy tofu soup from one of the food hawker stalls, which was just what I needed for dinner. Despite the tropical weather*** I was just really craving soup. French picnic and spicy Korean soup, sounds like a perfect pair, right?

Tomorrow is basically a free day. They make your medevacs for 3 days just in case there is a problem and they need to do additional testing. My appointment went smoothly. Everything looks good, healthy. They were not able to do the test I had originally come here for because it turns out I am too far along! The test is supposed to be done between 11-13 weeks. According to the ultrasound, I am 14w2d today. So they had to do a different set, an older test, which is only 60% accurate, which ups my chances of needing am amnio (which I had wanted to avoid) should the results come back positive, which is a bit of a bummer. I won't get the results of that test for another week, so it's more uncomfortable waiting I'm afraid. So I'll console myself by trying to enjoy as much of this lovely city as possible in the time that I have here. I'm excited to go explore Chinatown and Little India tomorrow and maybe to scout out some neighborhoods where we might consider staying the next time we come to Singapore.**** Orchard Street is very nice, but it's quite high end and not so much the down and dirty, street food experience we'll be looking for next time around.

Anyway, it was so cool to get my 3D ultrasound today. When I had my first pregnancy they could barely tell the sex at 20 weeks. Today I saw everything! That baby looked like a little freaking baby, not some crazy alien blob. It was so cool. Oh, and we do know the sex now. :) It made me a little sad seeing all the other couples in there, and I was the lone singleton sitting in the room. We just couldn't justify shelling out the cash for the Husband to accompany me, particularly when we just got back from our R&R, so I came here sans family. I really wanted him to experience getting to see that ultrasound, too. But then, everything seems to bring out the tears in me now, and it reminds me that I haven't posted anything even remotely funny in a while. My last pregnancy brought out the sarcastic wit in me, but this one seems to be making more more emotional and nostalgic. Sappy posts are great every once in a while, but no one wants to read sad things all the time. For realz, I just watched a McDonald's commercial (in Chinese, oh I'm so rusty!) with a grandma and her granddaughter and started crying. I need to get my shit together, people! So here's some funny kid stuff that I keep meaning to post but never get around to randomly thrown into this post for no real reason at all.

J: Want to play doctor?
C: Sure, whatever.
J: *tugs on C's left ear* Does that hurt?
C: No.
J: *tugs on C's right ear* Does that hurt?
C: No
J: *hauls off and smacks C right in the face* Does that hurt?

A: I want oatmeal, please.
Me: Would you like it with raisins and brown sugar?
A: I would like it with all the oatmeal things...except pickles.

J: I want the blue bowl!
A: Can I have the red bowl?
Me: *sarcastically* No, J will be get both bowls.
A: I have to eat off the table? Cool!!


*A total 180 from the gross chaos that is Terminal 1 at Ninoy Aquino International. It was like stepping into a dream!
**Turns out when you medevac for any reason (even just for routine testing) you automatically lose your medical clearance, so I had to see the Regional Medical Officer to get mine back before I head back to Manila.
***Nowhere near as oppressive as Manila but still pretty dang hot, especially if you've been walking around all day.
****Already planned in Dec when my the 'rents are visiting.