Ze Beney

What a wonderful way to reconnect with scuba diving than to do a special PADI course (advanced diver) associated with a “live aboard” boat diving trip.

Michelle and I left Alexandre in Singapore and we went for a little weekend getaway. I passed my advanced diver course and had 2 dives with enriched air (more oxygen). What a treat, starting from seven skies to a nice reef in the middle of the ocean, night dive with whale shark encounter and a wonderful recreational wreck to finish with…wonderful…Here are a few pictures related to our getaway.
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Tonight was photo – night shoot
What a nice time, we started by going to a nice indoor food court where I got Tex Mexican food! Nothing beats a nice Burrito with salsita.
Then it was on for the Fort Canning park where we started laying out some of our apparels, tripods, flashes, night lights for special effects. We ended up with graveyard romantic pictures (J/K).[thumb:2802:l]
After about 10 minutes of shooting, we fell a small drop of water which quickly transformed into a down pour Singapore style. We ran to the car and went for plan B.
ISO 100; F11; 10sec to 30 sec oppening in non autofocus mode…What a night and wonderful shots.
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Hope you enjoy the pics

We have officially been living in our condo for 2 weeks now. [thumb:2614:l] Of course, more repairs must be done. If the owner’s relator had done his job, all this could have been prevented. So, the first repair was to re-finish the marble floors due to marks and dents. We didn’t really care as we are renting but the owner wanted it done. The house was of course a mess again as that took 4 hours to finish. Having to tell Alex to stay away was a bit difficult since Etienne returned back to work! Also, it is a common practice here to remove your shoes when you go into someone’s home….well, if you have dirty feet, it really doesn’t matter whether you are wearing shoes or not. The contractors that were coming into our condo had dirty feet so it dirty the floor. Therefore, I made them clean it. Also, we discovered that the patio upstairs had water blockage and was leaking into our dinng room. I reported it and I must say the locals here were fast to act. However, when I told them where the leak was coming from, the men did not listen to me. Instead, they started to hack into the concrete wall! Dumb idiots! They had a worker breaking the concrete wall by a hammer…..! They finally wised up, got a ladder, went upstairs and saw where the leak was coming from. Of course, this repair is going to take a few more days as they never return when they said they were going to. I had to call and remind them that they tools in our patio. The joy of repairs!!!

If you recall, last week, I made a big fuss about the condo not being cleaned prior to us moving in. Well, a maid came and she spent 7 hours cleaning the entire place! This just shows that our place was never cleaned when the realtor said it was! I have also discovered that you have to be mean and forceful to get things done here! Being nice just does not get the job done.

So, I think we have finally found a good school for Alex. It is pricey by Singapore standards but not compare to what we were paying in the US. Most of the schools here said they teach English but most teachers don’t speak English so I am trying to understand how this would work. Plus, the school don’t have any AC, only fans. If you know Houston summer weather, it is the same here….humid and hot. I went to many of these places and I was sweating in the first 5 minutes. If I am hot, Alex was burning up since he is a little sweat machine. And, the teachers were not very friendly. No one talked to Alex in some of these schools. Therefore, the school that he will go has a good mixture of international kids and AC! Of course, he is taller than most Asian 2.5 years old his age. Oh well!

Oh, did I mentioned that our place doesn’t have a washer, dryer, dishwasher, and a microwave?!!! All of these would be standard in most homes in the US but here, these are optional as they often have maids that will do the cleaning, washing, and cooking. Anyhow, we wanted a bigger space so we had to alter our priorities. The first purchased we made was a washer. I was able to negotiate a deal on it so didn’t have to pay sticker price. This is a concept that I think US should adapt! ) We searched for a dryer and found one with my guy who we bought the washer from. I think we may have found our appliance sales guy! ) Speaking of groceries, we went to a nice one and it carried many of the US products but costs 2-3 times more. Now, I know what to bring when we make a trip back to the US. Oh, so you would think that dumplings here should be dirt cheap as we Asian invented them. LOL! A pack of frozen dumplings costs $ 6.00 USD, I used to pay $2.50 for one package in the states, sometimes $2 on sale! Crazy, huh?!!! It is really interesting how they price things here!

We will most likely get a nanny/housekeeper as well. Once I start back to work, we will need help in taking Alex to school and picking him up. The process of hiring a housekeeper is very interesting. If you go through an agency, they will match you one but you have to pay the agency 6 months of the maid’s salary in advance, this means that the maid doesn’t get pay for 6 months! Or you can go through a referral and find one yourself. This can be done but the government here makes it so confusing that you are not sure what to do. This was the same thing with Abbie, our dog, therefore, we hired a pet agency to process all her paper works when she landed in Singapore!

Next week, more repairs are being done on the condo so I am sure we will have more interesting stories to share!

Love,
Beney Family

We started off the week by moving to our semi-permanent place for the next 2 years! AMEN! We managed to moved our things along with the movers and rented furniture into our new place in less than 2 hours! I must say that the locals are definitely efficient when it comes to moving and setting up. This was definitely impressive! Of course, once we arrived into our new place, it was dirty and filled with dust all over the place…….shouldn’t have been surprised there! The blinds, curtains, and ceiling fans were not installed so we spent all day Monday waiting on them to install everything. Good thing, we had a good agent (realtor) who helped us along the way! It was a total mess! We are very thankful that Etienne’s family was here to help, clean, and entertain Alex. We couldn’t have done it without them! Thanks a bunch!

Of course, we spent the next few days cleaning the place so that it was livable…don’t worry, I made a big enough fuss that the other agent will hire someone to come clean the entire place. Oh, so another thing, the people here will nickel and dime you on everything. We moved out of our temporary place and it was still in great shape but the owner went around and nick pick every little scratch on the wall and a missing cable cord. WOW! Knowing this, I am creating an inventory list along with pictures of all the defects in our new place so that we are not to blame at the end of our lease. Lesson learned!

Being in a bigger place is definitely nice; however, we have come to notice that everything is child height…..wall plugs, oven, stove top and plugs, sink, etc. I know that Asian people are short but goodness at least consider child safety! Oh, the oven is not heat proof so if you are cooking something, you should not be near the oven otherwise you will get a heat stroke or burn yourself!

Also, we have learned that IKEA is so popular here that there are two locations on this small island and yet there is only one in Houston! Hello, what is going on here?! There is not a day that doesn’t go by that I do not see an IKEA truck somewhere on the streets of Singapore. So like all the people who live here, we ventured to IKEA to find a shelving system as we will be using our bomb shelter as a pantry and not as a maid’s room! Thanks to Etienne and his brother, they designed a system that will maximize space as the store didn’t want to do it!

Given that we have been here over a month, we decided to finally go out and explore Asia. Our first destination was Bali, Indonesia! So, we managed to book the tickets electronically but yet, I had to travel 45 min to go get the tickets…….what happened to electronic tickets?!!!! Thanks to my amazing husband, we managed to find an amazing house in the north end of Bali. It was only $100 USD a night that included a housekeeper who cooks, security guard, and a gardner. I will come back to as to why we need a security guard. With regards to rental car, this was another ordeal! As we landed and walked outside of the airport, there were 3 guys waiting for us. My first thought was, “did we do something wrong?” Well, the 3 guys took us to the parking lot to show us the rental car and we did the whole transaction there….I felt as though we were dealing drugs or something. Given the much publicity on Bali, I was thinking that this place was luxurious……..no, wrong! If you are expecting to see Hertz or Avis, think again! Once we got into the car, Etienne had to adjust to driving on the left side of the road (steering wheel on the right), oh and shift with his left hand! This was an adventure!

As we started to leave the airport, our drive to our rented house was a 4 hour drive (we landed at 10pm). [thumb:2737:l]We had to go through the crazy local roads of Bali and climb various mountains. At one point, I really thought the car was going to break! Of course, we got lost and ended up in some unpaved roads up on some hill! We decided that we would go ahead and find a hotel and call it a night. As the morning comes, we met up with the gardner of the house and he guided our way! The house was amazing! For $100 a night, we couldn’t have asked for more (see attached pictures). Now, the reason we need a security guard is really not for our sake but what’s inside the house. The housekeeper cooked for us and clean up daily! What a great way to start our vacation! I must say that the local Balinese people are much more friendly than Singaporeans! They are there to please you! We also went on a snorkeling adventure and that was an amazing experience. [thumb:2758:l][thumb:2767:l][thumb:2764:l] Alex got to snorkel with his daddy and saw all the tropical fishes….the driver of the boat was feeding the fish so they were all near the boat…a little bit of cheating never hurts! We also had the pleasure of getting massages in Bali……Etienne and his brother went one day and then I went the next day. I was able to have a 4 hour massage thanks to my wonderful husband who took care of Alex! I think somewhere along the way I felt asleep and forgot where I was! )

Then, it was time to return to reality so we headed back to the airport. So did I mention that when we came into the country, each of us had to pay $10 for a visa…well, as we were getting ready to depart, we had to pay another $18 for airport tax! WHAT??!!! Did our air tickets not cover that?!!! It is just interesting how they try to get money from you every single way they can! Ah, the joy of traveling!

Stay toon for week 6!

So, we started the week by me going back to the EY office to meet another partner in the practice and it went well! The projected date for me to start is mid to end of Jan 2010. So, my EY colleagues, see you soon! Also, this is perfect timing as our cargo of household items will arrive during this time and we will need time to unpack. Plus, we still have to find Alex a school! This will be another adventure. [thumb:2731:l]

Back to our condo that we have secured, here are some updates. So, we are still battling with the owner on getting the ceiling fans…..you would have never thought this is a big deal since all household in the US comes with several even the apartments; however, it has become a big ordeal! Plus, with the all year round humidity, heat, and no central AC, ceiling fans are definitely a necessity here. Oh yeah, did I just say, no central AC?!!! This is correct! There are fancy AC units in each room so if you are in one room, you turn it on but turn off when you leave the room! The sum it up, the landlord wants us to pay for half of ceiling fan and installation costs and he will pay for the light fixture that goes on the ceiling fan! HUH?!!! What the hell?!! First of all, we don’t own the place so why should we pay for the ceiling fans and the installation??? it is not like we will take it with us after our 2 year lease. The owner’s realtor wanted money upfront from us and we said no. We have no intention of paying of it since we have to pay for the washer and dryer already! The people here count each penny that it is so ridiculous! We will do the same too! This has been an ongoing battle since last week. So then we decided to go for a visit to see if everything is ready and of course, it isn’t. This time, the ceiling and walls has holes, now this is a new place and nothing has been put up. Hopefully, it will all work out by Dec 28!

Finally, we got a Christmas tree that is 7ft tall! Never thought that would happen! The decorations selection is limited so we did what we can. Given the last minute, we did pretty well and it only costed us $12. I have discovered here that you get really good sales a couple of days before the holiday better than in the states. Anyhow, we spent Christmas in our temporary condo and will move to our permanent place next week. We are so happy to finally be at a permanent place that we can call our own for the next 2 years. Temporary living has not been easy ever since we sold our house in Nov! We have been fortunate and blessed that we have great friends and families to support us and lend us their place while we transition to here!

Hmmmmm…..customer service…..not sure that exists here! Perhaps, it is because we are living in an area with lots of locals, they don’t really care about foreigners but this is just crazy! They just don’t care! Even if you are not working on your plate right this second, they will take your plate away! They just want to get you out! Hell, the longer you sit, the less money they make! So, EAT & GET OUT! Here is another catch, they automatically impose a minimum 10% service charge on your bill in every restaurant…WHAT?!!! We can sit through a meal without ever seeing a wait staff once the meal is served! To combat this problem, we (well, more me) have pretty much adapted to the local customs and act the way they do! They didn’t think foreigners can act like that but then again I am not a foreigner, I still have my asian root! YEAH!

We went to the bird park on Wed and this is another great place! Not as good as the zoo but still a good place to visit to see all the exotic birds that exist in this great big world! Alex really enjoyed it as he was able to run all over the place! We will visit the zoo again this week with Etienne’s family as we did not see everything last week! We will also go to the water park inside the zoo this time! We need to get all the energy that Alex has out of him!

Ok, with regards to pet products for our dog, Abbie, it costs 3 times more here! We are blessed that we purchased many bags of dog food from the state which will arrived with our container in mid Jan! Anything that is animal or export related from another country will cost your a fortune! [thumb:2727:l]

Once again, we got attacked by another mosquito spray. So, I took Abbie for a bathroom break, which I do everyday, down to the ground level. As the elevator door open, I see smoke everywhere and I was like, “Hell, are you freaking kidding me?” It was the mosquito spray again! So, I went back up to the 5th floor…now, this is the pool level with playground, spa, etc. Hell, before you know it, they were up there spraying! They didn’t care if there were kids in the swimming pool, all you can see was a cloud of chemicals! Needless to say, we did our business and ran upstairs to our condo on the 8th floor!

Shopping here is also interesting! In the US, we shop, get what we want, and get out! Here……they slowly, I mean slllllllllllllllllllowly take their time in walking anywhere, it just drives us nuts! At their rate, we never get anything done! Plus, they don’t watch where they are going so often time, they get run over by Alex’s stroller! Oh well!

Back to the taxi here, often they are speaking English, so they say, but you can’t understand a word! So communicating with them on where to go is another interesting concept! I don’t think we have ever laughed so hard at this one taxi experience that we encountered! He spoke English but what we have come to realized is that they speak half of the word in every sentence! Also, if you tell them where to go and they go the wrong way, you can negotiate your way out of not paying for the extra wrong distance or even more! We have come to the realization that you can negotiate EVERYTHING! I actually witness this experience with the locals and have began to adopt this way of life! Gotta love Singapore! )

Next week, we will be moving to our new place, I am sure there will be more interesting stories to share as week 5 begins!

Love,
Beney Family