Street Names

If you were to go to maps.google.com and type in "Toh Tuck, Singapore" you would find you have a lot of options. There is Toh Tuck Ave, Toh Tuck Close, Toh Tuck Crecent, Toh Tuck Drive, Toh Tuck Link, Toh Tuck Place, Toh Tuck Rise, Toh Tuck Road, Toh Tuck Terrace and Toh Tuck Walk. That's pretty confusing if you ask me. Doubly confusing is that all these streets are in the same neighborhood. Doubly, doubly confusing is that right next to all these Toh Tucks are all the Old Toh Tucks. Extra doubly, doubly confusing is that some of the names are used for multiple streets that are near each other but not touching. So you might take a left on Toh Tuck Rise, turn right on Toh Tuck Place, curve around onto Toh Tuck Terrace and then take a right onto Toh Tuck Rise (not the Toh Tuck Rise you were originally on, though).

And, the Toh Tucks aren't the only ones. It's a trend in Singaporean street naming. There are all the West Coasts and the Thomsons and the Tai Huans and the Tai Sengs and the Sunsets and the. . . you get the idea.

I'm sure there is some reason they chose to do it this way. I'm still trying to figure out what that might be. So far, I haven't come up with much.

An Evening at Clark Quay: Water Meets Skyline

An Evening at Clark Quay: Child's Play

We're sorry, but not THAT sorry

Sign posted on the door of a prominent coffee outlet:
Once was enough. Don't ask us to apologize again.

Idyllic. . .

. . .that's what Singapore's weather has been like this month. It's been amazing! Balmy, breezy, sunny, and dry. Man, I love January!!

For all you readers who actually live here: fling your windows open wide and let that awesome, refreshing breeze in, go sit by the pool and enjoy breakfast (and lunch and dinner while you're at it), take a walk and revel in the fact that you can get farther than 10 steps before you're sweating, stare up at that big blue sky and those white puffy clouds and memorize the feeling. . . it won't last long.

Christmas on Orchard Raod

Every year for the last 25 years, Orchard Road, Singapore's designer shopping district, transforms at Christmas into a magical world of lights and 50-foot trees (well, one 50-foot tree and several others well past the 30-foot mark). It feels so Christmassy, except that instead of mittens and scarves, almost everyone is in shorts and tanktops!

Here are a few pictures. . . I hope you enjoy them =)

A Winter Wonderland--2007

Josh and Caleb in front of Tangs


An icy effect. . . but I mean that in a good way.


A Sweet Christmas--2008
Caleb admires his new basketball; Annabelle admires the lights =)

This arc is about 4 lanes wide!

This is one of about 5 displays telling the Christmas Story.
The REAL Christmas Story.

Merry Christmas to all!!

Team blogging

The last two posts were by Josh, but for some reason, Blogger attributed them to me. Not that I wouldn't be willing to take credit for them, but since they weren't mine, I figured I better set things straight.