06, September 2007 9:36pm

I'm SO tired of being cold!! I did not come to Singapore expecting to be so cold! Every place we go, every car we ride in has the air conditioning so high that there has to be frost dripping from our noses! I will have to pack more jeans and light sweatshirts and sweaters than I initially thought! Speaking of clothing I've noticed that everyone tends to dress fairly conservative here. The American high school girls would not fit in here. Skirts are not uncommon here and neither are "dressy" clothing.

I wanted to write a little more about our hotel room. When you walk up to the door there is a doorbell and a sign which can be illuminated from within the room to say "Do Not Disturb." Right inside the door is a cardholder into which you insert your room key which turns on the lights. When you leave and take the card with you it shuts everything down - a unique way to conserve energy! Everything else is a normal room except for the outlets.

We visited the Singapore American School today and were very impressed. They have an outstanding program but the downside is over 3000 kids attend there between 3 years old and 12th grade. It's all on one campus so it's a little overwhelming! The primary school (K-2) is housed in one section so they don't interact with the older children. Than there's an intermediate section (3 - 5) with a middle school and a high school. They have spots for the twins' to start in January - this is a miracle as there are currently 300 children on a wait list to get in. Most International schools in the city have the same type of wait list.

Ryan had meetings in the afternoon and I took a nap. We are still messed up with the time changes! It sounds like by the time we are adjusted it will be time to come home:( Ryan's co-worker, Sim, took us out for a Chinese supper in a revolving restaurant with good views of Singapore. We overlooked the shipping yards for part of the time which was very interesting to watch. I was given the opportunity to use silverware since I've never used chopsticks but I decided that I may as well start learning. To eat in the hawkers centers you need to know how to use chopsticks. It wasn't too hard although Sim told me that I wasn't using them properly but than again, neither was he. The food was good - very healthy as everything is steamed, not fried. I wasn't up for it though as my stomach is still adjusting to all the new foods and it thought that it was breakfast time, not time to eat Chinese!!

I haven't had much time to take pictures as they have kept us fairly busy. Ryan and I have decided that a good way to describe Singapore is like Chicago with much more greenery, less cars, and an Asian flavor. We have seen McDonald's, Subway, Burger King, Hard Rock Cafe, and even a Long John Silvers this evening! They have a lot of the same stores we do although it's the higher end shops - no Target or Wal-Mart:( We are going to have to get used to the metric system as that it what's used here.

Tomorrow's another busy day so I'm going to bed! Ryan's already there:) It's so odd to think that everyone back home is just beginning a day that we just ended!!