Shopping at Raffles & Suntec City

It was very muggy today, so we decided to do an indoor activity and what do they love most out here? Shopping of course! We headed to Raffles and Suntec City since we hadn't visited these malls yet.
Raffles City Shopping Centre was another enormous mall, with a few nice water fountains (three, called Ballo, Momentum and Vitality at Water Court) on the ground floor, lots of high end stores and plenty of Christmas decorations already up for the season. We'll return to see the shows that they have in the upcoming weeks to celebrate the holidays. There is also a very nice market that I plan on returning to, since their deli section had some normal looking meats!

Juliana enjoyed the fountains the most (of course) and continues to get lots of attention from everyone. She was very cute today in her Chinese top that was passed down to her from our landlord's daughter. There are matching pants, but they are still a little too big for her.

While walking around, Juliana and dad decided to stop and make a new friend. They were so cute together...reaching out to each other, talking in their own little language and trying to play with one another's toys! I don't think our daughter is going to have much trouble making some other friends out here.

After we had enough of Raffles City, we decided to head out towards Suntec City Mall. On our walk over, we got to see some beautiful views of the city as well as City Hall and the Esplanade. Some of the buildings out here are a sight to see and I can't wait to return to explore the area a lot more. We walked through a nice little park and let Juliana walk around in the grass.
There are so many parks in Singapore and we haven't had a chance to visit more than the Chinese Gardens. This little stop just showed us how much Juliana enjoys being outdoors. She experiments with how different the grass feels from the tress and bushes and loves playing with leaves!!

So, anyway...after our short stop, we continued walking over to Suntec City Mall for more shopping and air conditioning. Again, lots of Christmas decorations!! The best part of this mall is that the top floor is completely geared towards children and families. There is a gigantic Toys 'R Us as well as plenty of other toy stores, clothing shops and play areas. Jacob ended up buying Juliana a new toy for her stroller! The picture below was a Precious Moments nativity set displayed in one of the corners.


One thing we did miss (well, we saw it from afar) was the Fountain of Wealth, which has been the World's Largest fountain in the Guinness Book of World Records since 1998. Can't wait to see that!!!

On another note, people keep asking me how the people our here feel about Americans and the new choice for president. While my political beliefs are quite clear, I still find it interesting to listen to the reasons why or why not people here agree with electing Obama. Some of the answers are rather amusing, for example, "I am proud for Americans in general. I hope he's the medicine America needs. He is our Abraham Lincoln. Our JFK. He is something millions can believe in and look up to. He is the American dream." I'll keep my opinions to myself...

As for the general consensus, I think the picture says it all. There was a store in the mall and the entire outside was covered with these posters. People out here are just satisfied with the fact that this choice for president will lead to a very different America than we have known for the past eight years. Many changes in the future and the economy out here is always going to be affected by the U.S. economy.

Finally, our end to the day was very nice! Our landlords invited us out to dinner with their family and a friend visiting from Japan. All four of us went (including Jean) and they brought us to a club that they are members of...beautiful by the way! It was a Chinese restaurant and the fare included broccoli, fried rice with shrimp & pork, Peking duck, sweet & sour pork, a crispy yam & vegetable dish (don't know the name of this one), and dessert. It was quite a meal! We had a very good time and lots of good conversation. It was also the first time we've gone out as a family with Jean and although I wasn't too sure how it would go, things turned out well. Juliana was well behaved for the most part, but she started to get fussy after about an hour and Jean simply picked her up and told us that she would walk around with her. Our landlords two daughters and maid joined them and they played in the indoor playground while the rest of us enjoyed the rest of our meal. It felt a little odd at first not being the one to take care of Juliana, but I must admit, it was also nice to be able to relax and enjoy ourselves without worrying about whether or not she was okay.

Long day, but very enjoyable and some wonderful new experiences! We thoroughly enjoy spending time with our landlords, which I know probably sounds crazy to people back home since this is typically not the case. And Juliana adores their two daughters!!