January 24, 2011

What were we talking about?

One thing I miss desperately about working as a Speech Therapist is the time I would spend with the part of our population that is more advanced in years.

I'm talking that point in life where you just talk about whatever is on your mind with reckless abandon and you can totally get away with it. You pretty much have to be 4 or 84 to get away with it, but today I am going to take exception to that rule.

Because I'm 40 now. And I'm feeling.....well.....reckless.

First of all, I apparently wrote the last post before uploading all my photos and left out a very important picture.

These amazing folks are the Poseys. Her name is Michelle but I call her Posey and his name is Will but we call him Poppy. We are wild and crazy like that.

This family has provided housing for not only myself and my boys, but also both of my sisters at one time or another. We love them.

A major issue with expats is going home but not having a home. It means living out of suitcases in the guest rooms of friends and family and as much as you love being there, it can get old. The Poseys have given us a home away from home and it feels really good to be at their house and for that, I am eternally grateful. They actually go to their home in Florida for the summer and won't have to have us underfoot while we are camped out in their house...and for that, THEY are eternally grateful!

Now, for the ongoing randomness....

It took me all of a month after living here to notice a certain shoe that everyone seemed to be wearing. I had never seen this particular sandal before so to see Singaporeans and expats alike wearing them peaked my curiosity. I finally cornered a neighbor one day and asked her about them.

They are the FitFlop.

You know, one of those shoes that advertises how wearing them will make my hiney go from the size it is now to a much smaller size. Oh, how I wish it was that easy!
Pietra™


I went on the hunt for this very popular brand of sandal and found them to be ridiculously expensive here so I waited until I was home for Christmas and bought myself a pair. They are incredibly comfortable and I wear mine around our house because my feet ache from walking on hard floors all the time.

I am SOOOOOO 40.

Moving on.

There is a popular tradition among the Parker sisters known as the Happy Dance. It is nothing more than a hiney wiggle, but it still requires practice for a non-Parker sister to get it just right. If you've hung around us long enough, and my sister Cyndi happens to whip up a batch of her infamous chocolate chip cookies, then you've seen the Happy Dance with your own two eyes.

Sometimes I throw in a little kick at the end. Noone ever sees that coming.

The Happy Dance makes an appearance over good food, good music, good news, and good stories. It's us being giddy.

Apparently there's an actual rule in Singapore for drivers who are not allowed to get behind the wheel of a vehicle if:

"you are prone to sudden bouts of giddiness".

Suffice it to say, the Parker girls will probably never qualify for a driver's license here. Because we do like to wiggle!

The randomness continues.

Did you know that you could go to school to be a professional dumpling maker? There is a popular restaurant here called Din Tai Fung that has professional dumpling makers and they take their job VERY seriously. The exact twist at the top, broth that stays in the dumpling until you bite into it. *sigh*

I am not an adventurous eater....at all. I am actually nervous most of the time about food here. But this place?? Oh my. It is amazingness. It literally makes me giddy when I get to go eat there. *insert hiney wiggle here*

Tiffany, Lisa and I took some never-been-there-before friends on Monday because we feel it's our calling to convert people to dumpling and fried rice heaven.

They are so serious at this place that if you are served a dumpling that is imperfect in any way, they will replace it. Hence, this photo of the lone dumpling.

The original one had its shrimp fall off when served.

I seriously think that's the funniest sentence I've ever written, but it's the truth!

Since we are talking about food, let me just share with you my little slice of heaven. There are no big giant birthday cakes with loads of buttercream icing and big flowers here in Singapore. At least, not that I've ever seen. This obviously created a stressful situation when my birthday was approaching so I flat out asked Tiffany to make me her infamous, hands down best carrot cake ever. I wanted to share it with all of you.

If coming to Singapore to visit me or to see a new country or to travel to neighboring countries isn't enough to get you here, this cake ought to do it. It would be worth the flight just for a bite, I promise you!

Just make sure to pack your FitFlops.

And start practicing your Happy Dance now. You are going to need it!

7 comments:

  1. This was a perfect addition to my morning. I'm off to Bible study with my NOGS with a giddy little wiggle of my hiney. And I desperately want to plan a trip there. AND we need to catch up! Loving you! me

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  2. Sitting here eating a donut and enjoying your blog before I head to teach undergrads how to correctly use commas and eliminate misplaced modifiers from their online writing. :) Thank you for saving my sanity with a great post and the delight that your writing always brings to me. Hope you have a hiney-wiggling day today, Keri. Sounds like you are facing 40 like you face all those other challenges: with grace and courage. It's not so bad, is it?

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  3. My sisters and I do this happy-double-clapping thing (mostly when delicious food is involved--but for other exciting things too--like the possibility of meeting you in Cambodia). I want some dumplings!!

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  4. Last summer, we took the boys to Washington, D.C. and all around -- Gettysburg, Jamestown, Williamsburg, etc. My sister had just been on a three-month excursion around the Eastern U.S. and had walked everywhere with her four kids and I asked her for a recommendation on comfy shoes. I wanted cuteness, but I needed comfyness! She recommended the FitFlops! I bought that exact pair in your picture at Macy's before leaving in July and they are SO comfortable! I love them!! I wear them all the time and get so excited when I spot another lady wearing them too! So, now, I know what to pack so I fit in if I ever go to Singapore!! :)

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  5. I am drooling......

    for both the dumplings and the carrot cake......

    you can take us on a randomness ride any day!! I'll follow!!

    ~Becca

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  6. Pretty sure I love this post...mainly because the short "random" bits are about the length of information that my menopaused brain can comprehend!

    Also, I must say that you don't have to be 4 or 84 to be a little more free with the tongue...you can also be a cancer patient;-) It's the realization of "well, heck, I already have cancer, I'm just going to tell it like it is" mixed with a little bit of "I can say anything I want and nobody will be mad at me, in fact, they will probably still smile even I told them their haircut makes them look like a moron." I'm telling you, girl, it's not a bad perk! LOL~ And I may or may not have used the cancer patient excuse to get out of something I said once or twice;-)Heehee

    Um, and I definitely would NOT be eligible for a driver's license in Singapore! Giddiness is way fun...so is sisterhood:-) I totally get your happy dance. We do the belly bump. What? You don't know what I'm talking about?? If you ever watched Will&Grace, in the opening credits they show a little clip of Jack and Karen lifting their shirts and bumping their bellies together...that's it. Yes, it's strange, but it's kinda like our own little language between sisters. I know you know EXACTLY what I'm talking about;-)

    Love you!!

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  7. Keri - Loved your post! And I LOVE the fitflops!! I have been looking at them for awhile. May finally have to take the plunge and buy a pair!! Miss you sweet lady!
    Julie

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