Driving in Singapore

Adam has been driving for about 5 weeks now. Here is a picture of him in his car. It is a Cefiro and is actually pretty nice. The car comes equipped with a GPS system, which, depending on the day, is either his best friend of the bane of his existence. A few interesting things about driving in Singapore:

• You drive on the left side of the road. This is fairly easy to get used to - the challenge is when you are at a stoplight and there isn't any traffic to follow. Then you really have to think about which way to go while turning.
  
• Singapore uses an ERP system here. ERP stands for Electronic Road Pricing. Every car has a built-in card machine. You have to buy a card and add money to it, and then put it in the machine. Your card gets deducted money each time you pass under a "toll". It is also how you pay for public parking spaces.
• The ERP system is pretty sophisticated - charges actually differ depending on the time of day (more expensive during rush hour). Adam has seen people literally pulled over on the side of the road to wait until the time changes and the rate goes down. By "side of the road" I mean "in my lane" and by "pulled over" I mean "stopped randomly."
• The gear shift and turn signals and window wiper controls are all on the opposite side here, too. Adam has turned on the wipers many times while trying to signal for a turn.
• There aren't many traffic police cars here. Evidently the speed limit is enforced by speed cameras. The saucy minx on his GPS system helpfully points these out and also always announces when he is about to go over a "flyover" (overpass).
• Pretty much everyone backs into their parking spots. The parking spots are also very narrow. Parking is actually probably the biggest challenge Adam has encountered while driving here.
  

Some things that are not very popular among other drivers are:

1. Using your turn signal
2. Staying in your lane (lots of drifters)

Some things that evidently are very popular are:

1. Honking at Adam
2. Riding mopeds in between lanes

Lucky Update

Hello All,

We had an appointment with Lisa's doctor today for a checkup on Lucky. Everything went very well and we are still on schedule for a March 23 due date. Lisa discusses her progress in the attached video.

Home Sweet Home

Here are a few videos of our apartment. We live at Treetops which is a serviced apartment and really enjoy it here.

Hot Beatz

Lisa and I went to a concert at the Singapore Symphony Orchestra last week. It was called "In Beethoven's Chambers" and took place at the Victoria Concert Hall.

They performed two pieces and we really enjoyed it. The amazing talent of the musicians brought back fond memories of Adam's mastery of the recorder in 6th grade - "When the Saints Come Marching In" was a crowd favorite.

The attached video shows Adam prior to the show and the pictures show the surrounding area, including a statue of Sir Stamford Raffles.

More Pics from the bus tour

Here are some more pictures from the city tour we took during our Holiday. The first is of the double- decker tour bus. The second is of Adam standing behind a waterfall at the Botanic Garden. The final picture is of Little India.

Selamat Hari Raya

Today was a national holiday in Singapore - Selamat Hari Raya which marks the end of Ramadan.

Adam didn't have to work so we took a Hippo Bus Tour all around the city. Two of our favorite stops were Clark Quay and the Singapore Botanic Gardens. Check out the attached videos for some commentary from Lisa.