Surprises round the corner

One thing good about staying in a huge country is that you never know what you will discover round each bend.

Saturdays, for us, is always a discovery day. We try to see as much as we can while we are here. So come Saturdays, we would drive around the town. Often, we would find ourselves in some strange but beautiful place.

Just last Saturday, our drive landed us in another county - the Lancaster County. There we found many farmers' markets and this beautiful little place call The Kitchen Kettle Village It's a place that brings you back to a cowboy town.


Farmers' market. At the market, the farmers would bring their fruits, vegetables, pies, cakes and pastries to sell.


They reared their own cattle, pigs, chickens, lambs....cured them and sell them.


No maids. When the parents have to work, they bring their kids along. 5 Amish boys with their parents at their strawberry stall.

Further down the road, we arrived at The Kitchen Kettle Village.


Entrance to the village


City kids on tractors!


City kids milking cow!


One can do the job but two lighten it.


This gingerbread man doesn't want to run.


Little Amish girls selling horse shoes.


That day, the temperature rose up to 109 deg F. A home-made lemonade will be the ideal thrist quencher.

On our way home, we discovered that not very far from our church, was a crystal cave. We decided to explore it, to the delights of the children. Especially for Kai, who always love adventure.


The crystal cave


Kids just want to have fun.


A stalagmite.

Stalagmites and stalactites which I learned way, way back during my school days, I finally got to see them in reality. It was an awesome sight. Not forgetting these are not man-made but all part of God's creations.







Can you see the formation of a man's side profile? Amazing how nature can evolve even inside a cave.

That was an interesting Geography lesson for all of us. Kai was so absorbed in it.

Neighbor & Neighbour

Kai came home from school.

"Mummy, teacher said I must spell neighbour without the u because this is how it should be spelt in America."

I guessed I could ask him to do 'code switching' which I learned in my English class during my university days. That was to use the American spelling in school and switched to Singapore English at home!

Poor boy, since coming to US, Kai has to do 2 sets of school work. He has to switch between US school, that's his Alburtis Elementary School and the Singapore school, that's mummy's school. He has felt frustrated at times but I must say I admire his stride in getting through it. If we are staying here for good, I would have given him the complete freedom to enjoy himself. I fully support the idea of "giving the child his childhood". But because we will ultimately return home, the last thing any parent would want, is to have her child being pressured to catch up in his work.

I have to constantly remind Kai that he is very different from the other kids. While the other kids could play after school, he has to do his other set of work. He has accepted this fact and made remarks like "it's worth it." For this, he gets 1 hour of outdoor play almost everyday with the kids in the neighbourhood! And yes, he fully appreciates it and will always be home in 1 hour's time. I think this journey has taught him 'responsibility'.

Our first storm

We experienced our first storm tonight. I guess by the local standard, this was nothing but for city dwellers coming from Singapore this was bad. Strong winds, thunder and lightning that stretched from the sky to the ground...the lights in the house were blinking every now and then... we lost the TV reception for a while, the internet was also cut off momentarily. What can I say? I guess this is all part and parcel of our adventurous journey.

The kind of email you don't wish to receive

We have been trying to contact our agent back home. He is a nice man and very hardworking. He assisted us in getting our house rented while we were preparing to leave for the States. We haven't heard from him, which is very unlike him. Today, we received a mail from his wife.

I am Gina, Mark's wife, wish to inform you that Mark got a stroke on 1.6.08, he is now in Tan Tock Seng Hospital. He had a brain operation last Tue and now he is resting. The whole of his left side is unable to move.

We were shocked. Mark is a young and fit chap. As a housing agent, he would be on the move 95% of the time...

Once again, we are reminded of the uncertainities in life. Nothing is more important than your health. Like my brother-in-law, a fit young man too. His job requires him to carry stack of 10kg of rice bags. Would anyone imagine a strong man like him would suffer 2 heart attacks within a year. But by the grace of God and the power of prayers, he was given a new lease of life when an appropriate heart was transplanted to him at the end of last year.

So what is a new pimple, a few wrinkles and an extra strand of white hair...be thankful that each morning when you wake up, you have life, you have breath. Having said that, God also gives us wisdom, yearly health check is imperative to all who are over 40.

It's hotter than in Singapore

I think summer has arrived. At 6am, we have the sun shinning into our bedroom. On Sunday 8 June, temperature was 37 deg C. That's at least 4 deg C hotter that the average temperature in Singapore. We are taking it pretty well but the locals here are staying indoor, with their air-con switched on.

I wonder where are all the kids? Realised that if it gets too hot, the kids are also kept indoor. So...if it's too cold, no outdoor activities, if too hot, it's a 'no' too. Heat stroke is no laughing matter.

What can I say? Be so very thankful that back home, whether the sun is out or not, you can still enjoy all your activities. We always think that it's better on the other side but you will never know till you are on the other side.

My passion rekindled

One preacher once said "stay with the turkeys, hop around like the turkeys, stay with the eagles, soar like the eagles. We are all given the choice to choose the people whom we want to hang out with, grow with, excel with. And I thank God that I have met many, many cyber friends who have helped me grow.

I have always had a deep interest in cooking, baking...anything to do with food. Thanks to my Singapore Chinese Girls' School (SCGS) Home Economics teacher (if you happen to chance upon my blog, THANK YOU, Mrs Lee). Cooking and hosting parties, dinners are my favourites. But as I started working, got married, have kids...time was no longer easily available.

Everything in life happened for a reason. God's ways are always higher than ours.

It was not until in 2005 when hubby was retrenched, I was forced to pick up my baking skills again. Being a single-income family, 'retrenchment' is such a horrifying word. To help with the income, I started selling my quiches and it was then, I got to know a lady, Gina who runs a cooking forum, cooking school and cooking shop - Kitchen Capers . Believe it or not, I have never met her in person. She is a cyber friend and one who is very willing to impart her knowledge. Most chefs would regard their recipes as the untouchables. But through Gina, my passion for cooking was rekindled....well the rest, as they always say, it's history.

Gina's passion for cooking is very strong. Really, if you have no passion, you really cannot perform your job well. She takes great pride in all the recipes she has created and she generously shares them. "Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another" Proverbs 27:17


This tasted exactly like the famous Singapore chilli crab, the only difference, I made use of big clams instead. This recipe was shared by Gina. She knew I would miss our local dish and came up with her own recipe, using ingredients I could easily find in US.

Look at the prices of these items which we often take for granted!


Yeo's chilli sauce USD2.99


Belachan USD1.75

Oh well...live and let's live...eat and let's eat! With belachan and ladies fingers, what do you get?


Belachan ladies fingers, of course

The little business man and woman

The neighbourhood we are living in organized a community yard sale. Like what they said "when in Rome, do as the Romans do." And yes, we participated. We thought it was a good opportunity for the kids to have a taste of what's like to earn a living.


Displaying our wares


Come, come buy our things...


...come, they did...

we also invited the rain too! Not too long, the rain came pouring down. The kids and everyone were dashing to keep their goods.
See, told you. Here, everything depended on the weather. So, again, I say, thank God for hot, sunny Singapore!

We can be farmers!

Remember the plants which Barb Love gave us to see test if we could be farmers? Well, I think we have passed the test.


This is the cucumber plant and it has flowers! Actually, hubby has greener hands. He is very good at looking after plants, perhaps, the genes have been passed down by his father.
His father has always been good with plants. His orchids were often sent for competitions.


We planted this Lily when we first arrived at our new house, see how it has bloomed under hubby's hands.

Our first festival

Where we are staying, there are many fairs and festivals. As spring draws to an end and summer is about to begin, plenty of fairs are coming to town.

The very first fair we attended was organized by Kai's elementary school. It's the end of spring festival, held at the school ground. It was really fun and what amazed me was that the rides, the games were all homemade. Back home, this would be like a fun-fair but with all the modern rides and arcade games.

One interesting event was the cake walk. It was like our musical chair but instead of chairs, there were markings on the floor. Everyone picked a position. Someone would play a song, all the participants would walk around, once the music stopped, in whatever positiong you were in, they would match the marking to the marking on a cake or pastry. It would really fun.


All the cakes and pastries waiting to be won.


Kai being interviewed by a reporter from the East Penn Press, a local newspaper.


Spin the wheel and picking lollipops.


Throwing bean bags at the milkcans. Simple game but the kids love it. Match your colour to the wheel.


Kai did rock climbing


That's Ann seated on the first 'carriage'. This one was my favourite. I found it very innovative. Using a small tractor, they used plastic barrels to form a 'train ride'. They opened the barrels and installed small chairs into them and fixed wheels beneath them. That you have it, a homemade train. It was simple but the Q for this ride was very long.


Ann Q-ing up for her turn. She was the smallest in Q.


...to have her face painted


What was Ann throwing at?


Trying to throw bean bags into the tic-tac-toe holes. Homemade again! I simply loved their innovations!


Tired of all the games? Well, rolling down a slope was just as fun!

I'm glad you have been blessed!

Since starting the blog, I have received emails from many people that they have enjoyed my blog and have been blessed by it. Thank you for all the mails and most of all, thank you for giving me this privilege to share with you.

Since arriving in US, I have kept a notebook with me, jotting down my adventure and all the wonderful recipes that I have come across. I never thought of starting a blog because I tried once but found no time in updating it as daily chores just kept piling up. Being a stay-at-home-mum means being on my toes 24/7, 365 days per year. But since God has blessed us with this adventure, I felt that it was only right to share it and with the many photographs captured along the way, how could I just keep all these to myself. Afterall, it is indeed more blessed to give than to receive.

As you continue in this journey, I hope you will continue to be blessed.