Christmas in Singapore

Last year Marcus decided that, as a stay-at-home-mom whose sole purpose in life during the holiday season is to make sure it’s amazing, I didn’t contribute enough and asked that instead of giving the girls a chocolate for each day of advent that I plan for them to have experiences instead. If you’re not sure how many days are in an advent calendar ours has 25 (including Christmas day). That’s 24 days of experiences. Also, if you read any of that first sentence with a hint of sarcasm you would be correct in your intonation and your inference.

Last year’s Christmas was fun because it was right before we moved to Singapore. As in, Christmas day was the 25th and the packers arrived on the 27th. Along with all that comes with the holidays and a move across the world I also needed to plan an advent calendar chock-full of surprises. Anyway, rather than be snarky overwhelmed only mildly annoyed about the whole thing I looked at is a farewell tour of our little city of Fredericksburg and the girls had a great time.

So that was last year. This year I once again find myself planning and executing fun experiences for the 24 days leading up to Christmas for our girls. This year, instead of also planning an international move, I find myself alone as Marcus is on travel for essentially the last six weeks. Of course, Singapore is known as being one of the most expensive cities in the world to live so the cost of experiences here is a little more than the cost of experiences in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Shall that stop me from making sure I do exactly as Marcus wishes? No. It shan’t.

So far my girls and I have had mani-pedis, seen Sarah Brightman’s Christmas show and the Singapore Ballet’s The Nutcracker, been to the zoo and fed manatees (100% would do that again), checked-out the Singapore Comic-Con (100% would not do that again), and the calendar isn’t over yet. I have a few more tricks up my sleeve like mommy and me facials and a trip to a Christmas Village. As you can see, this all benefits me to the greatest extent as I would never just go get a facial or a mani-pedi without prompting. I need to line-up a massage to really round it out.

Despite all of our Christmas-y events, it doesn’t quite feel like Christmas. It’s a cool 78 degrees Fahrenheit with the humidity at 87%. There are birds chirping and green grass and instead of the smell of a wood-burning fireplace I occasionally smell incense (which is quite pleasant but not the same). I’m also feeling ill-prepared for the big day itself, but I guess there is still time. Fun fact: Toys R Us is still thriving in Singapore so shopping for toys is easy (though terribly overpriced). Another fun fact: Apparently my children have outgrown toys and now ask for ridiculous things like brand new iPhones and Apple Watches. I’d rather buy an overpriced Lego set.

Another decision made was to purchase a “native” live tree as our Christmas tree. We ended up with a Chinese Money tree and have since put lights on it and decorated it with all of our felt and light-weight ornaments. It’s not quite the same and I’m kind of regretting it. On the upside, an imported Christmas tree can cost over $200 SGD for the tiniest of trees and, unsurprisingly, from what I’ve seen many aren’t in very good shape by the time they get here. So, Chinese Money tree it is and we’ll have it for the next few years until it’s time to leave.

Anyway, so far I think the girls and I have created some core memories during our Advent adventures. That said, as soon as Marcus is home, I have big plans to send him to a bounce house with the girls. Seems only fair.