Sleeping while stretched out was refreshing, at least until a six-year-old wriggly body joins you in a twin bed. Our sleep greatly improved our moods, as did a bountiful breakfast buffet. Tysen insisted that we just HAD to try the toast with butter--the BEST he's EVER had! And he would know; he is a connoisseur of toast with butter. He's our very own Mercy Watson! (Does anyone know this beloved Kate DiCamillo character?)
After having our fill of toast and other delectable treats, we explored the streets of Singapore for a few hours, stopping to enjoy lunch at the Happy Pancakes restaurant in the Orchard Center Mall. I mention this because the establishment is a non-profit organization working to encourage lower income kids in the arts. Good food and a great cause! Win-win. Adjacent to the eating area was an art work space and potential display area. They had only been open for a few months, but with food like this, they are sure to be successful!
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| Happy Pancakes making happy customers! |
It turns out that the overnight stop in Singapore was unnecessary because our work visas could not yet be processed. We still enjoyed our brief encounter with the city and look forward to returning in a month or so to complete the visa process and possibly explore more of the city.
The Singapore airlines have a strict limit on luggage weight--a lot less than Delta's limit.We paid a huge overage fee at the Singapore ticket counter, but we had heard this might happen so it wasn't a complete shock. The Lord took care of us once again as a special individual had previously offered to cover the cost of our luggage fee after she heard that potential problem as one of our prayer requests. Over and over, we are amazed at people's generosity. We were pleasantly surprise that the airline did not include our carry ons in the luggage weigh in; we had heard they limited each carry on to only 15 lbs so we carefully weighed each one. This was a tricky endeavor when your carry on suitcase weighs 8 lbs on its own.
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| Weary travelers with all their luggage upon arrival in Jakarta. |
The flight to Jakarta seemed to take no time at all after our long flights the day before. None of us even got to complete the in-flight movies we'd selected. We landed, praised God that ALL our luggage made it, and hopped on the bus with the other new teachers to head to school. I make this sound like a quick and simple process; it wasn't. Two of the three kids were at melting-down point which made the process a bit more stressful. We finally arrived at school around 10pm. Our amazing host family met us, and, in multiple trips, carted us and all our luggage to our new home.
Prayers for us:
-Thanks for safe travels!
-As we all adjust to the time change (11 hours!), may we show each other grace and kindness.
-That we (the kids in particular) find good friends sooner rather than later.
-We think Koen is dealing with poison ivy. He's handling it well, but it's still a concern.
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