Because my big brother told me to...

So, I've been pretty good about IMing with my brother Alan on a pretty regular basis since arriving in Singapore. He, Alan - the husband, and a few others that are up late in the US day are the ones who get to hear most of my adventures by default of being online during my waking hours. Alan, the brother, kept hearing my stories and telling me that I should start a blog. So...I'm finally doing what he told me to do...maybe the first time since we were in our teens!

I'm guessing that what I write about will vary based on what's been going on or where I happen to be traveling. I just hope that it's a good way for all of you to keep up with me and my adventures in this very interesting part of the world.

I'll share a story from this past weekend. Friday and Saturday I spent the majority of the day looking for a permanent place to live. (Yes - it has been since October that I've been living out of suitcases!) The process here is very different than in the US. Even though I'm looking for an apartment, I have to have a real estate agent to take me and show me potential places. In addition to my agent there is an agent for the landlord. It's almost more complicated than buying a house back home. So on Saturday after two very long days of wandering around the city, I got back to my temporary place and decided I wanted to grab some things from the grocery store. The store is only a 5 minute walk from where I'm staying so I just popped over to grab a few items. Silly, silly me left without an umbrella in my bag. For those of you who plan to come and visit me please take note that you always need to have an umbrella with you.

It was sunny and beautiful when I walked into the store and about 15 minutes later it was pouring down rain. Singapore is only one degree off the equator so it is quite tropical here but I still happen to forget... So, I stood outside the store for about 5 minutes to see if it'd let up. Wasn't looking good so I ended making a dash for it across the street to the department store. I wandered around for about 10 minutes and still no change in the rain. I decided to stand outside the store and weigh my options. Now let me tell you that it was raining down from the sky, raining sideways, and just so hard that it was bouncing up and hitting your knees when it hit the ground. I had just 2 short blocks to go to get home but they were mostly uncovered and there were 3 stoplights to get through. So I'm standing under an overhang with about 10 other people...just waiting. This guy standing next to me asks me which way I'm going. I pointed and he then pointed at his umbrella and signalled he'd share with me. I shook my head and said I'd just run for it and he said "no, no, no - I cannot let you get caught in this rain." So, when the light turned green he popped open his giant umbrella and we started walking.

We get across the street and are waiting for the next crosswalk light to turn green. I thank him and say I'll make a run for it. He refuses to let me out from under the umbrella and just picks up his pace. We get to the other side of the street where there is a giant puddle of water and he grabs my arm and tells me to be very careful not to fall. So, other than this guy being just a completely kind stranger, he is about a foot shorter than me and couldn't weigh more than 110 pounds. When he was holding the umbrella he had to raise his arm up pretty high just to make sure it was above my head. And whats so great is that he's holding my arm to make sure I don't fall...I totally would have taken us both out if I did.

He proceeds to walk with me to my building and then turns back and heads the other way. He didn't ask for anything and just smiled at me when I thanked him. I am so thankful for the kindness of that little Asian man who took pity on me without my umbrella.