Reservations Please?

We left for Singapore on the morning of the 16th and got to the airport in time to leisurely make our way to the plane. We got there early enough that we thought, Hey - we're flying a "Star Alliance" flight and Rich has Gold status on his frequent flyer miles with Lufthansa - a member of the Star Alliance. This means we can sit in the business class lounge, have a coffee and some breakfast. Well, THEORETICALLY, it means we should be able to. When we went to the Maldives, they told us we couldn't sit in there because we weren't flying with at Star Alliance Carrier. This time we were flying Jet Airways (See previous post) who is a member. We go to the lounge and the man turns us away because Rich's card is Lufthansa and we are flying Jet. We were so furious. Basically it comes down to - if they can save a buck they will anyway they can. The lounge is only valid for certain flights as they are preparing to board, not a Star Alliance lounge. we told them, "Anywhere else in the world, this would be honored." His response, "Yes, but here in Chennai we are different." NO KIDDING!
Anyway - we wait and then board our flight to Singapore. The pilot speaks to us as usual, but tells us the fasten seat belt sign will be on for most of the flight as we were going so see quite a bit of turbulence. Apparently the majority of the passengers felt this only applied to the other people, not them. I have never seen such an unruly group of people on a plane! They were constantly up and would wait until the attendant was 2 rows in front of them, buzz her and demand a soda. Not ask - they would say - Give me a Coke. She eventually informed one man, "If you wait 2 minutes, I will be right with you. I'm just serving the row ahead of you." Then it was everybody up and trying to get around the drink carts to use the toilet. (Did I mention this was economy class? - Not much room and the fight is only 4 hours!). All the while this was going on, the fasten seat belt sign was on as there were quite a few pockets of turbulence. Eventually the captain of the plane came back on and ordered everyone to their seats.
We got to Singapore and made our way to the hotel. At this point we're all tired and just want to unwind in the room and have some dinner. We go to check in and the lady looks and looks and looks again. I ask if there was a problem and she said, "I can't seem to find you in our system. Do you have your reservation confirmation?" We did, but I start panicking as I have no idea where we will find a room in Singapore the week leading up to Christmas! They had us sit in the lounge, and they worked something out and got us to our room apologizing for not being able to locate our reservation. She said they'd keep looking into why there seemed to be an issue. Turned out - They had entered us as arriving on Dec. 15th at midnight. Error on their part. Big sigh from me!
We settled into our room and Sophia put on her gift from the hotel - At Kuda Huraa she had the back pack. Since the lights theme was a "Fairytale Christmas" they gave her a PINK fairy dress with wings and a tiara. She was really pumped!
All in all - our stay at the Four Seasons was lovely and Singapore was a much needed break!

Sports Day

The day before we left for Singapore - we attended Sophia's Sports Day at Billabong High/Kangaroo Kids. This is an annual event held at Sophia's school for the kids to have a chance to do something athletic. Sophia won a gold medal last year in her race and was looking forward to running again!
This year's theme was The Animal Kingdom. Each race had a different animal and was in some way - usually with a placard or head gear showing they were that animal. Sophia was in the bear race and Mommy had do color her bear face for her to wear on her head. Each day I would pick her up she would be so excited and tell me, "Mommy, Mommy, today I runned and runned and runned and winned the race!" I didn't doubt her because I've chased after her and I know she's pretty quick. Oh yeah and if you're waiting for her to run out of gas, good luck- she has stamina too!
We got her to the school that morning and she wanted nothing to do with her class and only wanted to be with us. We left her in her in her classroom with her teachers and went to get good seats for pictures. They marched out and she wanted to come running to us. We told her she needed to stay with her class and run her race and then she could come with us.
Finally her turn to race came and she couldn't have been more disinterested. Her teacher put her in front of her lane and she just stood there. Looking around and everything like she really didn't care one way or the other. They told them, "on your marks, get set, GO!" and she was off like a shot. She came to the first stop where she had to pick up a bowl and then to the second where she got the goodies to put in the bowl. Then was so excited she almost forgot to run to the finish line. She took first place and got to hold a flag with the number one on it and received a gold medal. She was so proud, and so were Mommy and Daddy!

Time to Socialize!

This past week we've been to some really lovely parties! The whirls started on the 8th with a fantastic rooftop party given by Doug and Jo. (With decoration help from Robert!) We had great food, friends, dancing and plenty of Christmas cheer!

The following Wednesday we were invited to a reception in honor of the Emperor of Japan for his birthday. This was hosted by the Japanese consular and his wife. The garden was fully decorated in lights and there were so many people there! Lan, the hostess, made sure I tried all of the Japanese food they had. I also found out that I like sushi! Yup - for those of you who know me well, before I moved to India, I was not open to new experiences with food. Meat and Potatoes with either corn, green beans or peas were about the extent of it. Now I eat more veggies than I ever thought I would and even enjoy them. Sushi was something I was definitely holding out on. As Rich and I were raiding the sushi bar, we had a gentleman come up to us and introduce himself as Ali. He went on to tell us his family had ruled South India for thousands of years before the British came and took over. We were visiting and the Consular General for the US came over and shook hands with our new friend and addressed him as, Your Highness. Uh,Oh! Who were we really talking to? We went on visiting with Ali and he asked us for Rich's card and said he would call us to come by his home sometime. He then gave us his card, Nawab Muhammed Abdul Ali, Prince of Arcot. I guess you just never know who you're going to meet here!
Thursday evening brought about the Christmas reception at the British Deputy High Commission. We knew more people here and there were no surprise self introductions but we had fun all in the same!
Will we get to go to all of these parties again next year? I hope so, but most likely not. This is one of the perks of being President of the OWC. Oh well, we'll always have the memories!

Santa Brunch

Today was the day Sophia had waited for! We were going to Santa Brunch and would see Santa. She had made her list and told Santa what a good girl she had been. We had gotten her all dressed up in the little green and red plaid dress my Grandma Mitzel had made for Nicole. Complete with tights and little black shoes. We were off and she was pumped. We got to about 4 blocks within the hotel and Sophia got carsick. All over the dress. It was not good. We went ahead to the hotel so we could get the dress off and get her somewhat cleaned up. But then she didn't want to leave. Luckily, we were able to borrow an apron from the bake sale and she wore that until Daddy got back from shopping to get her a new outfit.

Wanna know what's open on a Saturday morning in Madras at 9:30? NADA! Rich ended up going to Spencer Plaza and eventually found a shop open that had a really cute skirt and blouse. He got that and made it back in time for Santa Claus.

Here's what we found out about Santa - Sophia loves the idea of Santa and presents, but when confronted with Santa, she freaks out! As soon as we took her in to see him, she freaked out and decided she wanted to go home!

Daddy calmed her down and got her to do some crafts while we waited for her name to be called to go up and get her gift from Santa. Once her name was called - she freaked out again. Mommy carried her up and told her if she cried, Santa wouldn't give her the gift. We went and she was really cautious, not crying, but really giving the old man the eye. It was as if she was thinking - Oh I really want the present, but I really don't like you! She got her gift and opened it. She loved her Pocahontas doll and after we were home and the next day she told everyone she saw Santa. She left out the scary part, but we'll see how it goes come closer to Christmas!