Back in the saddle again...

We have returned! Yesterday morning at 9:00 Christiaan and I returned (rather happily I might add) home. We had a whirlwind trip lasting a mere three nights (well, four really if you count the night spent in the airport in Bali and on the plane...). We visited the ENT and he cleaned out C's ears and then we walked down the road to the audiologist who checked C's hearing and hearing aids. All is well. I got some good advice regarding what to do about C's hearing aids. Apparently, as hearing aids get older the cost of repair goes up rather steeply. There is a flat rate charge for hearing aid repair and when the aids are five years old the cost is $1,000 sing... yikes!!! Might as well purchase new ones...

Singapore is a country (well, a city really) where apartments, luxury cars, malls, and nannies abound. Not a Superstore in sight... sigh.... I have never seen so many luxury vehicles in my life including a Rolls Royce! At the risk of sounding self-righteous, I couldn't help but think about how much a person could help others if they bought a basic vehicle instead of a show-off vehicle.

As the regular guest house that we use is under major renovations, we were forced to find other accomodations. This isn't the funnest thing to do over the internet. In addition, our insurance gives us a rather small daily allowance so we need to keep things tight. I found a "guest house" online and booked a private room. Turns out, this place is a converted apartment housing five rooms in all. One room has a private bathroom (not ours) and the rest share a tiny bathroom where the shower head is located directly across from the porcelain throne. There are two young guys who live permanently in this place. They share a tiny room in the back away from the other guest rooms. One fellow, a 26 year old from the Philipines, has dreams of immigrating to Canada and joining his aunt who lives in Loydminster Alberta. So he was quite excited to be able to chat with a real Canadian. The one benefit of this place is that it is located near the other guest house so I was already familiar with the area. In addition it is directly across the road from the Singapore Botanical gardens. On our last morning there, Christiaan and I wandered around and wondered at the cleanliness and beauty of the gardens.
I must say that it was a treat to drive on a road that was pothole free, eat real western food, be able to walk outside at night and it wasn't yet dark, speak english all the time (and be understood). But as we landed at Jayapura airport (it's actually in Sentani), I gave a great sigh of happiness; we were home again.... :-)

* The woman from our church ended up having a c-section last Sunday night. (Big surprise...) They had a baby boy. Unlike most couples here, this couple did not want to know ahead of time what they were having... It's really too bad that she had a c-section because it costs them a lot more money than a "normal" delivery does. I hope to visit her next week.