Driving in Singapore

Last Friday the church bought us a car.  It's been quite an experience. :-)  In Singapore they drive on the opposite side of the road, and the driver is on the opposite side of the car. Singapore is a busy city, and its roads aren't laid out like the roads in the U.S., so although traffic follows pretty much the same rules we do in the U.S. (other than motorcycles coming up between cars to get to the front at red lights), it can be a bit difficult to figure out which road to take and which lane to be in.  So imagine being brought to Chicago at rush hour and given a car with the steering wheel on the "wrong" side, and being told to drive on the opposite side of the road.  A bit stressful!  I don't know if or when I will drive here, but my husband has gotten better and more relaxed each day.  On the way to church for a speech on Saturday one of the kids told him, "Dad, you're doing a good job!  You're doing lots better than you did yesterday!" :-)  Below are some pictures and more explanations.

The girls by our car.  It has two backseats, so there is room for all the kids.  The middle seats fold down and slide forward very easily so that kids can climb into the back.

Due to government regulations, fees, and inspections, Singaporeans own very new cars.  There are some older trucks on the roads that I think are used for construction workers, and it seems to me that some of the taxis don't look so new.  But many taxis and all personal cars are very new and nice.  The parking garages ("carparks") here look like car sales lots!  Our car is actually a used car, but you can't tell!

The front inside.  The screen shows you what's behind you as you are backing up.  Most people here back into parking spaces (and often tight parking spaces!).  My husband was always a pro at backing up into parking spaces, I thought, but it sure adds a whole new level of complication when it's a tight space and a "backwards" car! :-)  He has already improved at that too though, after only four days.

On the top right you can also see a little "box."  There are fees here for parking and for driving on some of the roads.  We have a little card that goes into that box.  It has a certain amount of money on it, like our bus and train passes do, and when we park anywhere or drive on those roads, the money is automatically deducted.  We pay a set fee per month to park by our own house, so we are not charged every time we come and go from our own parking lot.  Besides all these fees, gas is very expensive, so we will probably use a combination of our own car and the public transportation.  But having our own car is nice for getting to church and for those times when I need more groceries than we can easily carry home on the bus. 

In other news, Prof. & Mrs. Engelsma returned home today.  We had a wonderful last evening with them, and with Stephanie VanMaanen and Lynette and Peter Kleyn and some of the church members here, at the home of a family from church last night.  The whole group that was there sang some Psalter numbers together, and we really enjoyed that.  We will miss the Engelsmas.  We are thankful for the good work they did in their time here, and thankful also that Prof. was here to preach, giving us time to settle in and get used to things a bit before my husband started his work full-time.