To get there we first walk for maybe five minutes to the bus stop. The covered area a little ways up the street here is our bus stop. Three different buses stop here, and all of them end up at the Junction 8 bus interchange only two stops later, so we can get on any of them.
The next couple pictures show the bus interchange. There is a drop-off area ("alighting only"), and then the buses drive to the center of the interchange and park until it's time to start their next route. The second picture shows where we wait for the buses to take us home. There are three pick-up areas like this, with three buses coming to each one. You "queue" between the railings marked for the bus you are waiting for. For example, Bus 54 has its own line, Bus 410G has its own, and Bus 56 has its own. Those are the three that will take us closest to home. There are screens telling us which bus will be leaving at which time, so we can choose the one coming the soonest and get in line for that one.
The following picture shows the Bishan Library, right across the street from Junction 8. It is four stories tall, plus the basement. The basement level is entirely dedicated to kids' books, so we have a great selection! We miss some of the books we were used to, but there are many like we would find in our U.S. libraries, and the kids still have plenty to read! The yellow, blue, and green "boxes" sticking out from the building are little reading areas where people can sit to study or read. We usually only go to the basement, but the few times we've gone to other levels, the kids love to sit in those windows and read!
The first two pictures below were taken right outside the bus interchange. Everywhere there are idols! The third picture below was taken in the parking garage of J8. We found a parking spot one day in the corner of the lowest level--and in that corner was an offering left to some ancestor or god. We shouldn't be surprised anymore, but somehow we still were!
Of the three grocery stores, I usually shop at the one right inside the mall, on the basement level. It is the busiest, which I don't like so much, but it also has the best selection of food. It can be very difficult to find some foods here, so I need all the selection I can get! :-) One of the other stores is open to the outside, as you can see in the picture below. I post this because this is quite typical of things in Singapore. They don't have to worry about cold weather, and the awnings outside are big enough to protect the stores from the rain. The second picture shows some of the fish selection in one of the stores.
A few weeks ago the kids and I were shopping on the third floor of the mall and found this playground. It was called the "Roof Garden," and I wish I had better pictures of the garden itself. It was beautiful! We just went through a little doorway out of the mall, and the kids had a great break from shopping for a little while!
When it is time to go home, we wait for one of the buses and take it two stops until we are close to our building. We are carrying our purchases in a backpack or on the stroller handles. The first picture below I took from our bus stop going home. Our flat is in the building behind the farthest building in the distance, straight ahead. So you have some idea of how far we have to walk. I think it looks worse than it really is...either that, or we are just used to it!
Finally, here are a few pictures of one of the stores preparing for Chinese New Year. That is going on right now and will be the subject of my next post, Lord willing!
Rev and stephanie, Thank you so much for all of these posts. It is so nice to have a picture in our minds of your life right now :) You are all missed so very much, morre and more as time goes on but we are thankful that our church family in
ReplyDeletesingapore gets to have you for themselves. It is a blessing! Love, Jason & Tammi scholten and family