Getting Stuff Done

Our Employment Pass/Dependant’s Pass process started a while back in England with the help from mr D’s company. It wasn’t as plain sailing as I would’ve liked, since 2019 there is a new rule for children under 12 planning to apply for residential status in Singapore. You have to provide proof of having had the common childhood immunisations, like the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) etc. I assume this might be because of the growing trend of people choosing to not protect their kids against potentially fatal but easily preventable illnesses. Don’t get me started…

Now, the Dougberg kids are vaccinated up to their ears and it was just the matter of providing evidence of this that turned out to be a bit too bureaucratic for my liking…and hence, when going to the MOM (Ministry of Manpower) to sort out the final stages in our application process I was a bit pessimistic. Perhaps dealing with similar processes in Africa (where you have to bribe your way through everything) has also made me a bit sceptic.

Imagine the joy when it turns out our appointment was anything but what I expected, it was quick, easy and efficient. They checked our documents, took photos and fingerprints and that was that!! Our new passes will be sent to us in about 4 days.

We celebrated with a cold drink and some ice cream on Riverwalk where we also met up with the estate agent who brought the “Letter Of Intent” for us to sign on the apartment. The Dougbergs are turning out to be a wonder of efficiency!

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Mr D felt lousy all weekend and spent most of his time trying to sleep (or watching Breaking Bad in a cold, dark room. I’m not judging, I watched 7 seasons of GOT in two weeks when I had hay fever…) The kids and I didn’t mind, there’s a lovely pool and a gym here, shops next door and a big mall a block away. It was nice to just chill and we did go for some nice meals in the evenings.

Sadly the kids had to say goodbye to their Canadian friends that are now traveling to Brunei before returning to Calgary via Hongkong. B & B really hit it off with this cheeky duo and we were gutted to see them go.

Today was the orientation day at the new school. Little B was very excited and has been counting down the sleeps to get there. Big B was a bit more pensive, it’s a big thing this, going up to secondary school. Or as little B said “well, for him it’s actually serious now, I can still just have fun and enjoy myself!”
As the taxi approached the school, I suddenly remembered “Ben’s Ipad!”. In the invitation letter it clearly said “bring approved devices for configuration and setup”. Did we bring it? Nooooooo. So, mr D happily (ha!) jumped into another taxi and went back to the hotel to bring said device. Remember what I said about the wonder of efficiency? Scratch that.

First, they had individual interviews where they were asked about their likes and dislikes, different subjects and what activities the school has to offer. Photographs were taken for ID cards for both kids and parents, then trying on uniforms to make sure we order the right sizes. Our documents were checked (and I was so happy we’d had our residency passes approved!).
Last, Ben and his retrieved device spent an hour getting set up and getting all sorts of smarty-pants stuff downloaded. A lot of his learning and creating will be on this Ipad and as parents we can closely monitor what the kids are doing (or are supposed to be doing) via a parent portal and learning hub.
Whilst this was going on, Bea and I checked out some of the premises. The turtles can possibly be a reason why she chose this school…
(if you click on the pictures you can make them bigger and look through the slide show)

Coming back in the late afternoon both Ben and I have been starting to feel a bit poorly, fingers crossed it’s not the dreaded man-flu claiming more victims!! Feeling lazy we ordered a takeaway using the brilliant and easy Foodpanda. The most delicious chicken Biryani from Zamas. It might look a bit messy but oh so tasty! Under that heap of perfectly cooked fragrant rice is a spicy, succulent chicken and the salad on the side is cooling and crunchy with fresh pinapple and cucumber.

Right, that’s it for tonight, it’s almost midnight here and I need to go before I turn into a pumpkin. Thanks for reading and Goodnight!