all dressed up with no place to go

Halloween abroad can be tricky at the best of times. Sure, you might be able to find something sorta authentic, but its not easy. This year we found ourselves dressed up with no place to go...

Niamh, ready to go!

We planned to go to Woodlands area in Singapore for trick-or-treating, with friends. The Woodlands is in the north part of town, and is an area with a disproportionate population of Americans living in it, because that is where the large American school is. There are a few streets who are known to participate in 'hosting Halloween' and the deal is, you bring candy to each house you visit and they in turn, will pass out candy to your kids. Count me in.

Unfortunately our friend's kid got sick, and Dom had to work. (insert cartoon stormcloud!), so it was just us.

The idea of going to a part of town I'm not familiar with, alone on Halloween just didn't seem like much fun. So instead, we got dressed up and walked around our neighborhood, stopping to 'trick-or-treat' at our house several times on our walk. That's right, we trick-or-treated at our own house, SEVERAL times! But hey, living abroad you gotta improvise!

Trick or Treat!

I think our walk around the neighborhood can best be described as our very own freak-show parade. People were scrambling out of their houses to see us walk by, cars were turning around or backing up down the street to get a better look. One friendly guy even rolled down his window and said 'Happy Halloween' to Niamh, and told her that he could tell she was a fairy!

Essentially, it would be like a Chinese family back home coming out in full gear and doing a lion dance down your street to celebrate Chinese New Year - in somewhere like North Carolina. I'm pretty sure our neighbors have something to talk about for a long time...

As I tucked Niamh into bed, she said, "Mommy, today was sooooh fun. I loved it! I love you sooooh much. I also love Baba (daddy in Chinese), Ayi and gou gou (dog in Chinese)."

And my humiliation was all worth it.


A few observations about Halloween this year:

1. Niamh was fully aware and really 'got it' for the first time. Christmas is going to be FUN!
2. Contrary to what I might think, it doesn't have to be perfect, to be fun. She probably won't even remember that we had to trick or treat at our own house, and none of the others.
3. The best part of dressing up, was the allowance of wearing makeup for Halloween, we're talking Fiary makeup too!
4. The best part of walking around the neighborhood was Niamh using her magic wand to turn me into a frog (from a witch) and back again. Consequently, I've mastered a witch's laugh and a frog's croak. Useful skills I'm sure, I may just add them to my resume.