Fun with Mom and Dad - Part 1

Touristy things in Singapore have not yet gotten old for me. There are so many fun little things to do and see, and I think I've done most of them. But today was a good day because I've never taken the Singapore River tour. It's a quick boat ride up and down the Singapore River. Shaded, and no traffic!

I always like seeing this sculpture along the way...

Afterward, we took a walk around the civic area of town, and then headed over to Raffles and The Long Bar. Singapore slings and peanuts on the floor!

Oh, and the insanely expensive beer.

Dad enjoyed his Sling, but was slightly distracted by the pigeons that looked about ready to poop on his head.

Back from Vacay

My parents were here! My parents were here! Coming all the way from the frozen tundra of Minnesota, they stopped off in Hawaii for a few days before heading to Singapore. Needed a mid-range climate, I guess, to ease the transition. Like going from the freezer to the oven. Don't want your bones to crack or something.

Millie was thrilled to see Grandpa again, remembered him right away. Dad went on walks with me every morning, and Millie stuck right by him and followed him around like, well, a puppy dog. If he went anywhere without her she would watch for him until he returned. She never does that with us.

I'm still catching up on pictures and such from the visit, Friday I'll start updating with all our adventures from the fish spa to the leopard shark. Good times.

Visit From The Stoneda's - Part 3

NOTE: In case you're wondering, I've been writing about the stuff we did during the Stoneda's visit not in chronological order, but in order of awesomeness. This was the most awesome.

Nikoi Island

Paul and Chandra wanted to take a little side trip while in Singapore, something where Chandra could "get her beach time." The possibilities were endless, but after asking around, we narrowed it down to someplace beachy, out of the way, but also a place we didn't have a fly to. Nikoi Island is a small private island located just off the coast of Bintan, Indonesia. We took a 45 min ferry ride from Singapore, a white-knuckle van ride across Bintan (it was pouring rain and the driver didn't exactly diminish his driving speed flying around the narrow Indonesian roads), another 35 minutes ferry ride to the island, and then a 30 second boat ride to the beach. Land. Finally. I took my sandals off the minute I stepped on the beach and didn't put them back on the whole time.

"Check-In" was an open air bar with $3.50 Caipirenhas (rum, sugar and lime juice). I knew I was going to like this place.

After a quick, family style lunch in a "dining room" (roof, but no walls and white sand floor), we were ushered to our hut. Sea breezes 24/7 = all natural air conditioning. There is electricity and running water, but no phones, internet or television. What is there to do? Not much. That's the point. There are only a total of 15 huts on the whole island (every one with unspoiled ocean views), which means there are very few people, too. Just you and the sound of waves crashing.

Distracted in the evening by a game of majong, the next day we quickly got to the business of doing simply nothing:

We had a great view of iPod Rock, which is named so because it looks like an iPod plugged into a charger). David tried to swim there, but attempting to do this during low tide and lacking reef shoes, Mr. City Kid only made it knee deep water before he had to turn around because the rocks hurt his feet.

Our time was spent reading, hanging from the rafters, and having drinks by the pool. It was cloudy most of the time, but the fairer-skinned of us didn't mind at all.

Did I mention there's a coral reef right off the shore? You can walk up the beach and let the currents take you all the way back, seeing tons of different fish and coral along the way. You barely even need flippers.

(Un)fortunately there was cell phone reception, and we still couldn't get David to stay off his iPhone.

The staff rocked, probably because they have the best jobs ever.

Two days is not enough at this place. The trip ended all too soon, and I had to put my shoes back on to get into the boat heading back to civilization.

Parting shot of the island, we really, really hope to be back soon...

Visit From The Stoneda's - Part 2

Other than not having time to shop for a new outfit, New Year's Eve was pretty great. We met for drinks with our Singapore friends, John and Margaret, and then headed over to a Chinese restaurant for Peking Duck.

Here's the Peking Duck, a-roasting in the fire.

I love it that our first course was skin.

We jumped in a couple of taxis and headed over to Chinatown, where we rang in the new year at a roof top bar which had pretty amazing views.

A good night of champagne and sparklers. We tried to get the DJ to play "Party in the USA" by Miley Cyrus at midnight, but no go. We just had to play it on the iPod on the way back home. Happy 2010!

Visit From The Stoneda's - Part 1

On December 26th our friends Paul and Chandra finally came to visit! They spent a few days in Tokyo beforehand, and then came to enjoy a tropical New Year's Eve with us. We did all the basic tourist things and then some.

Singapore Slings and throwing peanuts on the floor at Raffle's Hotel:

A visit to the (now freshwater) harbor and The Esplanade:

We hosted a cooking class at our house where we learned to make Chili Crab, Char Kwei Teow, Coconut Rice and Beef Curry. Our signature drink for the night was called "Her Sarong Slipped" (see recipe at the end), which was a hit.

We visited Sentosa Island, which included The Southern Most Point of Continental Asia (a bit controversial because it's on an island (Imbiah) off an island (Sentosa) off of an island (Singapore) - how is that "continental"?), the Wave Pool, refreshments (ask David what that was - I have no idea), and the Fish Spa.

We also went to Little India, which always has something going on.

If you give this guy money, his bird will pick out your fortune before he hops right back into his cage (the bird, not the guy):

The Hindu temple was packed that day (where were all the women?):

The mosque had a full house, too:

Though we didn't go in. I think it was guarded at the front by this lady. 4'10" and I was afraid to cross her.

==========================

Here's the recipe for "Her Sarong Slipped" from a book called Party Drinks:

Ice cubes

4 ounces fresh lemon juice

12 ounces brandy

3 ounces grenadine

One 750-milliliter bottle chilled Champagne

Strawberry slices for garnish

1.) Fill a large pitcher half full with ice cubes. Add the lemon juice, brandy, and grenadine, in that order. Stir well.

2.) Strain the mix equally into 10 white wine glasses (or comparable stemmed glasses).

3.) Top off each glass with Champagne. Garnish each glass with a strawberry slice and serve with stirrers.

Enjoy!

Christmas in Singapore

This was my first Christmas ever away from home. I "had a moment" on December 23rd, realizing that I really wasn't going to see any family, and there weren't going to be any spritz cookies or watching my nephew dig through his stocking for the latest Yu-Gi-Oh cards. Even though Singapore is decorated within an inch of it's palm trees, it still didn't feel like Christmas. It didn't help that it was supposed to snow a foot or so back home in Minnesota, I would have rather gotten stuck in the driveway trying to make it to my cousin's house than heating up left-over Thai food in the microwave because it's too hot to cook anything. Seriously. Don't hate me because wearing flip-flops on December 25th isn't consolation enough for me.

Our one Christmas-y thing in the house which was a great help, was this great little tree that my mom sent us:

On Christmas Eve we took Millie for a walk to the Singapore Botanic Gardens, where there were a few dozen Christmas trees on display, decorated by schools, businesses, embassies, etc.

Here's my favorite, from the Austrailian embassy. Here's what the poem says, and I think that it pretty much applies to Singapore, too.

Christmas in Australia is different to what you know,

We don't see any reindeer and for sure, there is no snow.

No steaming Christmas pudding, or eggnog by the fire,

Too much of that there hot stuff, makes us all perspire.

The sun is brightly shining, the sky is blue and bright,

The waves are breaking on the beach, the tide is just in right.

I've got my great new surfboard, the barbie's on the beach,

The chops are cooking nicely, the snogs are lined up neat.

The temp is on the 40's, the sand is fine and white.

There's coldies in the esky, all had turned out right.

Who needs the snow and iced up roads, Santa and his sleigh,

We'll have a red-hot Christmas, that's the Aussie way.

Christmas day was chill - we took Millie for a long walk, and then took in dinner and a movie (The Christmas Cottage) with a couple of friends at a place called The Screening Room - a sort of bar/restaurant with a room with a huge screen and lots of couches. No spritz cookies, though. Maybe next year.

P.S. I got a fun Christmas present from David... a mountain bike!