Singapore Zoo

On our second day in Singapore, we decided to devote the day to the zoo and the Night Safari. The zoo was probably the best zoo I have ever visited. They use natural barriers to keep the animals in their area, but to the guests, it looks like they are in their natural environments. In fact, there were monkeys sleeping in the trees directly over the walkway and the kangaroos were just hopping along ready to be pet. The kids loved walking through the zoo, although by the time we got to the kids area they were ready for a break! We were all in for a real treat because the kids area had just opened in November and it was wonderful. There was a carousel, pony rides, obstacle course, playground, shops, KFC, and right in the middle a water play area. We did not realize they had this, so without swimsuits, we let the kids have fun in their clothes - Coop once again plopped himself right into the water!!

Mini Wisconsin Dells!!
While we were leaving we got a picture with the fortune man (hopefully he will be helping the poor economy this year!) and we got to watch an amazing dragon dance. We could have stayed longer, but we wanted to go back to the hotel and rest before the Night Safari!

While the boys were resting, El and I ran to Borders - I can't resist buying books when I can find them!! El is reading a ton lately so I had to buy more chapter books (which as of right now she only has one left to finish!) and I needed more chick lit. I was also trying to find some books on raising children in different countries (how they deal with their identity, what do they consider home, etc...) but had no luck, so today I placed an order on Amazon!! (Mom - the books will be heading your way - please send them to me in an envelope or two!!! Thanks!!)

After rest time, we took the kids to the Raffles Hotel, which is quite extravagant, and I'm not sure they appreciated our lovely kids playing in their fountain!! But, we had to have a Singapore Sling - I have no idea what was in it, but it cost about $16 so I hope it was something really good!! Truly it tasted like juice, but we had to get one where they were created!!

Our three misfits!!!

We found a Din Tai Fung (favorite restaurant in Tianjin) and couldn't resist trying it for dinner. It was good, but I think the one in Tianjin is better - they didn't have our favorite mini dumplings!! We were all full and happy, so off to the Night Safari.

The Night Safari sits adjacent to the zoo and it is one of the most popular attractions in Singapore. We sat on a train and rode while a man told us about all of the animals we were seeing. It was interesting seeing all of the animals at night, but to be honest, I was so tired that I almost fell asleep!! As we were walking out we witnessed a guy doing fish reflexology. This picture doesn't do it justice, but you put your feet in the tank and the fish come and suck at your feet. I love the spa, but I'm not sure I would be up for this!!!

Another fun day in Singapore!! Stay tuned tomorrow for the "Barf Cruise"!!!!

Spectacular Singapore!!

Please bear with me, I have never been on a 10 day vacation, so it will take me a few posts to fill you in on our holiday!

We flew into Singapore last Thursday from Beijing. The flight was 6 hours, and we didn't arrive until about 10:30pm. We found a taxi driver who was great - he told us all about Singapore and gave us some advice of places to visit while we were there. He also drove us around the area near our hotel so we could know where we could walk too. And yes, it costs us a little bit extra, but it was well worth it!!

We stayed at the Fairmont Hotel in the Marina Bay area directly across the street from Raffles Hotel. It turned out to be a great location and the view from our balcony was beautiful of the city. When we travel in Asia, we almost always have to get two rooms. It is nice that Danny and I don't have to go to sleep when the little ones do, but it also adds up! The reaon we have to get two rooms is because most hotels have rooms with either a King bed or 2 twin beds!! Not going to work with our family! So, we spend a little more, have more space, and in the end enjoy ourselves a little bit more!! I was explaining to Ellie that when I was little, her grandma and grandpa tried to take myself and 3 siblings on vacation at least once a year, but we never had a lot of money. I told her that what typically happened was that we would all six squeeze into a room. Mom and dad would get a bed (although sometimes dad would get so annoyed with us that he would sleep in the van!!), T and I would share a bed and then Steph and Rob would fight it out on the floor!! It was quite comical and made for wonderful memories to share with my children!! Anyway, below are some pictures from our balcony...

Some of the things I loved about Singapore were that it was very compact, everything seemed very accessible and easy to get to, almost everyone spoke English (or at least a little!), tons of food options (delicious BBQ pork baozi - one of our favorites!), loads of shopping (even a Borders), and it was extremely clean!

On our first full day in Singapore we ventured off to Sentosa Island, a 20 minute cab ride away. We had a ball and it was so easy to get around. They have a free bus that takes you to each attraction area - again, the buses were clean and air conditioned which was good because it was hot out!!

We went to Underwater World first. In true Eensie form, he was asking to leave the moment he walked through the door. He had seen a peacock stutting it's stuff on the road, then a gentleman was holding a snake wanting people to pay to take a picture with it, and then to top it off, when we finally walked through the door, a stingray was jumping up the side of the pool. He cried off and on during our entire stay! El and Coop had a ton of fun feeding the fish and riding on a conveyor belt through a tunnel looking at the aquarium and the sea creatures! I had to carry my 40 some pound son the entire time!!

This picture definitely depicts Ethan's behavior throughout the aquarium - how can you be afraid of fish enclosed in glass???

Next we went to the beach for a quick walk and to get our feet wet. It was a small beach, but it was clean and the water was calm. The kids love playing in the sand wherever they are!!

Our next stop was to the luge, skyride, and skytower!! I'm not sure how Eensie can go on a luge ride down a mountain, but can't make it through an aquarium, but, he did it!! We put on our helmets and then Ellie got on her own luge, Coop and Danny rode one and Eens and I were together. Coop and Danny went so fast I don't even want to think about it. El was a little slow, so Eens and I stayed back with her - I couldn't leave her on a mountain. After we made it to the bottom of the mountain we took a sky ride back up! It offered a wonderful view of the city! Eens really wanted to ride the skytower next because there was a picture of a tiger on it (and he is so brave you know!!). We rode that up and once again saw a view of the city!!

If there is water, my children will find it!! Here is a fountain that they decided to get right into!! I'm not sure if they were supposed to or not, but they were hot, so they cooled off!! Of course, Coop was soaked by the end - that boy cannot stay standing!!

We still had one site left to see and that was the pink dolphins. We once again travelled by bus to the Dolphin Lagoon to see the dolphins. They have shows throughout the day, but we made it a quick look and see trip. As you can see, they were truly pink - Ellie was thrilled!!

We were all exhausted so we headed back to the hotel for a swim! Ellie refused to get in the pool for a bit so we witnessed a little 7 year old drama, but eventually we all had a fun time!! After swimming we went to one of the hundreds of shopping malls to find dinner! In this particular mall there was a hawker food court - there were about 20 different food vendors (all licensed!!) and you could choose whatever sounded good! Danny and I were all up for it, but the kids would have nothing to do with it. They have seen too many unsanitary food stalls in China! So, we went to a western restaurant and then Danny and I ate some BBQ pork baozi on our way out!! Our last stop for the day was to see the Fountain of Wealth light show. The fountain was cool, the light show was a bit disappointing - we waited for 15 minutes and it lasted about 3 minutes!!

We were ready for some serious sleep after our very busy day!!

Greetings from our getaway!!

Rest assured, we are having a wonderful time on our vacation. I guess it would be really hard not to when we go to sleep listening to the ocean waves and wake up to the same thing!!! Dan and I are burnt due to the fact that I bought SPF 15 (for about $30) instead of SPF 30 - I've learned my lesson not to wait until I arrive at the resort (basically on the equator) to purchase sunscreen for a beach vacation!! The kids are enjoying Kids Club and they have even made some friends! Danny and I don't know what to do with ourselves all day!! Yeah right - cocktails on the beach, reading, tennis, working out, quiet lunches, and swimming in the pool while not worrying about a child drowning - we're doing just fine!!!

I'll post more when I get a chance. I've lost my USB cord so I have to see if I can borrow one from the business center so I can post pictures!! We're off to the elephant park tomorrow - should be real interesting!!

We miss you all so much and truly wish our family and friends could explore with us - this part of the world has so much to offer and amazing people to learn more about!!

Gong Xi Fa Cai (Happy Chinese New Year!)

A bit belated I know, but we have been very busy trying to enjoy as much sunshine as we can before we head back to the cold on Saturday!!

Chinese New Year or Spring Festival (as many locals refer to it) is the most celebrated holiday in China. The celebration goes on for 15 days! Family reunions are plentiful and children are given almost a month off to celebrate. I was very curious to learn more about the customs and traditions of this celebration because I kept hearing things like you can't sweep or women get new hair do's for the month and I had to find out if these things were all true!!

Here are some of the traditions I found out are indeed true (although a bit peculiar if you ask me!!)...

Do not sweep on New Year's Day because good fortune will be swept away. (Trust me, especially in Tianjin, a day without sweeping can cause a lot of dirt to build up!)

At midnight all doors and windows must be opened to allow the old year out!

One should not wash their hair on New Year's Day or it will wash away good luck.

Do not use knives or scissors on New Year's Day or it may cut off your fortune.

Eat lots of tangerines - they are a sign of good health and long life.

This last bit has to do with the fireworks (that were keeping me up before we left) and red decorations that are everywhere you look right now!! Ellie actually watched a movie about this on the same day that I did some research, so this must be a well known story!! So there once was a sea monster named Nian that would come and destroy the people - the only two things that would keep him away were loud noises and the color red. This is why on New Year's Eve fireworks go off nonstop and everyone has red decorations on their doors, windows, etc!!

There are many more traditions that I am missing, like wearing red panties and a bra if it is "your" year (my friend Sharon shared this one with me!!), but these were the ones I have confronted and been told about this year! I'm sure next year we will see and hear many other traditions that we can share with you!!

And We're Off...Again!!

Today we fly to Singapore and then Indonesia for our R&R. We started our vacation a day earlier than planned because my ayi felt in her hands that it may snow. If it snows even a tiny bit here, there is much chaos and many times the highway between Tainjin and Beijing closes. We didn't want to take any chances - even though there were no reports of snow on the internet - so we came up to our favorite hotel, The Ascott, last night! You are probably all a bit worried that I am going by my ayi's hands to predict snowfall, but really I don't want anything to get in the way of us finding warm weather and 10 days to relax!!

We are so excited to go to Singapore. Apparently it is very clean - big on my list for vacationing spots now!! They also have a wonderful zoo and night safari for the kids. I get to go to Orchard Road which is well known for the shopping. It is very warm right now with temps hovering around 90 (probably too warm for Danny!).

After three days in Singapore we will take an hour long ferry ride to Indonesia, where we will be staying at an all inclusive resort that offers child care all day! We paid the extra so Coop could take part also!! I'm not sure if Danny and I will know what to do with a bit of time on our hands and no place to go but the beach!!!!

Shonna commented to me yesterday that it seems all we do is travel. Yes, this is true in some ways, but you have to remember that China can really wear on you. Our friends that have lived here for over a year told us to always have a trip planned to look forward too. We are following their advice and are so excited to see many parts of the world that at one time we thought we would only read about!!!

A Chinese Dinner

This weekend we were invited to a Chinese friend's house for dinner. This is a very rare invitation because the majority of the Chinese do not invite other's into their homes, rather they invite them to restaurants. There are many reasons why this is so, but the main one is that they do not want to lose face or feel ashamed of their home. We were excited to go to a "local's" home for the first time and experience a real Chinese meal.



The kids had a wonderful time playing with their daughter Vicky, who is 9. She is very quiet and does not speak a lot of English, but you can see it in her eyes that she understands. I've said this before, but children, regardless of where they are from, have the ability to find a common language! It is amazing to witness this first hand! According to Vicky's parents, she had been looking forward to us coming to dinner for over a week. Since she does not have any siblings, her only playmates are her grandparents outside of school.


Our friends absolutely adore our boys! From the minute we walked into the door, they doted on them - they want chocolate before dinner, no problem, a little yogurt, yum, some yogurt candy, perfect, a little soda, that's fine too. They then could not figure out why on earth our boys did not want to eat dinner!!

The meal itself was over the top...I felt like we ate for 3 hours straight. We arrived and had some tea and chips. Then we went to the table and were served 3 different kinds of chicken on bones, pidan (I call them stinky eggs!) with tofu, garden salad, and potato salad with ham. The whole time we toasted throughout the meal, I switched to Coke after one glass of wine, I really wanted to be able to walk when we were finished!! Next course comprised of noodles, sauce (made of beans - really yummy), shredded cucumbers and soy beans. They also served some eggs with tomato, which I couldn't fathom putting anymore food in my belly at that time. Next they brought out huge, baseball sized meatballs with sauce and rice. Then they served a lovely soup and finally, at the very end, fruit platters were brought out!


Oops, I forgot, they also served a beautiful cake to the kids right in the middle of dinner!!! Can you see Coop's big eyes? He can't believe someone is allowing him to eat cake before he is through with dinner!!


We ended up with a parting gift of a honey pommelo fruit - simply because we asked what it was! They also tried to give us the toys that Eens and Coop were playing with, but we insisted that we leave them at their house - one was from when their daughter was little.

We were pleasantly stuffed when we finally left and the kids were so tired that they actually slept in the next day!! That doesn't happen very often!

What's your animal?

Yes, as we begin to look ahead to the year of the Ox, I couldn't help but do a little research on our family to find out what animal year we were born in. Even more interesting to me were the traits that we each should possess, some were right on and others were way off! We'll let you figure out which ones were on and which ones were off!!

Dan and I are both Rabbits...those born in the year of the Rabbit are articulate, talented, ambitious, virtuous, reserved(hmm), tactful, have excellent taste, and seldom lose their temper (another hmm.)

Ellie was born in the year of the Snake, quite interesting!! Those born in the year of the Snake are known for their vanity, selfishness, stinginess (does that mean not sharing candy with her brothers?!), and a calm suface, but underneath they are intense and passionate!! I'm not so sure about El's!

Eens was born in the year of the Monkey and his is right on!! These people are clever, skillful, flexible, inventive (who made a volcano out of recycled boxes!!), passionate, and strong willed!

Coop was born in the year of the Dog and his traits are supposed to be loyalty, honesty, leadership, and a champion for justice (is this why he tattles so much?!)! I'll have to wait until Coop is older to decide if these are in fact traits he possesses - it's too early to tell!!

If you want to find out your animal, go to Find Your Chinese Zodiac Animal at http://grassrootsdesign.com/zodiac/zsrch.php

Have fun!!