Visiting Vietnam

At our new school in Singapore, we got three weeks off for winter vacation.  All of our other schools had two-week vacations, so three weeks was a bit longer than we were used to.  After much research and discussion, we decided to spend half of our vacation visiting Vietnam and the other half exploring Cambodia.

Tim takes a turn at rowing along the Mekong River.

This is one of the narrow caves we explored by boat.

While driving through the countryside,
we saw many farmers working on their fields.

A local woman poses with her water buffalo and its newborn calf.

This is the entrance to the oldest university in Vietnam.

We visited the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh.

The pig on this scooter is alive (for now).

The weather and scenery were perfect while sailing in Ha Long Bay.

Scooters rule on the streets of Vietnam.

Hoa Lo Prison is also known as Hanoi Hilton.

We saw many 100 year old Chinese homes in Hoi An.

Colorful, hand-made, silk lanterns are displayed everywhere. 

Crowded Cho Binh Tay Market provides wholesale products to local shops.

A teenage tourist crawls into a tunnel opening used during the Vietnam war in Cu Chi.

Apparently, Tim can also fit inside this small opening. 

We enjoyed a delicious lunch which included elephant fish.

Dusk is peaceful in Hoi An along the Thu Bon river.

Rubik's Cube

A student approached me after class today with a Rubik's Cube.  She asked if I could solve it, and I said, "Sure!"  I thought I would be able to impress her by quickly rearranging all of the colors, something I was able to master while I was in junior high school.

As I began to twist and turn the familiar object into its rightful colors, I explained to the wide-eyed student that the first Rubik's Cube came out when I was about her age.  She immediately inquired with a completely serious expression on her face, "Was it made out of wood then?"

(Ouch.)

Movies in Singapore

There are many more movies playing at theaters all around Singapore compared to when we lived in Morocco and China.  One of our favorite movie theaters is Lido on Orchard Road.  They have a great lobby with a huge TV screen that you can comfortably watch if you show up a bit early for your movie.  They also have a variety of black metal displays above the lobby showing scenes and characters from different blockbuster movies.  However, because the characters are in silhouette, it's a bit of a challenge to recognize them all.  Give it a try!

Jaws, Edward Scissorhands, Buzz Lightyear...

Up, Spiderman, Jurassic Park...

ET, Star Trek, Alfred Hitchcock...

Me!

Night Safari

We recently visited the Singapore Night Safari which is similar to the Wild Animal Park in California.  The fun part about the Night Safari is that it does not open until 7 p.m. so everything is dark and more jungle-like.  You can tour along walking paths or ride on the trams to get up close and personal with the animals.  The only bad thing about a night safari is dark, blurry photos.  The pictures from the Night Safari official website are way better than ours, as you can see.

We saw huge elephants roaming the lush surroundings with baby by their side.

Their Picture

Our Picture

We saw tapirs, which looked like they fell into a bucket of gray paint.

Their Picture

Our Picture

The only thing between the leopard's head and ours, was a thick sheet of plexiglass.

Their Picture

Our Picture

Another great exhibit was the fruit bats.  We have never been that close to free-flying bats.  They were virtually silent when they flew by except for the little clicks they made as they zoomed past our heads.

Our Best Bat Photo

The Night Safari was a fabulous nighttime adventure, and we saw many animals we wouldn't normally see at a daytime zoo.  But maybe it's about time we consider getting a better camera.

Sentosa

I heard a lot about how Sentosa is the "playground of Asia", so this weekend we decided to check it out. Sentosa is a small island off the southern coast of Singapore that has a host of activities such as Universal Studios, a casino, water sports, maritime museums, an underwater theme park, a pink dolphin exhibit, a theater, a concert hall, upscale hotels, the southernmost point of continental Asia, and, of course, plenty of food and shopping.  We spent the whole day there, and there was still not enough time to see it all.

Universal Studios, Singapore 

Huge Candy Store

Replica of "The Thinker"

Beaches and Sunsets to Enjoy
(That small island is the southernmost point of continental Asia.)

105 Foot Christmas Tree

Happy Deepavali!

One of the great things about working at international schools is the diversity of students and staff.  Not only do we get to learn about new languages and cultures, but we also get to celebrate a variety of holidays.  This week our school is on vacation in honor of Deepavali, an Indian holiday, which is also known as the festival of lights.

Since we had a week off from school, we decided to fly to nearby Malaysia to enjoy our vacation in the city of Kuala Lumpur and on a tropical island called Rebak.  Here are a few photos from our fabulous week in Malaysia!

Our Hotel Lobby in Kuala Lumpur

Sand art (rangoli) was displayed in every hotel and mall to celebrate Deepavali.

 I painted my own Batik at Central Market.  The pre-made drawing of the stylized Petronas Twin Towers and the KL Tower are outlined with wax.

 Then colored dye is painted into each section.

The colors blend together since the areas are still wet with dye.

The finished piece, suitable for framing!

 Malaysia is now on the list of countries where I have had my hair cut.

 The Petronas mall in Kuala Lumpur was ginormous...

 ...and the three-layer tea was fan-tea-stic!

 The famous Petronas Twin Towers held up by my one-armed, super-human strength!

 Our next destination was the Rebak Island Resort in northwestern Malaysia.  The bathroom in our hotel room was bigger than our bathroom back home in the U.S.


Another hotel meant another beautiful sand art display for Deepavali.

  This is a traditional Malaysian dish - very spicy and very yummy!

Incredible skies!

 This is the life!

All creatures, big...

...and small, enjoy this island oasis.

 I got a hands-on cooking lesson by an Indian chef at the hotel.  She showed me how to make morukku.

 This is one of the only wild toucan birds I've ever seen that was not on a Fruit Loops box.

 These crazy crabs crawl sideways, and fast!

 I was shocked to see this three foot long (head to tail) monitor lizard crossing our path at the hotel.

Later I read that Rebak island is actually part of a larger rainforest that has been around for over a hundred million years.  So, I guess this guy's ancestors were here way before the hotel.

 We took a cable car to the top of 700 meter high
Mount Mat Chin Cang.

 The views were spectacular!

 We walked across a suspension bridge to see a 360º view of the ocean and surrounding islands.

 It was hard to leave such a magnificent place.
(The tiny plane in the sky is not us flying away.)


We look forward to going back to Malaysia again soon.