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.

Waffle Craving

I have been craving fresh, hot, delicious waffles for a few weeks now, and since we did not have the foresight to bring our Belgian waffle iron to Singapore, I have had my eyes peeled for a good breakfast place here.  Imagine my surprise when we were strolling down Chinatown Food Street one night and saw a sign for a restaurant called The Loft.  It wasn't the warm lighting cascading from a second floor window that caught my eye,  it was the words below the name,

"Pancakes & Waffles."

The following Sunday morning, I woke up early with visions of warm waffles, melted butter and syrup dancing in my head.  We took a bus to Chinatown, crossed the street via the overhead bridge, walked four blocks, turned left on Smith Street, and finally made it to the

orange building!

It was closed for renovation.

Happy Birthday to Me!

To celebrate my birthday, we spent the day at the ArtScience Museum:

"Designed as a symbolic gesture of welcome to guests from across the globe, the lotus-inspired ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands is the premier museum destination in Singapore for major international touring exhibitions from the most renowned collections in the world."

We visited the museum on the last day of the Vincent van Gogh exhibition, a multi-media presentation that I had wanted to see since arriving in Singapore.  A variety of van Gogh paintings and rare photographs were projected simultaneously on the giant gallery walls while sweeping, hi-definition music added to the whole experience, which was a treat for the senses.  We were not allowed to take any photos, but you can click here to get a sample.

 After van Gogh, we went to level three to see the Salvador Dalí exhibit.  They showed us a film about Dalí's life highlighting his fascination with mathematics, science, Freud, and religion.  Dalí was quite eccentric, and the following quote sums up his personality pretty well:

"Each morning when I awake, I experience again a supreme pleasure - 
that of being Salvador Dalí."

One of the more unique displays was a room featuring many of Dalí's furniture pieces.  Tables, chairs, and lamps were affixed to a sloping wall of the gallery above our heads.

At the end of the exhibit, there was a variety of carnival mirrors that transformed our bodies emphasizing the idea that Dalí's artwork was a distortion of reality.  Although Dalí would probably disagree:

"One day it will have to be officially admitted that what we have christened reality is an even greater illusion than the world of dreams."

Spending the day at the ArtScience Museum was a great way to celebrate my birthday!  

Which one is reality?

Monkey or Bird?

When we moved into our apartment in Singapore, we were very happy to have a modern place to live with lots of amenities like a swimming pool, jacuzzi, tennis courts, etc.  Before long, we realized that our new apartment also came with a unique "neighbor".  At first we thought it was a monkey, but then we realized it had to be a bird (although we've never actually seen it).  

It took us a couple months to get its voice on tape.  When you listen to the video below, you will hear a bird call out in the distance, then the louder response from our "monkey-bird".