G'day, Mate!

We finally got to visit Australia during our

winter vacation (which is summer time down under)!

Even though it was 85º, Santa still delivered Christmas
joy to the Aussies in his classic winter suit.

Even Santa's reindeer got a little help delivering
presents in the southern hemisphere.

This is Mudgee, one of our local tour guides.

We explored the rain forest along the Green Coast
in Victoria (outside of Melbourne). 

The Twelve Apostles along the Great Ocean Road
are 150-foot high limestone beauties!

Loch Ard Gorge is an inlet along the cliffs,
aptly named the Shipwreck Coast
because of the ship that ran aground near here in 1878.

On Boxing Day in Melbourne, people were out en mass
looking for after-Christmas bargains.

We were fortunate enough to get tickets to a
concert at the Sydney Opera House.

This seagull insisted we take its picture in front of the Harbor Bridge.

In the Red Centre, we took hundreds of pictures
of Uluru (a.k.a. Ayer's Rock) at all times of the day.

We even hiked through Kata Tjuta (a.k.a. the Olgas)
16 miles from Uluru.

We weren't sure what kind of animal this was,
and luckily we didn't see it crossing the road.

Of course, we saw many cuddly koalas.

They are experts at  balancing in trees.

A koala's life is a tough one...

...sleeping up to 20 hours per day! 

A friendly kangaroo shared some gossip with Tim.

This merino sheep bleated a sigh of relief
as its fleece was quickly sheared.

At Outback Jack's in Cairns, there was a
massive crocodile on the wall...

...which meant we had to try the equally massive croc burger. Yum!

To top off our Australian adventure,
we explored the crystal clear waters of the Great Barrier Reef.

One of us was even brave enough to try scuba diving for the first time!

We had a terrific vacation in the land down under!

Christmas in Singapore

Even though the weather is a constant 89º and there isn't a snowflake within 1,000 miles, the Christmas spirit is going strong in Singapore.  Along Orchard Road, the main street for shopping and tourists, there are a "bajillion" twinkling lights and Christmas trees.

The airport sends travellers off with a holiday twinkle in their eyes.

This is a three-dimensional "ornament" that visitors can walk through.

These round ornaments are two feet tall, so you can imagine how big the trees are that are holding them!

Is this a tree with lights or lights with a tree?

This is the lobby where I take my drum lessons.  It's not air conditioned, so imagine sitting in a hot garage in the summer with a Christmas tree.

Lovely Laos

During our October break we went to Laos, the lush,

mountainous, landlocked country surrounded by

Myanmar, Thailand, China, Vietnam, and Cambodia.

We made three stops: Vientiane (capital),

Xieng Khuang, and Luang Prabang.

The Golden Stupa, Vientiane.  Even at sunset it shimmers.

There are hundreds of monks in Laos.

The Patuxai (a.k.a. Arc du Triumph of Vientiane) was finished in 1968 to symbolize independence from France.

We climbed up 400 steps to the top of the ginormous, concrete monument and had a great view of the city.

After exploring the night market in Vientiane, we flew to Xieng Khuang the next morning.  We opted for the 40-minute flight because driving would have taken over 10 hours!

"Why go to Xieng Kuang?" you ask?
Well, this is where you can find the Plain of Jars.
There are hundreds of 2,000-year-old stone jars and millions of unexploded ordinance from bombings in the 1970s.  I felt a strange mix of awe and sadness while doing a quick watercolor sketch...and yes, I'm sitting on a broken jar.

It's not often that you get to launch rocks with a borrowed sling shot on a mysterious archeological site.

Despite all the bombing and looting, some ancient relics remain, like this 17th century seated Buddha in Muang Khoun.

These children are taking straw to the fields to feed the water buffalo.

This stupa, called That Chomsi, was built in 1576 and is nearly 100 feet tall.
Ten minutes before this picture was taken, it was stormy and gray.

When you ask people in Laos if the food they are serving is spicy, they will say "No." However, what they probably should say is, "I grew up eating these red hot chili peppers my whole life and they are not spicy to me, but to Westerners like you, it might be an excruciating culinary experience."  But I guess it's just easier to say no.

There's nothing like sampling a red hot chili pepper that is drying on the roof of a thatched-roof house in the Laotian mountains.

During the 8-hour drive from Xieng Khuang to Luang Prabang, we stopped for a brief rest at this mountainside cafe.   Imagine the sound of chickens and their chicks, wind rustling through the trees, and birds chirping a sweet song.

This modern temple fresco in Luang Prabang represents the hundreds of Buddhist monks whose only means of eating is to collect alms from villagers and tourists.

You won't see sports jerseys, Levi's jeans, or polo shirts hanging on laundry lines around here!

You wouldn't know that Laos suffered through several decades of strife, war, and brutality because there is such a sense of tranquility both in the statues and people.

Kuang Si Falls features several cascading waterfalls.  We were told that this is the "dry" season and that the falls we are standing under are small.  Imagine getting sprayed by a thousand spray bottles every 5 seconds!  There is also an Asiatic Black Bear sanctuary on this site.

I really admired the multi-tiered roof architecture of Laotian temples.

When in Laos, one must travel along the Mekong River.  We traveled north for two hours to see some Buddhist caves.

Stunning.

The Buddha images range from new plastic models, to bronze statues, to this termite-ridden wooden figure.  Although damaged, it still has a beautiful, natural quality to it.  (They probably should have called Terminex ages ago.)

Deep inside one of the caves, the only available light was from this shrine candle.

We decided to have lunch...prepared by us!  So we joined a cooking class and visited the local market.

I didn't know there were so many varieties of rice.

There is no styrofoam or plastic packaging used in this market.

Ahhhhh.  Barbecuing a green chili while rice steams in a palm-woven basket.

You won't find cans of Del Monte veggies here!

This sweet concoction of sugar and coconut milk will go perfectly with my mangosteen and bananas.

Fried lemon grass chicken.  The bottom of the lemon grass is thinly sliced to create a basket to hold minced chicken.  Try ordering that at KFC.

Minced water buffalo, steamed fish mok, chicken satay, sticky rice, and Laotian salsa.

Remember the temple fresco earlier?  Here's the live version at dawn.

The night market, temple tours, mountain views, fresh food, Plain of Jars, and Mekong River were just a few of the highlights of this trip.  I added another country to my haircutting checklist, finished my watercolor sketchbook, took many pictures, and saw several more incredible sunsets.  Another fantastic October break!

Snow in Singapore!

Believe it or not, I met an ice sculptor in Singapore who is making a dinosaur exhibit for an indoor amusement park called Snow City.  He agreed to let me assist him in my free time.

Here I am working on a velociraptor in a giant, -10º C freezer.  When cutting with the chain saw, the snow flies all over the place and your fingers start to get numb from the cold...but it sure is fun! 

 I was curious if the local media would cover this event, since the temperature never dips below 25º C, and sure enough they did: Click here!  The exhibit opens November 1, 2012.