Night Safari & Sentosa

What a weekend!!! Friday night we went to the Night Safari at the Singapore Zoo. It was incredible. Not too many pictures to share since we couldn't use flash photography, but we did get a few cute ones...

Saturday it was off to Sentosa and that was quite a place. We road the Luge ride down and took the Chair Lift back up from the beach. It was very strange to be riding a chair lift without skis on our feet...especially for the getting on and off. You really have to move quickly....

We found the Papa Merlion which is the national landmark of Singapore. Dave managed quite a few impressive shots of it from a number of different angles in day and night. We didn't go up in it this time. Maybe next trip....

The highlight of the day was DEFINITELY the Zip Line. Yes, it's the one they showed on Amazing Race. We have video of the whole thing that I will try to post eventually, but here's a few of the pictures. We got all harnessed up and then they hook you to the line and with not much warning, you're off!!! It was a rush for sure. TOTALLY AWESOME!!!

Then we had dinner at a restaurant along the beach that had a swimming pool as part of the beach dinning area. That's NOT something you're going to find in Oregon for sure....

Singapore Week 1

Seems like everyone is enjoying the blog so I'm going to keep it up as much as I can. Thanks for all your comments and warm wishes to the first posting. Keep them coming!!!

Week 1 mostly consisted of getting into the swing of things. Dave and I trying to figure out how we can both attend 6am teleconferences at the same time without waking up the house. This is not a trivial challenge in 1300 sqft!!! The boys and Lisa found their way to the library and the science center (which they LOVED and will be visiting weekly I predict).

We also experienced a few intense thunder and lighting storms. The boys were awoken yesterday morning by lighting that lit up their room and a loud thunder crack that shook their room. There's nothing like that in Oregon for sure!!

We're all getting spoiled with eating out every night. We had an authentic Indian dinner Thursday night (which was a completely new experience for us.) The boys liked it, but it wasn't their favorite. I think it was a bit too spicey for them (and me too for that matter!!)

Last night we went to the Night Safari at the Singapore Zoo. It was REALLY cool. All the nocturnal animals are out and active. We saw Lions & Tigers up close and active like never before. Kevin and Erik LOVED the bat exhibit - which I agreed was very cool but I didn't want to go through it more than once. We were probably 3 feet away from a large bat (who was happily eating a chunk of honeydew mellon) and he was wide awake and very active and really cool to see. But still just a little creepy for me........ More details and pictures from Night Safari coming next time!!!

For today we're planning to try Sentosa Island. Zip line here we come!!!

We are in SINGAPORE!!!

WE MADE IT!!! we left home on the 17th of June and arrived in Singapore on the morning of the 20th. The boys did GREAT on the plane and were wonderful travelers. I was getting pretty nervous before we left, about how horrible the plane trip could be, but it wasn't bad. Everyone managed just fine.

Saturday we went to the grocery store to stock up on a few items. A liter of ice cream was $6. A six pack of Corona was $15. We don't have a car, but I was told the grocery store will deliver, but only if you spend over $150....with my crew....NO PROBLEM!!!

We spent the rest of the day walking back to the condo from the market and trying to find our way around alittle bit. We had a late lunch at a local restaurant and ate like kings. Cereral Prawns, sweet & sour pork, chicken & rice (which my boys LOVED), hong kong noodles, etc. All that for $40. NOTE TO SELF; it doesn't pay to shop and cook - it's cheaper to eat out!!!

Sunday we ventured to the APS swim school which was started by a famous Singaporian Olympic swimmer. The facilities were gorgeous and we were ALL ready to jump in after we got lost on the way and ended up walking about 5 miles in the heat of the day. Again the boys were really good sports about the whole thing.

After that, we did the Duck Boat tour and all the tourist stuff down by the waterfront. We even managed to find THE ice cream sandwiches that they had on tha Amazing Race show. Yup, ice cream on bread. Dave picked the sweet cream flavor which was pretty yucky but i think the chocolate chip or peppermint might have actually been good!!!

We managed to get lost (or as we now prefer to say "mis-directed") yet again on our way home. it was getting late so we threw in the towel and defaulted to the tourist option of a taxi to get home. We had done pretty well with the public transporation options until that point (especially for a bunch of country bumkins from Oregon) but exhaustion won out. Kevin LOVES the public transporation systems (bus and subway). He's all about the maps and the navigating the routes. I think he has half of them memorized already!!

Today it was off to work and the boys spent the day running a few errands and hanging out that the pool. Tonight we managed to figure out the bus to/from the library, so they can go there tomorrow for a little air conditioned time during the afternoon.

So far, so good. We're having a great time and all is well - HOT, but well!!!