Babymoon/Christmas in Langkawi

We wanted to get one last trip in while I could still fly so we decided to go to Langkawi, Malaysia for Christmas.  I wasn't able to do any long flights and this was only an hour away so it was perfect for a long weekend.  After landing at the airport, we got picked up by a BMW to take us to our hotel with a special screen welcoming us which we thought was pretty cool.

Our room was awesome - we got a private pool villa with direct access to the beach.  It had a kitchen, living area and bedroom so there was a ton of space.  On our patio area with the pool, there were loungers as well as a day bed with a fan which kept us cool all day.  The weather was perfect - it was high 80s and didn't rain so we sat outside pretty much all day every day.

When we first arrived, we ordered room service and just left the tray sitting outside.  We quickly learned that wasn't a good idea because monkeys hopped over the wall and went after the leftovers!

 

The hotel had a Christmas buffet with Christmas music which was nice.  They also delivered Christmas cookies to our room which was a nice touch.

 

On Christmas day, we treated ourselves to massages.  I got the Ultimate Pregnancy massage - it was interesting having to lay on my side for the massage since I can't lay on my belly.

Since we were in a private pool villa, we had the option to do a BBQ on our back patio.  They brought the grill and all the food and we cooked it ourselves.  It was a ton of food - we couldn't even finish all of it!  Everything was delicious - it was probably our favorite meal of the trip.

On the last morning, breakfast was being delivered and monkeys were at the front door as it was being dropped off.  As I was eating inside, I noticed they had moved to the back patio and were peering in the window.  Jimmy decided to toss some fruit out to them.  After that, they tried opening the door to get in!  That was definitely a unique experience!

The trip was fantastic and very relaxing.  We're glad we were able to get in one last trip in before the baby arrives - only 10 more weeks!

Hong Kong

We haven't been to Hong Kong since we've been living in Singapore so we wanted to get there once to see Jimmy's family and friends.  Jimmy has to travel for work the next 6 weeks and I don't really want to travel in 2016 since I'll be pretty far along so this was our last opportunity to get there.

We spent Saturday in Macau which is about an hour ferry ride from Hong Kong.  Macau is similar to Las Vegas - lots of big casinos.  Macau even has a different currency from Hong Kong and we had to go through immigration.  We were surprised in the casinos that the restaurants took the Macau currency but all of the games took Hong Kong currency so we ended up having to convert most of the Macau money we had taken out back to Hong Kong dollars.

On Sunday, we met up with Jimmy's cousin's family and had dim sum.  The restaurant had a great view.  From there we all went to Lantau Island.  To get to Lantau Island, you take a cable car but the line was nearly 2 hours long!  We ended up finding out that you could do a group tour which cost about $25 more a person but we would be able to avoid the lines which was awesome.  The tour also included a bus ride to Tai O Fishing village where we were taken on a boat ride and got to see pink dolphins.  The tour was well worth it!  After the fishing village, we went to see the Big Buddha. While walking toward the Big Buddha, there were cows wandering around!

 Jimmy's friend picked us up after we finished at Lantau Island and we went to have Roasted Goose for dinner - it was delicious!  It was similar to the Peking Duck we have in Singapore.

On Monday, we spent the day just walking around and eating before heading back to Singapore. We had a great trip but I also realized I can't spend hours walking around without getting tired.  Four more months until Yeh baby arrives!

Exciting News!

We just got back from our last home trip.  I was able to spend 3 weeks in Cincinnati and a week in San Francisco, while Jimmy came for a few days in Cincinnati and a week in San Francisco. It was great seeing our friends and family and letting them know in person that we are having a BABY!  We are due in March and so excited for our new arrival!

Taipei

For Singapore's National Day, we decided to go to Taipei to visit Jimmy's sister, Tiffany.  Two days before we left, we were worried our flight would be canceled because the strongest Typhoon of the year was going to be hitting Taipei at the same time as our flight.  We ended up having a 6 hour delay but we still made it to Taipei.  Our landing was a little bumpy but not too bad.  As we drove to the hotel, we could see a lot of damage.  There were trees that had fallen over onto cars, street signs blown over and flooding.  We ate room service at the hotel when we got there because most restaurants were closed due to the weather.  We were still able to meet Tiffany and her friends for dinner that night which was nice.  The dinner was family style Chinese and I actually tried stinky tofu and intestines.  It wasn't terrible but it's not something I feel the need to eat again.  I really liked all of the other dishes.

Jimmy and I were going to walk around for a little bit after dinner but it was so windy that we decided to go back - we didn't want to take a chance of getting hit by any debris.

On Sunday morning, we grabbed a quick breakfast of dumplings and went to a Temple.  We were surprised to see how much debris they had already cleared by Sunday morning.  Tiffany picked us up from our hotel and we went to lunch.  All of the food was delicious.  When we went to the parking lot after lunch, I saw that it wasn't a typical parking lot - there was actually an elevator system for the cars.  I know I won't do a good job of describing it but it definitely wasn't something I've seen in the US before.  After lunch we stopped to get dessert at Ice Monster where I got the Mango Milk Ice - so yummy!  We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out at Tiffany's apartment.  

Later that night, Tiffany dropped us off at a night market so Jimmy could get a few of the dishes he was craving.  I got my scallion pancake so I was happy!

Since we had been to Taipei a few years ago, we hadn't planned on doing any sight seeing which was good since we wouldn't have been able to do much with the weather.  It was great being able to spend time with Tiffany and Jimmy was happy to get some of his favorite foods.

On Monday before we left, we were in a 7/11 and a woman came up to me and said "You are from Germany.  Go back to your country.  F*** you."  I was so shocked all I could think to say was "I'm not German" and then Jimmy and I proceeded to walk out of the store but she kept yelling at me.  I was so startled it had happened - after we left the store I kept checking over my shoulder to make sure she wasn't following us.  During our time in Asia, I've never had anyone say anything derogatory or mean spirited to me so it was quite a surprise.  I asked Jimmy why someone in Taiwan would have something against Germans and he had no idea.  Fortunately this is a rare case and most of the people we've encountered on our travels have been very friendly.

July 2015 update

It's hard to believe we've been here for 2 years and we are in our last year!  Time has flown but we are also eager to be back in the US and closer to friends and family.  My last day with P&G was on June 30.  I decided to take a separation package since my job is moving to Guangzhou. Working in Singapore was a challenging experience but I learned a lot so I'm really thankful I was able to work here for as long as I did.  Below is a picture of the artwork team at my farewell lunch.

I'm going to spend July taking Chinese classes 5 days a week and then in mid August I'll head back to the US for a 5 week trip.  It's been over a year since I've been home so I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone!

Boracay

We spent a long weekend in Boracay, Philippines with a group of friends over the Labour Day holiday.  To get to Boracay, we had a 3 1/2 hour flight, 2 hour bus ride, 15 minute ferry ride and one last 15 minute bus ride.  We stayed right on the beach.  The set up was different than anywhere I'd ever been.  There were so many hotels, restaurants and shops that they were all lined upright next to each other.  To get to our hotel, we had to go down an alley and walk in front of all of the shops in the sand - there was no parking lot to drop us off at in front of the hotel. It was convenient to get to all of the bars and restaurants because it's just one long row so there was plenty of entertainment.  There were dancers and flame throwers at nearly every other bar.  The beach was beautiful but we were a bit disappointed because there was a lot of algae in the water which made it a little unpleasant to swim in.

 View of our hotel from beach:

View of beach from our room:  

On Saturday, we spent the afternoon at Spider House which is a bar on the side of a cliff overlooking the sea.  The views were gorgeous.  They also had a ladder we could climb to go for a swim.

From there we went to Puka Beach which was covered in small shells.  The water was much clearer here than the water by our hotel.  Once back at our hotel, the girls all went and got hair braids - I think we looked pretty good :)

For dinner, we went to a fresh fish market where we could pick our own seafood and take it to a nearby restaurant for them to cook for us.  They coated shrimp in butter and garlic - it was delicious!

On Sunday, we decided to go find another beach.  We saw one labeled on a map that said "no screaming children" and since there were a bunch of kids singing Justin Bieber songs in our hotel pool that sounded really good.  We were in the tricycle (their version of a taxi) on our way to the beach and the driver seemed a bit confused about where we wanted to go and told us he thought it was a private beach.  He pulled into a back service entrance and we were told that there would be a fee to get to the beach.  I was a bit skeptical at this point but we decided to check it out since we were already there.  We had to walk down a pretty steep hill and ended up in a resort that was finishing construction - the place was basically empty except for the employees.  We were told that there would be a fee for the beach but that the fee could be used at their restaurant/bar so beach access was basically free since we planned to have a few drinks anyway.  We got to the beach and there were lounge chairs and umbrellas set up and we were the only ones there!  The beach/water was amazing and we had it all to ourselves!  It ended up being a great afternoon - once the resort opens I'm sure it will be packed so our timing was perfect.

For dinner, we went and had a buffet dinner that included lechon (suckling pig) at a nearby restaurant.

We had a great trip and we were excited to check another country off our list!

Easter Weekend in Cambodia

Neither Jimmy or I had been to Cambodia before so we decided to go and check another country off our list. It was only a 2 hour flight to Siem Reap and I've been wanting to see Angkor Wat so we decided to go for Easter Weekend (Good Friday is also a holiday in Singapore). Our hotel provided a shuttle service which was great because they provided us with cold towels and bottled waters right away. We thought we were used to heat since moving to Singapore but Siem Reap was even hotter.  It was around 100 degrees the whole weekend. From our hotel we were able to walk to Pub Street and the Night Market which are the main tourist areas where there are a lot of stalls selling souvenirs and plenty of restaurants.  I was happy to get $.50 beer!  

On Saturday we had a tour booked that had a 4:50am start so we could watch the sunrise at Angkor Wat.  Our tour guide had a flash light out so we could walk back toward the temple since it was still pitch black as we made our way back.  We were one of the first to arrive and had a great view but within an hour it was pretty packed.  We spent a few hours exploring the temple.  It was amazing how intricate all of the walls were.  We also saw dozens of monkeys behind the temple.  Right after we took the picture of the monkey sitting on the temple steps, another monkey came up and grabbed my leg!

After finishing at Angkor Wat, we stopped back at our hotel for their free breakfast which was really good - full American breakfasts with fruit plates, bread baskets and fruit juices.  It was nice and refreshing after being in the heat.  After breakfast we went to Angkor Thom. Within Angkor Thom we saw Bayon temple (49 towers which each have 4 faces), Elephant terrace and Ta Prohm.  Ta Prohm has lots of tree roots growing over the temples and Tomb Raider was filmed there.

                                                  

After touring all day, I spent a few hours at the pool.  Our hotel offered a free 30 minute foot massage which I was happy to accept!

We went back to the Pub Street area for dinner - this time we took a tuk tuk since we were tired from walking around all day even though it was less than a mile walk.

After dinner we stopped to try the Fish Massage.  In Singapore, it costs $15.  In Siem Reap, it was $2 and included a free beer - it felt like too good of a deal to pass up!  Jimmy had never done the Fish Massage before - his face when they started sucking on his feet was priceless.

On Sunday, we just enjoyed our free breakfast again and spent some time at the pool before heading home.  We really enjoyed our time in Siem Reap. The country is very poor and we found out they don't even have a power plant (they have to get power from Thailand and Vietnam) but it was nice to go somewhere that isn't built up (the tallest structure is Angkor Wat to respect the temple so there are no tall buildings). I don't think we would go for another trip since we saw everything we wanted to, but I'm glad we were able to go once.