Singapore!

Ah, Singapore... it seems like we were just here, but really it has been quite a while.
We visited Singapore in February 2015, and then took a cruise from the port.  If you don't know much about Singapore, it is a small island at the very bottom of Malaysia, but it is a separate country.  It is small; about a third of Hillsborough county, very modern, and very green.  There are lots of different sections of the city, which makes it a fun place to visit.

The first place we visit is the Indian section, which is full of open air stalls and temples. 

This temple is full of intricate carvings and hundreds of Buddhas.  

This was one of the main altars. 

We took the big red bus around the city so we could get a feel for where everything was, and one highlight was this hotel, Raffles Hotel, where the Singapore Sling was invented.  We didn't stop for one because it was 9:30 AM, but if you want to make one and stare at this photo while you drink it, here is the recipe:

The Raffles Hotel Original Singapore Gin Sling Cocktail

1 1/2 ounces of gin
1/2 ounce cherry brandy
1/4 ounce Cointreau
1/4 ounce Benedictine
4 ounces pineapple juice
1/3 ounce grenadine
dash of bitters

Shake well with ice.

I am sure it will be tasty!  

On to the next part of the city, China town.  

This part of the city was pretty old, but it was beautiful, with lots of food stalls and stuff for sale. 

It was Lunar New Year while we were there, so there were many special presents to buy.
Additionally, for Lunar New Year a gift for children is new money.

People were in a line out the door to buy this special pork from this shop.  They wrapped it all up like a gift. 

Our next stop was the Marina Bay Sands hotel.  This hotel was on National Geographic MegaStructures, it is 55 stories high and has a huge infiinty pool on the roof.  If you want to see the show, you can watch it on the youtube link.  Also below is a promotional photo of the rooftop from their website.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itqRB-ZSPAw

Looks nice, right? 

Moving on the big red bus.  This is near the end of our day, and we are heading back to our hotel.    

There happened to be a Lamborghini and Ferrari show right next to our hotel, you know, because that is how we roll.  

Roan and Gary went down to see them, because who can pass up twelve million dollars worth of cars?
This is one of the highlights of the trip for Roan, and he took a picture with this one because it is my favorite color.  

The next day we spent at the Singapore Zoo.  Yes, the whole day.  What were we thinking?  Well, there were tons of cool animals to see.  And then at night, they open up the Night Safari.  

This is the infamous raccoon dog, which is a reseident of Asia, and also Daegu.  I personally have never seen one in the wild, but I know people who have.. 

I took about 100 photos of the white tiger for Pooks because she LOVES tigers, in case you didn't know.  But I am including this picture in the blog because of something that happens later in this trip.  So, at the zoo, the tigers are surrounded by a moat, and the zookeepers throw raw chunks of meat to the tigers, who catch it, rip it apart and swallow it.  (This is some foreshadowing...  haha)

During the break between when the regular zoo closes and the night safari opens, you can eat dinner and then watch this fire show.  Now I am sure you have all seen a fire show, with guys blowing flames out of their mouths and swirling sticks of flame,

but have you ever noticed the fire extinguisher guy?  He is almost braver than they are, because really, think about it, when does he spring into action???

So the Night Safari opens, and we can head in.  Most of my photos didn't come out very well because it was too dark (remember, it is night), but I had to include one of the mangrove walk, which is a net enclosed cage full of bats that you can walk through.

Unsupervised.  

And here is a picture of the harmless bats.  Now really, I don't care if they say they are harmless because they are HUGE!  The wingspan is probably 18 inches.  If one flew at me, even if it was harmless, I would wind up hurting myself trying to get away from it IN THE DARK CAGE!

But we do make it out alive, phew.  

Next stop, Royal Caribbean cruise terminal.  

On the boat with the Singapore skyline behind them. 

Now a smarter person might have planned better.  A smarter person might have realized that this was Lunar New Year, one of the biggest holidays in Asia.  A person who realized this might have thought that taking a cruise at this time might mean that of the 100% of customers, 99.9% of them would be Asian... and of those, 99.9% would be Chinese.  Unfortunately, I am not that person, and I am not that smart.  And so here we are on a cruise that is just packed with Asians celebrating the Lunar New Year.  FYI, this is the year of the sheep.   BAAAA!

As one of the cruise events, one of the Lunar New Year gods hands out coins in little red envelopes.  

And while all of the kids are getting their change, all of the adults jump into the hot tub.  Now, I am pretty sure they are exceeding the hygiene limit, and putting a major strain on the filter system, but who am I to say? You can see a line forming on the right hand side.  NOT relaxing. 

So when we get to a port, we jump off, in front of the herd of sheep that are also disembarking.  

This is in Phuket, Thailand.

We hop in a taxi and head to a go-cart place, while we wait to visit Tiger Kingdom.

Now, Tiger Kingdom is a tiger zoo that lets you get in with the tigers and pet them, and cuddle them.  According to their website, the tigers are just very well trained, and are not given any drugs to sedate them, none at all.
http://www.tigerkingdom.com/phuket-3/#

Now, we were just at the Singapore Zoo and we saw a white tiger.  From across a moat.  Even if that tiger was patted 1000 times a day, it wouldn't let you do this...

Since Pooks and R-man are under 16 they could only go into the baby tiger enclosure, but once they are 16, they can go into the adult enclosure.  
Now, if you want to go in with the tigers it is one price, but even if you just want to escort your children (ages 10 and 12) into the tiger area you have to pay the full tour price.  However, if you are the parents of the year, you let your children go into the live tiger enclosure while you sit outside drinking a cold Chang and hoping that they don't get eaten.  It isn't easy being the parents of the year... 

Not too much else happened on the cruise,  just a lot of Chinese people, food, and language.
On our last day of vacation, we went to Universal Singapore.  

We also went to a restaurant where you can cook your own pancakes.  You buy bottles of batter with different flavorings, and then bottles of different toppings, and cook them yourself.  

After a long trip, and with a full belly, R-man is out.

Next vacation...  we'll see!  

Siem Reap

I just checked out the blog page because it has been a while since I posted anything, and I found out I had never finished the story of Cambodia.  So, while my heart is set on getting to NH in 14 days, I have to rewind, and try to remember what these pictures are all about!

When we last left you we were boarding the little plane from Phnom Pehn to Siem Reap.  This is the view of Siem Reap from the plane (sorry for the crooked horizon, it was out the plane window).

Another shot from the plane, this is the Tonle Sap, a huge lake/river that makes up the central part of Cambodia.
As we land in Siem Reap we realize that it is a lot different from Phnom Pehn.  This is definitely more our pace.  While PP is a big city, SR is a smaller town, with a much less hurried pace. 

We head to the Old Town for some shopping.  The street is lined with little stalls and open air shops, and of course, tuk-tuks.  

The kids see the fish massage, and they are in! 

Pooks getting nibbled. 

This is the inside of the market.  There are different sections, this one is the veggies, there are some for meats, fish, clothing, bags, tourist stuff.  The food fine and looks great, but the fish area is something else.  We had a hard time with the smell, and so we got out of that part pretty quick. 

More of the Old Town... we took a photo of this because behind is a Mexican restaurant and we wanted to be able to find it again!  

The next day we have arranged a tour of the different Wats, which I think means temple.  We start out early and head to Ankor Thom,   

Angkor Thom was the last capital city of the Khemer empire, and it was built in the 12th century.  If you look, you can see faces everywhere.  They built the faces to look to the four directions.

This is the main entrance. All of the walls have amazing carvings on them, but it is hard to take pictures of it and have it come out well.

If you are interested, you can see some amazing stuff from this link:

http://www.lakshmisharath.com/2013/12/05/bass-reliefs-bayon-angkor-thom-cambodia/

This is really what it looks like, and this guy obviously has a better camera than I do! 

Next to Angkor Thom is this temple.  

There isn't a window there, but the kids were doing this cool pose.  It doesn't look real, does it??? 

These guys were injured by land mines during the Khmer Rouge times, and now are musicians, with DVDs and CDs.

So, I didn't really know anything about the Killing Fields, or the Khmer Rouge, and I still don't know much, but I learned that among other things, the Khmers wanted complete self-sufficiency, and implemented extreme agricultural reform.  The yield per hectare was to be three tons of rice.  This picture makes me think of that.

If you are curious about the history of the Khmer Rouge, this is a brief summary:

http://www.cambodiatribunal.org/history/cambodian-history/khmer-rouge-history/ 

One of the most impressive things about visiting these temples in Cambodia is just imagining how much time it took to carve each of these doors, entryways, walls.  It is just amazing! 

Bandea Srey Temple is made of red limestone.  

Finally we make it to Ankor Wat.  One of the most famous temples in Cambodia, and a debated member of the seven wonders of the world, it is really amazing.  BTW, does anyone know what the seven wonders of the world actually are?  What we came up with are:  Pyramids, hanging gardens somewhere... and that is about it.  Some we thought were wonders, like the Grand Canyon, but not sure if they are on the list.  So, if you know, or if you find a link on Google, please share!  

Pretty cool, huh? 

For all of the beauty and splendor, this is what I take a photo of?  I just wish they had made the tail out of a more durable material than limestone!  And on that note, it is time to head back to the hotel.  

The next day we are back in the van for another round of seeing new stuff.  

We head through the woods on a red clay road for about an hour, winding and climbing, on our way to see three things.

The first is this river with a thousand lingas.  A linga is a stone carving, like a circle in a circle in a circle.  They were carved by monks and the water passing over them is sanctified by the carvings.  Also, up a little ways is this natural spring, which  looks so cool.  Since I can't post the videos in here, I'll put them on FB, and you can be amazed there!  

The second stop is this mountain top temple. 

With a humongous reclining Buddha.  

And on our way to the last stop, we get to feel like an extra in an Indiana Jones movie and walk across this bridge! 

Walking by the houses.

To this amazing waterfall.  

Back in the van, and heading back into town.  

As we are driving, the guide pulls over when he sees this on the side of the road.  Honey!  And bee larvae.  The honey comb is wiggling, as the larvae squirm around.    

Here is RMan holding one of the larvae on his finger.

Now, let me just stop for one moment and talk about the experience of being travelers, and growing up far from home, and always being expected to accept other cultures, and to understand that not everyone is like you are.

It is a pretty amazing thing to see that in your kids.  Cambodia is not most kids dream vacation spot.  They are only 30 years past a devastating civil war that included mass genocide.  There are places you can't walk because of land mines.  About 1.7 million people died during that time.  The country of Cambodia has one of the youngest populations in Southeast Asia, with 66% of the population being under 30, and 19% of children under 5 are underweight.  And so, the point of this rambling is that Cambodians have had it rough for the past 40 years.  

They eat bee larvae because it is an awesome source of protein.
And R Man, brave world traveler that he is, does, too. 

One last shot of the road. 

The next day we take a tuk-tuk into town for a last bit of walking around, exploring, all that good stuff. 

Gary's favorite photo of the trip.  

Now we are back in the airport... 

And home...

See you all in 14 days!  xoxoxo