Tree Top Walk

Sunday, Ryan and I went back to MacRitchie Reservior (this is where I fainted, see one of the early blogs). Because of the tortential down pour the first time we went we didn't get to make it all the way to the Tree Top Walk. Also, I am taking a photography class and wanted to get some cool pictures of the monkeys for my assignment this week!




The view from the Tree Top Walk

Singapore Zoo

My friend, Emily, was in town this weekend (she had been backpacking through Southeast Asia for 4 months and Singapore was her last stop before heading back to the states) so, we made a trip to the Singapore Zoo which neither Ryan nor I had visited yet. It was awesome! It’s hard to describe the zoo in words so hopefully the pictures will do the job!


The otters.
Kangaroos!!
Emu
The white tiger.

Yes, there is a polar bear in the rain forest. Don't worry he has his very own pool and air conditioned den to keep him cool.
Nyala-Southern African antelope. The male looks total different from the female. The male was being stubborn and wouldn't come out for a good picture. The males horns and large and spirally and they have a heavy, dark fringe.
Rhonny the Rhinoceros.
Pretty zebras.
Cheetahs. One of very few animals that are behind glass. The zoo visitors are protected from all animals with barriers but they have creatively used the landscaping to make it seem like they are right there! Very cool and unlike any zoo I have ever been to. A must see when you come to Singapore!

Feeding the giraffes. We hope to make it to the elephant feeding next time. It was cool to be so close to the animals!
The Lion Den. The Lion King is my favorite Disney movie so I loved this as well as the warthogs(Pumbaa) and meerkats (Timon) (didn't get good pictures of them though...)

Spider monkeys! These guys were really fun to watch. The monkeys are Ryan's favorite!
The elephant show!

Taking their bow.
Chimpanzees!
If you look closely you can see the rainbow colored face of the Mandrill. The colors become more pronounced as the monkey becomes excited. Females have duller colors.
The giant tortoise. These guys weren't too exciting.
Cotton-top Tamarin. These guys were fun to watch.

Fireworks, Hotdogs and Cold Beer

Believe it or not we were able to celebrate the 4th of July 10,000 miles from home. The American Association of Singapore had a celebration inclusive of fireworks, hotdogs, burgers and plenty of ice cold beer. It almost felt like we were home for a few hours.

Cutting Up on a Friday Night!

After dinner, I had settled on the couch to relax and unwind from a long week. I thought my night was over but little did I know, Miss Jillian had something else in mind. She was in the kitchen cleaning the dishes from dinner, an activity that I didn't think needed my direct supervision. All of a sudden, I hear a "yelp" followed by some expletives that will be left out of this story to protect the innocent. I ran into the kitchen to find Jill clutching her hand. Apparently, one of our kitchen knives didn't want a bath and decided to bite her on the finger. We got the cut cleaned up and decided that it probably needed a little bit more attention than neosporin and a band-aid, so off to the ER we went. A couple of stitches later she was good as new, although I'm not sure Jill would agree. We had a scare but I think she's ready for Round 2 with the dishes.

What I Miss the Most

Well besides my family, friends and Ruger of course...I do believe I miss a dishwasher the most(on some days anyway). I guess I should have put it on the “must have” list for Ryan when he was apartment shopping. Or maybe this is just a lesson from all the years I complained about having to load and unload the dishwasher as a childhood chore...all along my mom was just saying, “It could be worse.” I think I’ll just load and unload the dishwasher as much as I can when I am home in August just to remember the “luxury”. I know, I sound so spoiled but seriously...it’s hard going from a dishwasher to hand washing dishes in a single tub sink ;)

And not to mention, this is what happens…


Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles coming up from the drain in the floor (maybe I should use less of that ultra concentrated soap)


Happy Dish Washing!! :)

Long time, no blog!

I know it’s been awhile since my last post and I apologize to my faithful followers but our lives have suddenly returned to ‘normal’. Ryan is still busy as ever with work and I have started working! Woo hoo! I am working for an outpatient/sports med clinic called PhysioActive. It’s very similar to the setting I was working at in Houston, just smaller. I am working 5 days a week but only half days so that I can continue to explore and learn about Singapore and start getting involved with the American Women’s Association (AWA). The clinic I am working for was started in 2006 by expats from The Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany….I am the first American trained PT to work there. I have to say, I didn't think I would miss working as much as I did, it is nice to have a routine and treating patients again!

Other than me starting work, we don’t have any exciting news to post. I promise our fun in Singapore hasn't stopped so expect some fun posts and pictures soon! Hope everyone is having a great start to their summer! Love and miss. XO

Honeymoon-Jungle v Beach

Day 1:

We arrived at the KOMANEKA Bisma Resort in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia around 9:00 on Wednesday. Because it was so late we just went down to the resort restaurant to get something to eat and then just enjoyed our room. We had a long day to look forward to on Thursday.

Here are some picture of our room.

The pool.

Day 2:

We took a tour around the Central and Northern parts of Bali. Our tour included a temple, an art studio, a traditional Balinese house compound, the Monkey Forest, rice paddies, a wood shop, volcano and more. We were truly able to experience the culture of Bali and really learned a lot about the culture and Hindu religion. I was fascinated by the people and the scenery. The pictures don’t do either of them justice!

Women working in the rice paddy.

Traditional Balinese House Compound. This is the outer wall or the first impression (huge in the Balinese culture). The statues out side are the guards. You can't see it well but they have bulging eyes. All statues with bulging eyes are guards.
This is where the parents sleep. There are seperate little open air "huts" for each activity. Sleeping, cooking, etc.

I took this picture from the car. I loved the people in Bali!
Our next stop on the tour was to a silver shop. Here a women is tediously placing tiny, silver beads on a necklace.
Then it was on to a painting studio. I was really hoping to find some Balinese paintings to fill our empty walls but we didn't see anything that we were dying to have. However, the art work was beautiful and I wish I had taken pictures of it!
Next, was to the little village of Mas where we visited a wood carver. Yes, all of the things you will see below are hand carved from a block of wood. There we some incredible pieces with such detail.

On our way to the volcano we stopped at a fruit market to try some of the local grown tropical fruit. We bought some to take back to our resort and enjoy later. We loved the mangosteen and rambutan...yummy!! And look at the beautiful colors!
We then stopped for lunch at a restaurant that over looked the Batur Volcano and lake. The views here were absolutely breath taking! And we were at such high elevation that it was cool, I may even say cold which was a nice break from the hot and humid weather in Singapore!

Again, the people. This little baby was camera shy but would smile and wave real big with no camera!
Our next stop was to the Gunung Kawi Sanctuary or Hindu Temple.
Washing my hands in the pure spring water. It's supposed to be good for your skin!We had to dress appropriately to enter the temple.
The Goddess of Knowledge. She is has 4 arms-each holding something different-a book, a guitar, a Genitri (like rosary beads) and a lotus flower.
We stopped and visited a rice farmer on our way back to Ubud. The rice paddies are so neat!!


Our last stop was the Monkey Forest. Ryan loves monkeys so you can only imagine how excited he was ;) They were everywhere!!


This was a waterfall in the monkey forest. Beautiful!

Day 3:

Friday morning we headed to the Ubud central market to do a little shopping before we headed to the beach. We left Ubud around 1:00 and headed to Sanur, Bali, Indonesia-the beach part of our honeymoon. We arrived at the Pavilions Resort around 1:30, got some lunch and then headed to the beach for a bit. I have to be honest and say we weren’t that impressed with the actual beach that we saw. The water was incredible but the beach, not so much. There are parts of Bali that are white sands but we weren’t in that part. :)

The Ubud central market. I got 3 new pair of flip flops for almost nothing!

Ryan enjoying the local beer, Bintang. It was really good.

Pavilions Resort. Enjoying our welcome drink and foot massage!

Our private pool villa.



A bamboo tree walk way leading up to the resort.
Enjoying a book on the beach. It was really breezy this day and kind of chilly!

Day 4:

Saturday we got up super early, enjoyed breakfast served in our room and then headed out for 2 hours of snorkeling. This was a first experience for both of us and it was great. We are looking forward to our next snorkeling trip and hopefully getting certified to dive while we are living in Singapore. The second part of the day was spent having a 2 hour treatment at the spa. No pictures of this but it was wonderful and a great, relaxing ending to a wonderful trip.

Day 5:

Again enjoyed breakfast in our room and then it was off to airport. What a wonderful trip with lots of great pictures and stories to tell!

If you would like to see more pictures click(you may have to copy and paste) on the links below!

Ubud(Jungle) http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2451717&id=16706480&l=dd02e5d913

Sanur(Beach) http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2451783&id=16706480&l=d5f285b686