The Year in Review

Hard to believe it is one year since we arrived on our tropical "fantasy" island. What a year it's been!
(Ooh a list! I love lists!)

We have swimming, tennis, and the sea at our finger tips.

(Nothing that Central Park Tennis Courts, 67th Street Y, and Jersey Shore couldn't take care of).

We have made good friends and continue to make more.
(If I wanted another friend I would get a dog).

We have stopped sweating all the time.

(True)

We have travelled to Hong Kong; Siem Reap, Cambodia; Bangkok, Thailand; Penang and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We still have to make our way to Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, to more of Thailand, etc...the list goes on!

(Seen one underdeveloped Asian city, seen them all)

We have eaten most of what Singapore has to offer.

(There's no such thing as Singapore noodles, so stop asking for it)

We have stopped sweating all the time.

(Yes, you said that)

We have been to a Police concert, a few plays, and earlier this week we saw the Brazilian Olympic soccer team play a friendly match against a Singapore "Selection."

(Culture)

We have tried durian - several times. (We recently got two durian deliveries from our kind Singaporean neighbors. Do they hate us????)

(No, they appreciate our sophisticated palates)

We have dealt with lizards and survived (the egg shells outside the door seem to be keeping them at bay).
(Them and the neighbors)

We have stopped sweating all the time.

(I get it, it’s a joke).

We have learned a little Singlish.

(True-lah)

Thanks to our friends Zain and Natasha, we have also befriended our favorite local food guru - Seetoh - and his wife, and attended the ceremony honoring 2008's best food hawkers!

(Also true-lah)

We celebrated our first Chinese New Year with Singapore traditions.

(Gong Xi Fa Cai)

We have not gotten any fines!

(They dont give them out for cheesy blogs)

That's all for now!

Love,

L & M

PS - enjoy the flora of Singapore!

We're back baby

After a brief hiatus (ok... not so brief) the blog is back. Durian days are here again. Literally. The stink is in the air.

We survived the hottest months so far, April and May (***TimeOut Singapore reports that June and July will have record high temps - can't wait!!!), and have unseasonably rainy weather lately. In fact, on my birthday I got exactly what I wanted - a rain-soaking cool gray day! Who know I could get sick of the sun! Mo took me to Flutes at the Fort for a lovely birthday dinner. Our good friends Natasha and Zain joined us, but they didn't get much of this lovely dessert plate that was adorned with all kinds of goodness. We also had a great dinner with our friends Charlotte and Claude. A birthday spent eating. Should it be any other way? I think not.

My friend Miranda came for a visit (she was here for work, but stayed for the weekend). It was so nice to have a familiar face staying with us. We ate, we swam, we laughed, we cried (not really); it

was a great weekend. She was happy to feel the hot sun since living in Copenhagen doesn't often give her the chance for most of the year. Who's coming to visit next? Bueller? Bueller?

Let's see - lot's of new babies in the family! Mehreen and Masood had little Sophie in April; Matt and Sue had Ella in May; and Liz and Ike just welcomed Isabel to the world! It was number two for each of these families.

M - you got anything to say? NO

Alrighty then.

Love and hugs,

L & M

Avoiding Delhi Belly and Living Phad Thai Dreams

I didn't get Delhi belly on my trip to India! Well-trained by my Pakistani coaches, I avoided all fresh vegetables and fruits (those that cannot be peeled), water, and dairy (no ice cream, cold milk, yogurt) and avoided the dreaded stomach illness.

I spent a quick three days in New Delhi attending a conference on secondary education in Asia. I really could have been in any hotel in the world because I was barely outside of the hotel meeting room. Although we did spend the first day visiting two schools - one was in a slum that served neighborhood childred, the other was one of the top private schools (something like 20 - 30% of the graduates go to Ivy League universities). The school in the slum was amazing - it had so much heart. Without this school (it is private and funded by donations including funds from the Ford Foundation), the kids would be on the streets and probably never attend school. The 10-minute walk from the bus to the school was quite something - muddy alleys with families living in shacks - kids covered in filth, flies buzzing all around. The air filled with a rotten smell. But it was important to see and the kids ran up to us with big smiles and warm hellos.

I also managed to squeeze in an hour of shopping before I left for the airport!

I was back for a week and then we went to Bangkok. I had another conference to attend over the weekend and M came along. He had much more time to explore the city than I, but had a morning and evenings free. What a great city! Full of energy, something to see around every bend, blazing hot! Made Singapore feel almost cool (almost).

We toured the Grand Palace and the temple on its grounds. Made of real gold and billions of pieces of colored glass. Went to What Pho to see the reclining buddha. Visited the Jim Thompson House (http://www.jimthompsonhouse.com/) - former home to the American CIA agent (actually part of the organization that predated the CIA) turned silk merchant (probably abided by the don't ask don't tell policy!). If you go there, eat lunch in the cafe. Great food in a nice setting.

Dinner of course was a highlight. We ate Phad Thai every chance we got. Also loved the pomelo salad and papaya and mango salads. Yummmmmeeee!!! Oh and the mango and sticky rice for dessert. And coconut ice cream. And amazing fresh pineapple! And delicious juices - tangerine with cucumber and mint, guava.... One night we went to Cabbages & Condoms (a recommendation from Mom and Dad). It is the restaurant whose proceeds go to helping educate Thais about safe sex (and now other causes as well). In fact, the Gates Foundation has given them a $1mil grant. The ambience is interesting - condom-covered santa claus, bouquets of condoms hanging all around. Food was ok, but it is worth a visit. http://www.pda.or.th/restaurant/about.asp

One evening we wandered through the famous area of Patpong, Bangkok's redlight district. The most interesting part was the menus that men would approach us with. A list of performances involving naked women and ping pong balls, cigarettes, to name a few. I wanted to take a picture of the menu for the blog, but the men told me I had to go in to watch a show if I wanted to do that. Hence, no photo for you to view!

Love and hugs,

L & M

The Police, Chinese New Year, and Escaping Convicts

It's not what you are thinking...We did not get arrested, fined, or detained. No night in a Singaporean prison. We saw The Police in concert! Sting's reunion with his bandmates provided for a fantastic show, although I must say Sting is aging very well - the other two - not so much. It was a blast going to a concert where you know every song. They played to the audience of 11,000 for almost two hours. Roxanne rocked!

Chinese New Year celebrations began on the evening of February 6th and ended 15 days later. Chinese families have "reunion" dinners for several nights, where all family members go home to celebrate the new year. The theme of the new year is "prosperity" - everything has to do with ensuring a prosperous new year. This is the Year of the Rat. Cartoon rats were everywhere - store windows, television ads. Mickey is big in the year of the rat - which some say is the year of the mouse. McDonald's even sold Prosperity Burgers. No - we didn't try one. But we are going to do a Singaporean fast food special soon. Some things to expect – donut sandwiches, sweet potato shakes. One of the local new year's traditions is Yu Sheng. Yu Sheng is basically a colorful salad with raw fish. Before the salad is eaten, everyone at the table uses their chopsticks to toss the salad as high in the air as they can and waiters offer up all kinds of blessings for - you guessed it - prosperity. The higher you go, the more prosperous you will be. All over Singapore, families were flinging salads. We did it twice too so we should be seeing some prosperity soon...

On Escaping Convicts. Have you seen this person? http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_215098.html?vgnmr=1

Last week he escaped from a Singaporean prison while he was on a bathroom break. Seriously. The manhunt is on. His picture and description was SMSed to 4 million cell phones in the country (ours included) and the front page of the Straits Times has been dedicated to this man's capture. He was arrested on charges of planning a terrorist attack at the airport here.

We decided that while we are in Singapore we have to do everything at least once. That means all of the cheesy attractions and events of which there are many. Mo refuses to go to Sentosa Island though, which makes me think he is not serious about this at all. I don’t think I could handle a MORE theme-parked version of Singapore. Truth be told, I won't go on the Singapore Flyer (Singapore's new ferris wheel - currently the largest in the world http://www.singaporeflyer.com.sg/). So we went with friends to the Chingay Parade. The parade marks the end of the new year celebrations and is actually quite impressive with thousands of dancers, plenty of floats, and lots of glitter. A few surprisingly bare assed men. (He is referring to a Taiwanese dance group who really just wore small loin cloths - very small.) We stayed for about an hour - then went to Glutton's Bay for some satay and Tiger beer.

Also went to the Air Show this past weekend, ahem, okay a few weeks ago. We watched the stunt planes, the F-16s, and saw the new A380 passenger jet do a slow fly-by. It was kind of like the Chicago Air Show, but not nearly as long and entertaining. Leaving was a nightmare. We saw Singapore and Singaporeans at their worst. It took about an hour to get to the taxi queue which was equally as long a wait. People were pushing and cutting the line. It was utter chaos. And of course the newspaper reported that the event was well organized! First and last time for me!

Rainy season continues. My tan is fading quickly. Poor you. Truth is I like the cooler rainy weather and am hoping it lasts a while longer.


Let us know if you want to see all of our pics from Cambodia and Penang.

So who is coming to visit next (year)????



Love,



L&M

Worm Spit; 3,000 temples; and Tuk-Tuks

Did you know that silk is really worm spit? Just one of the many things I learned on our trip to Cambodia. We spent three nights and three full days in Siem Reap (Siem Reap means the ‘defeat of Siam’). A mere two-hour flight from Singapore, Cambodia may only be one-hour behind on the watch but it is like turning back the clock by decades. Families on bicycles and cows fight for space on the dirt roads competing with tuk-tuks, motorcycles, and cars. The French colonial influence is still noticeable with tree-lined streets and old bungalow style buildings, not to mention the local people selling fresh baguettes along the roadside each morning. Something about Siem Reap feels like you stepped onto a film set.

This was my first time in a country with such a recent war. The Khmer Rouge, who murdered about 2 million of its own people in the late 1970’s, has been out of power in Cambodia since 1979, when the Vietnamese “liberated” the country. The Vietnamese ruled until 1989 – so the wars in Southeast Asia, you know the invasion of Iraq, ahem, sorry Vietnam, are a big part of the identity of Cambodia today. Land mines are still maiming people even though many of the millions that were planted have been removed, in part thanks to Princess Diana’s foundation which has a presence in Siem Reap. The war museum (definitely more appealing to guys) is basically a field of second-hand artillery and weapons generously dumped in Cambodia by countries around the world, including land mines courtesy of the US of A. The U.S. is still one of a handful of countries that refuses to sign the land mine treaty.

With a relatively new and stylish airport, Siem Reap is growing to accommodate the 2 million tourists that have been pouring in over the last few years (though apparently they've never encountered a Pakistani before; or maybe Ms. Rice and Mr. Cheney have had some say in things – leave me alone DICK! I moved halfway around the world to get away from you DICK!). Seriously – they detained Mo for more than 40 minutes and got every uniformed officer involved in the commotion of a Pakistani visitor. It was ridiculous!

More than 100 new hotels have been built since 2005, with new ones coming up in every direction. We stayed at Le Meridien, which we would highly recommend. It is a beautiful, well-located hotel, with excellent staff and amenities (I even got Mom to go with me for a facial).
Siem Reap is home to Angkor Wat - a UNESCO World Heritage site - that boasts the largest religious site in the world with more than 3,000 Hindu temples. ('Wat' means temple) built beginning in the 9th century. We hired a driver and tour guide for our three days and visited about 9 of the temples in one day.

Angkor Wat is the most famous and the largest of the temples. Our smart guide took us there first and through an entrance that was less-traveled by the mobs of tourists. For about 30 minutes we had a bit of serenity…then we crossed to another side of the temple and saw the lines of tourists like ants crawling up a tree. Tourists are still allowed to climb all over the temples, something that is certainly accelerating their decay. And man – those stairs are steep. We climbed to the top of a few temples and I thought I would never come down (not because of the physical strength it required, but because I was terrified of the height!).
One of our favorite temples was Bayon - the temple of face-towers. Today there are 37 towers still remaining each with four faces.
Ta Prohm (also known as Tree temple and site of scenes in the Lara Croft

Tomb Raider film) is covered in tree roots and has a mystical feel.

We also visited Angkor Thom, Elephant Terrace, and several others. A highlight was going to this quiet temple where we met three young children who took us on a tour of the temple and helped find the easiest ways up and down. They asked us so many questions and proudly displayed their knowledge of capital cities. They ran up and down those stairs like mountain goats. We gave them $10 for their help after which they disappeared so quickly that we wondered if they were figments of our imagination. One afternoon we went to visit Tonle Sap – a lake that during rainy season grows to five times its normal size. It is the largest lake in SE Asia. Two million people live in floating villages on the lake, many of whom are Vietnamese fishermen. The journey along the dirt road is an experience. The poverty is staggering, but it’s not a depressing place. Among the huts that are barely standing, there are children playing and fishing, and running naked in the street. Families of 8 to 10 live in one room with no running water. Yet there is bright-colored paint, water wells sponsored by families from all over the world, adorable smiling faces. When we get to the lake, we board a boat and stream down the dirty river (part of the Mekong). There are floating schools along the way where students are sitting at their desks and learning to speak English. The children are absolutely irresistible. Someone advised us to bring small U.S. bills - $1 bills with us to give to the children (the Cambodian currency is rarely used and dollars go much further). I can’t even count the number of smiles we got in exchange for a dollar. And the kids insist you take whatever they are selling. I will never forget those smiles and the impressive English the children spoke.

Another highlight was visiting the Artisans of Angkor School and Silk Center. This NGO trains young Cambodians to carve, paint, weave, etc…. Their handicrafts are beautiful. After they train for a year, they are sent back to their villages to continue honing their skills. They Silk Center was fascinating. Now theoretically I knew that silk worms played a role in spinning silk. I did not know however that they are fully responsible for the fabric we pay so much money for! The worms are fed mulberry leaves – their spit forms a cocoon. Each fiber of the cocoon can stretch 44 meters! and as the fibers are intertwined in boiling water they form silk that is then died and woven. The outer layer of the cocoon is what we know as raw silk and the inner layer is fine silk. There are a lot of detailed and exhausting steps that take place from the boiling of the cocoons to the scarves in the shop, and here young Cambodians are trained to handle the entire process. Proceeds from the sale of these products goes back into the education and training of the Artisan’s students.

Tuk-Tuks are a main form of transportation in Siem Reap. They are small carriages pulled by motorcycles. Mo and I hired a tuk-tuk ($2 each way) to go into Siem Reap one evening. By night, the town is filled with tourists drinking cheap, but rather tasty!, local beer called Angkor. I actually think it is better than Singapore’s coveted Tiger beer. We assured Mom that it wasn’t made from the water in Tonle Sap!

Despite the poverty and recent trauma in the country, I found Siem Reap to be a romantic and tranquil place. The people were some of the nicest I’ve met, and despite the horrors that people of my generation there experienced, they are looking towards a better tomorrow.

Fruit trees, temples, and snakes falling from trees

We spent two nights and three days on the Malaysian island of Penang. Penang or Pinang means betel nut. A short 1-hour flight from Singapore, Penang is on the northwest coast of Malyasia, not too far from Phuket, Thailand. Georgetown is the main city on the island. It has a colonial history, with the presence of the English still evident in small ways.

One can imagine that Penang today is much like Singapore was 40 or 50 years ago. Georgetown has small narrow streets with makeshift food stalls, shophouses in desperate need of a fresh coat of paint, and a strong Chinese influence. The wonderful thing about Penang, like Singapore, is that each street holds historical treasures such as the Clan Houses of the generations of Chinese families. Clan houses were familial places of worship - where the deceased were honored and sacrifices made to appease their spirits.

There are also many temples - Chinese, Thai, Burmese, etc... they were extremely colorful and reminded me of a theme park, with colorfully painted and playful looking buddhas.

In the Burmese temple, representations of buddha from around the world were on display. The one from Pakistan definitely looked the most masculine!

One of the most interesting sites was a small community called Chew Jetty. Chew Jetty is a fishing village right in the city where, since the mid-nineteenth century, fisherman and their families live in wooden houses on stilts in the water. It seemed like a way of life that has disappeared from most urban areas. Houses were built on stilts that rested upon cement-filled paint cans. Amazing.

To our surprise, Penang was much hotter than Singapore - it was about 95 - 100 degrees each day. I never thought SIngapore would feel cool! We were in need of some cooler air and headed for an afternoon to a resort beach club. The water (which is part of the Straits and Indian Ocean) was beautiful to look at, but unfortunatly too warm to be refreshing. So we took to the pool. We had a nice lunch outside (in the shade).

This is Peter writing now: Lunch was in a beautiful setting under coconut palms. As we were enjoying our lunch, we heard a thus and saw Lauren propel herself onto her chair to avoid a snake that had fallen out of the tree onto the floor next to her. It was the quickest I've seen a person move! Next all the waiters were chasing the snake around the restaurant and at the same time they were afraid of it - they treated it as if it was a cobra but it was just a harmless garden snake. Lauren then proceeded to devour her lunch. Always a Herko!

Lauren back now: It was quite funny - and I freaked out more than mom did. Now I never want to sit under trees when eating! Who knew a snake could be clumsy enough to FALL out of a tree!

Because of dad's obsession with all things fruit - especially pointing out every fruit tree whether you are in New York, California, Mexico, Dubai, or Singapore - we took a morning trip across the island to a tropical fruit farm. Because the farm was up in the hills it was a cool way to spend the morning, and it actually was very interesting. We saw dragon fruit, mangosteen, figs, bananas, guava, pineapple, milk apples, jack fruit, rose apples, papaya, mango, among others. And then we got to taste all of the ones that were in season. Dad was like a kid in the candy store (although I think I ate more than he did)! The good pix are on his camera (my battery died) so you will have to wait to see those.

We also had a superb dinner at a fancy restaurant called 32 The Mansion. Excellent food and ambience - we almost forgot we were in Penang!

Biggest disappointment - Fort Cornwallis. Can't imagine this fort protected anyone from anything! Skip it if you ever find yourself in Penang. Maybe that's why the Brits named it after the guy who lost the American revolution.

All in all a good trip. Not sure I would recommend it when there are so many other places to go, but we had a great time nonetheless.

Now...on to Cambodia! (See next blog)

Love,

L, M, M, and P

Arrival of the Griswalds

Mom and Dad arrived on January 10th, stepping off of their 18 hour flight looking surprisingly fresh. Within a few hours they were in the pool! I have never seen Mom move so fast! Boy were they surprised though at the water temperature; they were expecting bath water and got a cold shock instead! Love the cooler rainy season!

It is soooooo good to have them here. Nobody has threatened to get back on a plane yet - or to put anyone else on a plane! We have been having a great time - eating a lot of course and taking in the sites of Singapore. In the last 3 weeks we have eaten Malaysian, Peranakan, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French, Khmer (Cambodian), and home cooked meals. Among other things, Mom and Dad have eaten the local specialities such as:

Popiah (a thin crepe-like thing stuffed with steamed daikon radish, cilantro, peanuts, chopped egg and chile - Mom's favorite minus the chile)

Char Kway Teow (a noodle dish)

Laksa (coconut based broth with noodles, cockles, shrimp, and hard-boiled egg

Dim-Sum (lots of dim sum)

Beef Rendang

Pepper crabs

Banana flower salad

Jack fruit (yes, there is a fruit that dad had never tried before)

drank a lot of Tiger beer ...and the list goes on....

We had a fantastic dinner at an up-scale Korean bbq restaurant called Chang's at Dempsey Hill. Mom and Dad tried Wagyu beef for the first time and it was de-lish!

This is Peter - Now I am stepping in!!! Nothing has changed!!!! Yes, you say but it's only the location....
Lauren is still Lauren only Mo has to contend with it. Before we finish breakfast Lauren has made lunch plans. Before we have finished lunch, Lauren has us locked in for dinner at some exotic place.

Lauren again: We saw a great play called Eclipse at the Singapore Fringe Festival. Went to the Asian Civilizations Museum, explored Chinatown, the Mustafa Center (a giant store in Little India that sells everything from exotic spices to autoparts and gold jewelry), Arab Street, Robertson Quay, and East Coast Road. They have jumped right in joining me on my almost daily visits to the grocery store at the local mall called Parkway Parade (they can't believe go so often).

We also went to the zoo, which is probably the best zoo I have ever been to. Dad took a picture with the orangutans (which he told us about 52 times were Mom's relatives). And yes Doug - Dad did bring other shirts!

Oh yeah - and the amount of sweat that is coming out of these two people is enough to wonder if they have any water left in their bodies at all.

Next blog is about our trip to Penang...

Love,

L, M, M, and P