Aug 2007

(Rob)

Sat, August 4 to Mon, Aug 6 (I think)

We got to Vancouver's airport around noon Saturday and didn't get to our hostel here in Singapore until after midnight Sunday night. In between was 19 hrs. of flying and crossing the international dateline. I kept getting confused! By the time we arrived I had no idea what day or time it was back in Canada.

SIA was, however, about the greatest economy class flight we could have had. Constant food and attention, and a great (free) on-demand menu of movies, TV, music, games. We watched 2 or 3 movies each. I've always wanted a day to just do that! The real hassle was getting off the plane in Seoul for the hour stopover. Sure we wanted to stretch our legs, but who wanted to get back on? Not Anica, but she was a trooper, and also got more sleep than us (even slept through landing)!

After sleeping on the plane, it was hard (well, for me) to sleep through to the morning in Singapore. Our hostel is bare bones, but charming, and is in Chinatown. The AC needs coaxing, and the "shower" is a drain between the sink and toilet. I held the shower head this morning and called out: "I feel like I'm deliberately flooding the bathroom!"

Bunk beds are fun!

Here is the other end of our hostel room, including the lockers.

We enjoyed the typical Malaysian toast for breakfast: a sugary, buttery, coconut and egg spread called "kaya." This spot 2 doors down will probably do for every morning.

We had in mind an easy first day orienting ourselves (no pun intended), but that ended up still involving a lot of walking in humid heat. We did the hop on/off bus our SIA boarding passes gave us and checked out the Orchard Road shopping district. Imagine Broadway or Oxford Street but with huge, tropical trees left untouched. Lunch was surprisingly fresh and authentic at a mall's food court. We ordered a custom plate of fresh cut fruit to share for dessert.

After lunch, Anica encounters her first squat-style toilet. In Singapore, however, there's almost always a choice of styles.

Another hop off was to see the "Merlion," the famous half fish/half lion fountain/sculpture and symbol of Singapore. Dinner was at a sit-down, Western-style restaurant back in Chinatown. The walk back was spectacular: the Chinese night market was lit up with lanterns; also a huge Hindu temple, and an enormous Chinese pagoda all looked great at night.

Anica and Rob in front of the Merlion

A great example of the gorgeous Pernakan architecture in our Chinatown neighbourhood

August 6th

(Jenn)

Survived 19 hour trip to Singapore. Singapore Airlines was fantastic. Anica was great. She felt sick on the plane and wanted to go home but overcame that and after a few hours sleep on the plane was feeling better. Very up and down. One minute /loves/ everything, next minute tired and cranky, etc. Real trooper though. Had to get off plane in Seoul which was weird. Lost bottles of water.

Hotel good. Very... basic. Has A/C and own bathroom but taking shower soaks whole bathroom. Felt much better about room half way through night and infinitely better by morning. Anica loves bunk beds. Taxi drive here great. Gorgeous trees and flowers even at night. Very warm. 28 when we got here. Owner met us at door. Very nice lady.

Great day. Local breakfast. Talked to couple from Bristol. Hop on, hop off SIA bus. Went to Orchard Road - Tanglin Mall shopping. Anica bought mood ring. Lunch at food court. Hot day. OMG. HOT. Sunny and hot. And humid. Not a single drop of rain. Need to lighten daypacks further. Saw Merlion. Dinner at Swensen's - spent bit more and more familiar food but hey... might as well ease in - managed local breakfast and dinner. Walked through Chinatown. Saw largest and oldest Hindu temple. Gorgeous. Will go back. Returned to hotel at 8. Had Anica take shower. Again, she was asleep moment head hit pillow. Rob and I plan to follow shortly. In our separate beds :P

Wednesday, August 1st

(Jenn)

Quiet morning around the house. Anica and Lauren had had a sleepover. Needless to say very little sleep was had and Anica walked around complaining that her cousin had woken her at 6:30 am :P

In the afternoon, we went to a splash pad at the nearby park and the inevitable meltdown finally came during a family game of soccer. Rob and I took Anica back to the guest suite and one "rest time" later (which consisted of quietly watching a movie and enjoying a small snack) we were back in action.

Had a lovely BBQ dinner. Ken and Leslie from next door joined us. Ken brought a pitcher of incredibly delicious margaritas and Bruce did up some huge pork chops and snapper on the barbecue. Dessert was fresh berries with whipped cream. The kids played with Bailey - Ken and Leslie's English Springer Spaniel - and Anica /loved/ being able to play with a dog for hours on end. Another late night but the kids were in good shape when it ended.

Thursday, August 2nd

(Rob)

Another nothing-but-sun day, perfect for our beach outing. First, as part of a leisurely morning, Jean took Jenn and me for a little walk around Ladner. We saw the part that's still a fishing village. In the afternoon, we met some of Bruce's work friends at spectacular Spanish Banks beach. The panorama stretched from the ocean to West Van, across to Stanley Park as a green tip, to the whole span of Vancouver's high-rises. And mountains all around of course. This was best viewed after we'd walked a half-kilometre-plus out into the low tide. The swimming began there. Lots of spots all the way out for Will to practice his skimboarding. I made no progress on that in my few feeble attempts.

I'd never seen so many VW vans before. When I set our car alarm off, the woman next to us covered her ears and said: "we hippies sure live differently from you technos." For dinner we met up with more people: 14 for dinner (6 were kids) at a patio overlooking the marina opposite Granville Island. "Is this Yaletown?" I asked Fun Pete. "Why label things?" was his reply. The kids were up late, but had lots of fun. It was a day of babies, dogs, and great, great views.

(Jenn's version of same day)

Another quiet morning. Kids stayed with Bruce while Rob and I took a walk with Jean around Ladner. Lunch at home. Afternoon spent at Spanish Banks - low tide again. Everyone walked out, William skimboarded and tried to teach his uncle. Gord joined us with Lola (same age as Lauren) and Otis (six months). His partner Robin joined us later and then we all separated, went to Pete's condo (overlooking waterfront). Met Darcy and Jane (originally from Ottawa) and their baby Jesse (11 months). Girls had a great time entertaining Jesse. Dinner at Marmalade. Kids ran around. Robin and Gord have done a ton of travelling and shared some stories and advice with us. Asked if we were out of clothes yet which showed they really knew what they were talking about. Dinner was Pete's treat (thanks Pete!) and the kids /loved/ him. He let them hit his hand as hard as they could and you could tell by the gleam in Anica's eye that she'd always wanted to do that! Late late night. Anica had a bath at 10pm. Passed out the second her head hit the pillow.

August 3rd

(Jenn)

Morning began quietly again - Anica still asleep at 8:45. Went to walk-in clinic (kidlet having problems with allergies or something along those lines and way better finding doctor here than there). Gave us an appointment for afternoon. Went to Wellington Point, saw the houseboats on Westham Island and visited the Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary. Had a lot of fun feeding the ducks and geese. Saw a Blue Heron and chickadees but the chickadees wouldn't come anywhere near us. Might have been the noise :P

Spent afternoon doing laundry, uploading photos, and seeing doctor. Anica's tonsils are a bit swollen and it's likely she's allergic to something that's pollinating out here so we now have eye drops and a nose spray to take with us. Whee! Love the London Drugs store here - they have /everything/!

Boys have gone to get Indian takeout for dinner and I'm busy getting us ready to go tomorrow. It's been a fantastic visit (thanks to Jean, Bruce, William and Lauren) and we've had so much fun but wow! Singapore, here we come!