That what all the signs around Singapore promised. Truth in advertising. It did get real loud. We had to wear earplugs the whole time. At the Singapore Grand Prix two weeks ago that is. What a spectacle! I thought video would be the best way to share the experience with you…
Talk to you soon.
-Mark
While Kirsten was taking in the fantastic ritual of Thaipusam last Saturday, the kids and I embarked on a little more elementary fun. We went to Sentosa Island. Sentosa is a formerly lush island just off the southern tip of Singapore that is slowly being renovated to resemble Disneyland. But putting the ecological corruption to the side, it can make for a fun day.
Sentosa Island has one of the three recognized Merlion’s in Singapore. There is the one in the harbor downtown, that you can see in the header photo in this page. There is the one we saw at the top of Mt Faber on our Southern Ridges Hike. And there is the one on Sentosa, which is the tallest at 40 feet high. You can actually go up inside and stand on the top of his (or her?) head, which Jackson has done on a school field trip, but which cost an amount of money that I was not willing to part with that day.
But the real source of entertainment for us on this trip was the Luge. It’s a downhill asphalt course and you ride these little toboggan contraptions with wheels. You hold a set of handlebars that allows you to turn as well as brake (by pulling back). You actually get zipping down pretty fast, with some hard banking turns. Here you can see the kids coming into the washout at the bottom of the course where it finishes.
Once you get down, you can then ride the Sky Ride back up. The Sky Ride has got to feel like the most misplaced chair lift in the world – where the closest it ever gets to skiing weather is a full 35 degrees above freezing (lowest temperature recorded is 67 degrees Fahrenheit). For an entertaining side surf, have a look at this profile of the temperatures in Singapore.
The Sky Ride gets quite high above the ground, if I don’t say so my heights-fearing self. You can see the nice view out over the Singapore Straight.
We all took two rides, and then the kids took one more (yep, they went up the Sky Ride and down the course by themselves). We had a blast. And for the record, we were able to obtain a signature Jackson goofy face shot, so the outing felt complete.
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-Mark
Ok, it’s been a long time since we blogged. Over a month. Our bad. We’re flattered so many people have chided us to get our act together and get publishing again. Things have mostly gotten into a pretty regular swing around here – workdays and schooldays and playdates and chores. There’s been a bit of a lull on travel, but that’s going to change in a big way – we’re headed to Bali tomorrow, Yogyakarta in February, and Koh Samui in April (click on the pushpins below to see where these are). Those ought to be the fuel for more good blog posts.
But the big news around here is that my Mom and Dad arrived for a 6 week visit. They’ll spend some time staying with us in Singapore, hanging out and seeing how we live and spending Christmas together, then we’ll head to Bali together for 8 or 9 days, and then they’ll travel to Cambodia to see the amazing Angkor Wat in January. It’s pretty cool to see them taking advantage of our new location to see more of the world.
So today I’m pleased to offer our first guest blog entry, written by my mom. Mom, take it away…
After a 20 hour plane flight…here we are, Singapore!! And, as typical with our family, we’re wasting no time experiencing some of the local sights. Kirsten rallied the troops and took us on an awesome hike called Bukit Timah. We understand it to be the highest point in Singapore…not exactly like the mountains of Washington, but then I guess Washington doesn’t have monkeys greeting us around every corner!
Christmas Eve feels very different in Singapore…hot and muggy. Kirsten and Mark made it feel much more like home by hosting a dinner party for their friends the Tuohy’s (Elizabeth, Mike, Ryan & Kate) and the Choski’s (Kashyap, Asha, Kunal and Akshay). As you can see…fun time had by all!
Santa did find Jackson and Cameron…not sure how he knew they were in Singapore, but sure enough you can see he managed to bring a pretty good load of gifts. Amazing, considering no snow and no fireplace!
The day after Christmas, Mark took us to Bishan Park…more monkeys. I loved the water lilies (always looking for watercolor subjects). Jackson and Cameron reacquainted themselves with the joy of swinging! Cameron said she hadn’t been on a swing in 5 months!
After leaving the park, we continued on to the largest Buddhist temple in Singapore and were fortunate enough to catch an annual “grain” celebration. We understood it to be the final day of a week long event to honor the lives of those that had passed on in the previous year. We felt like honored guests and were treated with great respect. The grounds and buildings were absolutely incredible. Note the carved dragons on the rooftops. You’ll have to excuse the quality of the photos, as they were taken in the hardest rainstorm I’ve ever experienced! Rain poured off the roof like it was coming out of a fire hose! Are we in Singapore or Seattle?
Our first week in Singapore…sights, sounds, smells…all very different…broadening our horizons by introducing us to new ways of seeing the world. We hope to continue to travel with intent and to connect with the cultures we visit. Tomorrow we’re off to spend 9 days in Bali. We can’t thank our family enough for this travel opportunity.
-Mark & Laurie
Last weekend we took a family hike. This hike was a little more urban than the last, but still an oasis within a big city. Singapore is working on connecting all of the major parks with trails, and this is part of it. This is a part called the Southern Ridges. One of the features of this hike is a bridge called the Henderson Waves. In fact, coincidentally my dad sent me an email of “cool bridges” that had pictures of some of the world’s most beautiful bridges, and that was what gave us the impetus to go check it out. Here is the picture.
So to get started, we took bus #93 down to Alexandra Road and joined the trail about midway through. Altogether, the trail is about 9km, but we probably did a little more than half of that. Here are the kids at bridge where we started on the trail. I’m thinking about starting a collage of goofy Jackson faces based on the pictures from the last 3 months. What a goofball!
The portion of the trail where we started is a raised metal platform (my fear of heights giving me a little pause). It winds right though the jungle.
Another candidate for the collage…
Now there’s a couple of good lookin’ ladies. You can see the “trail” continues to rise up into the forest canopy behind them.
Here we are stopping off for lunch down the road from a cross road that intersected the trail (the niceties of “hiking” within a major urban area). We ate at a Muslim restaurant, mainly eating Roit Prata. It’s a a little bit like a tortilla, with a variety of different options to stuff it with – egg, cheese, mushroom, banana, chocolate, etc. Similar to crepes.
Back on the trail, we passed through some neighborhoods. These colonial style houses are called black and whites. I imagine it is very expense to live in a place like that, but doesn’t it look cool? I think I would have to invest in a white linen suit if I had a tropical colonial house like that though.
Next we saw the monkey’s. It’s shocking to me that you can be walking in a major urban area, and just start encountering monkeys. These were sitting on the metal platform, just hanging out. Seemed to be a family. Momma was mostly in to grooming her husband, but she would show you a few teeth if you made any moves towards junior there. I think the Man of the House liked the grooming, because right as I was getting ready to film them with my camera phone (and bring you this show with moving pictures), daddy made a move on momma to get busy. Cameron looked at us with a knowing look on her face. In Seattle we have the birds and the bees. In Singapore, you got the monkeys’.
Here are several photos of us on Henderson Waves. It’s a wood bridge, with a set of metal girders that are fashioned into waves that go both above and below the deck of the bridge (you can see this better in the picture above). It gives the effect of a set of waves. Jackson decided he would ride the way, by running up the steep pitched wall under one of the waves.
The bridge is set pretty high above above Henderson Road (35m?), as you can see looking down over Kirsten’s shoulder. Henderson Road is another gorgeous tree lined road, typical in Singapore. Looking out the other side, through the girders of one of the waves, you can see the building lined skyline of a main area of the city.
After Henderson Waves, we arrive at Mt. Faber (standing tall at a full 105m, or 344 feet above sea level). You can see us walking the forested trails. Check out that great forest canopy!
At the very top of Mt Faber, there was a Merlion. I believe this is the 3rd Merlion (one downtown – the original one, one on Sentosa Island – the 100 foot tall one, and this one).
All very tired after hiking in the heat – it definitely zaps you. But another great family outing.
-Mark
Literally before Halloween, the Christmas decorations started to come out en masse in Singapore. No “Nordstrom Policy” here of waiting until the day after Thanksgiving to put up the Christmas decorations. It makes sense though, shopping is an absolute mania in Singapore. I guess Thanksgiving isn’t much of a notable holiday here either. 
We do find something absolutely comical about seeing Santa and the Reindeer, and snowmen and snowflakes, lining the streets of a city that hasn’t seen snow since the ice age. These photos are taken up on Orchard Road, the Rodeo Drive of Singapore, a complete shopping Mecca.
The grey building with the Christmas tree in the front is a pretty new shopping mall called the Ion. It looks to me like it was done by the same designer as the Experience Music Project in Seattle – the same crushed metal sculpture look. In fact, Kirsten and the kids walk under that building every day on the way to school (the bus drops them off on the other side of the street, and then they walk underground most of the remainder of the way to school).
The Orchard Road Christmas Lights look even more incredible at night. I’ve captured photos of the nightlights from another Singaporean’s blog.
To change the subject, we also have Obama in Singapore today. It is very cool to see a US president with the will and capability to come be an ambassador in a growing area of the world. But it sure has screwed up traffic around here. There are police literally standing every 10 meters up on Orchard Road, where Obama is staying. I’m feeling a little weird though – I think Obama is following me. I’ll be in South Korea all of next week, and I hear he’s coming too. Hmm.
-Mark
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