More Singapore

After our time in Bali we were lucky enough to have another night and day in Singapore before heading back to Hong Kong. Once again Caslin outdid herself with the hotel booking. We stayed at the Goodwood Park Hotel which is a beautiful specimen of British colonial architecture.

Lucky for Shayne and I the hotel is just a block from Orchard Road, one of the best shopping districts in the city. There are blocks and blocks of stores in all varieties and price points. Orchard Road itself is a wide boulevard that was being decorated for Chinese New Year.

For those who need a quick pick me up, we found the tiniest Mc Donald's I have ever seen on the boulevard - for your snacking enjoyment.

Our best discovery of all was Tangs department store which was very similar to the old Jacobson's store in Michigan. It made us all nostalgic as we still mourn the loss of our favorite shopping spot from yesteryear. Of course we had to do some retail therapy to lift our sad faces.

Caslin joined us for dinner and we found our way to Newton Market.

This area is a hawkers food market where everything is cooked fresh to order and brought to your open air table. The range of food is mind boggling and from the list of ten dishes not to be missed, I think we had seven. 

Following dinner we went to Clarke Quay. This area was once warehouses for shipping that have been repurposed to a popular night spot filled with restaurants and clubs. 

The center is a walk through fountain with ever changing lights and an overhead umbrella system that protects from the sun and the rain and provides a very effective outdoor air conditioning system. It is quite pretty as well.

We spent a nice hour or so at Marrakesh Moroccan Lounge where we enjoyed some yummy cocktails and even a bit of sheesha. 

It was a fun night in a fun city. 

Back to Blogging

It is time for me to pick up where I left off and get back to blogging. In case you are wondering why the long break, it has been filled with all of the details surrounding our move back to the U.S. 

Officially our assignment in Asia ends tomorrow. We are currently in Malaysia for the last meetings Ken needs to attend. Next week he will be attending an international training conference in Singapore as part of his first US duties. After that we are taking a week's vacation in Sydney. It is a nine hour flight from Hong Kong and more than twice that from home so we are taking advantage of the close proximity to check off another item on our bucket lists.

After Sydney we will return to Hong Kong (as tourists) and spend five days saying our tearful goodbyes and handing over the most fabulous flat in the world. From there Ken will have another bit of work to do on the way home. We will go to Rosenheim, Germany so that he can teach a seminar for the European team. We are sneaking in four more days of vacation in Paris before arriving back in Grand Rapids on March 28.

We will have been living in Asia for 23 months by the time we get back. It has been an amazing experience that I would wish for all of you. There is still so much we would love to see and do. But as I used to tell my girls when they were reluctant to leave some fun place, you always have to have a reason to come back. We have so many!

In the meantime, I still have several posts to get caught up to this point in time. And with our coming travel schedule there will be much more to come. Stay tuned.

A Quick Dip

What good is a private pool if you don't enjoy it? 

Uluwatu Temple

On the very southern tip of Bali with the Indian Ocean crashing against the base of the cliff 100 meters below sits Uluwatu Temple. Upon entering the grounds were were given sarong wraps to wear. Ken made a friend with the gentleman providing the wraps who called him "boss" and wanted to know all about Michigan.

After walking along a wooded path, we came to the cliff's edge and some of the best views in Bali.

One of the best features (according to Shayne)is the presence of tons and tons of monkeys. They are quite used to people and perhaps a bit too friendly at times if you have any food with you. We spent quite a bit of time enjoying the interaction between monkey and tourist. They are adorable.

With much difficulty we dragged Shayne away from the monkey path and up to the temple area.

Once again the views of the ocean took our breath away.

The waves come in at an angle and pummel the base of the cliffs. They start out and travel at an amazing speed. The sound is deafening. Looking out you can feel the power and it is awe inspiring.

The grounds are vast and although we did not walked them all, we certainly enjoyed the views.

And before we said goodbye to Uluwatu we had one more opportunity to monkey around.