Day 6 Sunday - Church and Family

Today the kids and I went to Church with my buddy Kie Ming. He attends a satellite branch of one of the Cavalry churches in Singapore that caters to expatriates from all over the world. The service is held inside a Hotel (thank goodness) . Very much like the services at home.

The rest of the day the kids spent swimming and playing Wii with their cousins while I engaged in serious food engorging with friends and relatives. This way I didn’t have to feel guilty having them sit with me being bored and watching me eat all afternoon.

We heard about MJ and Farrah’s death yesterday. Pretty tragic. Michael was pretty darn popular in Asia. Their main newspaper put out a 12 full page article about him today. It was incredible. Unfortunately Farrah wasn’t that famous. Asian folks are pretty friendly around here especially the Filipinos. No matter how hard life can be, they still know how to enjoy life. Here’s a glimpse of what the prisoners did last year in tribute to MJ:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMnk7lh9M3o&feature=related

Enjoy….

Day 7 Monday - Trip to Malacca

I think I am forgetting what day it is around here these days coz everyday seems like a Saturday. Today the kids and I got to see a glimpse of another country. Getting to Malaysia is like crossing Truckee and getting to Nevada. The 2 countries are connected by 2 bridges (causeways here) and the 2 countries are only 1 mile apart. You can tell you’re in Malaysia coz the signs quickly change from English to Malay.
Malaysia is a little more rustic than Spore and being 100 times larger still has many areas where there is n running water or electricity and homes are built on stilts and bamboo. We visited an old Portugal settlement called Malacca where the kids got to try food made with a Portuguese touch….(didn’t appeal to them to much).
Driving in Singapore and Malaysia is a definite experience. Most of Asia drive on the opposite side of us where the driver’s side is on the right. Although it seems the whole country seems like a typical 8AM LA 405 freeway 24X7, people here drive very aggressively and you have too. It’s the only way to get around if you want to get from point 2 point. Yet since it’s the norm, no ones really gets mad or shoots one another. Not that they could anyway. Guns are outlawed along with chewing gum. Crime rate here is at a minimal and Singapore is truly a litter free island. People here do work very hard for a living though. Everyone seems to work long hours and the kids here have it even worse. We may think that a GPA of 4.3 is ridiculously tough but imagine NEEDING to have the equivalent of a GPA of 5.0 to be accepted into one of only 3 universities in the country. It’s a nightmare. NO wonder many leave for Britian, Australia and the US to get their degrees.
Speaking of degrees, another scorcher of a day in both countries and it is taking a toll on Marcus. But he’s a trooper. As long as he had his Subway sandwiches and a Coke, he’s surviving……geez….. Good Night….

Day 5 - More Food, SIghts and Activities

After a good night's rest (they needed it) I took the kids to meet some more ol’ friends and we spent the afternoon...(can you guess??).....eating of course.....that's basically what people do here every hour of the day. This country is just one 24X7 food paradise. They got to try real Chinese food and interesting desserts. Then we headed to the Singapore Polo club where they got to see Polo in action and luckily Marcus was able to cool down with a much needed swim. We then headed for the Night Safari...supposedly the only kind in the world where you travel on a tram (or walked) in a wild animal park where the animals are so close to you, you can almost touch them. There seemed to be no fences between us and them and the only lights allowed are those artificial moonlights that surround the animal enclosures. It was a strict no flash zone coz the animals would scare easily and they made sure numerous times of reminding us. I can see why we went at night coz it was still hotter than #$%^& at 11 PM. The best feeling we had was going through a genuine rain forest where it seemed like the temps actually dropped about 20 degrees. The kids loved that one. I have to admit that I have now confirmed that I have 2 very different kids. One loves the heat and humidity (Kayla) and the other would thrive in the Alaskan tundra. Marcus will never make it here he said.

Tomorrow is R&R day but I think the kids know that Dad does not know the meaning of that when he is in Singapore. So we’ll see……

Day 4 - A little History and Sights

Now that's we've settle down a little, I thought I'd share some facts about the country in light of remarks from the kids' friends. Singapore, along with her neighbors is not an emerging country. They have emerged and are pretty
emerged. Singapore is a country 26 miles wide and 18 miles high with a population of about 3.5 million. Imagine all those people living in Sac County. With limited space, everything is built either underground or straight up. The majority of
homes are 20-30 stories high and the either county is one giant transportation hub with subways intertwined beneath the city. You actually don't need a car in this country :) I can see why they ban all drinking, eating and gum in the subways. It is so spotless that you truly can sleep on the subway floors. The dominant race here is Chinese making up 75% of the population with the rest Malays, Indians and a concoction of races. And yes, 95% of the population speak English and about the same number of them are either bi or tri lingual. Amazing isn't it.
Temps run in the low 90s all year round which isn't bad except for the fact that the humidity runs in the 80s-90s ALL year round too.....That's the killer.

Enough of facts for now. Today I took the kids to Chinatown. There were some similarities to the one in SF. The kids did a little souvenir shopping but saw and tasted food that definitely crushed their appetite for the day (unfortunately). From dry squids, bats, sea urchins galore that hang down store fronts to fruits of varying colors and shapes, they got a good picture of what people here eat to stay healthy. I think that's the trick to looking young in Asia.

We ended the day going to the Singapore Flyer, the world's largest ferris wheel. To give you a size comparison, each chair (actually a bubbled room) seats 30 people. We go up and around to a height of about 30 floors and you can imagine the view from the top. It was 30 mins of amazing sight. Unfortunately for Singapore, word has it that China is building the highest one, about 10 feet taller than theirs. They love pitting themselves against each other.

As usual, the kids crashed quickly and quietly to prepare for the next day.

Day 3 Back to the ol'' USA

It finally happended...Sooner than I expected.....The kids went back home to familiar surroundings.....Wakeboarding, Bowling and watching Transformer.2....Wakeboarding over here took on a whole new perspective....no boats required. Everyone (8) gets strapped onto a rope cable in the middle of the open sea and you rotate around a contraption where you can even do jumps. The movie theatres here are all preassigned seating like concerts too...No first come first serve basis. While the kids were bowling. I took a little side excursrsion to an adjacent island for some R&R of my own...A short 10 min boat ride and we where there. There's no rules around here when it comes to the quality of the boat. You get on board and off by yourself. The island was filled with all the different plants and fruit trees of the country. Pretty wild and fruits (durian) the size of watermelons hanging down. Pictures to come soon.

After the movies, we again indulged in local eateries and then headed back for a short swim and crashed....One thing about swimming pools here. They don't have to be heated and the temperature of the pools stay about 85 all year round....aargh.....

PS> While having breakfast, the kids started laughing at all the construction workers (we were at a safe distance) Imagine watching these big burly guys (Spore standards) doing stretches, jumping jacks, windmills and squats all in a synchronized manner just before they start their day.....A ritual I believe all over the country. Imagine it happening here :) Probably a good thing to consider though....

Day 2 Waterworld and Food Galore

Pixs: Kayla and Marcus on Reverse Bungee jumping at 120 mph; Outside Waterworld; By the Singapore River; Kids just before the ride shot up; Kayla making her own concoctions; Tasting food along the streets.

The second day was filled with eating and some R&R the Alsagoff way. We got to visit the equivalent of Sun Splash (did not make much of a splash for us) Then off to a bungee cord ride that shot you straight up at 120 mph. Kids loved it but I bailed out. The rest was shopping and eating more different kids of food. The kids got an education in the different dialects and cultures as they tried to speak to some of the older folks....and got no where. Jet lag finally not an issue with the kids as they are adjusting to the weather pretty well as long as they had their occasional showers.. as well as what a Spore shower (rain) felt like. After an exotic dinner (to them), we headed back to the Mariott ( their only semblance of normalcy) to prepare for another day.......

Day 1 We're Here!!!

Singapre ain't what it used to be.....A Condom House???? Where the locals live...

On the subway.....
In a typical Public Restoom (huh??)

A Freeway in Singapore (can you believe the fauna!)

After 22 hours, 5 meals, 8 bottles of water and 1 Jack Daniels, we made it. Arrived at 1AM and picked up by my brother. As soon as we walked outside the airport, I knew why I left Singapore 28 years ago......the humidity hit us like a sauna. Kids were whining but fortunately, the excitement of being here overwhelmed thier complaints. They had their first taste of Spore food at 2AM and were pleasantly suprprised. The Hotel was right downtown and they got to see some of the lights of Spore. After forcing them to go to bed to overcome the jetlag we got up at 8AM and begun our day. They got to see why dad like Sore so much and got into the habit of eating every 30 mins. Food was everywhere in restaturants, on the streets and anyplace you could possibly think off. The got to ride the MRT (line subways), swam, some shopping. visited family and then culminated in a wonderful seafood dinner where Marcus indulged in Chilli Cras and Black Pepper crabs etc..Kayla was going down fast for the night (jet lag we think). Attached are pictures of some of our scenery...

Later.....

Day 0 We're Off to the Orient!!!!!

Well we finally left the US after our final American meal at IHOP. I sure hope it was our last meal and that the kids will be open to a whole new world of culinary experience. We left SF for Japan right on schedule......a far cry from usual domestic travel. Started off well coz the kids were elated to be in Business class. The seats reclined all the way to almost flat and there were a plethora of electronic gadgets to play with....videos,games,movies you named it and the had it. I was pretty amized at meal time that both kids actually were willing to try authentic japanese food as long as they had their cokes and 7Ups betwen the bites. The 10 hour flight to Japan really didn't take long so that was great. We're at the lounge in Narita Airport and leave for a 7 hour flight to Singapore in 15 mins. Trying successfully to keep the kids awake and hydrated so that they can crash when we arrive at 1AM in Singapore and adjust quickly. Sad thing is they are already complaining about the hunidity and we haven;t arrived yet.........Pray for these weak kids :) Sayonara.....

Day - 1 Day Before We Leave for Singapore

Hello friends and family....This is my first attempt at blogging......so bear with me OK? I thought I'd give it a shot to share our experiences on the trip by blooging so we can keep some memory of in light of my lack of remebering anything older than 1 month. So here we are at the Good Nite Inn (huh????) hotel at SFO waiting for tomorrow. For 21 days free parking, how could Az not miss that steal of a deal.