The sun was shining, the breeze was blowing, the sand was warm and the pool was refreshing. We spent the day next to the pool and then down to the beach for a bit of lunch and drinks. Boats and people were everywhere getting ready for the nights festivities.
Yes those are Kelly's
No that isn't Grant
Just before sunset we headed down for dinner on the beach at an Indian place. Mmmmmm good.
Can't really complain about anything. We portably wont make it to midnight. We have a busy day planned tomorrow and all of the kids are already down and out.
So Happy New Years from the Philippines. This will be the last posting of 2011.
MK&G
Didn't have the phone with me at all yesterday because I would have lost it in the sand. Will try and take it today. We spent all day getting sun burns on the beach. The boys took all 5 kids on a snorkel trip. Rode on a cool wooden sailboat. It was no big sailboat but the wind got us moving. Here is a pic of the view from our hotel and Grant's new hat.
The last few days have been busy. Night Safari on Monday night was a total nightmare trying to get in but once we made it in it was worth it. Saw a flying squirrel up close and a porcupine eating a coconut. Very cool.
Madu, the Arnolds's house keeper made us a couple of great meals on Monday and Tuesday.
We were up by 9:00 on Tuesday. Spent the day lounging around. The sun came out and we all got a bit of a sun burn while being in the pool all day. Grabbed a cab at 9:50pm and headed for the airport. Plane left on time for Cebu at 12:20am, no sleep on plane. Transferred in Cebu and flew to Boracay. Arrived at 7:10 and took a boat from the airport to the island of Boracay. It was no Casa Del Mar but we definitely happy we were on a boat.
We have finally made it to sand and sun. Here is the beach that is just a 5 min walk from the resort. More photos to come tomorrow.
Met up with our friends the Sharps and Willies today. 4 kids for Grant to play with and adults for us. We are looking forward to the next 7 days.
Christmas day was not the same. It was the first time we weren't at home and that we didn't spend it with family. We already miss everyone, but a day like today really makes us miss you all more. We got up way later than any typical Christmas day. Had our coffee and lounged around with a board game. Headed out around 11:30 for lunch reservations at Seb's Deli. Great food and a neat atmospher.
After that we headed for China town. By far one of the coolest China towns we've seen. Wait until you see the dragon Grant picked out to hang from his ceiling.
Grabbed the train back to the apartment for a quick break before the Night Safari. Again, back on the train (we are masters of the Singapore MRT now, but boy do we miss Mater) about 7:00pm. Arrive at the safari and it was packed. Who would have thought everyone on the island would have picked this as the night to go. Well we have another night here left so we postponed our trek into the Safari until tomorrow. However we did catch the fire dancer presentation before calling it a night. Grant and I were fascinated with the fire... Where Kelly I think was fixated on the abs. Merry Christmas to everyone in the states. Santa should have already made his delivery and the kids should be bursting and ready to bound out of bed and wake up all the parents. We miss you all and hope you have a wonderful day.
Today was Christmas eve day and we planned for low key. As I mentioned earlier the Elephant Parade (www.elephantparade.com) is in Singapore and we were hoping to find a few of the replica figures to take home with us. Grant and I picked these two,
But we were pretty sure the excess baggage charge was going to be pretty steep. So we decided these three could make the trip back to Korea with us much easier.
After that we headed out to find the icon of Singapore, the Merlion.
The water reminded me a bit of the Willamette. After visiting the old Merlion we stopped off at the Fullerton Hotel for a nice lunch. They are famous for their chocolate fountain dessert. Mmmm, Mmmm good.
And that wasn't the end of our day. For those of you who are familiar with the Chinese Food dinner story it isn't quite that good but it has been a long time since we have been able to find, and enjoy......
Weather said 30% chance of rain so we got up earlier than normal this morning and headed for Sentosa. Sentosa is an island on the south side of Singapore that is an amusement park / resort island. http://www.sentosa.com.sg/en/ We figured we'd hit all the attractions that were outside while it was nice, just in case the rain came. That was a good call on Kelly's part because the rain did come.
View of Sentosa on the way over in the cable car.
One handed luge driving and the other taking pictures here. No easy task.
Our first sand and sun of the vacation.
They may look goofy but I could get use to riding a Segway.
Getting ready for the pirate 4D adventure. This is what was waiting for us when we finished the pirate show. And a bit heavier after our next attraction.
Even though the weather isn't a 10 we are enjoying ourselves. It's not cold, we are together, and it is truly an adventure. What more can you ask of a vacation? We will have plenty of sun and sand in 6 days when we arrive in Boracay, Philippines.
Got a lazy start this morning and made it to the Jurong Bird Park after two different trains, a bus and a 10 min walk. Nice thing was it took only about 48 minutes and no rain. Not much more to say that the pictures won't.
This guy just loved the leather loop on the umbrella and wouldn't get off. We probably could have just walked right out of the park with him still hanging out.
More pictures to come when we can hook the camera up to a computer.
Today when we got up there was blue sky and sun reflecting off the pool. The Arnolds told us if it was sunny in the morning we should get going and head out because a weather change was due to arrive at some point. We loaded our bags and headed for "Little India" and "Arab Street".
First stop for Kelly and Grant was the Henna shop. Here is the during,
After,
Drying and Itchy phase,
And the end results.
Mark was dying for some Indian food and we found a great place. Who can ever pass up naan?
After lunch we visited many cool shops and more fabric and rug stores than I have ever seen. Wish some of these rug shops were in South Korea.
We ended our day of sun, and no rain, in the pool. Looks like we are in store for a bit of rain tomorrow. Have our fingers crossed but apparently it is the rainy season here.
