Sunny Singapore

This year we decided to go to Singapore for Chinese New Year.  It was our first time staying at a Shangri-La hotel and I am really happy we did.  The hotel was really nice, breakfast buffet was yummy, and the staff was really cute with the kids...plus it is the only hotel in Singapore with beach front property.  We landed late Sunday night, so we spent all of Monday by the beach and pool.  This was the first time either of the kids had been to the beach and they loved it.  The saltwater didn't bother Saria a bit.  She loved putting her face in the water right before the waves would come. 

LOVE the chunky legs (on the baby!)

Of all the things we were told to do while in Singapore visiting the zoo was at the top of the list.  So we spent most of the day Tuesday there.  It is so lush and green and the animals were all pretty lively.  It is a great zoo as they have animal feedings throughout the day so at really any time you can see a number of animals being fed or bathed.  We were lucky enough to have some friends from Shanghai in Singapore at the same time we were and were able to meet up with them for a few hours at the zoo.  The zoo also has a waterpark inside the kids area which was great when the kids wanted to cool down.



Brycen and his friend Leah



On Wednesday we went exploring a little.  We did the Singapore Flyer (which is a large ferris wheel type enclosure) that gives you great views of the city.  Brycen loved this!  We then went to scout out the Hard Rock Cafe so I could get my pin that I collect.   That night we met up with some other friends that had recently moved to Singapore from Shanghai.  It was good to see them.  They took us to one of the "hawker" streets to eat dinner.  This is where they have tons of food stalls set up and you just walk the stalls ordering what you want.  We gave Gwen and Trevor the pleasure of ordering for us and were lucky enough (?) to eat baby octopus and stingray.  The stingray wasn't the best but suprisingly the baby octopus was really good.  We had a great trip, relaxed and had some much needed family time.  Where should we go next???

The Year of the Dragon

Happy Chinese New Year!  恭禧發財

It is the Year of the Dragon and I am a Dragon.  When reading the Dragon profile I don't think it fits me very well but is probably what I should strive for.

Some background about Chinese New Year.  Within China, regional customs and traditions concerning the celebration of the Chinese new year vary widely. People will pour out their money to buy presents, decoration, material, food, and clothing. It is also traditional for every family to thoroughly cleanse the house, in order to sweep away any ill-fortune and to make way for good incoming luck. Windows and doors will be decorated with red colour paper-cuts and couplets with popular themes of "good fortune" or "happiness", "wealth", and "longevity". On the Eve of Chinese New Year, supper is a feast with families. Food will include such items as pigs, ducks, chicken and sweet delicacies. The family will end the night with firecrackers. Early the next morning, children will greet their parents by wishing them a healthy and happy new year, and receive money in red paper envelopes. The Chinese New Year tradition is to reconcile, forget all grudges and sincerely wish peace and happiness for everyone. 

The fireworks (as annoying as they are for 15 days straight) are really a sight to see.  It is truly amazing.  I will never take a Chinese person to a 4th of July fireworks show...ever!  They would not be impressed. 

Brycen's school had an awesome assembly at the Upper School's newly opened auditorium.  It was so cool...dragon dances, professional yo yo'ing (is that a word), drums and music.  They always put on such a great show.  I would love for Brycen to be able to participate next year (his class was still too young this year) but who knows if we will still be here.

Last year we stayed in Shanghai for CNY (most of that was because I had had a baby 3 weeks earlier) so this year we decided to go on vacation to Singapore.  More on that in another post.

Hong Kong Disneyland

I have always been (and still am) a firm believer that you should not take kids under the age of 5 to Disneyland.  I feel they are too young to truly enjoy the experience.  That being said, I totally went against my own rules and we took our kids to HK Disney.  I will stick up for myself by saying that our first and foremost reason for going to Hong Kong was to get Saria's vaccinations (they are no longer importing them to China and I don't trust the Chinese one's).  SO I thought that while we were there it would be pretty cool for the kids to say their first Disney experience was in Hong Kong, plus it was Saria's 1st birthday and we had to do something for her...right? 

We had a really good time despite not even getting to Disney until 3pm (totally my fault but do not need to go into details here:)).  The weather was cold and I am not used to being at Disney all bundled up.

We walked in just in time for the parade down Main St which was a great way for Brycen to get an idea of what to expect.  The park is nice and small which is good because we wanted to try and get it all in before they closed.  I was pretty bummed because It's A Small World was closed for cleaning...oh well!  All in all we had a great time, lines weren't too long and both kids got to meet M I C K E Y.

...for the record...Saria would probably say her birthday wasn't the best because she got 2 shots in the morning and then spent "most" of the rest of the day in her stroller all bundled up while we went on rides.  Sorry honey, you can experience Disney in 4 more years:)

Les and kids admiring the fireworks while being admired themselves:)



Really really cool



One year old

It is really hard to believe that one year ago I was lying in the operating room looking up at all the bright lights not understanding a word of what any of the nurses were saying to each other, waiting to have this little girl.  I can't describe how nervous I was.  Nervous to be delivering a child in China, nervous to have a second baby, nervous to not be near friends and family.  I am not going to lie that when she let out her first cry I thought to myself "here we go".  I can laugh about it now because she has been such a joy!  She has such a fun, loving personality and is a good little girl. However she is feisty and can stand her own.  We keep telling Brycen that he better watch out because before he knows it she will be beating him up:)  The last year has flown by and frankly I wish time would slow down just a bit.  Happy Birthday Saria...our precious little girl, we love you!