Zoo!

This past Saturday we ventured over to the Singapore Zoo. It was hands down the best zoo either of us has ever been to! Similar to the Night Safari, the zoo has a totally open concept allowing you to get right up next to the animals without actually disturbing them (the barriers are invisible in most cases). Plus, most of the exhibits are set up in such a way that the animals can't completely hide themselves from the public view...that makes the trip to the zoo worth every penny! Our morning started with a "Jungle Breakfast" where we helped ourselves to a huge spread of food and dined right alongside several orangutans! They were literally right next to our table and while we weren't allowed to touch them, we were allowed to stand right next to them. The pictures below totally speak for themselves (although I speak for them too since I can't help but make comments!) on how much fun the experience was! Once we were finished with breakfast, we walked through the zoo seeing all kinds of animals close up! We stood face to face with giraffes, watched monkeys swinging on trees right above us, got so close to the zebras we could practically touch them and saw the best elephant show I have ever seen! I hope you enjoy the pictures from a fabulous day at the zoo - a Singapore MUST!

Shhhh! Sudden movements might scare the animals away.

Look there in the distance! There appears to be orangutans coming toward us...

Yes! There they are! They're making their way to the breakfast buffet!

Ahhh, they've arrived! Time to dine next to these guys...

Is this not the cutest thing?! The baby was less than 2 months old!

Matt is so brave! I would never, ever, EVER hold a snake.

OK, breakfast is over and we're finally ready to walk through the zoo!

I know I shouldn't be admitting it, but this thing totally tricked me. I seriously thought there was a guy sitting in that cage. I figured whoever was in the monkey suit was just really strong! Good thing I had Matt around to explain to me that the legs were fake :-)

As close as Matt could get to the kangaroos here in Singapore. It looks like he'll have to head to Australia for the real deal...

So the trainer with the red bucket called me over and said I could feed them. Well, right as I was walking over to the giraffes, this crazy woman cut me off and she got to feed them instead! By the time it was my turn, the giraffes were sick of eating pellets so they walked away. I was SO mad!!

I guess they just wanted to eat leaves.

Lazy day lions.

Spotted Leopard. Do you see that paw? I'm pretty sure this guy (or girl) could take you out with one swift smack in the head.

We got a kick out of this monkey swinging back and forth across the rope.

This elephant walked across this narrow log, did a full turn ON the log and finally kicked its back leg out and balanced on it. CRAZY!

Look at this guy showing off his massive strength by picking up a super heavy log (or so we were told) out of the water!!

The trainers got all of the elephants to lay down! The one standing was "refusing" to lay down, but it was all part of the show. Eventually, she did lay down :-)

Pretty awesome, huh?

Stair Masters

Oh the joys of life's small victories! Matt and I went on a run last night and as we walked toward our building, I jokingly mentioned that I was going to take the stairs up to our apartment. Key words = jokingly mentioned. Well, I've certainly learned my lesson about making fitness related jokes around Matt. Seconds later, I found myself truly walking up the stairs...slippery stairs that is, as it had just rained prior to our run. OK, let me just say that walking up the stairs to the 23rd floor is a heck of a lot harder than it sounds! That being said, our new goal is to walk up to the 43rd floor. And yes, I will write a blog about it. And yes, I will be bragging about my, ahem, I mean our unstoppable strength :-)

Oooooh yeah!
That's right. Climbing to the 23rd floor is not for the weak.

Date Night at the Long Bar and Night Safari

Well, just a few days ago Matt decided it was time for a date night! :-) Back in the states, date night usually consists of dinner followed by a movie at home, but living over here makes date night 10x more exciting because the options are endless! So my sweet, sweet husband took out the trusty guide books and planned a fun evening of "must dos" while in Singapore. Our first stop for the evening was a visit to Raffles Hotel and the Long Bar. Raffles Hotel is a historic hotel (built in 1887) and its absolutely beautiful! The main lobby is private, meant for residents only, and at a starting price of $640 US per night, we'll never be residents which means we didn't get to see the glorious lobby. BUT, we did take a stroll through the outer wings of the hotel - gorgeous! After touring the actual hotel, we made our way to the Long Bar...our true reason for heading to the hotel. The Long Bar, located inside the Raffles Hotel, is the original home of the famous Singapore Sling - a deliciously sweet drink that we HAD to try! It was the cutest place to have dinner and a drink and we had an awesome time there! The second stop for date night was the Night Safari! It's the world's first open-concept zoo for nocturnal animals (it reminded us a LOT of being at the Animal Kingdom at Disneyworld except for it was dark!). We took a 45-minute tram ride through the zoo. Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures to share because you're not allowed to use a flash and my sad, little point-and-shoot digital camera isn't good for night pictures :-( Anyway, all of the animals were active so it was well worth the money! We saw hippos, elephants, giraffes, zebras, hyenas, deer, and countless other animals that were completely new to me. Once the tram ride was over, we headed over to the "Creatures of the Night Show" and then spent a few minutes walking the paths through the zoo. For me, the walking path ended up being the best part of the night. We got to see a HUGE tiger with only a glass wall separating us. This particular tiger spent at least 20 minutes sitting right next to the glass, looking directly into our eyes. Since it was 10 p.m. and nearly everyone was gone, we had the tiger completely to ourselves! We even caught feeding time! A zoo keeper dropped food down for the tiger and it literally ate just a few feet away from us. I've never seen anything like it so close before. We were both completely mesmerized by the beauty of the tiger! It was the perfect way to end a perfect date with the most perfect husband I could ever imagine. God has blessed me beyond words and I am forever thankful to Him for that! :-)Matt standing in front of the historic Raffles Hotel

A beautiful fountain on the grounds of the hotel

Just enjoying the hotel scenery - wishing we were actually guests!


The interior was SO cool!

The famous Singapore Sling. Totally delicious!

One final view of the front of the hotel

Ready to see what the Night Safari is all about...

The first thing we came to was a tribal show with fire breathers - really fun to watch!

Here we are on board the tram, ready to be on safari!

Once the safari was over we found this giant durian. I thought I'd take a picture so you can see what it truly looks like. Who knew such a fun looking fruit could smell so terribly bad?!

Without a flash, this was the only semi-clear picture I could get of the tiger. This was while it was sitting in the water. We didn't get any from what it was right next to us in the window.

Ok, one last thing! I just found out that my little sister, Brittni, who is 7 years old actually reads my blog and checks for updates all the time! So, to my favorite little follower, I wanted to say "Hi BLH, we love you and miss you a LOT!! Tell Mommy to send you over here!" ;-)

Home Sweet Home

I've gotten several requests from family and friends to send pictures of our apartment. Well, instead of posting a bunch of pictures, I'm giving you a personal tour! Please excuse my poor narrating :-)

So now you've had the tour, but seriously, have I mentioned the pool before?!? I think I have at least once...or maybe 10 times. You can't even see the whole thing in this picture.

BUT...no matter how fun it is to live on the other side of the world, have a city view from 23 floors up and a huge pool, nothing compares to our true home sweet home back in TX. We can't wait to be back in it next year - we miss it SO much!

Oh, and I miss our bedroom too...with its pretty blue walls and a view of Rocket and Coal in the backyard peeking in our windows.

Australia!

Last year our good friends Tyson and Karis moved to Western Australia (Perth). We immediately looked into the cost of visiting them, but unfortunately for us, it was just way too expensive to fly there from the US. Then, as you know, our life took an exciting turn and we found ourselves living in Singapore. Throughout our first week in town, Karis called me several times to see how I was adjusting to life in another country. Having been in my same position just 10 months earlier, she knew exactly how I was feeling :-) During one of our conversations, we talked about how much we wished her time in Australia would have overlapped more with our time in Singapore since she is due to move back to the states in just a couple of weeks. If we had more time, we surely could have visited each other. However, after we hung up the phone, it occured to me that nothing was stopping me from visiting her before she moves back home. So after a quick discussion with Matt and a few exciting phone calls with Karis, we put the plan into action and I booked a ticket to Perth! The flight from Singapore to Perth is only 5 hours long and the cost of a ticket was insanely cheap in comparison to flying there from TX. I would have been crazy to pass up the opportunity to visit her! Perth was an absolutely beautiful place! From the stunning parks to the ocean and its many gorgeous beaches, the quaint shopping areas and the Australian wildlife, I simply can't think of a better place to have visited! We spent my first afternoon in town walking through King's Park. There were so many great picnic areas and views of the city and rivers. I saw so many trees and birds that I'd never seen before - things that just reminded me that I was definitely in Australia! We spent my second day driving up the coast checking out several amazing beaches - each one offering slightly different scenery than the one before. We drove to Hilary's Boat Harbor for lunch and shopping, then spent the afternoon in the CBD (Perth's central business district) checking out more fun shops. On my third day, we ventured out to Caversham Wildlife Park - I saw all the animals you think of when you think about Australia! The kangaroos were WAY too much fun to pet and feed, seriously, I could have stayed there ALL afternoon! Once we left Caversham, we drove over to the Pinnaroo Cemetery to find wild kangaroos - and boy did we! There were at least 25 kangaroos just feeding on the grass in the field. We tried to get close, but they just hopped away (or maybe that was because Karis actually chased them away!). On my final day in Perth, we drove to Fremantle and ate along "Cappuccino Strip", then no surprise, we did some more shopping! ;-) The trip went by WAY too fast, but I cherished every minute of the time I got to spend with sweet friends in an absolutely beautiful setting!

Gorgeous sunset over the Indian Ocean

Hilary's Boat Harbor, where we had a delicious lunch at Dome.

This is a charming little shopping strip called "London Court" - I've never been to London, but it seemed authentic enough ;-)

Dinner at one of Karis' favorite restaurants, Pronto. The gnocchi was to die for!

My wonderful hostess and host - Karis and Tyson :-)

Check out the black swans behind me. I didn't even know black swans existed, but apparently there are tons of them in Perth!

You certainly don't see crossing signs like these back in the US!

Here I am at the park - ready to see all kinds of Australian animals!

This was the first time I've ever seen an owl up close like this and it was SO cool! The eyes are amazing!

A wombat! I have to admit, I really didn't know what a wombat looked like until I actually saw one. It wasn't exactly what I'd imagined...but it was cute in its own special way ;-)

I loved how the kangaroos would just reach up and hold our hands while they were eating. It was so cute...but it made me miss Rocket and Coal...they do the same thing :-)

This face just cracks me up!

You know how you always see cartoons of boxing kangaroos? I'm pretty sure this guy is the reason why - look at those biceps!

A tasmanian devil! I was waiting for it to twirl like a tornado like "Taz" does, but for some reason this one didn't do that ;-) He did, however, stop and pose for a picture.

Some say dingo, I say dog. We couldn't get too close because there was an electric fence. I guess dingos aren't all that friendly...

Sweet koala just sleeping the day away

At the Pinnaroo Cemetery checking out the wild kangaroos!

The beautiful view from Applecross (which is apparently where Heath Ledger's family lives).

Matt says that Rocket and Coal (our dogs) will be upset if they see this video because I don't like to feed them right out of my hand, yet I let a strange kangaroo do it ;-)

Keep an eye on the kangaroo's pouch. You can see a joey moving in there!

Wild kangaroos at Pinnaroo Cemetery. We tried to get close to them, but they weren't having it!