Another sunny, breezy day of swimming and hanging out with an elephant :o)
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Another day in paradise ...
Another sunny, breezy day of swimming and hanging out with an elephant :o)
Monday, July 30, 2012
More photos - Meet Ton Khao
Reality hit today: washing, drying, folding, cooking, washing dishes, grocery shopping, more cooking, more washing, changing nappies... a bit of a change after 2.5 years!
But amongst all that, we've been swimming, to the playground (or the beach, as Callum calls it, because it's on sand and there was a huge pile of sand toys for the kids), out for lunch, spent hours going down the water slide AND met a baby elephant!
Both boys were excited to meet the Marriott's resident Asian elephant, Ton Khao out by the pool. We bought a bunch of bananas so that they could feed him. Callum was right into it, but poor old Daniel couldn't work out why he was supposed to be sharing with an elephant.
But amongst all that, we've been swimming, to the playground (or the beach, as Callum calls it, because it's on sand and there was a huge pile of sand toys for the kids), out for lunch, spent hours going down the water slide AND met a baby elephant!
Both boys were excited to meet the Marriott's resident Asian elephant, Ton Khao out by the pool. We bought a bunch of bananas so that they could feed him. Callum was right into it, but poor old Daniel couldn't work out why he was supposed to be sharing with an elephant.
It was a great experience for ALL the boys and Ton Khao comes to visit daily so I'm sure they'll be looking forward to saying hello again while we're here...
Photo update
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Singapore - Phuket. The journey begins..
We had a busy start to the day - one more repack of the bags and then straight out to Changi. It seemed strange to be driving on the ECP one last time, it felt like we were off on just another holiday rather than leaving life as we know it behind!
The boys were excited to see the planes and the 1hr 15min flight flew by in no time (haha). They were so well behaved, Daniel even fell asleep on the descent. Long may it continue! Callum was fascinated flying through the clouds, particularly when the air in the aircon vents starting looking misty: "Look, the clouds are coming in the plane!" He managed to keep Daniel in line during takeoff too: "No kicking Daniel, or I'll push this button and you'll float up, up, up out of the plane OK."
Our first drama for the trip occurred on the drive to the hotel. We were discussing the boys' sleeping arrangements when I realized we hadn't collected Daniel's cot from the carousel. D'oh. We were picked up by the hotel so the driver called their staff at the airport who found the "missing" bag in under 5 minutes and called back to say it'd be on the next bus. Crisis averted (and in actual fact, we're using the hotel portacot while we're here anyway as it's bigger).
We were amazed to walk into our apartment at the Marriott Vacation Club. It's huge with a plunge pool straight outside and two enormous bathrooms. We got the kids out to the pool ASAP and then realized we were all starving so went to Turtle Island (shopping centre next door) for an early tea. Daniel had a great time bopping along with the music in the restaurant as he ate :)
We've just this minute put the boys to bed and apart from a few minutes of, "Daniel, no talking I'm trying to go to sleep ok? Ok Daniel? Daniel can you hear me? Are you listening Daniel? Daniel!!" from Callum, so far so good on the room sharing and being in yet another bedroom.
The boys were excited to see the planes and the 1hr 15min flight flew by in no time (haha). They were so well behaved, Daniel even fell asleep on the descent. Long may it continue! Callum was fascinated flying through the clouds, particularly when the air in the aircon vents starting looking misty: "Look, the clouds are coming in the plane!" He managed to keep Daniel in line during takeoff too: "No kicking Daniel, or I'll push this button and you'll float up, up, up out of the plane OK."
Our first drama for the trip occurred on the drive to the hotel. We were discussing the boys' sleeping arrangements when I realized we hadn't collected Daniel's cot from the carousel. D'oh. We were picked up by the hotel so the driver called their staff at the airport who found the "missing" bag in under 5 minutes and called back to say it'd be on the next bus. Crisis averted (and in actual fact, we're using the hotel portacot while we're here anyway as it's bigger).
We were amazed to walk into our apartment at the Marriott Vacation Club. It's huge with a plunge pool straight outside and two enormous bathrooms. We got the kids out to the pool ASAP and then realized we were all starving so went to Turtle Island (shopping centre next door) for an early tea. Daniel had a great time bopping along with the music in the restaurant as he ate :)
We've just this minute put the boys to bed and apart from a few minutes of, "Daniel, no talking I'm trying to go to sleep ok? Ok Daniel? Daniel can you hear me? Are you listening Daniel? Daniel!!" from Callum, so far so good on the room sharing and being in yet another bedroom.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Tourist in our own city
Day 1 - Tourist in our own city
SingaporeFriday, 27 July, 2012
We've had a HUGE day with the final things being packed (and unpacked after we realized my glasses were missing. Oops) and loaded into the container. We also said goodbye to Margaret today which was very, very sad after 2.5yrs as part of our wee family. We will all miss her, especially the kids, although I don't think they fully comprehend what's happening just yet.
Checked into our hotel this afternoon before Mike went to watch the rugby (no comment) and hung out with the boys and Margaret one last time. Made Callum's day by going to Wee Nam Kee for chicken rice and then outside to the aqua playground at 112 Katong. I am gutted we didn't do that before (as in the timing) as it was BEAUTIFUL on the roof after tea with the sun on its way down and a lovely breeze too.
So far so good with regards to being in one wee hotel room. A few grizzles when we put the boys to bed but the water play must have done the trick because they are out to it now. Hooray!
 | One last box to pack? [Map] |  | Polishing off the contents of the freezer. [Map] |
Sent from my iPhone by My Vacation app (www.myvacationapp.com)
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Counting Down - 4 sleeps to go.
July 25 sounded so far away back in April? Or was it May? But here it is, Wednesday morning and it's Packing Day. First hiccup when Callum came down for breakfast: no baby gates.
"But I might fall down the stairs Daddy.. But Daddy, Daniel needs the baby gates.. But Daddy, if I need to go on the naughty step you have to put them back ok? Ok Daddy?"
Followed by tears over the missing Gro Clock (in Mummy's room, it's coming with us) and fears about the rug being rolled up a wrapped before it goes in a container. Eventually the boys and I made it out the door to East Coast Park where they played in the sand and ate chicken rice am coconut. I'd say "one last time" except it won't be because we're going back again tomorrow!
The afternoon (and evening) has been made considerably easier by my wonderful neighbour who's got the boys and Margaret round for the afternoon and tea as well. Which is lucky since all my pots and pans have been packed away so they'd have been having chicken rice again if it were up to me!
That's really all we've been up to here (getting ready for today), so nothing particularly interesting to tell you all. I am really looking forward to Friday night and a good sleep - hopefully after a Crusaders win! - I'd better keep my fingers crossed that the hotel comes through on Callum's rollaway else it'll be a long night sleeping in the bath!
Sarah x
"But I might fall down the stairs Daddy.. But Daddy, Daniel needs the baby gates.. But Daddy, if I need to go on the naughty step you have to put them back ok? Ok Daddy?"
Followed by tears over the missing Gro Clock (in Mummy's room, it's coming with us) and fears about the rug being rolled up a wrapped before it goes in a container. Eventually the boys and I made it out the door to East Coast Park where they played in the sand and ate chicken rice am coconut. I'd say "one last time" except it won't be because we're going back again tomorrow!
The afternoon (and evening) has been made considerably easier by my wonderful neighbour who's got the boys and Margaret round for the afternoon and tea as well. Which is lucky since all my pots and pans have been packed away so they'd have been having chicken rice again if it were up to me!
That's really all we've been up to here (getting ready for today), so nothing particularly interesting to tell you all. I am really looking forward to Friday night and a good sleep - hopefully after a Crusaders win! - I'd better keep my fingers crossed that the hotel comes through on Callum's rollaway else it'll be a long night sleeping in the bath!
Sarah x
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Almost time to say Goodbye
Less than two weeks now until we leave our charmed life in Singapore behind for 3 months of living out of suitcases and (hopefully!!) the trip of a lifetime before we come home to Godzone.
Here's an outline of our plans as they stand right now. Flights are all booked, except Christchurch to Wellington in November.
Depart Singapore Sunday July 29 for Phuket, Thailand. We'll spend 5 days in Phuket before heading north to Chiang Mai. We are hoping to meet up with James and Holly in Chiang Mai as they will be arriving in Thailand for the last part of their trip around then. From Chiang Mai we will fly to Bangkok for 5 days, our last stop in Thailand.
Next we fly to Hong Kong where we'll catch up with friends and also take the kids (ahem..Sarah) to Disneyland. Hong Kong will be our final destination in Asia, quite fitting as it was also our first home during this epic seven year OE.
From Hong Kong we head to Paris, France, the start of our 2 month adventure in Europe. We are still firming up accommodation plans and a rough idea of the route we'll take but we do know we'll start and finish in Paris. We hope to catch up with Janell and Alex somewhere in Italy, family in the Netherlands and finally Nina and Giles and their kids for more Disney fun in Paris in October.
With a bit of luck we should have wifi access for most of our trip so we should be able to keep you all posted on our travels and all the fun we'll be having (ha!).
Our final stop before we hit Christchurch, NZ on November 1 will be Melbourne to spend some time with Mike's family and to start acclimatising to the weather. We'll be there for a couple of weeks and would love to see friends (Liz!) while we're there too.
For now, it's time I got back to selling baby gear on Facebook and perhaps dinner at some point too.
Sarah x
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