Just Another Day in Asia, Notice I Didn’t Say Paradise!

This is the account of a typical day in Singapore. I was riding in the front seat of a taxi with 2 friends in the back. You may not know this but I have a very sensitive nose. We are riding along and I’m smelling “electrical fire”. After a few minutes I can’t hold back and I say loudly, “It smells like an electrical fire in this taxi”. My friends think I’m crazy and the driver ignores me, typical. A few more minutes pass and I say again, “you guys I really smell an electrical fire“. At this point Julie & Jocelyn start looking around and low and behold the carpet in the back window is smoking! Jocelyn goes nuts and shouts, “your taxi is on fire!” She then proceeds to say she’s getting out of the taxi while it’s moving. We quickly assess the situation and realize the brake light bulb has burned a hole in the carpet and yes it is smoking and smelling up the car. The driver is still not convinced!! Stupid man, typical of taxi drivers here. Once we realize it’s the brake light causing the fire and we are no longer stuck in traffic we proceed to the driving range.

The driving range is an interesting place. Instead of having those little buggies with cages all around them picking up golf balls. They have 2 men that walk around in the blazing sun knocking the balls into a gully, that funnels them back towards the platform where we hit off of. The guys have beach umbrellas as protection from getting hit by the balls! It’s hysterical, you have to see it to believe it! Only in Asia…..

That night I had dinner with my friend Helen. It was her anniversary and both our husbands were traveling in Japan. We went to a famous seafood restaurant her in Singapore, Longbeach. I had been there once and had their famous Chili Crab & Pepper Crab. Helen wanted to try both. The table had chopsticks and a wet-wipe. They brought us a small bowl of peanuts. We ordered our drinks, a Singapore Sling for Helen & a Margarita for me. The Singapore Sling was served in a normal size glass but my Margarita was served in a shot-glass size Margarita glass. No lie it was the smallest Margarita glass I have ever seen. Two swallows worth. I’m still kicking myself for not taking a picture. Sticking with typical Singapore restaurant service it took 30 minutes for us to flag someone down to take our dinner order. We ordered vegetables, Chili Crabs & Pepper Crabs. First, they served the vegetable dish, then the chili crabs. Again this is typical for Singapore. Food comes as it’s ready not all at once. After we had been there for 1.5 hours I decided to “ask” where our Pepper Crabs were. I was told she would check. She came back and told us it would be 20 minutes more. I said why? Was our order forgotten? Apparently it had and all they said was sorry. The most used word in the Singapore and frankly a pathetic little word. We decided to forget it and asked that they take our drinks off our bill. The guy waiter told us that he couldn’t do that because it would have to come out of his pay and then told us he could give us the Pepper Crabs in 5 minutes. I said how can that be your supervisor said it would take 20 minutes. He left…..she came back. We asked for out bill and when I looked it over they had charged us .60 for the wet-wipes!!!!!! I was out of my tree at this point. Helen told the women that she didn’t want to pay the service charge because the service was horrible! The lady said she’d have to check with her manager. She came back and said that we got service so we should pay the “service charge” but she‘d take the .60 wet-wipe charge off our bill, we were like WTF? She said she could give us a 10% discount. Helen was like okay fine. WE just wanted to get out of there before the veins in my neck burst. She reran our bill and brought it back. They had taken off the .60 wet-wipe fee but added a 2.00 charge for the small bowl of peanuts!!! I was like Helen they just totally screwed us over. I was nuts at this point and had to remind myself in 2.5 weeks I’d be back in the U.S. The land of free refills and good customer service, most of the time!!!!

 I couldn’t believe it. It was the worst restaurant experience I’d ever had……… It took us over 20 minutes to get a taxi home and that was after having to call and “order” one. Let’s just say I won’t be going back to Longbeach and can’t wait to have a “break” from Singapore!

Sydney, what’s not to like!

Rick and I fell in love with Sydney. It could have been the perfect weather, the crystal clear water, the sailboats, surfboards and visiting our best man Mike. Whatever it was it was magical! We flew in on the red eye & got in at 7:00 a.m. We slept for few quick hours and then took the “fast ferry” over to Manly. We walked to a sailing club, sat at a picnic table, drank a few beers while we waited for Mike and his adorable 6 year old “Tiger”. The sky & water were a beautiful blue, a nice breeze was blowing and the sunshine was warm. It doesn’t get much better than that!

Mike & Tiger were wonderful hosts & tour guides. Mike spent the next 2 days driving us all around the northern beaches with 3 surfboards on the roof of the car. We walked the coastline, walked the beach in front of Mike’s apartment & he “tried to teach” Rick to “paddle surf”. On Sunday we stopped at the world famous Bondi beach and low and behold a major surfing competition was underway. Way cool! We got to see two of the best surfers in the world. Mick Fanning reining world surfing champion and Kelly Slater 9 time world champion!! Talk about a real “hottie” OMG pinch me! We also saw the famous Aussie Hoppo the lifeguard, star of Bondi Rescue. Think real life Baywatch. I forgot to mention that the world famous “Flat Stanley” accompanied us on all our adventures. Little Tiger’s cousin in Florida sent him Flat Stanley. We spent the day taking pictures of “Flat” all over Sydney. That Flat Stanley gets around!

The best and most entertaining part of Sunday was watching Mike, Tiger and sometimes Rick paddle surf. Not sure “why” you would paddle surf but it was cool to watch. That Tiger boy is a natural and put the “old” men to shame! They started out on a nice calm sound and then we went to Freshwater Beach where Mike lives. It was much harder in the waves than on the sound. After several attempts Rick did make it up for a few seconds. He was very good a knee surfing! It wasn’t until the next night that Rick realized he lost his wedding band in the ocean. He’s managed to hang on to it for almost 25 years so I can’t be too mad about it. It’s a good story, anyway.

Monday & Tuesday Rick worked until lunch time and I explored on my own. We’d meet up for lunch and do some sight seeing. We toured the Sydney Opera house, what a fascinating place. We saw a dreadful Shakespeare play set as an Opera. It was a Baz Luhrmann production. Think the movies Australia and Moulin Rouge. Shakespeare should not be made into an Opera. We left after the 2nd intermission, yuck, yuck, yuck! BUT we can say we saw an Opera in the Opera house……



We took an afternoon boat tour of the harbors around Sydney & saw 3 nude beaches. The Aussies like their nude beaches, at least the men do. They were the primary ones letting it all hang out! Spending all that time on and around the water was fuel for our souls. Sydney was a beautiful place and it was made even sweeter by being able to connect with a dear friend. Needless to say we were NOT happy to have to return to Singapore!

NEXT TRIP USA!  IN MAY for Caitlyn's graduation :)

London How I Love Thee

Spent 5 great days in Jolly Ole England. Rick had yet another business trip and I decided to tag along. And get a quick taste of the winter we’ve been missing back home in the states. I was not disappointed, it was COLD! We tried not to complain and kept on laying our clothes and socks. Our journey first brought us to London, Marylebone to be exact. While Rick sat in meetings all day and through dinners all night I went shopping with my good friend Anna. Anna’s hubby actually took over Rick’s last job in the U.S. They live in Sparta, NJ and we had about 10 months overlap so I got to know Anna well before moving. I made her promise that yearly during the “global meetings” in March that she would meet me and we’d hang out together while the guys attended meetings. This is provided the meetings are somewhere fun and exciting!

The first night Anna & I walked to an English Pub for dinner. On the way we passed an old church that had a film crew set up outside. We watched for a while, no one seemed to know what movie they were filming. It turned out to be the new Robert Pattinson (twilight) movie Bel Ami with Uma Thurman, Christina Ricci & Kristin Scott Thomas, WOW! No we didn’t see any stars…….. Having lived in Surry for several years Anna had a shopping agenda. We visited some of her favorite spots; Harrods, Boots & Marks and Spencer. I must say I was VERY good and did little retail therapy.

On our 2nd night Anna was kind enough to humor me and attended Jersey Boys at the Prince Edward Theater. We were seated center and 4 rows from the stage. It was amazing and even dear Anna enjoyed it! I have to say two of my favorite Broadway shows I’ve seen in London. Last time was Wicked and I had “Mack Daddy” seats then too! Prior to the theater we enjoyed the worst & most expensive high tea ever. Very disappointing……..I’ve enjoyed the ones in Singapore so much more.

On Wednesday I dragged Anna to the New Covent Garden Flower Market to buy scissors, knives and other floral arranging items to cart back to the other beginners in my flower arranging class. I’ve been taking flower arranging through the Singapore Flower Club for several weeks. Once they heard I was going to London, the birth place of flower clubs they sent me on a mission. Lucky for Anna we found the market quickly and the first shop I went into had all the sharp objects a florist could want. I bought a bunch of goodies and wondered what I would tell customs if they stopped me at the airport. That night we had dinner at one of Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants, Maze Grill. “Yummoe” is the word! Had our best dinner since leaving the U.S. Great wine, great company and great beef!!!

Thursday Rick was “free” and we met our adorable elderly tour guide in the lobby. Jane was Oxford educated and looked to be in her early 80’s. She drove us around London and give Rick all the “fun facts” to his heart content. If you know Rick you know he loves to fill his head with erroneous facts to pull out and dazzle you with his intellect at odd times of the day/night. Even though Rick works for a UK company he never gets to see any of England but the inside of hotels or Heathrow Airport. He wanted to see Westminster Abbey & Tower of London. Good ole Jane carted our butts around and filled our heads with interesting history facts. As usual when I’m in England the sun was out and the sky was blue. I doubt it does rain in England because all three times I’ve been there I seen blue sky!!! Maybe it’s just good karma?? After wearing us out Jane drove us to Windsor to our B&B. Then ole Jane drove back into London to go to the theater that night. She had more energy then Rick & I together! We took a nap once checking into the B&B. Did I mention it was cold in England; we were freezing while in Windsor because everything we did we had to walk to. Thursday night we walked into Old Windsor and ate at a Greek Restaurant. No Greek food in Singapore so we where very happy.

On Friday we toured Windsor Castle. The oldest and largest inhabited castle in the world & the Queens favorite weekend home. My personal favorite! As luck would have it when we arrived the Queen was not at home but by the time we had lunch and went back to the castle she had arrived. Both times I’ve been to Windsor the Queen has been home!! Way cool! Unfortunately she was there for the funeral of one of her knights. When we toured St. George’s Chapel on the Windsor Castle grounds we were told that they were having a funeral that afternoon and the chapel would be closed at 1:00 p.m. We were invited to attend church services at noon. We went and it was amazing. We were led up a tiny winding staircase up into a balcony room that was built for Catherine of Aragon (1st wife of Henry the VIII, he divorced not beheaded her). In attendance were one guide, 2 very elderly men and 3 very elderly ladies. After the service they all came up to us and thanked us so much for coming. It was so surreal to worship where royalty has worship for 100’s of years.

By 6:00 p.m. our dear friends Jeanne & John had taken the train down from Wales to meet up with us. We first met when we all lived in Guangzhou. It had been 6 years since we had seen them so it was great to catch up! We spent the evening drinking beer in an English Pub. The next day we toured the castle with them and caught a taxi back to the airport for our 10:00 pm flight. Rick in business class and Cassie in “cattle class” I even had a lady next to me that had to apply three different creams onto her face before take-off. What’s up with that? I realize airplane air is dry but come on! That’s like the old Chinese men on the subway in Singapore who pluck their chin hairs for the whole world to see…………Guess what? I don’t want to see EITHER. Don’t think Rick had to see anyone doing “personal hygiene” things up in Business Class!

Next up my tag along trip to Sydney! Yes in cattle class again……………

Western Australia

Western Australia was a wonderful and easy trip to make from Singapore. We got in after midnight on Monday and took a shuttle to our hotel/motel near the airport. Got up in the a.m. and got a taxi back to the International terminal to pick-up or rental car. Perth has 2 airports a domestic and an international and they aren’t next door to each other, who knew? As luck would have it our rental car was at the domestic terminal. We had to pay a taxi to take us there and I had a not so friendly conversation with the travel agency. In the end we got upgraded to a little SUV and after wasting 1.5 hours were on our way. We were in luck a new highway had just opened in September and we easily got on it and started heading south towards Margaret River & wine country. We made a lunchtime stop in the quaint town of Mandurrah. We had an hour long boat tour of the canals, estuary and million plus dollar homes along the waterway. Walked around the waterfront and had a nice lunch before continuing south.

We arrived in Margaret River at 5:01 pm. & everything was CLOSED. I mean everything. We had no map (rental car place did not have maps to hand out/ what’s up with that?) and no cell phone (mobile phone as people on this side of the world call them) reception. As luck would have it some kind tourists let us use their phone to call our inn keeper and ask for directions. We found our way to Margaret River Waterfall Cottages and spied several “mobs” of kangaroos (kangaroos travel in mobs/groups). Our cottage was cute on the outside and modest on the inside. The grounds were wonderful! We took a quick walk before dark and saw several kangaroos, especially a very large male! Amazing, the roos in Australia are like the whitetail deer in the USA. Literally everywhere and you must be careful not to hit them. Made me think of Sparta, NJ and the bazillion deer we had there!

Tuesday I booked us an all day scenic and winery tour. Rick was pleased not to have to drive & I was even more pleased not to have to ride with him! Yes, the Aussie’s drive on the opposite side of the road and car as we do. I won’t tell you how many curbs Rick bumped into. Let’s just say I was very patient…..YES I was !!! but closed my eyes a lot . Adam our driver took us to a Lake Cave where we saw some great stalactites & stalagmites. It was not for the faint of heart as there were over 200 stairs to walk down into the cave & back up (killer). After that we toured the Marri, Karri & Jarrah forests in the area. The Marri & Karri are gum trees and the Jarrah is like mahogany. We visited Surfers Point and saw the beautiful Indian Ocean. We then went to Voyager Estate Winery and had a marvelous lunch & tasting. We toured 3 other wineries, had a barrel tasting at Moss Brothers, then visited a cheese factory & chocolate factory.

Wednesday day Rick drove us down to Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, where the Southern Ocean and the Indian Ocean meet. Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse is the longest lighthouse in Australia. We also toured Jewell Cave; thankfully it did not have as many steps as Lake Cave. We had a picnic lunch along the shore with the lighthouse in view. Beautiful! Last we stopped at the Augusta Historical Museum & visited the Colonial Brewing Co, tasted some great and some not so great beer. While driving to our cottage Rick was amazed to see a Kookaburra sitting in a gum tree. NO lie he was sitting there plain as day. Later we did hear his unique call. Anyone remember the Barney song “Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree”?

By the 2nd day with no cell or internet service and the streets rolling up at 5:00 p.m. every day I was getting a bit antsy. We did enjoy watching some American TV shows that we don’t get in Singapore and had two amazing meals at the Arc of Iris resutrant in Margaret River. Love BYOB restaurants! We had to go out and buy jackets, although it was summer the Margaret River area is cool in the evenings and there was no humidity. What a pleasant change from Singapore!


Thursday we got up early and drove north to Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse. We hiked around the lighthouse and saw the devastating damage caused by a brush fire a year ago. Brush fires are a real danger in WA. We were able to tour the inside of the lighthouse and had great views of the Indian Ocean. We continued north and pulled over for lunch on a lovely deserted beach. By 3:00 p.m. we were at our friends Deborah & Kelvin Bray’s. They live in a pretty suburb SW of Perth. We met while living in Guangzhou, China and have stayed in touch these past 11 years. Their son Morgan was a friend & classmate of Lindsay at the American International School Guangzhou. Kelvin drove us all around the suburbs and through the port city of Fremantle. Fremantle hosted the 1987 American’s Cup. We ended our stay at a restaurant on the river in Claremont; a dolphin swam right up to the window as we were eating!

Our impressions of WA: BEAUTFUL, dry vegetation, not crowded, people love to be outdoors walking, boating, kite surfing, biking etc. Abundant waterways and breathtaking views of the ocean. Deserted beaches, CLEAN, hardly any trash anywhere!! Great quality of life with most people coming home from work at 5:00 and spending time with family. WOW the American’s could sure learn a few things from the Aussie’s  We’d go back in a heartbeat!

Thiapusam: Hindu Festival of Thanksgiving

Rick having just returned from India at 7:40 a.m. was game to join me on a Thaipusam Tour. Thaipusam is a religious festival of great significance to Tamil speaking Hindus. The festival was brought to Singapore and Malaysia in the last century by immigrants from South India and Sri Lanka.

The principal deity in whose honor the festival is celebrated is Lord Murukan. In Hindu Mythology, Murukan is said to have originated from Lord Siva’s third eye (the eye of wisdom) and hence is worshipped as Siva’s son. To Hindus, Murukan is the personification of wisdom.

The most popular legend to explain the origin & purpose of celebrating Thaipusam is that Lord Murukan took on Taraka an evil chieftain who was too powerful to be subdued by other gods, and killed him in combat. He used a vel (spear) to kill Taraka. The vel has become the symbol of victory over evil. The skewers that pierce the tongue and body of the devotees on Thaipusam are in the shape of the vel (spear).

We boarded a bus down to the Little India area of Singapore and headed for the Sri Perumal Temple to see the devotees getting ready for their celebration and walk. We saw many men preparing by getting hooks and spears attached to their backs, arms, face and tongues. Many of the men carried Kavadi’s or “mini temples” on their bodies. Once the devotees are ready they go into the temple where they dance and then start the 5k walk through the streets of Singapore to the Sri Thandayuthapani Temple. Once through this temple they get to take off the kavadi’s and all the hooks and spears on their bodies.

There are some women that participate; they carry heavy pots of milk on their heads. Some men even wear shoes of nails. It was an amazing sight. We were amazed that there was not more blood. It was not a bloody experience. After the hooks and spears came out of the body an ash like powder was dusted onto the body and they sucked on limes for the wounds in the mouth.

The entire experience was fascinating and I will definitely go again next year.

CAMBODIA

Cambodia was wonderful! I loved everything about it. Rick, Caitlyn and I took a 3 day trip. W had 2 days of sight seeing. This one of my favorite places in Asia. Siem Reap has only been open/safe for tourists for about 10 years. They have about 115 hotels and a “downtown” market area and Pub Street. What they have accomplished in the past ten years is commendable compared to many of their surrounding neighbors. The Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot basically decimated this country. You can see the strength of spirit & determination in these people. They were lovely!! Literally and figuratively.

The temples are amazing and I predict in the next 10-20 years tourists will not be able to see, walk & climb where we went. There are several nations that are helping the Cambodians preserve these wonderful temples. Eventually for preservations sake I don’t think people will be allowed to get as close as we did.



My impressions were; the airport is nice, clean and modern. Transportation is cheap; it’s cost $10 USD to get to and from the airport and $1 per person to ride on a “tuk-tuk” around town. We were able to take a “tuk-tuk” from our hotel into the market area for dinner and shopping. Although they have their own currency they prefer U.S. dollars so that made it really easy. Shopping was cheap and they had interesting items to sell; silk scarves, art-work, jewelry, clothing, etc. Cambodians must love dogs because they were everywhere. All the dogs we saw were lying in the sun sleeping! The people were beautiful, sweet and friendly. The children were endearing. I had taken some small toys and candy to hand out. Most of the children were so appreciative bowing and saying “Thank You”. Very sweet!! There were some beggers…..mostly children; I had been warned about this. Mostly they just wanted to sell you something around the temple area.

The first day we toured 4 main temples and watched the sunset from atop one f them. There were monks all over the Angkor Wat area. We even saw young boy monk. He was interested in getting some children to play with him. We also saw Aspara traditional dancers at our hotel. There are many carvings of Aspara dancers at the temples.

The 2nd day we went on a boat ride on the largest fresh water lake in Southeast Asia. Wow! Most of these people were Vietnamese who had moved to Cambodia. It was apparent the Cambodians did not like them. They were very poor people living on boats in floating villages. They had a church, school, basketball court & restaurants all floating in the water. This is where we experienced the most beggars. The children would come up to you in little metal tubs and beg for 1US dollar. Some would get visible upset and shout if you didn’t give them money. I gave them my candy & toys. The people did everything on the water; repaired boats, planted flowers, kept pigs and chickens, had dogs as pets. It was so interesting how they lived in floating villages.

After that we toured a school for the deaf. The students were taught trades so they could make a living. We also visited a museum; saw the royal place and a temple dedicated to the Cambodian people whom lost their lives at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. During our visit we saw the visible effects of the landmines that were left behind. Many people are missing legs or arms.

Both nights we took a tuk-tuk to Pub Street and ate Mexican food. If you know my family you know they LOVE Mexican food and can sniff it out anywhere we go. We’ve had great Mexican food in Japan and now in Cambodia! It was a wonderful trip and we had some quality time with Caitlyn. I’m learning as my children are growing up we are spending less time with them but when we are together we are spending quality time and making great memories

Hey Hey for the Monkey's!!

On December 26th we all decided to go hiking at Mac Ritchie Reservoir here in Singapore. They have a Tree Top Walk that Rick had been wanted to hike. The 6 of us piled into 2 taxis’s and headed to the main gate. It was sunny, humid and hot….imagine that! From the looks of the map we had to hike 7k just to get to the start of the Tree Top Walk. Can you say; “Cassie was not happy with her bum heal to have to walk that far” But she went…ever the good sport! (That’s for you Lindsay & Caitlyn).

We found our way to the entrance of the trail and were greeted by a band of monkeys. They had babies that were adorable but these monkeys were just roaming around the park, like squirrels or dogs or birds. And there were a lot of them. We all had a ball taking pictures of the cute but wild monkeys and then started up the trail. One baby monkey decided to climb on Rick’s shoe. The little cutie then proceeded to pull on the hair on Rick’s leg and play with his shoe lace. Then all of a sudden the little guy tried to go up Rick’s shorts!!! It was amazing and really funny. Rick finally got the baby monkey off him and we stared our trek.

Did I mention it was hot & humid? It was, thankfully I had bought Rick & I these scarf like neck ties that you soak in water and it keeps you cool for up to 3 hours. We tried them out for the first time and they did work at keeping me from getting totally red in the face from all this exhaustion and heat! After a really long while we got to the end of the trail and had to get onto another trail just to get to the entrance of the Tree Top Walk. Caitlyn was leading the way; she must have thought it was a race. Amanda was her buddy, then the two lovers (Lindsay & Ryan) and last Rick and I the old slow people. Him with is bad back and me with my plantar fascitis.


Finally, after seeing a few more monkeys we made it to the start of the Tree Top Walk. It was a suspended swinging bridge that only was supposed to hold 30 people at a time. As our luck would have it the guy monitoring that didn’t give a shit and I know we had more than 30 people on the bridge at once. Several of us were a bit uneasy or shall I say panicked!! Unfortunately for us the family in front of us didn’t care that there were over 30 people behind them and took their time taking loads of pictures and walking slow. Did I mention the bridge was single file? Well except for the Asian family that decided to stop in the middle and we all had to navigate around them. No Lindsay I will not get on my soap box and tell the world all my stereotypes about Asians.

We made it to the end but I’m not sure it was worth all the hiking and sweating it took to get there. Then we had to trek all the way back the way we came! Needless to say we walked over 10k that morning. Why can’t I seem to lose weight when I’m doing all this walking and sweating? This makes no sense to me! Can someone explain this and no family don’t tell me it’s because I eat ice-cream or chocolate!!!

We found our way out and Rick phoned for 2 taxi’s, but alas the taxi’s couldn’t find us and we got to wait in the sun & heat. Ryan, Lindsay & Caitlyn got the first taxi that came our way and Rick, Amanda & I had to walk out to the main road to hail a taxi. Overall it was a good family activity and seeing the monkeys made it worth while. Next time I’ll just go to the head of the trail and see the monkeys and then taxi home. Think I’ll skip the hiking. Rick says he’ll go there and run when Amanda & I are in the U.S. this summer. Good for him.........

Don't they look HOT?