Singapore

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Santa found me this year after all & I just got a new Wii! Guess what we will be doing tonight?

Tomorrow we leave for Singapore & come back on Monday. We are staying at The Orchard Hotel on the world famous Orchard Road. We plan on doing some shopping, visiting the night zoo & spending a day on Santosa Island.

More about it when we get back!

http://mapsingapore.com/index.php

http://www.millenniumhotels.com.sg/orchardhotelsingapore/index.html

Last NIght

Here are a couple photos taken at our Boat Club on Kenny's Mom & Aunts last night in Miri.

Bandar, Brunei

Welcome to Bandar, Brunei, where alcohol is not allowed in public, but the call to prayer is loud & clear. We took this trip the day after we returned from Kuching. We stayed at the Empire Hotel & one photo shows the view from our room. The Sultans brother built the resort & spend over $1 billion dollars (US). The place is amazing...golf course, movie theater, bowling alley, 7 restaurants, sand bottom pool, regular pool, spa - the list is endless. The place has to be seen to be appreciated. Wowowowowowow. I was still feeling pretty crummy so we got here on Saturday & just loafed around the resort - I just got to know the big lucious bed ...and huge bath tub. Ahh.

The next day we checked out & headed out to tour the city. We toured the city mosque that had 24 karat gold domes...we were made to put on stinky robes & only walk on a marked path area like we were dirty - hmph to Allah. :) We also went to a museum that had many gifts that that had been given to the sultan from other countries.

The highlight was taking a boat tour to the water city where there is a huge community of houses, restaurants, hospitals and schools - all built over the water. You can see the Sultans palace - or one of them anyway - in the background in the photo. After we toured this area they took us to the jungle where we saw Hornbills, Probiscos Monkeys www.opentoengland.org, a crocodile & a red and black striped snake. After this we were exhausted - it was really really hot outside - and made the 2 hour drive back to Miri.

Kuching

We had a great time in Kuching. We met Kenny's Mom & Aunt at the airport and had the rental car ready - which ended up being a van instead of a compact car. We then proceeded at 10:45 pm to head off on our 45 minute drive to find the Damai Beach Resort. The rental car agent pointed it out on the map & stated "very easy". Famous last words. The drive was anything BUT easy with maps that didn't match road signs & lack of road signs altogether & pitch darkness. Somehow - we found the resort after 2.5 hours of horror. We slept in the next day & just enjoyed the resort. The photos are taken from our balconies in our rooms. That night we went to a local restaurant for dinner & had lobster & local vegetables for cheap cheap.

The next day we went to the Semenggoh Wildlife Center & experienced the Orangutan feeding. The Orangutans are wild & being rehabilitated so they have calls for them when they feed them & platforms where you can stand & watch them. They are amazing! Here is a photo of the mom & baby who was 1 year old but there were also 3 young males that came to dine that day. Then we saw the big daddy at the end of the feeding.

On our way back to the resort we stopped by the infamous Cat Museum which was really more of a crazy collection of cat crap than a museum. Kenny & I were in hyserics at the poster collection of kittens doing ninga, kittens riding motorcycles, kittens dressed up as doctor & nurse...wow. The best part of this stop was the photo of us as cats.

The next day Kenny, his Mom & Aunt went on a jungle treck that started behind the cafe photo...and ended 2 hours later. They said it was amazing. I opted to stay behind & enjoy a massage at the spa.

Our last day we shopped around the river area of Kuching - and I ate something that gave me food poisoning the next day. Yay. We flew back to Miri that night.

31 Weeks

Here I am at 31 weeks. My belly is starting to take over! The doctor says all is well & the baby is about 4.5 lbs. It is breech still & if it doesn't flip then we will have a c-section at 38 weeks.

We finally were able to get the crib set up too - aww!

Blog has been neglected!

The doggies have been neglected this past week as well. We had Kenny's Mom & Aunt here for a week - then traveled with them for a week & then the Monday they left to go back to the states our container arrived so we have been crazy busy unpacking (me) & setting up house (both of us)...we are finally caught up. Here is a photo of the doggies today after a much needed walk on the beach.

Tomorrow I will update the blog with photos from our trip to Damai Beach, Kuching & Brunei!

Kuching

We are off today to Kuching, staying at the Damai Beach Resort...http://www.damaibeachresort.com.

It is only a 1 hour flight for us & located in the South of Sarawak. Kuching is the capital & the word means "cat" in Malaysian. http://www.isarawak.com.my/kuching/main.html

We plan on visiting the city & an Orangutan sanctuary...maybe a national park but I also need a massage & a day doing zilch on the beach.

More postings when we return next week.

Here's the waterfall picture Heather was referring to. It is pretty cool that this is a 30 minute drive and 20 minute hike from our house. There are 2 more falls but Heather's too prego to make the rest of the hike.

I was "at Halliburton" when we did this. I office in Shell but frequently "have to run to Halliburton" to go work out, go hiking, or invoke my half day Friday policy. I approved that one myself. So far no one has caught on or if they have don't care. Plus it is an extremely different work environment here - way more laid back (read lazy).

I'll end my first blog post because it's getting too close to lunch and per Kenny policy I have to prepare to leave and "run to Halliburton".

Baby 28 weeks

Kenny says the baby is going to be a Zombie because it is eating all my brains. :)

I thought I had already posted this & just realized I hadn't. Oops!

Here is baby at 28 weeks - if you look in the bottom left hand corner of the image you will see a chubby cheeked little profile! Awww!!!

Miri City

Ken's Mom & Aunt Linda arrived Monday for a visit. Tuesday we went to the Lambir Hills National Park & hiked through the rain forest to a waterfall & had a picnic. Kenny has a great photo on his phone that he needs to upload & post for us. It's beautiful. -

Wednesday Kenny had a meeting all day in KL so it was girls gone wild in Miri. I took them to try Laksa for breakfast & they almost licked their bowls clean - we have some new fans! Then we hit the Krokop Market & got some fruit & veggies so they could see where I do my shopping & see all the neat things. Then we went to San Ching Tian: Photos above. Opened in 2000 this is the largest Taoist temple in South East Asia & cared for my Buddhist monks. I had never been though it is only a mere block from our home. It was beautiful! So much detail & the most peaceful windchimes. I need to go back & spend more time & learn more about this religion.

Thursday Ken was in a convention all day so it was just us gals again. We went to the Tamu Muhibbah market in city center where they sell rainforst delicacies & fresh pork. Yes see photo above. Those are brains on the table next to the jaw bones. Blech. They also had their hearts hanging on hooks & bowls of intestines. Elaine & Linda commented on how it was too bad that our container hadn't arrived & I didn't have any cooking pots & pans since the pork loin there was so fresh & of such high quality. I informed them that though I do eat pork now let's not push it. I won't eat the pork from which I know the face that it came from! Triple blech!!! We also went to the Petroleum Museum which is on the top of the hill here in Miri with beautiful views - though they tell me the museum was set up for children (I waited in the car & rested my pigs - no pun intended).

They are off to Singapore for a few days today - we will meet up with them in Kuching for a few days on Sunday. I booked us rooms at a beach resort so of course I can't wait to sit under an umbrella & veg...more to come on Kuching!