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.