Back in SG

Wow. Cambodia was amazing! But, we are exhausted! It was really nice to get back into the routine in SG.

As Brandon was sick before we left for our travels, his sleeping and eating routine was off. The traveling also threw those two things. When we returned, Brandon started sleeping a little better and eating like crazy! Steven said that when he was younger, he didn't like to eat when he was outside of the comforts of his own home and his mom's cooking. It seems that little Brandon takes after Daddy here...

We took it easy on Monday. Jo, Jessie, and Jake stopped by in the afternoon for a short play. Brandon was so excited to play with other children! Since he had been sick and we had been gone, he hadn't been able to play with kids for two weeks. Oh, no! :)

An extremely busy rest of the week. We took a walk along the quays with Jo and went with friends to the Hollandse Club, Royce, Fidgets, and the Forum. Our friends, Arch and Arya, also came over for a play.

Brandon enjoyed wearing Daniel's hat at our Friday playgroup at the Forum. So cool!




































We also spent quite a bit of time at the pool this week. Brandon is getting better about not walking and running around the pool. I took some toys down to the pool (sand pail, shovel, cup, ball, etc.), and he actually sat and played on the side of the pool by the steps. At least Mommy could have a rest IN the water next to Brandon.


On Saturday morning, Steven, Brandon, and I took a walk along the quays and had a nice lunch at Brewerkz. As the climate here in Singapore is hot, humid, and conducive to so many bugs, they spray regularly for pests. I have mixed feelings about this... Not sure I would want to live here if they didn't spray. However, something just doesn't seem right about the amount of pesticides they use.

You can tell when a building has been sprayed for pests. It is covered in a cloud of thick smoke!


























They spray for pests about once a month at our apartment building. Ughhh!


Saturday night we went to Tammy, Phil, and Jimmy's house for a BBQ. We had an amazing time! Phil is from Australia, and Tammy is from South Africa. They were quite the hosts, grilling up steak, chicken, sausage, and shish kabobs (maybe lamb?). Tammy made a salad and a fabulous potato and pesto casserole. I must get that recipe! We sat outside on their large deck for several hours. Brandon and Jimmy played happily together the whole time. We kept Brandon up too late that night, but what a memorable night! Comfortable outside with a breeze and great company.

On Sunday morning, we made a trip to the zoo. We realized that we should have also bought Steven an individual membership to the zoo. He has also been the zoo several times now.


Sunday night, we ate dinner at a Thai restaurant on the river at Clarke Quay. I had a nice massaman curry. Steven had a way to spicy beef and basil. I'm impressed he could even eat it. I tried a bite, and I don't think I could have handled the heat.


I have been CRAVING curries lately. Japanese curry, Thai curry, Indian curry. I just can't get enough! So flavorful with a little kick. I am also craving sweets. Do I really have to get on the scale at the doctor's office next week?


This past Monday morning our playgroup met at Fidgets. That evening, I watched Jessie and Jake so that Jo could attend a school function. So happy that I could finally pay back the favor! Later that same evening, one of Steven's colleagues came over for a bit. She is also from the Chicago office and was here on a short term committment. She is leaving to go back to Chicago this week.



On Tuesday we joined the mom and tots group at the Hollandse Club again.


Big news of the week - We have a new nephew! Jacob Daniel Ayala was born on August 24th. 21 inches long, 7 lbs and 12 oz. Thick head of dark hair.

So weird not to be there with the birth of this new family member. I was there for both of my nieces' births, and for this one I am about as far away as I can get. Can't wait to meet and hold our new little Jacob.

Some new happenings with Brandon -

He was sitting next to me on the couch one day last week. He lifted my shirt, put his head on my belly, and said, "Ahhh ahhhh, baby." Then, he gave my belly a kiss, put my shirt back down, and said, "Bye bye". So sweet. He "knows" that there is a baby in Mommy's belly, but he doesn't really get it. He has also pointed out that there are babies in Daddy's belly and his belly. So funny.

Brandon has started to take more of an interest in Legos. He'll put a couple together and pull them apart.

If you ask Brandon to "show me night night", he will say "night night" and scrunch his eyes closed as hard as he can.


When talking to Daddy on the phone this week, Brandon kissed the phone receiver. :)



Brandon is becoming more humorous. He has a funny forced laugh that he does. I think he does it to make others laugh. He is becoming more expressive. One of his favorite things to say now is "Oh, my!" Brandon likes to make faces at himself and talk to himself in the mirror. He is also learning how to fuss and fake cry. Very funny little man. I am loving his personality!



Lots of new words - "bubble" and "broke" to name a couple.



Brandon sort of skips now when he runs. Funny to watch. For a fraction of a second, he is airborne with each step. Happy little skipper!



One of Brandon's new activities is coloring. He is actually coloring with the crayons now instead of eating them. On Tuesday, he made his first picture on his own. Our little Jackson Pollock!

One Day in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Sunday morning, we left our hotel in Siem Reap. Below is a picture of our room and hotel interior there.

We headed to the airport for our flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Even though it was only a two hour flight, it was difficult with Brandon. He was tired and cranky, but he wasn't ready to sleep. He crashed at the KL airport just after we went through customs.

We booked a hotel right next to the airport. What we didn't know was that there are two KL airports. We landed at LCCS airport, not the KLIA airport. You could really tell that we were at the Low Cost Carrier Service airport, and not the large KL International Airport.

We had a little trouble figuring out the taxi cabs at the airport. We had to buy a ticket in the airport for the cab. We couldn't just go out and hail a cab. Also, we realized that we weren't in cheap Cambodia anymore. It was about 50 ringgits to go from the airport to the hotel. That's about U.S. $16. No more $2 or $3 tuk tuk rides...

After we checked into our hotel, we took a shuttle over to KLIA. We planned to take a train from there to the city, but our shuttle driver suggested we share a cab with two other hotel guests. He said that the train would cost us about 70 ringgits for two people and a cab would be 150 ringgits, divided two ways. The plus to the cab was that we could get dropped off right at the Petronas Towers. The train was a little more complicated once you got into the city.

We shared the cab for the hour ride into the city. Quite a ways from the hotel!

When we arrived at the Petronas Towers, we remarked how much it was like Singapore. Another mall! Although, KL didn't seem quite as clean as SG.

This is a view looking up at the top of the tower from the interior of the building.

Lots of levels of shops!

We walked to the sky bridge with plans to go up for observation. We were shocked to find out that tickets were gone for the day. I believe it is free to go up, but there are only 1,000 tickets given out each day. We were told to come back another day before 8 am in the morning. That wouldn't work!

We were so bummed out. :( We walked around outside for a bit.

A little bit later, Steven had the brilliant idea of finding another building in the city that had an observation deck.

We took a cab to the KL Tower. Unfortunately, it wasn't free. However, we were thrilled to get some great views of KL. We only had 20 hours in KL, and we wanted to make the most of it.

They called the Petronas Towers the "twin towers". From above, I noticed lots of twin buildings below.

The Batu Caves, a limestone hill which is a series of caves and cave temples. A sacred place for the Hindus in Malaysia.

The amazing Petronas Towers.

After our visit at the top of the KL Tower, we visited a small animal center. Birds, snakes, monkeys, rabbits, iguanas, and more. Brandon now loves to say "snake". Also, when he saw the baby bunnies he said, "Mouse."

Brandon thought it was pretty cool that Daddy got to hold the birds.

The KL Tower. Reminded us of the Space Needle in Seattle.

Daddy posed in front of the Petronas Towers for some perspective.

On the hour cab ride back to the hotel, Brandon crashed. It was about 6 pm, and he was out for the night. Kind of nice for us. We were exhauted too. Great traveling, but we really crammed a lot in during these four days.

Even though we had a suite, our hotel in KL (Concorde Inn) wasn't nearly as nice as our hotel in Cambodia. We are getting spoiled by luxurious resorts! It really didn't matter though as we were up and out of the hotel very early in the morning again. (FYI - I wouldn't recommend the hotel.) It was only a one hour flight from KL to SG. Brandon slept for most of the flight. Nice for us to have a rest too.

We arrived back in SG before 9 am on Monday morning.

What an adventure! Our trip felt much longer than four days!

It did feel great to be home though. We are looking forward to getting Brandon's sleeping routine back. For the past few nights, he's been sleeping part of the night in our bed. Really hard on all of us as Brandon has trouble getting comfortable and sleeping with us. He would sleep on his own for the first part of the nights, but then the second halves of the nights were restless for all. I'm sure some of it was due to Brandon being sick and off-schedule even before we left SG. Definitely worth it though!!!

Siem Reap, Cambodia - Bakheng Hill

For our last day in Cambodia, we decided to have the afternoon to ourselves - no driver, tour guide, or car. We wanted to slow the pace down and enjoy our last few hours in Siem Reap.



After our naps, we took a tuk tuk to the Old Market for some shopping. Then, we decided last minute to take a tuk tuk to Bakheng Hill. Bakheng Hill is a hilltop temple overlooking the entire area. We could see Angkor Wat, nearby jungle areas, and even the Tonle Sap, which is a large lake that the Mekong River flows into.



It was about a 20 minute hike to the base of the temple on top of the hill. We climbed up the temple and spent some time before hiking back down. We didn't stay through the sunset. I wanted to hike back down before it was dark. Our tuk tuk was waiting for us at the bottom, and we had a nice, cool ride back to the hotel at dark. After Brandon and I went to sleep, Steven made one last quick trip into the Old Market for a few beers.



Oh, and again, the paparazzi spotted Brandon at Bakheng Hill.

Siem Reap, Cambodia - Banteay Srei

Our hotel in Siem Reap. While we were there, some celebrations were going on as the resort was just given the rating of 5 stars!

For our last day in Cambodia, we drove about 37 km north of the Siem Reap town to Banteay Srei. This temple was built in the late 10th century.

"Banteay Srei" translates to "citadel of the women". It was probably so named because of the deep, delicate beauty of the carvings. The temple is also unique because of its smaller size and its pink sandstone material.

We passed lots of local children on our walk to the temple's entrance.

The paparazzi found Brandon at Banteay Srei.

Just one more minute before we leave. Okay, Daddy and Mommy?

Please! Just one more!

We looked for a child size hat, but we couldn't find one. Oh, well. Brandon investigated his new headgear before getting to work in the rice field.

On the drive back to Siem Reap, we made some stops at the villages on the side of the road.

The local people don't have electricity like we do. They use car batteries for power. Every four or five days, they have to take their batteries to be charged for the day. This man is starting to charge the batteries.

We stopped to see one local man making palm sugar. Liquid is drained from certain parts of the palm tree. Then, it is boiled in a wood fired cauldron for a while until it is a thick, sticky substance. Kind of like peanut butter. Then, that substance is poured into molds where it hardens into a sugar block. The people package the blocks and sell them. Sort of like a candy making process.

The local people put scarecrows out in front of their homes to scare away evil spirits.

Here is a well that the people use for water.

So cool to see who funded this well project!

This is another well. Here there is no pump. People pull the water up in a bucket. They use this water to wash themselves over the well. So, the water ends up recycled and very dirty and unclean for the people.

People here don't use their cows for the milk. They have to import their milk from neighboring countries. Mr. F said that here they don't know how to pasteurize the milk for safe drinking.

We also stopped by a few more temples on the way home.

Below is Pre Rup, another beautiful temple-mountain.

From the top of Pre Rup, you can see Angkor Wat in the very far distance. In the picture below, it's very small in the center to the right of the large tree - almost a speck.

We made a quick stop from the car at Ta Keo.

Last, Steven got out and did a quick visit of Thommanon.

Back at the hotel, Brandon crashed while we ordered room service for lunch. I decided to try fish amok, a favorite Cambodian dish. Fish amok is a white fish in a coconut milk sauce with lemongrass and other spices. Yum!!!

Also, after Brandon's fever broke the day before we left for the trip, I noticed a small rash behind one of his ears. Later that night, I noticed the rash behind the other ear. As we traveled, I saw that the rash spread to his chest and back. Maybe only a couple dots of rash appeared on his face and limbs. Maybe it was the Roseola virus Dr. Chiang was talking about? Anyway, as of our last day in Cambodia, the rash was completely gone. Yay!