Day 7

We decided to spend the last day of the trip finishing up our shopping at Chinatown. Yes, 3 times in one week, but something new to see everytime! We found some good souveniers and got everything they wanted. Here we are at on of the shops bargaining over some chopsticks.

Grace was so great and actually took a nap in the stroller while we shopped! That's the way to do it. Shopping is much more pleasant when she is sleeping.
We found this shop that sold Bamboo chairs. Grace loved them and they were surprisingly really comfortable. Ben's parents bought two little ones for the Grandkids to fight over.
After Chinatown we headed home for a swim to cool off. After Ben got off work we went to Dinner and then home for more Games. We tried to go to bed early since thier flight left at 6:00 am. We were up again at 3:30 to send them off. Grace was so sad that morning when she woke up to find their room empty. She moped around for about 20 minutes and she misses them. It was so fun to have them here, even if we did need 2 days to recover our energies. Thanks for the Visit!

Day 6

Day 6: Tuesday. Ben took this day off work. We were all a little exhausted from the Night Safari, so we spent the morning resting and playing games. And Grace took an early nap. Then we headed off the Sentosa for the afternoon. On Sentosa Island (which is a resort Island) there is an old Fort called Fort Siloso. I'm so glad we spent time touring the fort. It was so neat to see some of the History of Singapore. The people here fought during World War 2, were overtaken by Japan, then at the end of the War were handed back over to England. Eventually they received their Independence. But they are proud of their History and you could definately see that in their displays here. This is taken at the top of the Fort. If you click on it, it's a good picture of the Harbour and the TONS of boats that are constantly lined up waiting to unload.

Here is Wayne with one of the Huge Guns used to shoot inland when Japan was attacking the City.
Grace was such a trooper. This was not the most entertaining thing for her to do, but the rest of us really enjoyed it.
All of us in front of the Fort Siloso Bus.
On our way to the beach we saw more Monkeys! Grace ran right up to them, but didn't get any closer than this. These particular Monkeys found a hot dog meal that they were snacking on.
We then played at the beach. We love being able to swim and play at the beach!
After the Beach we were all ready for some dinner. So we changed and found a restaurant with some good Authentic Singaporean Food. We ordered several dishes and then passed them around the table so we could sample them all. While we were walking to the restaurant we found these pretty flowers. I love this picture of Grace.
After dinner Ben took his parents up to she the Giant Merlion. This is the Symbol of Singapore.
We then settled down for a fun Laser lights Show. It was totally cheesy, but it was fun to watch the lasers projected onto water shooting a hundred feet in the air. Grace loved this and it was so fun to watch her dance to the music. She really was grooving, but is still working on her rythm. It was so fun to watch her dance it was really the first time she danced like that and hasn't stopped since. We tried to get a video but it was too dark.
After the show we headed home. Two late nights in a row and Grace was exhausted. She loved having her Granparents here, but they sure wore her out!

Day 5

Ben headed off to work this morning and the rest of us decided to go to the Chinese Gardens. Here is the beautiful Pagoda you see as you enter the Gardens. I was happy to just look and keep walking. But not Grace! She started up those stairs so fast I couldn't even stop her. So up I go after her hoping that once we got to the top that would be enough.

But no, she runs around inside and starts up some more stairs! I was about ready to die after all the stairs we had walked the day before, but since Grace was carried most of the way she was ready to go. So up another 7 flights of stairs we go. Grace wanted to quit on like the 4th level, but I wasn't going to stop half way so of course she gets carried the rest of the way. Thank Goodness for Wayne who was a trooper and came up with us. I think the view down is the best. I love the spiral staircase.
After the torture of the stairs we headed over the the Turtle Museum. Yes, this is the same place I was bit, but I stayed away from the turtles this time and settled for feeding the fish. Grace just enjoyed chasing the birds.
They had a beautiful Bonsai Tree Garden with trees up to 300 years old! We then wandered through the Prosperity Garden. Grace and I had to have our picture taken with the dogs since we were both born in the Year of the Dog.
By this point I am completely exhausted. Two days of many many stairs plus carrying Grace had taken a toll on me. I was starting to have some serious pains in my pregnant belly. So Grace and I headed home for a nap and sent Wayne and KaLee off to Chinatown for some shopping. The afternoon rest was just what we needed to gear up for the Night Safari! This is one of my favorite things we've done in Singapore. The Night Safari is just the zoo at night, seeing the nocturnal animals in their elements. The use of flash photography is strictly prohibited, thus the poor pictures from my camera. All the lights are super dim, and there were so many animals awake and moving. Near the entrance they had an Owl, a baby cheetah, and a snake you could take pictures with. Grace loved being so close to the animals and was surprisingly fascinated by the Snake. She kept trying to touch it's head.
They had a fire dance done by some people from a local tribe. It was amazing!
They also had a predators of the night show, but we didn't get any good pictures from it. It was so neat to see a wolf howl at the moon, and birds fly through the air so close up. After the show we took a Tram ride around the park. It took about 45 minutes and we saw just about everything, and there were no sleeping animals like during the day. At one of the stops on the Tram was a restaurant and restrooms. Grace saw the zeebra and had to ride it.
On our way out Grace wanted to see the animals again. She tried so many times to pet this kitty but of course she couldn't. Then the cat started swinging his tail and almost hit Grace. She thought that was hilarious! and kept moving forward so he would hit her.
It was such a fun night, but a late one! We got home close to 11:00 and Grace was OUT! She didn't even wake up for her diaper change. What a fun memorable Day!

Days 3 & 4

Day 3: Saturday. We decided to put another stamp in our Passports this day. So thanks to our friends Tania and Mike we made it over the border into Malaysia to visit the closest town to Singapore, Johor Bahru. It really wasn't that far away (nothing is in Singapore) but there isn't a whole lot to see here. This is the Sultans Palace which is now a museum. We drove around in taxis and jumped out to take a few pictures and then made our way to a local mall.

At the Mall there were tons of stores that sell DVDs. Mike took us to one he'd been to before. So you walk up to the desk and tell them you're interested in buying some DVDs. Then they take you into this back room that is packed full of movies and lock you in there. I'm not kidding, you have to ask to be let out. But we got an awesome deal on a ton of movies which I'm sure are probably pirated, but the shop owners SWEAR they're not. So I didn't feel to bad buying them. I got a ton of Disney Movies for like $1.50 US. You can't beat that! We spent a few hours at the mall and then decided to head home. Grace was so tired and finally gave into a nap on the taxi ride back to the bus terminal. So I ended up carrying her for about an hour while she slept. Out of the taxi, through immigration, on the bus, off the bus, back through immigrations, on the bus again, and then she woke up as we were getting on the MRT. I was wiped out- and SO HOT! Can't you see me glistening? We went home and watched one of our new movies and had Subway for dinner. We felt like it was a successful trip to Malaysia and definately worth getting that stamp in our Passports!
Day 4: Sunday. Since it was General Conference for us this weekend, and we had already made sure to watch it online before Ben's parents came, we had a free Sunday. We took advantage of this by resting this morning and letting Grace take and early nap. She went down at about 10:30! She was wiped out. We decided to go on a Treetop Walk through the Jungle for the afternoon. So we had a taxi drive us in as far as he could and off we went for a hike. We saw a family of Monkeys playing at the beginning of the trail. Grace loves the monkeys and the rest of the hike kept begging for more, but they were the only ones we saw.
But we did see this little mama, carrying a baby sticking out of her tummy. I don't remember what it's called but it was cool
The hike took us to a Suspension bridge built over the canopy of the rain forest so you can look down onto the trees. It was really beautiful and worth ALL the stairs we went down on our way out. There were A LOT. And guess who wanted to be carried ALL THE WAY? You've guessed it- Grace. And guess who she wanted to carry her? ME! It was a long hike. I actually felt pretty good at the end and I'm so glad we did it. We never would have if Ben's parents weren't here to help out.
On our way out we saw this sign. These are actually all over the place on private/government property. We made sure not to cross any boundaries in fear of getting shot.
We went home and crashed again, but did have a little energy for some more Mah Jong.

Day Two

We started off Day Two at the Jurong Bird Park. Ben had the day off so we all went to see the thousands of Bird. We were amazed at how many colorful beautiful birds there were. Because Singapore is more of a tropical area there were many unique birds from the local region that we have never seen before. One of our favorite things to do was Feed the Lories. These guys were aggressive, but it was fun to see them up close.

Ben found this old phone booth so he and Grace had to have a little looksy.

They had a really fun bird show that we saw and then we went on a tram ride around the park so we could have a better idea of which areas to visit. We went on a boardwalk and saw these pelicans swim right up to us. We tried to feed them Goldfish but they weren't interested. Then Ben discovered that he could just act like he was throwing something at them and they would lean forward to catch. He was entertained by that for a while.
This is the world tallest man-made waterfall. It was inside a huge indoor aviary.
"The World's Most Dangerous Creature: Homoerectus"
Me and the Stork
The Penguins! This was one of the favorite things. It was at the very end and so cool inside. We sat and rested in here while Grace took a little nap in the stroller. What a great way to end the trip to the Bird Park.
After the Bird Park we went to a local Mall to grab some lunch. Wayne opted for some local cuisine while KaLee and I got some KFC, and Ben got Subway. We weren't feeling quite as adventurous as Wayne. We then headed to the Pottery Jungle. They seriously had thousands of different Pots there. We walked around for a long time trying to decide on what to get. Ben's parents watched Grace most of the time and they found the Dragon Kiln where they fire the pots made there. Grace and Wayne had to go exploring.
One of the funnest parts of the Pottery Jungle were the Monkeys that played on the roof. The shop owners say that they come at night and break their pots, but they still give them food. It's a love hate relationship. There were two baby monkeys there. They were so cute! The one in the Monkey Mom's arms was not quite a week old when we were there.
This is our huge vase we bought. It was Ben's one request and we both fell in love with this one. It's 3 feet tall and very unique.
We then came home and sent the Men out to find us dinner. After we put Grace to bed we taught Ben's parents how to play Mah Jong, a really fun Chinese tile game.

A week with the In-Laws

We were lucky enough to have Ben's parents come and visit us for a week, the 10th through the 17th. It was sooo fun to have them here! We fit more into one week than in almost all our time here. So I'm going to try to take it a day at a time and record it.

DAY ONE:

Ben's parents arrived at 2:00 AM. We brought them up to the apartment and chatted for a while and then all went back to bed. Well, at least we tried, I didn't sleep much. Grace woke up at her usual time and as soon as Grandma and Grandpa came out of their room she was so excited. She ran right to Grandma and sat on her lap. About 15 minutes later she warmed up to Grandpa. Ben had to work this day so we all got ready and met him for an early lunch. We had some very traditional food at the Boon Tong Kee (a chicken rice restaurant). As we were finishing our lunch a bunch of his coworkers came in. Here he is showing off our Princess.

Ben took a longer lunch so he could do a little window shopping with us. We walked around the Wet Market by his work and then headed towards Little India. Then he ran back to work. The rest of us kept on walking and after a while ended up at Mustafa's. A huge department store in Little India. Grace had a little nap in the stroller and then we took the MRT down to.....
Chinatown! (this is one of my favorite places to shop- always something new to see) We just browsed so we could get an idea of what souveniers we wanted to get.
I had to show them the Bhuddist Temple. That's KaLee (Ben's Mom), Grace and Me standing in front of it.After Ben got off work we headed over to Clarke Quay for dinner. We ate at El Iguana and had some yummy Chimichangas!
Grace loves to play at Clarke Quay and stops at every single light that is in the ground like this one. There is also a huge fountain that we always have to avoid. She's been close to running right through it a few times.
So day 1 was so fun. We all ended up going to bed a little early because of the Jet lag and long day.

Our "Tats"

We spent the day yesterday finishing all of our souvenier shopping and we got some great stuff! While we were at Chinatown we found a little shop that did temporary tattoos. Since Ben has always joked about getting one we decided to do it. I got a henna tattoo. This is really popular with Indian women who wear it as decoration. This is a really simple design, some of the designs cover the entire hand!

Ben of course went for a very manly design on his calf.
Grace thought she needed one too, but we didn't want to pay 5 bucks and feel like we were bad parents for giving our baby a tattoo. She was pretty upset with us. And no worries, these will probably be worn off by the time we get home. They're only supposed to last up to 2 weeks. It was a fun one time thing to do.