Day 35, Part 2: Singapore

When the first thing you see when you leave your hotel is a monkey, you know it's going to be a good day. If only the adorable monkey could have indicated the steamy weather. Ten pounds in water weight has been scattered throughout Singapore's Botanic Gardens by yours truly.

Today, Chris and I spent over four hours in the beautiful botanic gardens. I may have gone a bit overboard with pictures (105...) but all of the flowers were too gorgeous to pass up, including a rare black lily. We were even able to see our second orchid exhibit since starting our travels in April. While lilies may be my favorite 'bouquet' flower (write that down), orchids stand on their own with individual beauty, and serve as Chris' favorite flower.

Our evening is best described as simply perfect. Brad and Matthew, his work counterpart in Singapore, took us for a night on the town. We toured the night life and enjoyed incredible food eaten with chopsticks by all, except Chris, who let her hunger have the upper-hand and forked it halfway. We ended the night with drinks on top of the Marina Bay Sands. For those unaware, this is the series of three buildings with a "ship" atop all three. And no, Chris did not ask how the ship got up there.

The view was spectacular, the drinks were refreshing, and the company was unbeatable. Not to mention, we're so wiped, tonight just might fix our jet lag! Think good thoughts for us! :)

Day 35: Singapore

After a straight 22 hours of airport-airplane-repeat, we finally arrived in Singapore. As fate would have it, our close friend Brad is here for work, so we are bunking up in his completely groovified hotel - no shortage of neon colors here!

With a 13 hour time change (we're blogging from the future!), I counted sheep early this morning and popped out of bed like a Jack-in-the-Box when the alarm went off. Lisa, the lucky duck, actually slept through the night (well, if you can call 3:30 am-7:30 am "night").

Now that we've had a hardy breakfast, it's time to explore Singapore!

Day 33: San Francisco to Asia

On our way Eastbound, we made a lovely stop in San Francisco. We stayed with our friends Rich and Sue, whom we've known for all of our lives. The evening consisted of drinks overlooking the city, a delicious dinner at an eclectic restaurant, and splendid company.

We were finally able to meet their precious dog, Stella. Also, as a great surprise, we flipped through a few pictures of Rich and Sue's trip to Singapore with our parents some years ago!

We now have an 11 hour flight ahead of us to Tokyo, a 4 hour layover, and then a 7.5 hour flight to Singapore. Outside of Chris' awful congestion, it should prove to be quite the day!

Off to the Far East!

After a few brief, but very busy, days at home, we are off once again!  We were able to catch up with loved ones, have a slice of Lou's deep dish, and repack our bags for warmer weather.  We fly to San Francisco tonight and carry on to Singapore Tuesday afternoon.

We look forward to exploring Singapore for a few days before our cruise departs on Saturday.  Our cruise will visit Malaysia, Thailand, in addition to Singapore. We don't know what our internet situation will be like (or how many mai tais we'll be drinking), but we will try to post updates as frequently as we can.

Bon voyage!

Lessons Learned and Favorites from Europe

Lessons Learned:
- Take more time to enjoy meals. They are an opportune time for relaxation and conversation. As an added benefit, you tend to eat less. :)
- Walk more, sit less.
- Never pass up the chance for a stroll with an ice cream cone.
- Put away the cell phone; you'll experience more and be liberated from technology.
- In time, we can figure out any public transportation.
- While our family may stress over some tiny things, when it comes to big problems, we have it covered.
- Don't multitask the big things.
- The worst part of this trip is that we can't go home and tell our granddad about all our adventures. He always loved to hear of our travels.


Favorite destinations:
Eisreisenwelt, Austria
Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic
Vienna, Austria
Bremen, Germany
Krakow, Poland


Favorite activities:
1. Touring the Eisreisenwelt ice caves
2. Climbing towers in almost every city, most notably the Old Town Tower in Prague
3. Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna
4. Exploring the salt mines in Krakow
5. Visiting Auschwitz, Poland

Day 28: What We Learned in Austria

- The original Sachet torte (chocolate cake) recipe is only known by a privileged few, and the recipe is kept under lock and key in a safe. So, obviously, the postcards with the "Original Sachet Torte" recipe on it are everywhere.
- Business women riding bikes are awesome.
- A person walking with their pants and undies around their ankles while smoking a cigarette in a train station is a spectacle in any country.
- The only baseball hat spotted (in all of Europe, not just Austria) is a restaurant worker passing out flyers.
- When a 'Just Married' couple drives by, all the cars with them honk their horns incessantly.
- Christina has had a ham & cheese crepe/croissant/pizza almost every day of the trip.
- We like watching Snooker!
- You don't have to pay for bathrooms as often here.
- Lisa is narcoleptic on train rides.

Day 27: Werfen, Austria

And then there were mountains. If you don't like hiking, natural beauty, or ice, today's not your day.

We traveled over an hour outside of Salzburg to Werfen, the town of Eisreisenwelt. The train ride to get there had the most stunning views of the luscious green countryside.

Eisreisenwelt encompasses the world's largest ice caves; it is the reason we stayed through early May. To get to the caves, you take a bus, hike 20 minutes, ride a cable car, and hike another 20 minutes. The tour inside the caves involves 1,400 steps (700 up, 700 down), hand-held lanterns providing the only light, and breathtaking views of ice dating back to 5,000 years. Also, since we were there early in the season, the frost hadn't melted off the ice yet and it sparkled like diamonds. Temperatures were freezing, but the views were the reward. If the views weren't enough, the ladies in the tour all agreed that they hire strapping young men as guides to provide more inspiration to persevere.

No photos were allowed once we entered the ice caves, so, as dedicated rule followers, we have included pictures from postcards. :)

Needless to say, we have ended our European tour on a high note - 1,775 meters, to be exact.