Holiday Cheers

Literally running out the door to catch our flight to head back home, so excited to see family and friends.

Wishing all of you Happy Holidays. Just was told that there's a major storm heading to Switzerland, snow, snow. Hurray. 

Bon Vent

Singapore Inspired Gift Guide

Magazines and blogs I read are all abound with gift guides at this time of the year, so thought I'd come up with my version of a Singapore inspired gift guide. Here it goes:

1. An evening of sipping Singapore Slings at the Raffles Hotel http://www.raffles.com/singapore/

2. A massage at Botanica Spa, considered to be Singapore's best http://www.spabotanica.com/

3. A ride on the Singapore Flyer for the view. http://www.singaporeflyer.com/

4. A colorful umbrella to protect yourself from our tropical storms http://www.amazon.com

5. A mug from Chinatown, just because...

6. A swim at Marina Bay Sands, you may have to spend a night there, but it's worth it just to take a dip in this unique rooftop pool. http://www.marinabaysands.com/

7. A yearlong membership at the zoo. My kids never tire from going there again & again. http://www.zoo.com.sg/

8. The ultimate guide to Singlish, so that you can be a native on the streets of Singapore. OK lah? http://booksactually.com/

Floral Confetti

After the rain here my hood's sidewalks are scattered with fallen frangipanis, so pretty I thought I had to share. Have a great weekend.

My new summer shoes

I think I may have found the perfect shoes for my eternal summers here in Singapore. A little more sexy than my Birkenstocks, not as flat as my Havaianas and way more comfortable than a stiletto. Plus they remind me of my mom and her eternal Dr. Scholls.

Note to my favorite store, NOA, you definitely need to order these for next summer. I'm sure you girls will be loving my peep toe clogs as much as I do.

PS. I bought my Swedish clogs from here. Great & fast service. www.lottafromstockholm.co.uk

It's beginning to look a "little" like Christmas

I definitely find it hard to get into the Christmas spirit with the outside temperature hovering permanently around 30*C. I'm a Swiss Miss girl at heart who's used to snow capped mountains at this time of the year. However, for my Zoros it's important to bring the Christmas spirit into our home, despite outside temperatures, so we've been listening to Christmas carols, writing letters to Santa, getting excited about the Advent calendar and added small Christmas decorations around the house. I think its kind of working, but now I just heard on the radio that a local mall is dropping its temperature to -3*C and having real snow. Maybe that's where I should be heading...Any other ideas for me?

Rain drops keep falling on my head...

No doubt, rainy season is in full swing here.

Keep dry and don't forget your umbrellas. 

Skating around

As of this Sunday, we have a new weekend activity. Big Z has taken to skateboarding and ever since we found out that East Coast has one of the world's ten best skate parks that's where we hung yesterday. She happily skated amongst an all boy crew, maybe that's the appeal. The boys were super friendly about giving her advice and she already wants to return next weekend.

Speaking of skateboarding, we came across the paintings and photographs of the very cool local street art artist: Trase One at the exhibition "Off the Wall." The show features a collaboration between 18 graffiti artists from France and Singapore and Trase One's skateboarding photos were definitely our fave. 

http://traseone.blogspot.com

Happy Thanksgiving

Definitely wish I were about to sit down for turkey with friends and family, but unfortunately no Thanksgiving dinner again for us this year. Yet, I'm grateful for all of the new adventures we've had in the past year here in Singapore. Miss all of you and can't wait to see you very soon.

Down my street

Most of my friends back home these days are talking about the cold weather settling in, shorter days, wearing sweaters and getting ready for ski season (although a little worried about the total lack of snow so far in Switzerland) but here none of that. It's eternally hot and humid, even with the rainy season in full swing, so instead of longing to sit by a fireplace thought I would share pictures of our

Eternal Summer.

Sunday Stroll

Checked out a new hood this weekend: Tiong Bahru.

Loved the white-washed art deco architecture of the area, definitely has a little Miami vibe to it, and loved all the funky cafés and stores, especially my fave: Books Actually. http://www.booksactually.com/

Today, found out that Tiong Bahru Estate is actually one of oldest housing estates here in Singapore, built around 1930, hence the art deco and more to that...

"Tiong Bahru was once the choice place of living for the upper class and also the place where the rich and powerful kept their mistresses. As a result, the estate used to be known as Mei Ren Wuo, which means ‘a den of beauties' in Chinese. " 

http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/singapore/singapore_district/1023/tiong_bahru.php

On our way to...

A couple of pics of our very short layover in Chiang Mai.

Rosie's highlight: having a sit down with one of the monks.

Happy Weekend.

Beautiful Laos. Part III

Loving the Laos style - lots of shades of greys, mixed with teak wood and jungle style bouquets.

BUDDHA CHIC, my new favorite.

Beautiful Laos. Part II

Twelve years ago, I came to Luang Prabang, Laos. Back then I had been on an extended backpacking holiday throughout South East Asia and of the many places I visited, Luang Prabang was my favorite. 

I raved to hubby and Zoros about LP's beauty and vibe and to my relief LP is just as beautiful as I remember it to be. We enjoyed riding bicycles, visiting buddhist temples, taking boat rides along the Mekong, swimming in waterfalls and shopping at the night market. The fact that access to LP is complicated: no trains, hazardous roads and few flights I believe have helped LP to preserve its authenticity. My advice is should you be in the region definitely go see LP for yourself.

Beautiful Laos. Part I

Happy Birthday Lil' O

5 years old today my lil' boy.

5 lil' friends just spent

5 really fun days together

Come back soon

Happy Depavali

Today in Singapore, and elsewhere in Asia, Indians are celebrating Deepavali more commonly known as the "festival of lights." Indians light small clay lamps which signify the triumph of good over evil.

Last Friday, I accompanied Rose's class on an outing to Little India. Together we went on a treasure hunt organized by their teacher. The children loved the bustling activity at the local temple, the colors, the women's saris, scary sculptures of Kali and getting henne tattoos. I love that my children can now participate and understand other cultures and most of all that they are interested in knowing more.

Singapore Art Scene

The above pieces hanging in our living room

My favorite Singaporean artist, Izziyana Suhaimi, is having a new show this weekend at the Little Drom Store. My advice is to definitely check out Izzy's show if you're in town. I'm in love with Izzy's work. I love her intricate ink and watercolor drawings with embroidered or knitted details. The works featured at the Little Drom Store are part of her "Friends to Keep you Warm" series. 

Happy Weekend

http://www.thelittledromstore.com/

http://my-bones.tumblr.com

Around the house

Buddhas have recently been popping up all around our house.

When not traveling...

we like to try out new activities.

Figure that one of my roles, as a non-working expat mom, is to expose my Zoros to as many activities as possible in the hope that they will find one they like. Hence, the 20,000k on my car in a year without ever having left the island. Anyway, lil' O loved his taekwando class and he can't wait to go back next week. Bonus (apart from the sooo cool outfit) is that it's 2 streets down for us, so were biking there.

http://www.tkd-singapore.com/s/

Penang Getaway

Penang, another great and easy weekend destination from Singapore.

Penang is an island off the western coast of Malaysia, just south of the island of Langkawi. Back in the 1800's, Penang was an important maritime port attracting merchants from all over Asia. All of these international merchants created a melting pot of different cultures which is seen today in the people and architecture of George Town, now protected by UNESCO.

 There is also an old world charm to Penang. Many of the colonial buildings, dating back to British colonial era, have been preserved including the beautiful E&O hotel. Needless to say, Penang has a cool fusion vibe. Many of the old shophouses are being restored into hip cafes and boutique hotels. Our favorite hangout was Kopi Cine, part of the Straits Collection.

http://www.straitscollection.com.my

/http://eohotels.com/index.php

A year of blogging

Home in Singapore

This little blog of mine all started a year ago...already.

Initially, this blog was just an easy way for me to stay in touch with family and friends. The blog avoided me having to write 15 similar emails describing our life here in Singapore. Once we were more settled and the initial novelty of living in a foreign country wore off, I became lazy with my blog and often wondered who cares to know how it is here? Then this summer back home, I was really touched to hear that a number of you follow our adventures and enjoy hearing from us...  

and so begins, year 2 of our Zoros in the East.

Have a nice weekend.

xxx

Lil' O's first mohawk

Grandpa Ic now wonders (or more likely worries) when lil' O will get his first piercing

Should you want the same "do" run on over to 

JasonSally's salon

http://www.facebook.com/jasonsally.hairdressers

A wet Siem Reap weekend with the girls

One of the perks of living in Singapore is the extensive exotic weekend destinations and so on that note, we decided to fly to Siem Reap. We were so excited to leave kids and hubbies behind that none of us checked the weather forecast. Wet feet, a ghost town and perilous rides through the streets is what we had all weekend. Siem Reap had not seen floods like these in 10 years. In the end, Angkor Wat remains incredibly beautiful and fascinating wet or dry and a girls getaway weekend will always be fun. Some of the temples were closed off due to floods, so I guess all that means is that we'll have to next time remember to check the weather or pack our wellies.

Gogos Mania

Total Gogos craze here at home.

Little O is obsessed with these little "crazy bones" and

for once has no problem learning names and remembering numbers.

Knows his collection by heart and can recite his sticker book

BUT he says he's missing lots...

Please tell me that someone out there is willing to trade with him.

http://gogoscrazybones.com/splash_page_funzone.html

Our homegrown fruit cocktail

Meet our new housepets:

Mango, Kiwi and Banana

3 very young lovebirds

that we have to bottle "syringe" feed x3 times a day

My Zoros are in love with their new babies

and are so far being very responsible parents.

La Rentrée

On our first day of back to school
The much anticipated return to school last Monday came off without a glitch or a tear.
My three Zoros are all in all super happy, except maybe for little O. who just can't understand why he has to go back to school everyday when he was already there yesterday. 

Off we go again

Taking a short break from packing, seems like I do this a lot here. Anyway, this time round we're heading back west for a month. Can't believe that we've been here in Singapore for almost a year. So far our experience here has been great and enriching. I've loved sharing with you our life here and hopefully have persuaded you to come explore Singapore. Thanks for following our adventures and wishing you all a wonderful summer.

xxx

Zai Jian Beijing

A couple tacky, touristy pics of our Beijing escapade, have not had time to download the rest. 

As for our impressions of our Beijing trip - Interesting, has been my hubby's favorite word since we've returned from our Beijing escapade. Anytime anyone asks him about any aspect of our trip he answers interesting. Kind of glad he went to see the sights, but not ready to go back very soon and very happy that he's living in this part of Asia. The kids thought the best part of the trip was anytime were weren't mobbed by thousands of other tourists, so rule out Forbidden City and Summer Palace. Zoé and Rose's highlight was walking along the Great Wall and Oscar remained true to himself and loved seeing the pandas at the zoo. As for our mandarin, we were hopeless. Completely lost. It's as if we had never taken a mandarin class. Needless to say that we will be retaking mandarin 101 next fall.