More than half way

We are more than half-way through our stay in Singapore. The move here has been a big success and great opportunity for both Craig and Zoe, and I am enjoying it too. Craig's project is going very well here, with Singapore and Jakarta well intergrated in the new system. He's currently working on India, China and soon Australia transitions. He recently had an op, to remove some varicose veins that were causing him some problems. He was off work 1 day after laser surgery and 3 days later, is now in Jakarta.

Zoe is enjoying school very much and doing well. Her class are currently rehearsing a play they will present to the parents next tuesday night. She's a cicada.... and last week they went to see an english production of some Aesops Fables. They do fun things at the school.

Singapore has brought out the athlete in Zoe. When she started Little Athletics in September, she was coming 13th or 14th in all her events, 100m, 60m hurdles, long jump, discus, shotput, 200m, 300m. She's now coming between 3rd and 6th place in all events, and is throwing some 2m longer in the field events, and running 2-3 seconds faster in all track events. She loves it - particularly when she gets a 'PB' sticker. PB is for personal best, and the aim of the meet is for each child to strive to beat their own PB, and not each other. She's so funny - when she sees me, she'll give me a big grin and wave while she's running her race.

Her swimming is progressing well too. She's just jumped a class or two, and now trains in a 25m pool. She is swimming confidently in all strokes. When we arrived, although she was super confident in the water, she couldn't swim a stroke - she was just learning to use her arms in freestyle. So, she's come a long way.

It's amazing how well kids can do in sport when they have good teachers, good facilities and 365 days of summer!

Turning 8.

Zoe got to celebrate her birthday this year, like no other..... February in the tropics is HOT! So we made the most of it, and Zoe celebrated her birthday - Hawaiian style. The only disaster of the day was her birthday cake - 3 attempts later, and 2 hours before her party was to start, Craig was out in search of a birthday cake to buy!

Zoe invited 8 friends from school and we held her party at our condo, around the pool. It was fun and sooo easy. The kids were in and out of the pool in betweeen games of hula hoop, skipping and a limbo competition. Continuing on the theme - we had a palm tree pinata, which took forever to crack!

We then continued on into the late hours of the evening, with two french families we have become close to with an aussie style BBQ. The kids (5 of them) have become close friends - all being within 2 years of each other.

A girls day out.

With Craig's 'go-live' date being the 1st Feb, he wasn't home much mid january to mid february, including a couple of weekends. So, instead of just hanging around the house, Zoe and I set off to explore more of Singapore.

One saturday, we took a 3 hour harbour cruise on the Imperial Cheng Ho (a replica chinese junk). It was a great way to see Sentosa Island, Singapore port and some of the small islands off the mainland. We stopped at one island called Kusu where we could walk around it, and visit a temple. It was just gorgeous, with not a sole to be seen. Kusu island is also called Turtle island, where during the 9th lunar month (November this year), the Temple attracts thousands of pilgrims who pray for health, babies and a peaceful life.

We hope to visit it again, bringing Craig and a picnic lunch!

It was a fun day. The junk was pretty amazing, and within minutes, Zoe had the boat checked out. She had fun exploring the many rooms on it. She bonded with the staff and in no time had them supplying her with packets (and packets!) of biscuits to munch on.

It was a cool way to spend a morning and discover a bit more of Singapore into the bargain.

February school holidays in Laos.

It was a little strange going on holidays without Craig, but with Nanny & Ampar in tow (my parents), the four of us set off to explore Laos. We really had no idea what to expect and so we prepared for it - we'd had our shots, we had our anti-malaria medication, had the mosquito repellent with DEET, packed long shirts to protect us from the mosquitos at night, and I even bought a 'travellers emergency medication kit'. I was ready for everything from a bout of conjunctivitis to rabies!

I had arranged a private trip - with the itinerary pre-organised and local guides and air-conditioned cars to ferry us around. It worked SO well! We were picked up at the airport in Vientiane (the capital), checked into our hotel and were off visiting temples in no time. Our guide was great - a local Laotian who was quite a character! Zoe drove him crazy asking SO many questions - she would raise her arm like in school. By that evening, she could say hello, hello how are you, and thank you in Lao, and knew the meaning of most of the buddah's hand positions.

The next day, we flew Lao airlines (yep - I was a little worried too) from Vientiane, to Luang Prabang in the north. It's a World Heritage listed town and it lives up to it's reputation. We had 6 days in Luang Prabang and loved it.

We learned alot about the history and culture from our guide. Did you know, in Lao, it's compulsory to study as a monk for a minimum of 3 months.... Amazing huh - in some countries it's compulsary to do military service to learn how to defend your country, and in Lao it's compulsory to learn how to uphold Buddah's values - a bit like our 10 commandments (but don't quote me on that!). Our guide in LP had been a monk for 14 years - leaving the monastary when he was 28 - every Lao mother's dream catch for her daughters! A virgin, learned, gentle man who knew how to look after himself.

In LP, we saw many, many more temples, took a day trip up the meekong by boat to the Pak Ou caves, visited many hilltribes who still specialise in local silk weaving, rice wine and crafts, visited the beautiful Kouang Si waterfalls and walked and walked......

The highlight of the trip was Zoe's birthday. She was a pig in poo when she discovered she'd got a Nintendo DS for her birthday -finally! After breakfast, we set off to the Elephant camp where they rescue injured and tortured elephants from the logging industry. Zoe got to not only ride the elephant on a trek, but to sit just behind it's head as the mahout. A mahout is an elephant's master - but it goes much further than that - they are best friends for life, living, working and sleeping side by side. The elephant responds to the mahout's touch and voice. It's amazing to see the bond between them. It was a brilliant day, and one that I don't think she'll ever forget.

It was also pretty unforgettable watching Nanny and Ampar hanging on for dear life - they had an elephant that had a mind of it's own:)

Mum and I also manged some serious silk weaving shopping - it has to be said. The silks were just amazingly beautiful and intricate.

Dad and I experienced the famous morning ritual of the monks walking through the town taking their food from the locals at sunrise. It was pretty amazing. They eat only twice a day and must finish eating by lunchtime. They rely heavily on the sticky rice and other food given to them by the locals.

The country was beautiful and I would definately love to go back again and explore more of it. It was clean and safe. The threat of mosquitos or other diseases and illnesses were non-events. It is an amazingly beautiful country with very gentle people - influenced by french, chinese, japanese and american cultures that have impacted or invaded them. We all felt very safe even at night. The older generations could all speak french, but the younger people couldn't. They are being taught english or russian in school now.

My most memorable experience was just watching the Meekong - from the sunrises (only managed one of those), to sunset, watched the fisherman, saw locals commute across the river for work, heard the kids playing in the water - everything happened on the river.