Singapore

We took a boat ride down the river in Singapore and learned a little about Singapore's history. It was settled by locals since the second century AD and in 1819, Sir Edmond Raffles settled Singapore as a trading post for the East India Trading company. After the company went bankrupt it was ceded by Great Britain. Singapore got its independence from Britain in 1963 along with nearby islands. Together, they formed Malaysia. In 1965, Singapore was expelled from Malaysia due to differences in economics, finance and politics. 

Pulau Ubin, Singapore

Pulau Ubin is a small island off of the east coast of Singapore The island houses tons of wild boars, monkeys, a wetland, and has preserved traditional Singaporean homes.
We started the morning taking a "Bumboat" from Singapore to Pulau Ubin. Twelve people were allowed on the bumboat. We rode with seven monks from Sri Lanka.
Once we got to the island we rented bikes and took a ride throughout the island. We rode to an amazing wetlands that had mangrove trees and a a tall tree house that we climbed to get a great view of the ocean and surrounding areas. We saw a mom and baby boar at the bike parking lot of the wetlands.
We then went to some tidal pools. We all had fun looking for crabs, sea snails and poking at different sponges and sea animals that I can't even begin to name.
We rode by an azure blue lake. It was fenced off so we couldn't get a close look, but it was beautiful. We saw a family of monkeys eating some fruit close to the lake, which made the kids very excited.

Pulau Ubin was probably our favorite activity in Singapore. It was relaxing, with amazing views and wild life.

Chinatown, Singapore

I have to admit, when my husband insisted on going to Chinatown I was less than thrilled. I live "Chinatown" or Chinaland as my middle daughter says every day. I reluctantly went, but am so glad I did.
The stalls were set in front of brightly colored buildings. I am a sucker for pops of color and was in love with the street.
Vendors sold Chinese themed nick-knacks, life like paper cut faces,  and really cheap Singapore souvenirs.  I found a guy that hand painted Christmas ornaments. I paid more than I wanted for it, but am glad I found his stand.
Chinatown had a few restaurants, but we had eaten earlier in the evening, so I am not sure how authentic they were.

Singapore Zoo

For us a family vacation isn't complete without a visit to a zoo or wildlife park. We loved the Singapore Zoo. It had many exotic animals and gave many interesting facts about the animals. The zoo had free range orangutans which meant they were not in cages and would dangle from trees above us. It was a very interactive zoo.

         

Pygmie hippos secret a natural red

sunscreen

 

Little India, Singapore

It's been a life long dream of mine to go to India. However, with the public awareness of rape and crime in the country, I feel it would be unsafe to travel there. So I had to get my India fix at Singapore's Little India.

The street was alive with the scent of flowers, fruit, vegetables and incense. It was a live with the pulse of Bollywood music and the hustling people. It was exhilarating.

We walked down a few streets and ate dinner at a small, local restaurant. The food was delicious. Our second daughter refused to try it and ate a peanut butter sandwich instead. 

Little India has a few Hindi Temples and a Muslim Mosque but the children were tired so we forwent visits to those places. 

Siloso Beach, Singapore

To fight my husbands bronchitis and to celebrate Christmas, we headed to Singapore for a family vacation. We have loved it. The air is clean and pure. The food is delicious and the weather is warm. We spent half a day at Siloso Beach which is on Sentosa Island.
The water was warm, clear, and beautiful.

As the tide receded our oldest daughter got stung by a little creature.

Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

Gardens by the Bay is a large park in the heart of Singapore, right by the bay. Twice a night there is a free light show set to music. As it is Christmas time, the show was set to popular secular holiday music. It was a really entertaining show. Our youngest daughter kept saying "wow" every few seconds. I love being surrounded by the curiosity and amazement of children.

Merry Christmas

My children attend a Christain school and they put on a wonderful Christmas program which concluded with the children singing Silent Night in English, Korean and Chinese. As I listened to them, I was filled with awe at the love God has for all of his children. We speak many languages, but the message is the same.
Enjoy their performance here.

Big Wild Goose Pagoda

The Wild Goose Pagoda was built in 652 AD during the reign of Tang Emperor Gaozong. It was built to house a collection of Buddhist relics that were taken from India. It is part of the Daci'en Temple complex which was build in 648 AD.
According to Buddhist legend, the Wild Goose Pagoda got it's name when a group of monks could not find meat to buy. Upon seeing a flock of wild geese flying by, a monk said out loud that he hoped the Bodhisattva would give them meat. Immediately, the head wild goose fell to the ground and broke it's wing. The monks believed that the Bodhisattva had shown his spirit to them through this goose and wanted them to be more pious. They gave up eating meat and built the pagoda at the site the goose had fallen.
We were able to climb all seven floors of the temple and had an amazing view of Xi'an. At the complex there were some temples, scripture, relics, and a drum tower that was built in the 1500's.

View of the Wild Goose Pagoda and

surrounding area in 1911.

Modern view from the fourth floor of the Wild

Goose Pagoda. 

Magazine Interview

I was interviewed for a local magazine that caters to foreigners. They interviewed me on the ex-pat experience for children living in Xi'an. I thought it might offer insight into what life is like for the kids.  I wrote the questions they asked in red and my answers in black.

 How have your children benefited from their expat experience?

Our children have personally benefited from their expat experience in Xi’an. It has helped our children to be more flexible, culturally sensitive, and creative.

Through necessity the children have had to learn how to be flexible; to adapt to new situations, food, and cultural behavior.  While there have been some bumps along the way, the children are developing skills that will be invaluable throughout their adult life.

Living abroad has helped develop a better understanding and acceptance of cultures. The children have learned we all have more commonalities than differences. Once the children have recognized similarities they have built friendships. Because friendships are based on similarities and shared experiences, differences in language and culture do not matter as much.

We can’t always find the ingredients we need to make familiar foods and we can’t do the same activities that we are used to, but I am amazed at the creative solutions my children come up with. Many times I say something can’t be done, and they come up with creative solutions that actually work.

What aspects of living abroad are difficult for your children?

It has been difficult balancing being kind and friendly to the Chinese while maintaining our personal space and privacy. Our family sticks out in Xi’an because we have three daughters and they are fair haired. We literally get stopped every day for photos, and many people will touch their hair and try to pick them up. When we went to the zoo there was literally a line of people waiting to get their picture with us. While this is fun for them most days, sometimes the children want their personal space.  I have gotten good at saying “ta hen hai xiu”, which means she is shy. The Chinese are usually understanding  and give them their personal space when I say this.

Another challenge is finding food we are familiar with. Many times familiar food tastes different than we are used to. On the flip side, the children are trying new foods and we are finding new foods we like.

What advise do you have for other ex-pat parents?

I would advise other parents to be deliberate. Decide what you want your expat experience to be like, then make that happen by writing down and planning out  deliberate goals and or purposes.  Make your expat experience what you want it to be.

Sunrise

For the first time the smog had dissipated enough that I could watch a sunrise. Compared to other sunrises, this one doesn't seem spectacular, but to me it was the most beautiful sight. Compared to the dull gray fuzz that daily surrounds me, the sparks of blue, pink and yellow were an overload to my senses.
Sometimes I think we all feel like this sunrise.  Compared to others we may find ourselves feeling unremarkable but to those around us, we are beautiful and amazing.

Qing gong Shi Chang

I love to shop and I really love to shop at the fun, busy local markets. Nestled in south Xi'an is a mall called Qing Gong Shi Chang. It was an amazing outlet type mall that sold anything and everything.
I was so excited to find a vendor that sold simple craft supplies such as: googly eyes, pipe cleaner, rafia, pompoms, and jute. His prices were reasonable too.
The biggest surprise were stalls filled with Hobby Lobby goods. I was so excited until they told me their prices and would not negotiate at all with me. Their prices were double the normal, not on sale prices at Hobby Lobby. Still, it warmed my heart to find something cute and familiar.
This mall sold inexpensive but beautiful tea sets, as well as Chinese wedding supplies,  clothing, home goods, toys, bikes and Christmas decorations. I also found a guy that sold confetti cannons. I posted a video of the salesman's demonstration here.
Overall, it was a fun outing and I will probably be going back in the near future.

Christmas tree lane

One of the Hobby Lobby stores. I 

found two clocks here that I already had...

Australia

While in China we have made sacrifices of being by family and sacrificed the comforts and conveniences found in the western world. However, the opportunities and amazing things we have been able to see and experience far outweigh any thing we have had to give up.

Part of our relocation package includes a R&R trip so we took ours to Australia. And boy, did we need to get out of the pollution and smog of China. We have all been battling hacking coughs for a couple of weeks and being in the sunshine, clean air and yummy food is just what the doctor ordered.

We started off in Sydney, Australia. We went to the iconic Opera House. It was beautiful up close. While there, we watched part of a local Aboriginal dance and music competition called HomeGround. I posted two short videos I took here and here.

The next day we went to an animal park called Featherdale. We got to pet a koala and snake, feed and pet kangaroos and see wombats, Tasmanian devils and other birds only found in Australia.

We then drove to the Blue Mountains. A man told us they are called the Blue Mountains because they are covered with eucalyptus trees. When it gets warm, the eucalyptus oil heats up and gives off a blue glow, giving the mountains there names. The mountain views were breathtaking. We especially liked the rock formation called the Three Sisters. We felt it was very fitting for our family of three daughters.

On the third day of our trip we flew to Melbourne, Australia , Melbourne  had a European feel to it. Mainly because of the beautiful architecture and the abundance of Christian churches. We met up with my husband’s cousin and his family. They took us to ride the Puffing Billy, which is a steam train that took us up around Melbourne’s country side and stopped at a lake. My girls loved this excursion. They can’t quit talking about it.

The next day was a beach day. We went to Brighton Beach and Torquay Beach. We loved both of them. My husband got a surfing lesson from his cousin, which was really fun.

Our last day in Melbourne was spent at the Queen Victoria Market. I loved the business of it. People were shouting out what goods they carried and the prices. I had a little envy at the cleanliness of the market and the delicious goods (i.e. cheese, milk, nice cuts of meat and fish) that were available there. We also picked up a few souvenirs.  

We had some time to kill so we went to Fitzroy Park. It had a conservatory, tree with fairies cut into it, and best of all Cooks Cottage. It is the original home of Captain James Cooks parents. It was relocated from England to Melbourne in the 1930s. We learned a lot about the time period and the kids dressed up in period costumes.

We flew back to Sydney and spent the day at different beaches. We did a walk along Manly Beach and Shelley Beach and then went to a national park which had breath taking views.

While in Australia we ate amazing seafood and tried local dishes such as meat pie and vanilla slice. Vanilla slice is a pastry dessert with a flaky crust, custard filling and strawberry top. It was amazing. I found out that lemonade is not like lemonade in the states. It’s a Sprite like soft drink but still good. 

Koala bears

Puffing Billy

Brighton Beach

Huge Aussie made licorice

One of many churches in Melbourne,

Australia

St. Kilda Beach, Melbourne, 

Australia

Sydney, Australia

The Three Sisters

The Blue Mountains

Cooks Cottage

Puffing Billy

Queen Victoria Market

Aboriginal singing and dancing

Fairy Tree, Fitzroy Park, Melbourne,

Australia

Manly Beach, Sydney, Australia