The Silk Road Museum

The beginning of the Silk Road was in the West Market, Xi'an, China. In it's place, a museum has been built which preserves artifacts from the Silk Road.
The Silk Road was an important trade route connecting China with India, Persia and the Mediterranean beginning around 207 AD during the Han Dynasty. Although many goods were traded, the trade route was given the name of the Silk Road because trading in silk was so lucrative.
The Silk Road was an important avenue of spreading religion. Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, Islam and Manicheism were all spread throughout the area because of the trade route.
Besides religion, food, dancing, art and dress were shared between many cultures along the Silk Road.
At the museum we saw pits that showed underground aqueducts used for water. Archaeologists have uncovered water wells and wheel tracks that have been preserved.

Bells

The museum displayed ancient money from: Greece,

Persia, India and China. These coins are Greek.

Wagon tracks and aqueduct.

Copper Vases.

Yuan Family Village

Street made of old doors

Grinding cornmeal 

Vinegar vats

Blacksmith. He made these tea kettles

Pastries

Wanting to escape to horrific pollution we decided to take a hour long road trip North of Xi'an to the Yuan Family Village. The air wasn't as clear as we had hoped, but the village was awesome. This quaint village that puts traditional Chinese industry and folk arts on display.
One street was made entirely of old wooden doors. It was awesome to see the workmanship that went into these heavy doors.
We first spent time tasting local food. We tried  chocolate pastries. They were cake filled with a pudding and were delicious. We had lamb, nan bread and soup. We also tried scorpion. It tasted crunchy and salty, kind of like popcorn.
In the village we saw the process of making vinegar. A woman told us that it takes six months minimum to produce the vinegar. We saw chili powder, cornmeal and canned chili being made and we saw blacksmith making iron tea kettles. We watched a weaving demonstration and there was a man selling hand made Chinese tops. They were so cool that we had to buy one. We thought it was a steal of only $3.20 US dollar.

There were demonstrations on paper cutting and painting. The girls really liked riding on a little goat cart. A highlight were some children aged eight to twelve performing street acrobatics. Their talents and strength were amazing.

Pulau Bintan, Indonesia

We decided to take a quick ferry ride to Bintan, Indonesia to spend a few days. It was a great decision.

A hotel worker gave me a brief history of the island. He said that people have lived on the island since 200 AD. The island has been an important port for sea trading between China and India. He said at times it has been under control of China, the Arabs, British and Dutch.

The island gets it's name from a local legend. According to the story, a prince asked a local princess to marry him. She rejected him and threw his jewel ring into the sea and it became the island of Bintan. 

We loved playing on the beaches. The sand was a beautiful white color and the blue water was striking against it. Mr. Kungfuyankee had a good time snorkeling and seeing the sea life.

We had the opportunity to attend a cultural show and elephant show. (videos of dancing and music are posted in the previous four blue links). Second daughter got to tell the elephant numbers and it would pick up the correct numbered card and bring it to her. Mr. Kungfuyankee got to be the goalie against an elephant playing soccer. I think they both enjoyed it. 

After the show, we all got to ride an elephant. It was awesome. They had me sit on the hip bone so the ride as really bumpy. Elephant skin is really soft but their ears are rough and the elephant hair is course.

Mr.Kungfuyankee surprised us with a night safari where we got on boats and drove down a river and got to catch fireflies. The fireflies live in the mangrove trees next to the river. The girls and I had never seen fireflies so we loved catching them and holding them. It was a real treat. 

Traditional Indonesian food included a sweet curry and we tried a traditional caked called Srikaya Panggang. It was thick and had the consistency of mousse but tasted like rice.

Srikaya Panggang

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

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