on this day in history

december 22nd- christina's birthday


so we celebrated on sunday instead of monday. dinner and a movie... North Border Bar & Grill was the destination and afterwards vivo city's golden village for a flick (Four Christmas's).



so the big 28... this is not suppose to be a personal blog but i am going to splurge a little on this subject since it is my day and all. so 28 years... i have to ask myself what do i really have to show for all these years. most of my friends are married, some on their first child, some on their second, some finishing medical school or upper graduate degree, some buying houses and settling down, some starting new careers, and some have a sturdy grip on their career ever since graduating college. what have i accomplished in these 28 years?... is this what getting older is all about? finding the age old question lingering at every birthday? what is my purpose in life and what do i want to accomplish with this time on earth? so to make myself feel better, and for dirk's sake of not hearing me dwell on "what the heck i am doing with my life"... dirk and i sat down and took a look back at my accomplishments. miraculously most achievements have come this past year, 2008 was a turning point in my life and most importantly, dirk and my life together. we bought a house August 18th, 2007; united as one January 5th, 2008, graduated from nursing school May 9th, 2008, moved across the globe August 23rd, 2008, first RN job December 2008...

i know that working at memorial hermann memorial city hospital in the cardiac rehab center has shaped me into the person i am today... something about your first job. the staff and patients there have impacted me the most besides my parents... they have taught me to not take tomorrow for granted. it is so true, each person you meet in your life really does make an impact in some way or another. one of my patients at the wellness center emailed me on my exact birthday... for him to actually remember meant something awesome to me. maybe i have done a little good, made a little difference, or maybe it was just my first young naive job... but i can check off the four years i spent getting to know each and every patient at that rehab center... and i will remember all of them. i wish i had a picture to post of them...

so dirk made me cup cakes instead of a cake, he bought me a north face backpack and rain jacket in ho chi minh, vietnam... they will come in really handy in cambodia. it was a great day!

cupcakes

backpack

rain jacket

this is for mom & dad jacobs- the first picture with the camera you guys bought us for christmas... thank you so much- it is blue

christmas tree on top of vivo city mall

isn't this crazy? malls are so huge here! people flock to them and never buy anything... just a day at the mall with $5 SGD parking fees... CRAZY

before dinner & movie

Party Time

december 20th- fmc hoiday party

dirk came back today from vietnam. i actually drove to pick him up from the airport without a problem. i have actually been driving alot of places... with my trusty sidekick otto man. the day before we drove to the de jong house to get there mail and play in the yard. otto brought his new christmas ball (mom- i could not get it away from him) and he played outside for about an hour until otto got too hot. it is about 20 minutes to kim & kaes de jong's house and about 30-40 minutes to the airport... the airport is on the other side of the island for us so it is the farthest distance for us to drive.

too hot (at the de jong's house playing in the yard)

playing with his new ball at the de jong's house in their yard

we ended up going to the fmc holiday party saturday night after dirk arrived home. he can now say that he has been to three different fmc holiday parties in three different countries... brazil, singapore, and the usa. singapore wins by far... it was a blast! the rasa sentosa hotel & resort

hosted the event which was beach style in the sand. the food was amazing, the entertainment was great (fmc idol, where the employees did the singing... they even had try outs), and the venue was perfect. there were about 800 people there eating, drinking, and dancing. the fmc idol was rather amusing... the winner sang a howie day song. more videos to come. dirk's coworkers were more than gernerous... they all HAD to meet me AND take pictures with me. i guess i am like that blonde haired blue eyed person in the middle of an asian culture... it was a rather blushing experience. the people were so nice, offering drinks and food, to sit at there table and talk to them. all in all it was a great night! fmc gave out over $83,000 SGD in prizes... the winning prize being a 46" lcd tv... that is all we need is another tv. it is great to see everyone from one corporation, but so many different religions, cultures, and backgrounds, getting together and celebrating.

dirk & a fellow co-worker (he LOVED texas & the longhorns... also he always made sure my drink was full)

the venue was great... all in the sand

FMC Idol... they love American Idol over here... this was a little bit of entertainment!

for you: Mom, M.I.L., and Grandma

december 18th: hello vietnam again...

for all those who have nothing to do but read my blog and look at my boring pictures... they are mainly for my wonderful mom who sent me a bunch of christmas decorations to brighten up our apartment. AND new curtains are always fun to look at right?!

dirk left for vietnam today again... nha trang, vietnam which is located northeast of ho chi minh. he is having meetings there until friday then returning to work over the weekend to finish a big project. he has been working very hard and is very dedicated to the projects over here... the last week he has been leaving the house at 6:30AM and not returning until 7:30PM or later. it gives me ample time to catch up on all my american tv, clean the house, and make dinner. but i still have a hard time getting it all done...

so the apartment has been updated... new curtains, new patio furniture, and christmas decorations (thanks mom again!)

dirk & otto's stockings (notice the new curtains)

christina's stocking

christmas tree updated

new curtains!!

patio furniture

bamboo shade for the back patio... now the maids can't stare at me when i do the laundry!

merry christmas from the dunlaps

december 14th- this is what we did on our awesome saturday night....

it is really hard to take a timed picture with a dog... no one behind the camera to get his attention. otto was a good sport but we had many many takes of the family christmas card before dirk and i got tired... here is a preview of what is to come in the mail...

otto is not happy- red hat on his collar worked well to get his attention later

otto loves dirk

so we took the red hat off and put it next to the camera... he was totally focused on the hat the whole time after that... love this dog

this one made the cut... the dunlap family christmas card 2008

orchard road

december 13th- happy birthday frankie

IndoChine on Orchard Road

CatsInECradle- band at IndoChine

Frankie & Dirk- $35 SGD per pitcher

so last night we traveled to IndoChine on orchard road for frankie's birthday party. frankie is a friend of our neighbor (maxie street) who moved here with his wife (misty), daughter (bailey), and mother in law about a year ago to work for halliburton. (i hope it is ok to mention you guys on here?) orchard road is the rodeo drive of singapore and it is decorated fabulously for christmas including the fake snow flowing in the air near santa claus's house. IndoChine is a restaurant and bar where frankie & misty's friend plays in a cover band, CatsInECradle. it is all outside with frequent foot traffic stopping to hear the band play or watch the giant transvestite dance to the music. it has to be the most fun we have had since we have been here... and we only stayed for a couple of hours due to dirk's AWESOME work schedule (can you sense the sarcasm?). Here are some pics of the night.

so dirk is working this weekend while everyone else is taking home leave and seeing their families over the holidays. he will be working the next couple of days including weekends, 12 hour shifts until the J.O.B. is done... whatever that means. then he is back in vietnam for another meeting, i might possibly fly and meet him next weekend... but again we will see how that goes.

upcoming events this week. i have a second interview with the international clinic on monday... if i get the job then i have to haggle with the singapore nursing board to get registered over here. meaning going back in forth with the texas board of nursing and twu for proper paper work... fun fun. we are also having some curtains made for the living room tuesday plus a bamboo shade for the back patio.

the christmas lights on orchard were great... this is a whole wall of lights with the saying "with God all things are possible"- across the street from IndoChine.

if you look right above the woman who looked straight at my camera as i took the picture- the trannie (in pink)that dances infront of IndoChine- very interesting- also near the notorious "four floors of whores" (yes prostitution is legal here)

back from bali

december 9th- from bali to vietnam

oldest hindu temple in bali

bali was a truly an amazing get away but like all holidays, it was just too short. so now it is back to work for dirk, enough time to wash clothes and pack once again for vung tau, vietnam. indonesia was filled with warm welcoming people, a wonderful culture, and a religion dirk and i knew nothing about. it is 65% hindu, 25% muslim, and 15% christian. their culture is surrounded by family and religion which is very apparent when traveling the streets of bali. we were told by our wonderful tour guide that there is a maximum number of children per family, it used to be four and now is two. there are 4 million people in bali, indonesia... about the same as singapore. the exchange rate while we were there was 11,2000 Rp to $1 USD.

so here is a recap of our trip:

day one- tour guide of bali

black sand beach at the temple in the water

we toured southern bali by personal driver. we went to the city of ubud which is known for its shopping and paintings. dirk and i found a painting for our one year wedding anniversary present... i could not believe we actually agreed on the same painting (once it is framed i will put up pictures). we traveled to see the rice terraces, temple in the water, monkey forest, the city jimaran for an amazing beach dinner of fresh fish and prawn, then to an unforgettable balienese couples massages (for people that know dirk, know he is not a touchy feel person but he LOVED the massage, we even got another one the next night)

click on the picture to see all our of guided tour through southern bali:

Bali Tour

day two- scuba diving at nusa pendia & lembongan (nusa dua dive center http://www.nusaduadive.com/)

lion fish

we did two drift dives which were an hour away from nusa dua. the water was amazingly clear... the clearest i have ever seen! it was our first drift dive and i would have to say it is the way to go, not much work involved just to take in all the sites. we were able to see a 5ft reef shark, lion fish, unicorn fish, and starfish.

click on the picture to see all our underwater pictures:

Underwater Bali

lobby of the hotel- melia bali

the hotel we stayed at was melia bali villas & spa resort (http://www.melibali.com/) and it was phenomenal. we stayed at a five star for only $100 usd a night... i could not believe it. some of our favorite things included the all inclusive breakfast (they had pancakes with bananas inside them), the beach with the clearest & calmest water we have ever seen, and the service was amazing. things we figured out a little too late: don't take american money and if you do get small NEW bills otherwise they will not take them, put sun screen on even if you are not in the sun, and always bargain with them.

click here for more pictures of the hotel:

Melia Bali Hotal, Nusa Dua

christmas tree oh christmas tree

december 4th- i have an interview...

so i got the call from the international clinic today (http://www.imc-healthcare.com/) and i have an interview tomorrow, december 5th at 11 am. i am so excited, nervous, unsure... they asked me to bring my nursing license and all paperwork to verify my license. it seems they are really interested in me... we shall see. i would love love love to work there... it is not where i thought i would be two years ago but heck... a chance to work overseas in an international clinic. it gives me so much faith... knowing i have no control over life's funny path... and it always seems to work out for the best in the end.

we setup the christmas tree after thanksgiving...actually we borrowed dirk's bosses tree since they will be on home leave for christmas. it gives me hope that christmas will feel more like a holiday than thanksgiving did. i was truly home sick for texas over thanksgiving... i know christmas will be worse but thank the Lord my parents love me and are sending me some holiday cheer. i can't wait for my christmas stocking and ornaments to come from home... thanks mom in advance.

next up bali, indonesia for some sun, surf, and diving! i can't wait... stay tuned for some pictures of the next weekend adventure!

otto & the tree

to pronounce otto over here you need to say it like 0-toe, i don't think they can pronounce it like auto... it is cute when all the little kids try to say his name. otto will be staying at the de Jong's casa while we are away for the weekend... and we are SO SO SO thankful for them. no pet hotel this time buddy... you were once again saved by your good looks and charm. otto has been my companion these days for cars rides to pick up dirk from work... you see i find it alot easier to drive without dirk in the car so i have been dropping him off at work during lunch and picking him up... i have even found my way to the mall in between. i bet he is going to wish he never let me drive.... give a girl the car keys and you are done for.

Happy Birthday Dr. Shelley Naiser!!!

november 29th- fmc technologies BBQ for customer support at varsity park

so the first singapore BBQ was a hit, i had some of the best food here while in singapore! we had the BBQ at our apartment facility in celebration of the fmc customer support department. they ordered all this bar-b-que for us to cook on our BBQ pits down stairs. the turn out was great along with the fabulous food. there was sting ray, chicken, beef, mushrooms, corn, salmon, prawn, and more. we even got to use our new patio furniture!

dirk & matt kirkham cooking

december 1st- birthday time

december is a great month for birthdays especially since almost everyone over here has a birthday in this wonderful month! sunday we went to house in dempsey hill (www.dempseyhouse.com) for a new friend's birthday and had a wonderful time. we had birthday cake and drank some fabulous cocktails. apparently at house you can eat, drink, and get a massage... interesting idea. we ended the night in holland village at wala wala... great bar with a little woodrows feel to it.

this is scott, kerry's boyfriend who is the birthday girl. they are from newcastle, uk and they both keep you in stitches from laughing so hard. the picture is of scott sticking a smiley face stuffed animal to his head and swinging it around... you really had to be there.

my hair really looks red in this picture... missing my blonde hair