more of....

the amazing ryan show!

so this was the second continent in one month (well third if you want to count our stop over from the states in moscow) back to asia and more of the trip with my brother. we kept this kid busy while he was in town... if dirk and i were working ryan was out on the singapore streets with my camera in one hand and a tall boy tiger beer in the other. he even gave directions to some australian tourists on where to find the closest 7-11 to get the infamous big tiger beer.

so all these pictures are really random, but work with me... this is what you do when you haven't really been outside of the u.s.a. and are around people one foot shorter than you.

first up, clarke quay and the amazingly over priced "clinic" bar. everything is hospital/clinic type.

showing his intervenous skills

yes! there is a burger king whopper BAR! who knew? we had to go to see what it was like... usually it is a good thing that people can get fast food late at night with NO beer being sold... you know, to sober up?

we were trying to get him drunk before his 12 hour flight back thru moscow... well not drunk, just so he could sleep (that was for you mom)

i call this... ode to christmas

singapore goes insane about christmas... i spared you all the other boring pictures of giant two story santa claus's and reindeer.

here is orchard blvd. just think of it as rodeo drive of the u.s.a...

four story t.v. screens

bigger than life decorations on every corner... imagine if one fell on a car?

the ion shopping mall... have talked about it before, looks from outter space huh? it lights up every different color at night... yes, like vegas.

i call this... i live in a rainforest with 4 million people.

the botanical gardens are really awesome here and always make me realize that singapore is full of rainforest vegitation and creatures... puts things in perspective at times.

cool looking tree...

love all the orchids

they call this... the nelson mandela... hmmm

showing that we really are a foot taller than everyone

had to find some amusement in all these plants...

rainforest... what did i tell ya

this was right before some random middle eastern family ask to take a picture of me... ryan thought this was totally weird.. nope, happens all the time.

i call this... singaporeans are ridculously rude!

they have campaigns with these stupid people everywhere to remind people to be nice. on the radio this morning you could win somthing if you told the hosts what way/gesture you could do for someone else that showed you were kind...

i mean really? i also call this... the new money theory or coming out of third world country status.



little indian... loves elephants

yes... these are everywhere in asia, not just in singapore...

and yes, you use them if you really really have to go the restroom and there is not one available... plus you always carry tissues in your purse for the last bit of the sentence...



alright... now WHO wants to come visit??? hehe

another thailand adventure...

phuket, thailand: december 17th-18th

so i will say first, thailand is my favorite place in the WHOLE world... so far! this was our 3rd time back (both dirk and i) and my fourth time back (went for a girls trip to railay in september when dirk was traveling). so to share this place with my brother was a once in a million opportunity.

we started the trip off by flying into phuket and staying one night (flights are $100 u.s.d from singapore) our goal was to really show my brother the in's & out's of patong beach. we visited the lady boy street... aka: the most confusing street in the world - ryan jacobs. we ate at our favorite banana pancake bar and dove with our favorite scuba diving company.

thailand '09

lady boys on bangela road

street vendor food... yum

mcdonalds culturally correct

long boats to take you island hopping

we dove with sea bee's dive company again. they have a great boat with cook, showers, sun deck... everything you need for a day of diving. ryan was able to dive some of the ko phi phi islands... we didn't see leopard sharks like we saw last chinese new years but the diving was still great!

hi mom! your kids are underwater!

ugliest fish ever!

sting ray

emperor angelfish (i think)- they are one of my favorites and always travel in pairs

green thai curry in a coconut- SUCCESS!

hotel in patong beach
alex & erin brown joined us on this trip- it was great having people to travel with again :)

koh lak, thailand: december 18th-22nd

we rented a car and driver and drove to koh lak which is 2 hours north of phuket and the closest land point to the similan islands. the similan's are suppose to be the top place in thailand to dive and one of the top in the world. we stayed on land this time but next time we definitely want to go back during whale shark season and do a live aboard. the diving was ten times better here than in the ko phi phi islands!

a side bar about diving... i have always loved the water... being in it, around it, swimming, diving, sailing... anything. BUT being underwater is EVEN better AND that my husband has the same love is totally exhilarating. it is a whole new world under there... bust out in little mermaid, you know you want to! we can't plan enough dive trips... especially since SE asia is our playground and has some of the best dive sites in the world!

ok off soap box... although i have to say, i am very claustrophobic AND am terrified before each dive... it is total mind over matter here... kind of a fun psyche challenge, if you are into that.

so back to koh lak... our bungalow plus open aired bathroom. if anyone cares...

towel elephants! i heart them!

only problem was... we shared the wall with my brother which made it a little awkward sometimes... hehe! especially when him and dirk got food poisoning at lunch... this never happens to me for some reason... only dirk.

happy birthday, graduation, merry christmas from dirk & chris...

the bucket
"bucket of beer" that is

so my husband is an engineer, he problem solves, especially in foreign countries... so we didn't have a cooler or ice box SO we bought the "infamous" bucket to hold our cheap thai beer in. we took this bucket everywhere... in the car, on the beach, by the pool... much cheaper than hotel beer prices. dirk even preceded to take the bucket home with us. we flew jetstar, which is a budget airline, therefore not alot of space for luggage. no problem, he just hooked it to his backpack and called it carry on luggage... i think the airport staff was too busy laughing at us to care that it exceeded the "carry on" policy. we even sent it through the scanners at security points... they had a real good laugh there. i am glad the thai people have a good sense of humor, in australia they would have called this a dirty bucket and incinerated it for sure. so lesson learned, pack a fold able cooler so we don't start collecting buckets...

the bucket is safe at home in our storage closet... i am sure it will make a debut again soon.

on to the diving.... similan islands...

dirk and his new gear... mask (that fits), fins, and wet suite...

first time to see an octopus, they are very shy, i got to see it out of the hole but when it saw me with the camera it dove back into the whole...

these huge coral fans were everywhere... much much bigger than myself! biggest i have ever seen.

bad picture... nemo hiding in his anemone

what it looked like on top of the water... all the live aboard boats around us

fishes

in the middle of the picture is one of the largest frog fish we have ever seen. it blends in with the coral.

barracuda rather close to me... it was the only one though

pretty coral

dirk. tina. ryan= happy hour :)

tina & erin
two pina colodas, one for each hand!

the last night we had a beach sunset dinner for my 29th birthday... this has to be the best way to spend any birthday! we order fresh fish, crabs, squid... it was all so yummy!

sunset is my most favorite part of the day... God is good.

best birthday present ever. in thailand. with brother. and husband. friends. and sunset dinner.
priceless

the crabs! check out the fruit decorations too!

flower or fruit! this is for you mom. this is a dragon fruit.

the gang! the browns, ryan, and the dunlaps!

my blogs are so long and not consistent... i really want to change this in the new year. i might be dreadfully detailed but i do plan on making a book out of all these so i can remember our SE ASIA adventure. i encourage everyone to do something like this for the memories...

next up... sydney trip!

happy new year!

just a preview from our sydney trip, i have too many pictures to go through...

this was on a dinner/dance cruise in the middle of darling harbor! it was awesome! sydney is 17 hours ahead of texas.


random fact:

did you know mc donlads in singapore serves curry sauce and chili sauce... and very few of them have a drive thru! singaporean's call it mc... the australian version is even funnier but i forgot...

laura just reminded me, it is macker's in australia... dirk and i cracked up over this everytime we saw the commercial...

a GREEN day...

january 14th, 2010

let me start off by saying, i really really didn't want to go to this concert and i was rather mad that dirk committed us to go. i had been working four straight days in a row and standing on my feet all day, each day. BUT! i definitely don't regret going now! it was one of the best concerts i have ever been too (i don't think anything can beat the rolling stones though, i have high expectations).

i am not much of a green day fan but i do enjoy some of their new music and most all their old music. they really rocked it though... the crowd participation was great. that is one thing singaporeans do right, they really get excited about concerts and really make the artist feel welcomed... i am sure this was a very different venue for green day. no pot smoking, no moshing, no violence in the crowd. just straight laced singaporeans enjoying the music, singing along, and laughing shyly at all the curse words. you know you are old when... you actually enjoy the concert because of all these reasons... and complain the next day that your ears hurt... haha.

the highlight of the show for me was... billy joe armstrong picked a singaporean that new all the words to one song and let him sing it on stage while the band totally rocked it... it was great! i am not sure you would get the same reaction in any other country! how awesome would it be to say you sang/rocked with green day?

some other amusing happenings... billy joe asked a singaporean her name TWICE while on stage and never asked another person their name... he had NO CLUE! don't want to make that mistake twice...

it was not surprisingly mostly ang mo's there (white people)... i don't think i have seen that many white people together under one roof in singapore. but he chose only singaporeans to go on stage. it was rather amusing too... he asked them to put their cameras away but he definitely forgot where he was... asians and their photography. so i had to bust mine out as well... don't get me wrong about the ang mo comment. their were plenty of people to diversify the venue... just it is rare to see so many white people... you kind of forget you live in asia for awhile... jamming out to american music :)

yes, very illegal to take video so please don't report me! it really was a great concert and i am very glad we went! here are two videos of them playing...

do you know your enemy?


minority

Random Fact:

green day has been a band over 20 years and this was their first time to singapore... i wonder if they will come back?

we were wondering if before the concert they were smoking out in the back... but remembering where we are, probably not. death by hanging for illegal drugs was probably not what they were thinking their first time to singapore...

BFF

january 17th, 2010

i am taking a tip from a fellow blogger and delving into something more honest than just where we have been and what exotic location we are going to next... although stay tuned for cedu, philippines on chinese new year. lane... i am taking your lead, although i would settle for just a baby than a fibroid, and the gender wouldn't matter so much to me (i admire your honesty)...

tonight... my bestfriend left for china (ya ya ya i know... mushy gushy stuff) but honestly, i never thought our relationship could have gotten stronger than after going through are very tension filled wedding and a tumor baby. but as many challenges we are faced with... we just keep getting closer. i know you are thinking... isn't that what is suppose to happen? doesn't this happen for everyone? you never really realize it unless you look back, unless you appericate, and unless you are faced with challenges that are bigger than yourself.

don't get me wrong, i always knew that we would prevail, i always had faith... i mean you have to inorder to pick up everything you have known, worked for, loved, (hell the comfort factor)... and move half way around the world with someone... i look back, i mean WAY back... to college, we were so different then. so young. so naive. so passionately in love that it was hurting us. (ok... i am making myself sick)

point being... this leap of faith, this idea of an adventure, this "your only young once and now is the time to travel"... i couldn't have picked a better person to share my life with.

you ask... what brings all this on? well... when your husband realizes one day that "you really are my bestfriend"... it is a big deal. when he relies on you for support, for advice, for love...

so this brings me back to singapore... am i glad we moved? do i like it here? am i weak for following my husband's career and putting him first? not to say that we still won't be the same couple back in the states... but i now know, we have always been speical, we are lasting, and no matter how many people stand in our way... telling us we are not good for each other... THEY are wrong!

P.S. i love you! (this movie always comes on when dirk is away for work... )




another new thing....


RANDOM fact about Singapore...

there is a mosque around the corner from us and every friday there are cars lined up for miles... i always thought it was school getting out early but dirk told me, they go to pray on fridays... learn something new each day... i am going to ask my muslim friend what exactly it stands for...