November was a blast! Between some new visitors, a 10 year old birthday celebration and new vacation spots, we were running all over Singapore and beyond…
The latest people who crossed the globe to see us were the Docs and little P. We took them all around Singapore and even to Nikoi Island just off the coast of Bintan. They seemed to love every minute of it! We took them to all of our favourite sights and foods. Shaw house food court, The Merlion, Swee Choon for Dim Sum, Gardens by the Bay, the botanical gardens, a trip to Dulwich for Bee’s swim meet (2nd place in the kickboard-yes!) Hot Pot, the Night Safari and Orchard road were some of the highlights
While they were here, we also had a big ole traditonal Turkey Day. Mom figured out how to maximize the size of a turkey that fits into the easy bake type oven in our apartment. We had 12 people over , watched the tape delayed parade and feasted on turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and cranberry sauce…and of course some birthday cake! Also celebrated Bee’s birthday with Krispy Kreme’s at school and then a Jumanji movie viewing/ pool party one week later!
Last ditch efforts for a candle when the wind was too strong!
The day after Thanksgiving, we took a ferry to Bintan, a 1 1/2 hour car ride across the island and then a short boat ride (where we saw these awesome fishing house boats where locals can live for up to a month before coming back for supplies) to our own little tropical island- Nikoi (well at least us with only maybe 20 other people- not bad) When we were in Nikoi, we lived in what was almost a treehouse! The house looked like this:
There were 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and a living room area with a porch swing and a thatched roof. There also was a canopy next to the beach to relax on. the beach next to our house was very rocky (really cool white rock formations- one called the IPod rock- throwback) so we didn’t go swimming there. it was a very cool place to live for the time we were there!
There was a great beach however where Jay and Bee tried their luck at surfing and stand up paddle board (Jay paid the price with some lobster colored legs)…On the island, Jay and Bee also tried climbing a coconut tree, played some grass tennis, took some nature walks to deserted beaches, and enjoyed an awesome pool over looking the rocky coast. Food was awesome all weekend with home cooked Indonesian delights and even an evening campfire with marshmallows. The adults also learned to make some serious cocktails right on the beach! Another highlight was the sustainability tour where we learned all the environmental friendly pratctices of the resort (including natural moquito traps with standing water that is sucked down every 3 days, magots for composting, and solar power). It was a heck of a weekend!
IPod Rock 
Longest marshmallow sticks ever 
The houseboats en route to Nikoi 
Nice spot for a bar… 
Lets have another round tonight 
Jack solved the puzzle 
