Kota Kinabalu with Poppi

What an amazing trip we took to Borneo! We stayed at Shangri-la's Rasa Ria Resort which abuts a Nature Reserve where we were able to view the Orang Utans extensively during their 'breakfast'. WOW! We also went on a Sea Gypsy tour in a traditional boat where we went out to the sea to take a walk on the beach, did a little fishing, and snacked on some traditional snacks that Sophia helped cook in a Sea Gypsie house on stilts over the river!!!

Thanks to Kurt's Golden Circle Elite Status we enjoyed breakfast almost every day at 'Coast' where they had cool 'jelly fish' lights hanging from the ceiling, and had a great view of the ocean from our room. We also had some amazing dinners at Coast while bathing in the wonderful setting right up against the beach. This is where his traveling all the time pays off...

The girls had a great time in Kids Club with all their extensive cultural activities special to the region and even got to participate in a traditional Lighting Ceremony. In the video, they are the two smaller girls standing to the right of the girl on the 'thrown'. I even got to take an Indian cooking course at Naan--one of the top restaurants in the region. In the mornings we would comb the beach for shells, so now I am looking for new projects where we can use the shells in home decor since we have sorted and glazed them! While the girls were involved in their activities and Kristina was sleeping with a baby-sitter, Kurt, Kurt Sr and I also made use of the catamarans, relaxed and peeked in on the kids.

Every day ended with an amazing sun set in this unbelievably gorgeous paradise. What a lovely way to spend time with family. I believe I speak for all of us when I say we have been blessed beyond all our expectations.

Easter with Poppi

The Easter Bunny even visits in Sinagpore! The girls couldn't believe it when we came home from a rain storn in China Town. We looked out the window to find nothing when we came home, but 10 minutes later Mommy spotted something darting accross the lawn. When we went out to check, sure enought there were colorful eggs hidden high and low! All the girls found some eggs but Anna was the only one who could jump high enough for the orange one hidden in the tree. But ooops--It fell and cracked!

Poppi in S'pore!

Kurt's father came to visit us and we took him to all our favourite haunts during his visit. China town, a polo match at the Singapore Polo Club, breakfast with the Orangutans at the zoo, the Arab Quarter and Tekka Market in Little India (play this one--it's a video!).

Our 'Inner Courtyard' in our Singapore Home

Okay, Mom, this it what it looks like now! Remember when it was empty?

When my mom came with us last August to help us 'set up shop' in Singapore, we found this cool hand-carved sandalwood door from India that came from a home that was being demolished. In fact, A lot of our furniture is made from old abandoned doors or items that locals don't find useful anymore. One man's trash is another's treasure... Anyway, these are photos of our inner courtyard leading down to our living room. The architect built the house around a jasmine tree, so you get the sense that you are in a courtyard outside, but it is actually an air-conditioned indoor courtyard where the kids even have their own play area behind the curtain of an old Indonesian room divider. I love it when they hide from us back here!

Holiday Weekend Fun

Since we chose not to travel outside S'pore during Chinese New Year, we went to Clark Quay for a boat ride, dinner and a walk one evening (if you look closely you will see Anna looking at me from the front of the boat). We also went to the Jurong Bird Park where they have great shows and a beautiful variety of our feathered friends, but in this photo we are posing pretty with the flamingos.

Chinese New Year at the American School

Anna and Sophia had a great time celebrating with their classmates as you can tell by the photos. Since Anna is the 'planner' of the family, she was already asking a month ago if we could stick around for the holiday again this year. It's so close to Christmas break that I think we may have to!

Chinese New Year--Year of the Golden Fire Pig

Here is a glimpse of celebrations for Chinese New Year in front of the American Club in Singapore. You can hire a 'troup' of these guys to perform at your parties the weeks surrounding the celebrations. The whole spectacle is quite amazing.

Kristina's 1st Birthday

We celebrated Kristina's first birthday at a BBQ party with friends. The girl's enjoyed the pool while Kurt slaved over the hot grill under the hot Singapore sun. Poor Kurt was sweating as though he had been in the pool, but it sure was tasty! Thanks, honey :0)

Christmas and New Year

After Christmas in New York, we flew to Whistler to ski and celebrate the New Year. We were a little worried about getting enough snow so early in the season, but as you can see there was enough in the village to build a snowman out on the deck.

Almost 1 and still no teeth!

Before we left for Christmas, Kristina still had no teeth! But not to worry. Christmas Eve she was up fussing to welcome her first pearly white !

When it Rains....

…it pooouuuurs. Many of you have asked about the weather here in Singapore as it is two degrees north of the equator. Obviously it is tropical. But before we came over, friends of the family had been googling the weather everyday for weeks and came to us at the family Christmas party with an observation that they were very concerned about. It rains EVERY day over there! Are you going to be okay? Won’t you get depressed? Aren’t there floods? The simple answer is yes, it does rain everyday somewhere on the island, but not necessarily where you may be located, and is otherwise very sunny with an amazing drainage infrastructure. Sometimes it rains across the street from you—you actually can see a line being formed as buckets pour down on one side and the sun shines on the other. It gets a little windy before a big shower, but there are no monsoons, typhoons or hurricanes. Just rain. And at times, a lot of rain.

Beijing, Fall 2007

The Roeloffs were blessed with GORGEOUS BLUE SKIES in Beijing in November last year (2007). Yes, yes, I know.... It has been almost a year since I last posted so we have a lot to catch up on! Kurt was traveling to Beijing for a business conference, so we piggy-backed a weekend trip out of it and really lucked out with the weather. For those of you who are not familiar with a typical fall day in Beijing, just think LA smog coupled with below zero wind chill. Coming from Singapore we had NO winter clothing, but were able to pick up some ski wear that we knew we could use after Christmas. We took the girls to visit the Great Wall, and rode the toboggan down. You could hear Anna screeching with delight all the way down, while Sophia kept yelling, ‘Faster, Faster!!!’ On the way back to Beijing we went to a factory where they made cloisonné and noticed a sharp increase in price since our last visit--on top of complaints that the French stole a traditional Chinese art form. A little unappealing, but it was still pretty cool for the girls to see the process. Kurt and I went out to dinner with a friend to this fabulous restaurant near the University where the Irish chef was really into foam. I don’t think there was a single course—of the seven or so—that did not have some form of freshly foamed edible involved. WOW! Sunday we visited the Forbidden City under blue skies before departing in the rain. What lucky duckies we were ;0)
PS If you ever visit Beijing, never assume that the pedestrian has the right of way, and be sure to wear your seatbelt!