gardens by the bay

if you go to gardens by the bay, you'll want to take the bus.

and once you get there, you'll probably have to stop and take in this view...

when you look up at the marina bay sands hotel, you'll notice how cool this city is.

and when you notice the even cooler suspended sky bridge, you'll want to go up and test it out.

you may get too hot and have a meltdown...

but it's nothing a box of raisins can't fix.

you'll probably want to soak in this view.

and because now you're thirsty, you'll have to stop for a drink at the lion fountain.

and since that water is so tempting, you may just run through the fountain a few times.

when you're too hot, you'll need to go inside the cooled dome of flowers.

and if you stop at the flowers, you've got to stop at the waterfall inside the cloud dome too.

since you've barely scratched the surface of these gardens, you'll have to come back again and again because it's like your backyard. 

and chances are if you come again, you'll probably want to ride the bus.

(we love this place)

i love singapore days

when we moved to singapore, i held a six week-old baby in my arms. besides the fact that i was still nuts (hormones!), singapore was a big adjustment. 

but slowly and surely, this place has grown on me. 

i still have days where i dream of driving up to a parking spot in front of trader joe's, but i also have days where i feel like pinching myself...are we really living here?
those are "i love singapore" days.
those are the times that i forget the sweaty pit stains adorning my shirt and constant battle with ants for just a second and take in the tropical city around me.

i don't know when we're moving, or where we're moving after this asia phase, but here are some things i love about good old sing:

the airport. i can't tell you how good it feels to come home to changi airport, especially from places like the kuala lumpur budget terminal (yikes). it's clean, easy to navigate, and every customs counter has a bowl of fox's black current candies. i snag one every time.

though the hot humidity can be killer during the day, singapore nights are dreamy. i love walking around the city at night.

 gardens galore. there are so many beautiful gardens to choose from here that are meticulously cared for, with different flowers and decorations depending on the season. today we spent all afternoon at gardens by the bay soaking in the incredible views.

food is a nightmare sometimes, with multiple trips to multiple stores for just one dish of a meal, and things constantly "out of stock," but then sometimes i am pleasantly surprised. i love the random european and australian products we get here, not to mention fresh chicken delivered to our doorstep. i also dig the quality indian food. mmm.

i love how accessible the city is to us. i like the constant buzz during the work week, and then how it's quiet and still on the weekends.

and i really love that singapore is a relatively tiny island in the middle of this culturally rich expanse of southeast asia. i love that traveling is consistently part of our life. in fact, i think i'll be ruined when we move back to the u.s...my conversations with nate are usually about where we're dreaming of going next! so blessed.

a weekend jaunt

(sage loves travelators. we rode this about 12 times)
nate has a yearly meeting in kuala lumpur, malaysia. we decided not to tag along this year...until i found a cheap ticket the night before he left. bought the ticket on a thursday night and left on a friday morning. we might as well take advantage of spontaneity before we can't do stuff like this anymore...

we stayed downtown in KL for the weekend, with this view out our window

fresh out of the bath, enjoying the complimentary grapes+dark chocolate plate

we wanted to do something different, and that something ended up being a family date at the fish spa

 

nate was brave and stuck his feet in the tank of big fish. i couldn't take it--i felt like animals were gnawing at my feet! only little fish for me. sage was intrigued, and thought it was all pretty funny.

 we headed out to putrajaya on our last day with nate, and got in a little pool time.

 a spontaneous, mellow weekend with our favorite little girl.