We left for Singapore December 16th with a early morning flight from Spokane.  We flew to LA and then grabbed a ride to Tokyo.  That was a long flight.  We enjoyed being in coach plus, thanks mom, and had our choice of movies and video games - the kids were thrilled.  Once we made it to Tokyo, we grabbed a bite to eat and boarded the next plane for another 8 hours to Singapore.   We all tried to grab some sleep as we had been traveling for over 15 hours at that point.

Landing in Singapore we were greeted by my nephew Peter and brother Dan at the airport.  Dan had just arrived and Peter was hanging out so he could see everyone.  It had been 5 months since he had seen his family.

Thankfully mom had got us all rooms at the hotel at the airport for the night so we could be well rested the next day when we went to get on the cruise boat.  I have to make a comment about the hotel, because when you think of a hotel airport you might think of boring, if not seedy.  This was neither.  It had an amazing pool, awesome restaurant and was conveniently located inside, literally, the airport.  Nice choice mom.

The following day we all had breakfast together, swam in the pool and enjoyed a bit of the lovely 80 degree weather.  We gathered our belongings and then headed out to our taxis and headed to the port.  It was surprisingly easy to get registered and on the ship, thanks to all the paperwork we filled out on line prior to our departure from the US.

Once we got on the ship, we all found our rooms, dropped our bags and proceeded to check out our floating resort.  The ship was ginormous.  It had multiple swimming pools, a couple of restaurants on every floor, a gym & spa, movie theater, library, kids club etc.  Then there was the list of activities that was two pages long for every day we were at sea.  Everything except drinks were included in the cost of the room and the kids were pretty excited about that, especially Perrin.

The first order of business when you board a ship is to find out what you do if the ship is under duress.  So we donned our life jackets and headed to our lounge where we would receive instructions in case of an emergency.  Thankfully we never were in need of those procedures.

All of our roooms were next to each other and our balconies all connected, which was so nice.  We got a system down where we would write on a note pad where we were and at what time we left.  It's seems basic, but without cell phones, it became a necessity if you ever wanted to see anyone.

 

 Balin was active in his Crossfit.  He even convinced my brother Dan to join him a few times.  Unfortunately for me, I caught what I think was a flu bug the first night we were on the ship.  I felt achy and nauseous for 24 hours.  We thought it might be sea sickness, but then my brother got it the second day and was out for 48 hours.  It was a blessing that was in our state rooms and had people to take care of the kids instead of when we were flying.  I'm sure glad it didn't last long.  I was pouring out my essential oils on my feet, in my water etc and I personally think that's why I only had it 24 hours instead of 48. 

Part of the fun was joining in the activities from the ship.  Luckily for Balin and I those activities included a family scavenger hunt.  Sam, Peter, Jack and I were on a team and unfortunately we ran out of steam after 5 items and had to go refuel at the pizza station.  We never quite got back to the group until after the game was over....but we had fun....

Another one of the activities was a Family Gingerbread House.  The big kids and the little kids ate most of our supplies before we even began and our engineering students failed at the task of making the structure upright.  But we had fun...

 For most evenings we had to dress up for dinner, a couple of nights were even formal.  It was fun to get gussied up but by night 9, all were happy to wear a clean pair of jeans and a repeat shirt.

 

 

We celebrated Christmas the 24th over lunch.  It was such a lovely experience as it was very intentional and quiet.  Everyone had one person they had to get a gift for.  Imagine, only 12 gifts being opened - beautiful. I'm sure the kids like the more traditional frenzy of massive presents under the tree, but I thought it was really great to have just one thoughtful present.  Maybe I should start a tradition in my family...

 

 

 

This is Connor.  You might be wondering who's the Asian guy?  He's a good friend of Jack's who is living with Sue, Sophie and Jack for the year while he finishes high school in Prescott.  He was fun to have on the trip and fit right into the group of teenagers plus one 22 year old.

 

 

 It's a very specific talent in our family to be able to touch your nose.  So far only Peter, Sam, Grandma and I have that ability.  Perrin's close though and maybe next year she could join the group.

 

Perrin turned 9 while we were cruising around and I think that she would agree she celebrated in style.  We spent the day on the boat while almost everyone else went ashore to see the sights of Vietnam.  I took Perrin to the spa for a massage and time in the steam room, which she thoroughly enjoyed, as did I.  We had a relaxing day as a nuclear family and then were joined by the rest of the Weatbrook family for dinner and birthday celebrations.  Perrin's already asking for a cruise for her 10th birthday, but she's probably going to be disappointed.  

 Shore excursions in different ports were pretty interesting and fun.  We all chose what excursions we wanted to go on months prior to the trip.  Not all of us went on all of the excursions, nor were we all together on all of the trips.  Balin and I decided that we had a 5 hour cap on our time on a bus so we ended up most of the time going to local villages with a stop at a beach.  We were happy we chose that as the kids did their best to engage but it could be difficult for even the hardiest of travelers.

 

Our first stop was on the island of Borneo to a small country called Brunei.  Brunei is a Muslim country and has a beloved King/Sultan for a ruler.   From what I understand, the Sultan is one of the richest men in the world and is very generous with his subjects.  He does spend a bit on himself as he has over $300,000,000 in cars, 300 Ferrari's alone.  Pretty impressive.

 It's a tiny state that has a wealth of oil and gas to fuel it's economy and bolster what would otherwise be a poor Asian country.  It's pretty impressive the wealth that oil and gas produce and how that money has been distributed to the citizens of Brunei.  From what we understood from the tour guide, there is no homelessness in Brunei nor do people lack for food or employment.  Gas is heavily subsidized, to the tune of under $1/gallon, and everyone owns a vehicle.  Brunei is also a state under Sharia law for the Muslim population and the British Common Law for non-muslims.  I for one, had never been to a Muslim country and I have to admit it made me a little nervous with all the political unrest.  Of course we were riding in huge tour buses through the country, but I found it to be a very tranquil and easy place to travel.  We were advised to wear clothing that covered our shoulders and knees, which most people respected.  One of the main differences you saw on the streets were that all the women were fully covered in headscarves and showing no skin except their hands and faces.  It was a very colorful site. 

 

The Sultan's Mosque in the capital city.  

Our next stop after Brunei was Vietnam with a sea day in between.  We were to get off in LaTrang, Vietnam, go on an excursion and then meet up with my nephew Alex, who had flown in directly to Vietnam to meet us for the rest of the trip.  Unfortunately the winds were blowing and it was deemed unsafe to land the tenders on shore so we were not allowed to disembark.  Lucky for Alex, there was a medical emergency by a passenger and so the ship was sending out an emergency tender to drop them off at shore.  With a little finagling, Dan was able to have the purser contact Alex's hotel and make sure he knew to get on that tender with the allotted 15 minutes, otherwise we were going to miss Alex.  All went according to plan and we were able to pick up Alex and head towards the other port in Vietnam.

La Trang on a sunny day - not what we got to experience.

Our next port of call was to an isolated area in Vietnam with access to Ho Chi Min City.  Balin and I made the decision to stay on the boat and enjoy some family time.  We really enjoyed swimming and playing with the kids as well as watching movies and going out for lunch.  It sounded like everyone had a lovely time and were impressed with Vietnam.  

From Vietnam we headed towards Cambodia, which is a beautiful and lush country with a gorgeous coastline.  We learned quite a bit from our tour guide who was a native Cambodian.  He had lived through the Khmer Rouge regime, which ruled for 4 bloody years between 1975-1979.  Pol Pot was one of the leaders of the regime who were responsible for over 2 million deaths by genocide, famine and denial of medical treatment.  Cambodia restored their monarchy in 1993 hoping to restore order and establish a infrastructure that was all but destroyed in the decades following the communist party take over.  Our guide said that one of the most crippling effects of the past decades were that all roads throughout the country had been destroyed so that no commerce or any travel could take place.  Along what were paths of travel, the Khmer Rouge and other ruling parties, placed literally tons of land mines, to thwart any further ease of travel.  As we were traveling past lush patches of farms, our guide said 10 years ago it wouldn't be safe to get off the side of the road due to land mines.  Over 40,000 people are amputees caused by land mines, with the average age being 28 years old.  The general population in Cambodia is under 50, as the genocide was so extensive it literally wiped out generations.  

We did get to see a bit of hope in the countryside as we traveled to a local school and interacted with students there.  It was clear that education was the future of Cambodia, but with a country still steeped in poverty, the uphill battle for educating a populace will continue for years to come.  There were signs of development as we drove through the city.  Markets were bursting with goods and services and homes were seemingly in good condition.  There were actually quite a few homes on every block that were stucco and very modern looking.  Having seen many developing countries, Cambodia's foundational infrastructure looked pretty impressive.  

Since we've come home, we've talked as a family about what we saw there at the school and in the markets.  I've decided to ask the children to pick a Cambodian child each from WorldVision.org and to be their pen pal and sponsor.  Having been to the country, to a school and seen the disparity between our world and theirs, I think it is imperative to close the gap, or at least start the process.  The children are open to it and hopefully when they receive their first letter from their student, the impact will change their lives as well.

Arriving into Cambodia.  Gorgeous.

The School we visited in Cambodia.

Beautiful walls enclosing the school.

Alex doing the long jump with some boys at the school.  Look at his ripped muscles!

One of the boys at the school watching on his bike.

Cambodian Cow at the house of the a villager. 

Monkeys were everywhere at the Buddhist temples in Cambodia.  They didn't look very snuggly.

After the tour of the villages, market, school and homes, we headed to the beach for a barbeque and beach time.

Next stop of the Southeast Asia trip was Thailand.  Thailand, in our perception, had been built up to be "the" spot in Southeast Asia.  One hears very little negative about this country that hugs the Indian Ocean and the Gulf on Thailand.  After our regrettable short stay in the country, we could understand why.  It's a very beautiful, clean and modern country.  With a population of over 66 million, it is one of the most populous countries in the world and is slightly larger than Spain.  

Finally a smile on my face.  Riding an elephant is not like riding a horse - and my face shows my surprise.

A trip to Thailand would not be complete without an encounter with the Asian Elephant.  We went to an elephant Kraal somewhere in the jungle of Thailand where we got to see the little guys face to face.  Traditionally elephants were free and roaming in the midst of the vast Thai jungles.  100 years ago there were over 100,000 animals, currently they are down to 2,000 with most of those in captivity for tourist purposes.  In the recent past the elephants were used for heavy work such as logging, but with the large Thai population and the reduction of natural habitat, many of the working elephants have been moved to the Elephant Kraals for their survival.  The average Asian Elephant eats over 800 lbs of food a day.  Many people who had previously used elephants in work capacity could no longer afford to feed their elephants and hence brought them to Kraals, where the elephants are fed on tourist dollars.  There are concerted efforts being made by many Asian countries to create conservation areas for the elephants to live in safe and natural habitats.  

The other day spent in Thailand was a beach day.  The wind was howling something fierce, which made for some excellent waves on the beach.  The below image is what one would typically picture when thinking of beaches in Thailand, but we got a little more action for our time on the coast.

From Thailand our boat headed back to it's home port of Singapore, which was our final destination.  We were looking forward to 3 nights in a hotel with our most excellent tour guide Peter.   

From the ship we dropped our bags off at the hotel and then grabbed a taxi to the Singapore Gardens.  I have to admit I have NEVER seen anything quite like the flora and fauna and it's arrangement in Singapore.  It was amazing.  It was like the whole city, let alone the specific garden areas, was landscaped down to the parking strips.  I'm not exaggerating. 

We've all seen the living walls in Sunset magazine, but have you ever seen a living tower?  And then they light it up at night....seriously amazing. 

 Here's what the side of the road looks like....

A exhibit of Darlingtonians...so cool.

The next day we went to this spectacular beach right next to the bay where we all rented bikes and took the city by pedal.  We biked all day and returned the bikes around 11pm.  The spectacular thing about Singapore was it's incredibly safe.  Even riding around in the middle of the night we felt completely safe - which would not be the case in many town in the US, let alone cities the size of Singapore.  Of course safety comes with a cost.  I hear Balin often saying, "You either get freedom or safety, you can't have both."  In the case of Singapore that would be a true statement, they've opted for safety, on a large scale.  Some of the ways they accomplished this we were able to observe, such as video cameras on the freeway which served to monitor any illegal activity, such as dirt on a construction vehicles tires, or a car throwing litter out of the window.  According to the website xpatlife.com the following are also illegal; "Smoking in public, chewing gum, spitting in public, littering, jaywalking".  Not flushing the toilet in a public restroom could result in a $500 fine, which I have to say a "Thank you".  Perhaps I should make that a law in our household since it's not pleasant to walk into someone's leftovers.

Singapore has an incredibly diverse population of Chinese, Malay and Indian, melting together in a considerably peaceful pot.  More so than the heritage, the true wonder is the respect and harmony that the people live with in regards to religious differences.  There are Buddhists, followers of Islam, Christians, Sikhs (a monotheistic religion from India), Hinduism and those who choose not to follow a religion.  With over 5 million people on a island roughly 277 sq. miles, Singaporeans live in pretty close quarters.  The government has taken pretty serious steps to insure peace and tranquility in the country, including the intolerance of racial slurs in public, which might get you a ticket straight to jail or a caning.  

Dinner with the family at a Korean Dim Sung restaurant.  The food in Singapore was excellent and very diverse!

While Balin, the kids and I went back for a rest, the rest of the family traveled onto Chinatown. 

 I have to take a moment and talk about going to Peter's campus on National University of Singpore.  Peter took us by subway, his preferred mode of transport next to his road bike, to the large campus located outside the downtown area of Singapore.  He gave us a tour of where his dorm room was, the cafeteria, and other essential college spaces including the infinity pool.   It is a gorgeous campus with massive plantings and gardens everywhere - not a surprise.  He also told us a bit about his program, which is a collaboration between NUS and Yale that will give him either a BA or BS at the end of 4 years.  From what I understood the Yale program is actually being funded mostly by the Singaporean government, which in turn pays most of Peter's tuition.  The catch with that is if Peter continues and receives a bachelor's from Yale-NUS, he will have to work for a Singaporean company for 3 years after graduation.  I can't help but think of the American program that pays for your teaching degree if you work in a low income or rural school for a period of time after graduation.  Make no mistake, being indentured to a Singaporean company is not like teaching in Mayer, Arizona.  Even if Peter chose to live in Singapore, (by the way one of our taxi drivers had just purchased a very small government built apartment for $500,000.  Singapore is NOT a cheap city) he would be living in the Switzerland of Asia - not a bad deal.  The even cooler opportunity are the options Peter will have to work all over the world, doing amazing and interesting and perhaps even world changing work, if that company happens to be based out of Singapore.  Not a bad deal.     

One of the aspects that jumped out to me was the amount of real-life work the students are encouraged to do - they actually go to the countries they're studying.  He's traveled more in the last 6 months than many Americans do in their lifetimes.  I totally get that not all people want to travel extensively, but I think when you're young and idealistic, traveling and engaging with different cultures can change the world for the better. (I personally think traveling and engaging a different culture at any age can change the world...)

The other really cool and exciting opportunity about Peter's school is the systemic encouragement to get internships in real, international corporations each summer or go and learn another language in the country where it's spoken.  One of my life regrets is I didn't take more advantage of my college summers.  My parents had a policy that they would pay for tuition, room/board but we had to pay for all personal expenses.  Very generous and fair but I wish I would have thought to make money in some grand adventure somewhere interesting instead of say working the same job in my home town.  Peter is looking for options all over the world as to where he'll spend his summer, after he goes bike riding in Park City, UT with us in May of course.

One of the many stalls in "Little India" that sells flowers for temple worship.

Drinking age in Singapore is 18 - we all forgot when Jack's birthday was....

Eating Indian food with your hands on your banana leaf plate.  Sooooo good.

 On the last day before our departure we headed to the world renown Singapore Zoo.  I'm generally not a big fan of zoos, but this one was pretty amazing.  I think the coolest thing about this zoo is the raising of awareness of how our human actions affect others, mainly animals, in the zoo.  Deforestation and over-population are a huge problem for the Animal Kingdom.  So many of the animals we saw in captivity were virtually extinct in the wild.  The Singapore Zoo, much like the San Diego Zoo, has a strong breeding program and tries as much as possible to reintroduce animals back into safe, native areas.  The zoo's education program informed the visitors of possible ways we can make a difference in the lives of animals all around the world.  My take-away: buy less stuff and live more simply.  That is a topic for a whole 'nother blog as I've got some thoughts on that subject.

Our trip to Southeast Asia was pretty spectacular and I'm so glad we made the journey.  It was a long one and everyone did surprisingly well traveling.  We were happy to get home and enjoy laying in a horizontal position after 18 hours of travel.