Singapore

To quickly update you since my last post, Christy and Tim named their son Sawyer Lee. Everyone is doing well as far as I know. I sent them a flower arrangement at the hospital to congratulate them. Later, my mom sent me a few pictures of Tim and Christy in their new house. I saw a pink arrangement that looked like the one I sent on their countertop, and I thought, hmmm, I wonder why someone would send pink flowers. So, I went back to check my online order, and apparently I clicked the "It's a girl!" arrangement instead of the "It's a boy!" arrangement. Ugh. Sorry about that.

But, since this blog is about Singapore, I should move on. We had a great trip to Singapore and Malaysia. We spent three nights in Singapore, three in Kuala Lumpur and one more in Singapore. But, to make things simpler, I am just going to write two blogs, one about Singapore and one about Malaysia. So, both will likely be lengthy and include lots of pictures.

It's always overwhelming to try and write about a vacation because there's no way I can include it all. So, I'll just try and hit some of the highlights. This vacation was different for us because we met up with another couple and traveled with them. It turned out to be wonderful. We got along great, and it was a blast. I'll show you pictures of our vacation buddies in the next post.

This vacation had a theme for me: food. Oh, how I love to eat. We had an amazing time trying new foods and flavors from all around the world. Singapore is a great place for a gastronomic adventure.

We began by going to Little India. Having never been to the real India, I can't say whether or not the one in Singapore is an accurate depiction, but it seemed authentic to me.

Here is one of the streets in Little India. It was bustling, and there was lots of horn honking.

I really like this picture of a sari shop. So many beautiful colors and fabrics.

I had henna done on one of my hands. It was actually the second time I have had henna done. For Julie's wedding, all of the bridesmaids had henna put on their hands. I love the stuff, and I kind of wish it were permanent.

And, here is the finished product. 

We also had a mission while in Little India: to eat fishead curry. We watched an episode of Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre Foods when he was in Singapore, and he ate at a restaurant famous for fishead curry. So, we went there, too.

Here's the famous dish. It was really creepy, especially because the fish had scary little sharp teeth. It was also extremely spicy. Like burn-your-face-off hot. I preferred the other chicken butter curry dish we ordered, but it was interesting to try, I suppose. It's also worth noting that Travis, a miniature Andrew Zimmern, decided he, too, would have to eat the eyeball. I couldn't even look at him while he did it, but I will describe it to you. The eyeball had a hard plastic-y shell that had to be "peeled off" in his mouth. Then as he bit into it, there was a hard rocky center. But, he said the overall taste was good. Right... I am okay with never knowing what it tastes like.

We decided to try and branch out a little so we ate with our hands. It was pretty fun, but kind of difficult. I don't think we were aggressive enough. And, my fingers were stained Cheeto orange for the rest of the day.

We also happened to time our visit to Singapore with their National Day celebration. It's when they celebrate their independence. I was so excited that we would be able to see an amazing fireworks show since we missed the big ones in Japan this year.

So, we went to the riverfront to wait for the fireworks. It was so crowded. People were absolutely everywhere. And, we waited. And waited.

Here's a picture of the river. As you can see, the bridge was packed with people. The people on the bridge had purchased tickets for the show as well as the parade, which we were not able to see.

And, we continued to wait for the fireworks. We waited for around two hours, and we saw about five minutes, if that, of fireworks. The fireworks we saw were pretty amazing, but five minutes?! It was quite a disappointment. Apparently the show was scaled back this year. That information would have been helpful earlier, but oh well. You live and you learn. I want those two hours back, though.

After the fireworks show, we headed to Chinatown. Certainly worth the walk. Love me some good Chinese food.

Here's a picture we took along the walk. It is a great city/country. So much amazing architecture, very modern and clean.

While in Singapore, we also headed to Sentosa Island. It's a little island a short distance from Singapore. It's under heavy construction right now. Several new hotels, casinos and a Universal Studios are being built there. I think it might be pretty cool in about two or three years, but for now, it's a little on the cheesy side and quite over-priced. The beach there is ok. It's all man-made, but it could make for a fun afternoon. Unfortunately for us girls, we were traveling with some eager boys who didn't want to lay around on the beach and soak up the sun. Ok, maybe we were soaking up rain and not sun, but we were really trying hard to pretend it was sunny.

Sentosa Island does have a huge merlion, though. And, it was pretty neat-o.

Large and in charge.

Singapore is a shoppers' paradise. Besides having all of the name-brand and big name stores you can imagine, it also has lots of little markets where you can haggle down prices. I, personally, hate the whole haggling process. I always walk away feeling ripped off and guilty for trying to argue with someone over fifty cents or a dollar. It starts messing with my head, and I don't even realize I just spent thirty minutes arguing over fifty cents. Anyway, it can be fun for a little bit, like five minutes.

Here's a picture of one of the busy markets on Bugis Street. Talk about sensory overload. There was so much techno music in this place, and each stall was playing their own tune so it was a bit crazy. Felt like a dance club in there.

Another evening, Travis and I went to check out Raffles Hotel. Unfortunately, our travel buddies came down with some icky food poisoning and were unable to join us. They were all better by the next day, though. Thank goodness!

It's a really beautiful hotel over one hundred years old. Our plan was to go inside and drink Singapore's famous drink, the Singapore Sling. But, it was going to cost us $23 per drink, and it's a lady's drink so we obviously bowed out. We were actually sitting in the restaurant talking about how ridiculous it would be to pay that much for a drink, and no one waited on us for the first five minutes. So, that was our sign, and we snuck out. $46 saved. Can you imagine? After taxes and a few weird fees, that would be over $50 for two drinks. Dumb, I tell you.

After visiting Raffles, we headed to the Arab Quarter for some Egyptian food. I had never eaten at an Egyptian restaurant before, but boy oh boy, it was terrific. I was quite familiar with hummus, but I had only eaten falafel once before. We ordered way too much food, but it was so tasty! I think middle-Eastern food might be my new favorite. Or, maybe it's Chinese. But, I also really love Indian food. Oh, goodness, guess I still don't have a favorite.

We read about another restaurant in Singapore that, according to Anthony Bourdain, serves the world's best dumplings. I only had to read that once before I was sprinting to the restaurant. Ok, not really, but it certainly didn't disappoint.

Here are the chefs preparing the dumplings. They were awesome. We had a few different types and the best hot and sour soup I have ever tasted. There were people lined up outside of the door, and that was certainly a clue we had to eat there. It was a wonderful combination, my favorite, in fact: cheap and delicious!

On the last day, Travis decided we should visit Singapore's urban rainforest. I believe it's one of two in the world. We didn't see a whole lot of wildlife, but we did see wild monkeys and huge ants. The hike wasn't too difficult, but it was super hot! When we finally reached the summit, we read that we were only one degree from the equator. (By the way, we knew this before we went on the walk, but it was still cool.)

And, here's a picture of me along the trail. It was nice to get away from the city for a little while.

I could go on and on about Singapore, but I should probably wrap it up. I undoubtedly left out so many things about this trip, but if you're considering traveling to Singapore, I would suggest going for it. I know, I say that about every place. But, Singapore is very safe, clean and modern. It's also one of the most diverse places I have ever visited. We saw people from all over the world. And, since English is spoken there, along with many other languages, it would be such an easy place to live. Well, in my opinion, anyway.

It's also worth noting that there is a huge amount of governmental control in Singapore. There's really no freedom of speech or free press to speak of. Also, chewing gum is forbidden as is spitting on the street, smoking in a non-designated area on the sidewalk, and many others. The customs form upon arrival warns that drug trafficking is punishable by death. I didn't test that one, trust me. Anyway, it's a great place to spend a few days, but I don't want to idealize it too much.

I was planning to end this post with a really cute picture of Travis and me, but somehow I deleted it so please use your imagination. :)

Baby Sherrer is here!

Yesterday was a great day. One of my favorites. A perfect little boy was brought into the world by none other than my dear friend, Christy. I am so excited and overjoyed, I can barely contain myself. I spent yesterday afternoon staring at my computer screen just waiting for an update. I was beside myself. Fortunately, the labor was quick (I didn't say painless, just quick), and I didn't have to wait to long to hear, "It's a boy!" 

Tim and Christy didn't find out the sex of their baby until he made his grand entrance, and it was so fun to be surprised. I am so happy for them. He is so precious and perfect, and I can't wait to meet him. He doesn't have a name yet because they're still deciding.

Oh, and it's worth mentioning that Christy gave birth without any pain meds. None at all! She is a tough one, I tell you. If you remember, she even made the trip to visit me last March in Japan. She was already 4-5 months pregnant, but that didn't stop her. I'm so glad she came, too.

Isn't he so precious?! It's so hard not to be home right now because I really want to hold him. I guess I'll just have to be patient. I am dying to hold my new niece, Jensen, too. She is sweet as pie.

Here's a pic of the proud mommy and daddy. They are going to be great parents. I still can't believe Christy is a mommy now. We have grown up together, and have been friends since we were babies. Our families are close, and I feel like her having a baby is the closest thing to myself having one. Wow! She's going to be an awesome mommy. I know this because she learned from one of the best! 

Sumo

We just returned from vacation last night, and we had a great time. We took tons of pictures, and I am looking forward to sharing them with you soon. But,  before that, I want to show you some sumo pictures. 

Travis and I were able to watch the sumo tournament in Nagoya two times this summer. We purchased tickets, and then we were given two tickets as a gift from Travis' supervisor. It was really fun to watch, and it was certainly a cultural experience.

Besides watching the sumo tournament, Travis and I also watched a couple of sumo practices in Nagoya. We woke up early on Saturday morning to watch the sumo wrestlers prepare for the matches. It was really interesting, and I certainly gained a whole new respect for the sport after watching the intense practices. I never thought of sumo wrestling as being too physically taxing. I thought they just got to eat, get fat and run into each other. Seemed like a dream job to me. It's actually hard work, though. 

Here is one of the practices we watched. You can see some of the on-lookers in the front.

And, here's another picture of the practice. Many of the wrestlers were covered in lots of cuts and bruises.

Here I am on the way to the stadium. This wrestler was nice enough to let me take a picture with him. Travis and I were both shocked by how good he smelled. Probably sounds strange, but he was freshly showered, and smelled so nice. 

Here's a shot of the stadium. We watched the tournament on the very last day so it was quite crowded.

This picture is a bit fuzzy, but the wrestler in the orange was enormous. I can't remember his exact weight, but I know it was pushing 600 lbs. Unbelievable.

Here's a shot of the wrestlers before their matches. Sumo is a very interesting sport. Well, to me, at least. There are many rituals and rules I never knew about until actually attending the match and doing some background research. If you travel to Japan during the summer, I would highly recommend trying to get tickets. The tournament travels to different cities so it can only be seen during certain months and seasons.

Motown Philly Back Again

Well, I can add Sean from Boyz II Men to my random list of celebrity encounters, which by the way, includes some BIG A-listers like Billy Ray Cyrus, Naomi Judd, Rudy Guilliani and more. (Okay, maybe not really more, but you get the idea.) But, I did see Mike Myers last summer in Kyoto. 

Anyway, I'd like to take a moment to tell you right now about a time when I bumped into one of the Boyz at Hard Rock Nagoya. 

We went to Hard Rock to celebrate our good friend, Lorie's, birthday. While there, one of our friends noticed a man and woman sitting in a booth near us. He mentioned he thought he was one of the singers from Boyz II Men, and we shortly confirmed by comparing a photo on his iPhone. We also realized it was highly likely because Travis had just listened to an interview with Boyz II Men on a local radio station. We quickly began to wonder if there was a concert that night. We discovered that there was going to indeed be a concert. So, we began scheming and thinking about whether or not we should drop some serious dough to hear "I'll Make Love to You" live. 

Shortly thereafter, our theory was confirmed. After the exit of the first alleged Boy, we saw Sean, another of the Boyz, snuggling with his lady friend at a booth across from us. Everyone kept encouraging me to ask him if there were anymore tickets available for their show. I was way too big of a chicken, and he appeared to be laying some sugar on his lady friend so I felt far too awkward. But, we soon noticed he had disappeared. Uh-oh, we lost our chance. But wait, no, we didn't. I got a little burst of courage and decided to approach him while he was paying his bill with my friend, Ayako. I simply approached him and told him I was interested in purchasing tickets to his show and asked if he knew whether or not any were left. He responded by asking my name and said he would give me and my friend, Ayako, free tickets to the show. Awesome, except for the fact that we were there with a group of 13. So, I mentioned that we were there to celebrate a friend's birthday and that there were actually 13 of us there. He took my name and phone number and mentioned he would have his manager call me. Right...

Well, about two minutes later, he called! I never thought I would hear someone say, "This is...., Manager of Boyz II Men," on the other end of a call. But, sure enough, they hooked us up with 13 free tickets (the most expensive ones, too), which actually ended up being 14 free tickets because we forgot one person. Oops. 

Here we are with Sean from Boyz II Men. He was super nice. I never dreamed he would give us free tickets. I just wanted to know whether or not the show was sold out because no one was answering the phone at the ticket office. Just goes to show that sometimes you just have to go for it, I guess.

The show was set to start only about an hour or so after we had finished our birthday lunch so we rushed over to the venue. While standing outside, we quickly began to notice that everyone entering the building seemed really dressed up. They weren't exactly wearing what I expected to see at a Boyz II Men concert. Well, that was because the concert was not exactly what we anticipated. It was actually a Boyz II Men concert in collaboration with The New York Symphonic Ensemble. Ha! It was great, though. They sang all the classics, and we had a really fun time. Especially considering it was free!

Here's a picture of Boyz II Men performing with the symphony on-stage. I realized I must have been way out of the loop for a long time because I didn't even know there were only three of them left. I was still expecting there to be four. Oh, and did you know they've been singing together for 18 years? Crazy! Their voices were absolutely amazing, too. I couldn't believe how great they sounded live.

The best part of the entire show was when they decided to end it with "Motown Philly Back Again." I don't know if that's the actual title, but that's what I'm calling it. It was great! We all went down to the front of the stage and boogied down. It was a great and unexpected night!

Sew a yukata by hand=check

Hi, there! I'm coming to you from the Tokyo airport. We have a few hours to wait before boarding our flight to Singapore. I am so excited! We'll be meeting a couple of our friends there to enjoy a week-long vacation in Singapore and Malaysia. Can't wait to tell you about it.

Anyway, I've been wanting to blog about my yukata for a while. You may remember my mention of it last summer when I first started sewing it by hand. Well, almost one year later, I finally finished! It was a struggle for me because I found the whole process to be a bit boring, and it really tested my patience, but now I am so happy to have it finished. I think it will be an item I treasure for a long time. But, I'm not sure it will last very long because I'm pretty sure I forgot to reenforce most of the stitches. 

The picture below is of my yukata debut. We attended a Tanabata party hosted by my yukata sewing teacher. There was a ton of great food at the party, and we had a great time. 

Here it is! What do you think?

Many of the girls in my class were overly ambitious (well, in my opinion anyway) and also sewed their husbands a yukata. So, they finished two yukatas in way less time than I sewed one, but whatever. Travis' yukata was purchased. There was no way I could handle making another one. 

We wore our yukatas the second time to watch the final day of the sumo tournament in Nagoya. I'll post sumo pictures soon. We joined our friends Chris and Jessica at their place so we could try and help each other construct our outfits.

Here Jessica and I are attempting to watch a Youtube video on how to tie an obi. We eventually figured it out, and I think it turned out pretty well. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture from the back.

And, here we are. Looking pretty sharp if I do say so myself. The funniest part of the day was when we all proudly walked into a ramen restaurant near Chris and Jessica's apartment. We were immediately greeted by the restaurant owner pointing out that all of us had layered our yukatas incorrectly. They are supposed to be layered left over right. Right over left is how dead people wear them in their coffins and is also the way we were all wearing them. The best part was that I confidently explained to everyone exactly why we needed to make sure we layered our yukatas correctly, but I had it backwards. Oops. Wasn't much of a problem for the boys because they could easily fix the issue, but there was no way Jessica and I were going to be able to retie our obis. So, we just rolled with it.

Lastly, here's a picture of Travis and I sweating at sumo. I think he needs some bushy chest hair and a gold chain to really complete the photo, don't you?