Maui

Stop number three was Maui - Hubby's favorite on the itinerary. To be honest, it wasn't a good first impression for me. The airport was serviceable and we rented a minivan from the car rental counter. We chose to stay at the Aston Kaanapali Shores and even got a little sea view beyond the garden view (there was birdsong every morning and evening), but the condo hotel was pretty dated. It was nice to have washer, dryer, and a little kitchen though. We ate some of our meals in the room - there was a grocery store across the street - to cut down on costs (HI was expensive). I was expecting someone to welcome me with a lei - isn't that what they do in the movies? With condos and hotels everywhere, it didn't feel much different from Florida... 

Beach at hotel

View from the front of hotel, after the rain

Hubby likes nothing more than to hang out at a warm beach for his holidays. He and Boy went on a snorkeling trip, and saw the humuhumunukunukuāpua'a (reef triggerfish - the HI state fish) and a turtle, among other things. There was snorkeling near the shore at various beaches, which was nice. We found a beach with light waves (could be the Baby Beach) where Girl loved playing in the water. And I really liked Napili Beach. Otherwise, we spent quite a bit of time at the pool. Things were looking up a little.

Snorkeling trip

Baby beach

We ate at the hotel restaurant often, simply for convenience - the food was not so good (what you do when you travel with kids). No expensive luau for us (kids wouldn't sit through that) - just watched the free hotel hula show, which was cute. We did check out Whalers Village and had lunch at Cane & Taro - nice view and yummy sushi. Found a couple other good restaurants - our favorite was Star Noodle. There was this big communal table where you could see what others were eating, and the desserts were so good. Another fond memory is Aloha Mixed Plate - tasty and filling.  We splurged at Mala on seared tuna and Kobe beef burger.
We took a pass on the Hana Highway as reviews said that the hair-pin turns did not make a pleasant drive with young kids. We did drive north from Kaanapaali to Mokuleia Beach, where Hubby snorkeled and Boy found crabs in the little cove. The development thinned out a bit as we headed north, but probably won't be that way for long. This was more the HI I imagined.

Honolua Bay

Mokuleia Beach

Seattle

Stop two on our adventure was Seattle. We were meeting some friends from Vancouver over a long weekend. We stayed at the downtown Hyatt Place, which was decent and within walking distance to the Space Needle and museum complex. We used the free shuttle service to nearby attractions when it was rainy. There was also a monorail from the museum complex to downtown shopping and food - Boy is a fan of trains.
We bought the Citypass to see the main attractions. The Space Needle was nicely done, except for the giant gift shop on the way out. There were these stations where you could take a picture and have the Space Needle as the background - nice souvenir. The Pacific Science Center was nice for Boy - it had a moving dinosaur exhibit. Both kids liked the planetarium show. Of course, there was a gift shop (curses for parents). The EMP was very neat, sort of a fun museum of pop culture for grown-ups. There was a giant tv screen at the entrance which showed music and movie stuff. The Woodland Park Zoo was also nicely done - I liked the park-like setting. We didn't have enough time for the other attractions.

From the Space Needle observation deck

Pacific Science Center

EMP

Wolf exhibit at Woodland Park Zoo

Of course, we also checked out Pike Place and the Starbucks. Curiosity took us to the gum wall, which I immediately regretted - it was gross.

Pike Place

We had a couple nice dinners. One at Long Provincial (fancy Vietnamese), and the other at Blueacre - where we got a nice private section.
All in all a great weekend!

San Francisco

I fell in love with San Francisco again. It was the first stop in our move to Singapore from Florida, and my second visit. The first time was in 1998 when I visited two good friends who were out there for their internships. They ended up staying, and we got together again, this time with our families. I hadn't seen them since that first visit, but it was nice to just catch up on life.

We found a nice place to stay in Fairfax via airbnb for the week. It was Susan and Carl's downstairs apartment and they were great hosts. They helped with little details and had wine and pasta ingredients for us. The kids got a separate bedroom (with books and toys!) so the adults had some privacy. There were plenty of services (shopping, restaurants - we especially liked Sol Food in San Rafael) nearby - also in the nearby towns. It was a lovely place from which to hit San Francisco and wine country sights.

Sausalito is so pretty. We had a second breakfast at Poggio - food was ok but it had that nice European sidewalk cafe feel. We were there mid-week morning, so no crowds. Tiburon was really nice too - we had dinner there one evening, waterside (although we had to fight seagulls).

Of course, we had to hit Pier 39 for the kids to see sea lions. And Ghiradelli Square for sundae. We also treated Boy to the Letterman Digital Arts Center which houses the Lucasfilm screening room. He was fascinated with the Star Wars stuff. I was fascinated by the Painted Ladies.

Pier 39

Letterman Digital Arts Center

We checked out Muir Beach (too cold for swimming in October) and Muir Woods. The redwoods are inspiring. Another day saw us visit the Point Reyes lighthouse. It was a little hike, but worth the view.
Berkeley is cool - we spent an afternoon with friends checking out the eclectic and artistic shops. Chocolates at Chocolatier Blue - yummy art, almost too pretty to eat!

Muir Beach

 

Muir Woods

 

Point Reyes lighthouse

We did manage to visit Russian River Valley and Napa Valley, with kids in tow. At Russian River, we checked out J (nice terrace) and Armida (great views). At Napa, we had lunch at Angele and checked out Frog's Leap - Hubby really liked the 2008 Rutherford. What nice grounds - grapes, other fruit trees, chickens, like a farm, really (so fun for the kids). A friend recommended macaroons at Bouchon Bakery in Yountville, but we missed out because it was closed due to fire damage. Next time!

 

J Vineyards

 

Armida Winery

I could live there. When we bade goodbye the last morning, Susan was just finishing her morning in the meditation garden. I could so live there.

Moving along

Well, this is a little embarrassing, the length of time since the last post. I actually couldn't find the blog, but I can blame it on all the activity since I last logged on. At times it felt I was on autopilot with my brain turned off or not functioning...
So we did manage to move to Singapore. All the frenzied preparation since the last post saw us leave our rental, move in with the parents (we didn't quite time the travel right), and then off on our adventure. I was pretty sad to leave Florida and my extended family. But the good news was that my parents would travel to Asia to help us settle down. They made a trip to China, like they always wanted, then came to Singapore to pave the way for us. Meanwhile, we took our little halfway-round-the world trip - more on that later.
We got to Singapore early November and managed to find a nice condo near the subway (MRT) in a fairly central location. We want to try our best to live with public transport, as car ownership is very expensive here. The kids are so used to cars though, that they initially kept wanting to go places in a car. We do tend to take taxis when we go out as a family - that is what they ask for nowadays.
Our employment authorization took awhile - Hubby's came through earlier on, but mine was delayed due to a little technical issue. That took awhile to sort out, but now we are all legal. The business side is seeing some challenges, but we are hanging in there. Things just seem to take longer than we expected.
The kids are installed in childcare. It took us a while to decide on a place, and them some time to get used to it, but it's all sorted. And they have had their first bout of hand, foot and mouth disease. Boy is in taekwondo again - took him a while there too. First grading coming up!
In a way, I marvel at the life change we have taken. At times, I feel too old for this, and long to set roots somewhere. Boy had a harder time than I expected. But kids are already speaking more mandarin.
One of the advantages of living in Singapore - convenience and accessibility of services. I pop across the street for food and groceries. Don't miss the driving at all. You could buy practically anything here - almost all the common American mall brands are here, if you're up to paying the premium prices.
Disadvantages - the humidity and crowds. It is so hot all the time - at least it cools off a little bit in the winter in Florida. Public transport gets really crowded. We took kids to a popular spot one evening and Girl got stepped on. People sure aren't shy about jostling for space. My kids constantly gets cut off in queues to get on the bus. Those courtesy campaigns didn't seem to take. But then Singapore has doubled its population in the twenty plus years I've been away.
How long will this be home? I wish I knew...

At the marina - Marina Bay Sands in the background

Nice weather

Yesterday it was a cool 80-ish. Lovely to be out after the hot yoga session. It's a tough season to be moving away. When we moved from Europe to Florida, it was winter, a perfect time to move away.
This move is starting to feel like a drag. I will miss many things about Florida. We do have a comfortable life here, even if it isn't exactly exciting. Visited the springs with family - our second time this summer (it has been a busy one). We didn't manage to go tubing - first time that we didn't make it there before the crowds (we dawdled over breakfast) - but checked out the Rainbow Springs headsprings. It is a very nice park atmosphere, complete with barbeque pits. Had to take the requisite dip in the water even if the weather wasn't so warm. As Hubby would say - very refreshing.
Got into a little disagreement with the landlord. We had agreed to some terms with the termination of the lease. We have gotten along well so far, and I have worked hard to make sure the house looks presentable to his potential new tenants and buyers. We wanted to extend our leaving date half a month, but he informed us that he's already found new tenants. Naively we asked if we would be released from some rent responsibilities. Turns out that he saw the extra rent we would pay as an early termination fee. Should have asked those questions earlier. Would be surprised to see our deposit returned.
Need to find some way to motivate myself to see this through. The thing is though, the paperwork for Asia is taking much longer than we planned. We'll have to shack up with the parents for a bit, I think. At least they'll enjoy having the grandchildren around (I hope)...

Hot yoga is not for me

Bought a hot yoga pass for hubby months ago because he said he wanted to try. He finally used it today, and I joined him in class. We have both done yoga before, but was this excruciating for me! I simply don't care to sweat that much, or be in a hot room with a bunch of other sweaty people. The sweat pouring onto my face made it hard to get into poses, with which I anyway had difficulty. Sheesh it was hot. Hubby loved it though, claiming that he felt more relaxed immediately after the class. Of course, this is a man who regularly exercises in the garage, unbearable (for me) from the Florida heat...
We finally got out the first set of paperwork towards employment visas for Asia. Lots of i's to dot and t's to cross. Took longer than I expected. I don't know...this Asia thing will likely not feel real until the employment passes are approved. Hubby has wrapped up his current project and started to work on project management certification. He now has more time to help with the transition. We will keep hacking at the paperwork.
Boy said a few days ago - I can't wait till you and daddy grow old and die, so I can do whatever I want. Huh. That strict, are we? I explained that we don't have to die for him to have freedom, he just has to grow up, work hard and have an income - then he can do whatever he wants. No point telling him he won't have much time to do that then, especially if he gets married and kids...

Breaks are awesome

Sigh...it's been a lazy three weeks, sort of. Vacation for two weeks and recuperation for one. Headed to Europe for our annual summer visit. It was nice to see family and friends. We were blessed to have the use of a relative's home (and got to visit her summer house too). With plans about every other day, it was a rest for the entire family.
Boy was a little difficult that first week. He's just not a fan of walking, but loved the trams, metro, buses. By the second week, he stopped complaining about the walking. So proud of my little man. Girl was in a stroller most of the time, the easy one. Kids got to sleep in the same bed, which Boy didn't care for much, as Girl is a kicker. They did keep each other up some nights, but then the parents relaxed in a separate room.
Wow, we had so much sweets! Must have had blueberry pie after every second meal. Multiple ice cream treats per day (Boy actually denied his fourth ice cream of the day once, but returned later to claim it - unfortunately Mom already ate it). The weather was beautiful, not nearly as hot as in Florida.
So back to the grind last week and just could not get myself to post. Boy was home and everyone was getting over jet lag. This week he started school. Things are going pretty well, although he complained today that school takes so long. There just aren't enough hours for Wii and Lego as far as he is concerned.
Have started transition-related paperwork. Sort of hard to concentrate on official tasks when I've not worked for this long. So easy to get distracted. Like to make a post entry...