Fun Summer Days



So I just had to share these photos that Dannette sent to me.  I laughed when I saw them as it's a fun look into the silliness that she and her friends have when out and about.  Often, quite different than the serious, quiet Dannette that we often all see.  Hope you enjoy!



 







My personal favorite!









Last Day of School!

Well the time has come and Dannette is now completely done with 7th grade!  What a year and three schools later!!
I think we all see the end of school this year as a big milestone as it marks the beginning of the one month countdown until we return home to Chicago for the month of July.  We are all starting to get really excited.  Ok, excited about Chicago, not excited about Halie and the 24 hours on the plane. You see Halie has taken to being a screamer.....a happy screamer that is.  She does nothing quietly.  So  you can imagine that our anxiety levels are inching up every day as we contemplate being in business class in a dark cabin for at least 12 hours of the flight while people try to sleep and we have a screaming toddler near them preventing them from sleeping.  I have heard good things about essential oils to help calm kids on planes so I plan to do some investigating!
In other news, Monday marks the last trip before our home leave that I know of.  Its a 4 day return trip to Dubai.  However, after being in London for a week and just getting home last evening I can tell you that another 7 hour plane trip and 5 hour time difference is not sounding so good at the moment.  All things will come to an end though and we will be even closer to Chicago when I get home!

In final news, the mail arrived today and we learned that Dannette made honor roll for the second semester!  Not bad for a kid who has been through three schools and two continents in the course of one school year! We are of course, very proud! She of course, thinks I am insane for photographing her with the honor roll certificate.  We parents need to embarass them some days I figure :)

Dance Team

We were thrilled to be able to see Dannette perform with the Singapore American School's Dance Team at the beginning of May!  What a great showcase of talent.  The Spring show is lighter and only includes the Middle School whereas the fall show is a huge showcase of middle through high school.  Dannette wanted to try the Spring show to get her feet wet and she enjoyed it so much she plans to do the Fall 2011 show when they return to school.

The show concept this year was called 'iDance' and centered around the concept of your iPod being on shuffle so each song was only about 90 seconds long.  This was a great way to explore lots of types of dance as well as to include almost 200 dancers! 

Not only was the show excellent, John and I had a blast watching Halie watch the show.  She clapped for every act and often was dancing along in our laps. She really got excited when Michael Jackson's |Smooth Criminal| was used!  Apparently, she is an MJ fan in the making!

Enjoy the pics!

Ho Chi Minh City - Vietnam

Once again I am dreadfully behind on my blogging, but I have vowed to catch up again so that I am current by the time we head home to Chicago in one month!  We are all getting very excited.

Firstly though I have not yet blogged about my trip to Vietnam at the end of April.  This was definitely a trip that will not be forgotten!

Vietnam was like what I imagined every Asian city to be......extremely crowded, the streets jammed with motorbikes and people peddling everything from food to souvenirs on the streets. In general, I tend to dislike all the crowds, but something about Vietnam made it feel special.  I will never forget arriving and being driven to the hotel and being the only car I could see as far in front, behind or to the sides of me.  There were no cars, only thousands of people on motorbikes weaving in and out of traffic without stopping.  The motorbike is treated like a family SIV there!  I saw small Vespa scooter sized bikes carrying two adults with a small child in front of the driver and a second child nestled between the two adults!  It was an amazing site.

I didn't get a chance to do any site seeing while there but I did find a new love......Vietnamese food!  I did not know that Vietnamese food holds the worldwide distinction of being some of the healthiest foods around.  I can see why.  The food is simple but what makes it so special is the amazing amount of flavor that can come from simple basic ingredients.  My favorite dish has to be Pho (pronounced 'fir'), in English translates to a Noodle soup.  I prefer the Beef Pho, but they also sell another one typically that contains beef, beef balls and other meats.  The broth of the Pho is a delicate broth teaming with basil and lots of other fragrant and tasty spices.  The beef is super thin slices of beef (think similar to what a slice of lamb for gyros looks like) that is tossed raw into the boiling hot Pho broth moments before you eat it so it is perfectly cooked.  The proper way to eat it is to remove the beef as you go and dip it into one of the spicy chili sauces that they serve with it.  Of course, you also enjoy the broth as you would any other noodle soup.  I was first introduced to the dish in Taiwan where it was good, but nothing replaces having it done locally in Vietnam!  A few other must-try's are the fresh spring roll (also known as a summer roll), which is a non fried egg roll containing mint, basil, rice and a few vegies in a delicious rice wonton wrapper and to top it off Vietnamese coffee!  I am not a coffee person but the deliciously sweet (they used sweetened condensed milk) and extremely strong flavors over ice could not be missed! 

I have since found a decent place in Singapore to enjoy the cuisine but look forward to trying it again in Vietnam again!

Help Dannette to Win!

So as part of our life in Singapore, we still try to do the "normal" stuff.  Part of Dannette's 13th bday was tickets to the Justin Bieber concert here in Singapore.  Please vote.  Voting will go until April 30th, the most likes wins the life size figure of him.


http://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=o.159300480788770#!/photo.php?fbid=1694051475620&set=o.159300480788770&type=1&theater

Korea and Taiwan

Taipei, Taiwan

I am once again behind on the blog and feeling the need to catch up.  I honestly had not given the blog much thought as I have been enjoying my approximately 6 weeks without travel!  So upon coming back from my Korea/Taiwan trip, the last thing I wanted to do was blog about it.
The time has come though for my travel to again begin.  I will be leaving for a quick two day trip on Easter evening to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.  I am really looking forward to seeing Vietnam. After that it's the trip I am probably most excited about.....a week back in Chicago.  This was a surprise trip as I have been asked to take on a new project which involves bringing our new medical directors to Chicago to introduce them to Headquarters. This is a project currently scheduled twice per year.  It is a task that is handled by one of my colleagues from Germany but they decided to get a back-up person so  that she doesn't have to make the trip each time. After that it's a trip to Marlow, England just outside of London near Windsor.  A location that Dannette and I love.  We visited Windsor nearly 8 years ago now.  It will be one week after the Royal Wedding so I am excited to be part of the festivities.
Everything here is good.  Weather is nice as always, John is really getting his bike rides in and Dannette is looking forward to her last 6 weeks of school.  None of us can believe that summer is nearly here!
For those that don't know, we have made a critical decision to bring our beloved 4 year old German Shepherd to Singapore and he will be joining us on our return flight from Chicago at the end of July.  Luckily, we were able to investigate the quarantine options and found a way for him to only be quarantined for 10 days upon his arrival instead of the 30 days originally planned.
I digress though, this post was about  South Korea and Taiwan.  I really enjoyed this trip.  While it seemed a long 5 days to be away, both countries were among my favorite!  South Korea was such an interesting place to go as it's the furthest north I have gone thus far in Asia.  It was on the cool side compared to what I have become accustomed to as it was in the mid-50's, but it was the amazing views that got me. The city of Seoul is set in a way that you see great views of the ocean on your drive from the airport but have breathtaking views of some mountains in the distance. The city itself was similar to most Asian cities I have been too.  I will say it was clean and did not seem near as crowded and frantic as Shanghai or even Hong Kong. My work colleagues went out of their way to have me sample some delicious Korean food.  My favorite was a Korean BBQ dinner.  Along with sampling 10 mini appetizers including several types of kimchee (think pickled cabbage), the highlight of the meal was the Korean BBQ beef.  This is cooked on a charcoal grill set into the center of the table where the most deliciously marinated beef strips are grilled by your waitress in front of you.  I would really like to find a Korean BBQ here in Singapore to take John and the girls to as I think they would fall in love with the food.

Waiting for my bubble tea order at a street stall in Taiwan

Taiwan, was the polar opposite of South Korea. A short flight of just under two hours from Seoul, Taiwan is an island off the coast of China.  While it does have seasons, it was considerably warmer than Seoul as it was already well into their Spring season.  I loved Taiwan.  It was crowded and a bit hectic but in a way that I found very appealing.  I found myself wandering the small streets between my office and the hotel and enjoyed watching the people.  The streets were an interesting mix of people, motorbikes and tons of foot traffic.  I took some pictures on a trip to a bubble tea stand near the office over lunch.  They were only captured with my Blackberry but I think it did a good job of capturing the average street.

Shanghai, China

Looking down Nanjing Road

I spent this past week in Shanghai for three days. I have to admit this is the very least favorite of the places I have seen thus far.
I was in a great location at the end of Nanjing Road, a world famous street known for shopping. 
I found the area to be crowded and unfriendly.
I had realized shortly before leaving for my trip that it was going to be cold and did not have a winter coat.  When I arrived I took a brief trip out to the shops to look for a winter coat.  I quickly discovered that no English is almost non-existent and most of the signs are not readable.  I did wander into a department type store at one point only to be shooed out by the women working there. Apparently, foreigners were not welcome.
The city itself is dirty and the city is so crowded there is literally no green anywhere.  No trees, no grass.  Just skyscraper after skyscraper. 
To give you an idea of how overpopulated the city is, the lobby of my hotel was on the 38th floor!  My room was on the 54th floor! 
As usual though, it doesn't really matter what the city is like as I spent my time working.

Lotus Root Stuffed with Sticky Rice

Mandarin Fish

The office did take me out for a traditional Chinese meal one evening and it was an enjoyable experience.  I am not the biggest fan of Chinese food, but I can say that I tried some dishes that I have never had before.  My favorites were Mandarin Fish (served as a full fish with sweet and sour sauce, the cheeks were the most delicious part) and Lotus Root stuffed with sticky rice. The lotus root was interesting as it was slightly sweet but had a gummy texture as it is a root vegetable.
Off this week for a full week of travel with South Korea until Wednesday and then Taiwan on Thursday and Friday.