Sunday, August 31, 2014

Out and About Singapore

Riding the trains is a great way to get around the city. All official type notices are in the 4 languages of Singapore.


Malay on the left and Hindi on the right.


English and Chinese - not sure if it is Mandarin or Cantonese  or another of the Chinese languages.


Proactive anti-dengue adverts.


Singapore has a bussiling Indian neighborhood. The girls were quite excited about this bread cone - can't remember what it is called.




Changi airport has all sorts of these rating devices to let you know what you think about it's services.


Glass and fresh flower displays being set up at the airport.



Singapore Adventure #1: Bedok Reservoir

Singapore does a nice job with its space, maintaining outdoorsie type of stuff within its limited area. Alicia planned an afternoon at Bedok Reservoir where they have a ropes course set up in the trees around the reservoir. It had a kids and adult course, both involving full on harnesses and ziplining gear which was quite exciting for Emmerson and quite daunting for Ada. I Chaperoned Ada while Alicia went on the more intense option with a super gungho Emmerson. It was very well laid out and the guides did a great job of providing instruction without being overbearing or too intrusive. Both courses involved some ziplines, the adult one over the reservoir.


Getting geared up. Emmerson super excited - she just barely made the height requirement for the adult course.


Alicia doing the free fall.


Into the net at the end of the free fall.


Emmerson on the course.


Emmerson leading the way on whatever that is called.


On the swingy bridge thing.



Emmerson beginning her zipline over the reservoir - then the camera stopped working so this is it .... but I did get her on video which I'll incorporate once I figure out how to do it.

Alicia going for some style points - good zipline skills.


Over Bedok Reservoir .... 


and into the crash pad sand pit.





Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Singapore 2014

Sure am going to miss this neck of the woods. Most likely my last jaunt to Singapore .... 


Emirates Airlines making a big splash in the global transport market. They also have made quite a foray into the wonderful world of soccer sponsorship which is huge business. The stadium where Arsenal plays is Emirates Stadium and several other teams have the Emirates logo blazoned across their kits. 
Speaking of sponsorship, Man U is now wearing a Chevy kit. I am blaming their poor form as of the start of the season on this. Not that I am anti - Chevy, but it just does not seem to fit - Chevy - "America" and all that in the EPL - guess the Glazers are making their mark.
And Man U sucks as of now so maybe Glazer should reconsider a lot of stuff and get Man U back on track. 
Anyway, following or preceding, not sure how these posts will show, are our extended weekend jaunt to Singapore. 


  
Ships lining up to get into the ports of Singapore.  Their goods will either fuel the Singaporean lifestyle or be repackaged and sent off to another destination.


 Random islands in the South China Sea. Most uninhabited but claims to their off shore resources make them highly volatile amongst the various countries that lay claim to them. 

                                               


Monday, August 04, 2014

A Few Random Leftovers

I took a few photos on my phone over the summer that don't really fit in with the other posts.


Summer upkeep began the last week of school in June. amazing to see what they can do with bamboo scaffolding.



Interesting food item.


We spent most of our summer back and forth between Freeport and Brookfield. We still have our house in Brookfield but is is pretty much empty - no furniture, TV, internet so ended up kind of camping out with blow up beds and a few lawn chairs for furnishings. This made watching the World Cup a bit of a challenge and I ended up watching most of the matches at a bar in Brookfield. Alicia and I ventured downtown Chicago to watch the US play Germany and this venue was a good one to view the game. 


Chicago was fogged in on this particular day. After the game we ate lunch at Rick Baylesses tortas shop which is a great place for quality Mexican food.



Back in Manila - Emmerson getting xrays so the orthodontist can figure out if she needs any hardware in the next year.