Singapore

2004

The trip is over and we moved to Singapore.

Our first day trip from Singapore was to the Indonesian island of Bintan. It's basically a resort island designed to accomodate vacationers from Singapore.

We booked a trip to "Interact with Dolphins", and we weren't disappointed. We jumped in the pens with our instructor and got to touch the dolphins and give them the commands to have them do various tricks. The pens weren't big enough, and the Dolphins all seemed to have scratches where they'd run into the sides of the pen. But they still seemed happy enough and certainly playful. We knew things would be good when Angela waved to the dolphins before we got in... and they waved back. Seriously. Each dolphin responded with repeated and unmistakable waving.

Sparkle and buddy wave hello Getting ready to meet the dolphins Kisses from the dolphins Andy two-timing Dolphin dancing The dolphins showing off to say goodbye

In Singapore there are Dragon Boat races every week. But occasionally there's a festival and there are lots of races. So we headed to Marina Bay to see the fun and see a little more of Singapore.

Dragon Boats approaching in front of Singapore skyline (and a tiny Merlion) Photo-finish for the first heat of the races.

While living in a foreign Asian land, we're always careful to experience the local culture as much as possible. For example, Andy's birthday dinner at Dan Ryan's Chicago Bar & Grill. And golf.

Showing off his new birthday present--a Spidey Pez dispenser Golfing at the cheapest course we could find in Singapore

We've been meaning to explore Singapore a bit more, so when we heard about wakeboarding we decided to give it a try. I thought my snowboarding experience would give me an advantage... and it probably did. But I was still sore three days later.

By the way, that's Singapore on the left coast and Malaysia on the right. We still haven't made it Malaysia, but we've been awfully close. We'll probably get there soon.

In the water and ready for my first ever wakeboarding attempt The pros jump over the wake. I was happy when I didn't fall over the wake. A nervous Angela getting ready for her first attempt And she got up on the very first try! Very impressive. Jim was the one that organized the trip for us. He was a little better than us, but after another couple of sessions I hope to be competing for the best tricks.

Last modified: 6 May 2005