Whirlwind Trip to Houston

I am very fortunate to have a job that allows me to travel and this past week it sent me back to Houston for a network meeting.  I was incredibly excited to go as I had not been to Houston since we moved away seven months ago.  I had just under a week there and I tried to make the most of it.  There was lots of shopping, eating, and spending time with friends!

First meal when I arrived Friday in Houston had to be Chuy's with Greg, Andrea, and sweet little Ellie.  If you live in South Carolina and don't know the wonder of Chuy's, you will soon as there is a restaurant opening in Greenville.  Once you have a margarita and some creamy jalapeno dip, you will be hooked!

On Saturday, I was up early and started shopping as soon as the stores opened.  Derek and I had a long list of things to get so I visited grocery, clothing, and drug stores.  It was so nice to be able to walk into a store and find exactly what I needed.  I walked down the aisles of Trader Joe's and Central Market in awe of the selection and prices of food.  Oh how I miss it!

I was honored to get the opportunity to attend the wedding of a good friend and coworker.  Megan was radient and the party was wonderful!  I really enjoyed getting to see all my Houston coworkers, too.  Wishing Megan and Stu the best!

Allison and I with the beautiful bride

Baytown Reunited!

After a great post-wedding brunch on Sunday, Allison and I headed to the outlets for some serious shopping.  I brought three empty suitcases with me and I intended to fill every single one of them.

The rest of the week was spent attending meetings during the day, errands and shopping after work, and then dinner with friends.  I barely had a free moment all week but it was all worth it!  I left with over 100lbs of food, clothing, and household items.  Hopefully I will be back in June for another meeting!

This is how you know you are back in Singapore.  Water features and palm trees
at baggage claim.  

I get a lot of questions about the things I had to buy and eat so here is part of my list:

Buy

• Salsa
• Wine
• Beer
• Buffalo Sauce
• Grits
• Vitamins
• Advil/Aleve
• Razors
• Cosmetics
• Candles
• Candy
• Clothing
• Brita filters
• Picture frames (seems strange but we really had a hard time finding ones we liked in Singapore)
• Other boring and random stuff that I can't find or is too expensive to buy in Singapore

Restaurants

• Chuy's - Texmex
• Chick-fil-a (I went 3 times)
• Churrascos - Argentinean Steakhouse
• Smoothie King
• Torchy's Tacos

Cruising Halong Bay, Vietnam

After spending a day in Hanoi we were picked up by a cruise company and made the four hour journey to Halong Bay by bus.  The roads are not very well kept so at times the ride was pretty miserable.  When we boarded the boat and headed out the bay we realized it was definitely worth it!  We kayaked, hiked, cruised our way around the bay.  It was an overnight cruise so we got to spend two days enjoying the sights.

Heading out to the bay.  The mist obscured the view a bit.

Our junk boat with the sails up (they are only for show)

Setting Sail!

The islands reminded us a lot of our time in Phuket

Kayak time!

We paddled through this cave to get to a hong.

We found these two monkeys playing around.

The middle of the hong.

Nearing sunset in the crowded bay

When we got to the top of the island we could see all the boats in Halong Bay.  So crowded...

We practically had this little island to ourselves.  That is our boat in the background. 

After enjoying the sunset it was back to the boat for a delicious vietnamese dinner.  We enjoyed talking with the other passengers about their travels.  We sat with a dentist from Chile on a two month tour of Asia and a Tazmanian spending a few months in southeast Asia between jobs.  We were fascinated to hear their stories because they basically purchased tickets to and from Asia but everything in between they just planned the day before.  Real contrast to our 'plan everything down to the hour' style.  Some may think that takes the fun out of it but for us, not having to worry is what lets us have fun.

The next morning we went to Hang Sung Sot to do some cave exploring.

Looking back at the entrance to the cave

Inside the first chamber of the Hang

The third and largest chamber.  They call this the Surprise Cave.  Can you find the surprise or the
man's finger as our guide called it?

This cave was massive!  I love the rippling on the ceiling from where waves washed against it many years ago.

At the exit of the cave we found these women with fresh seafood.
Cuttlefish, crabs, shrimp, oysters, cockles, you name it.

When we got back to our boat, we ate lunch as we sailed back to the harbor.  From there it was another bouncy four hours back to Hanoi. So glad that we made the long trip out there!

Visiting Vietnam: Hanoi

We recently took a few days off from work and spent a long weekend in Vietnam.  We flew into Hanoi and spent the first day wandering the streets and trying to not get hit by motorbikes.  Lane lines, stop lights, and road signs are merely just suggestions in Vietnam so it was a bit stressful getting around.  Because they do not stop for stoplights, it is hard to get an opening so you just step into the road and slowly walk as motorbikes dart around you.  Thankfully no injuries were suffered crossing any streets although I did get a small tap by one motorbike.  We ate Mexican (not very good), visited the lake, enjoyed pho, and rooftop drinks.  It was an interesting first day.

One of the only peaceful places in the city

Tree growing between two buildings

Just a few of the motorbikes.  Talking and riding?  Just glad he didn't hit me.

Vietnamese street food.  Everyone sits at these tiny tables and eat. 

Vietnam

Rooftop drinks.  Notice the haze in the distance.  The haze/fog/smog stayed the whole weekend.

We spent the next two days cruising at Halong Bay but returned to Hanoi for one more night.  We ate a nice dinner and explored the night market where we got our pockets checked for valuables.  Fortunately we were aware of sticky fingers and kept things where they could not be easily taken.

Our last day in Hanoi we went to the Temple of Literature which is a temple of Confucius and once served as a learning center.  

Entrance to the Temple grounds

Inside one of the many courtyards

Stelae of Doctors (monuments to former scholars)

Bonsai trees 

Students lined up to get their names and good luck symbols drawn on the red scrolls. 

Altars to Confucius and his disciples

Altars for three of the monarchs who helped in founding the temple

The Bell House

Vietnam was quite an experience.  The people were kind, the food was great, but the streets are dirty.  The air quality is questionable as is personal safety.  Despite this, I have to say the cruise to Halong Bay made the whole trip worth it.  I think we will return to Vietnam at some point to visit Sapa and/or Ho Chi Minh City.

Thaipusam: A Hindu Celebration

WARNING: This post contains graphic images 

Back on January 27th (yes, I'm really behind on my blog), there was the Thaipusam festival in Singapore.  Thaipusam is a Hindu festival dedicated to the god Murugan.  For this celebration, devotees  prepare for 48 days by cleansing themselves through fasting and prayer.  On the day of the festival, the devotees will go on a pilgrimmage with a kavadi (burden).  Sometimes the kavadi can just be carrying a jug of milk on their head but in Singapore, they practice the piercing kind of kavadi.  The piercings are outlawed in many countries but for some reason they allow it here and I got the chance to see it.

The festival started at a temple in Little India where the devotees would cleanse themselves and put on their kavadi before walking 4 km down the road to another temple.  We went to the first temple to watch them put on their kavadis.  What you can't gather from the pictures is the loud drumming going on in the background and the thick smell of incense.  

The devotees are said to be in a trance like state so they feel no pain as they are being pierced and do not bleed.  They are also said to not be left with any scars after the ritual.  There is a special piercing team that helps the devotees so they must do everything just right.

Preparing for their devotee begin putting on the kavadi

A devotee getting these chains/string connected to his body with fish hooks

Every metal object touching his body is piercing his skin.  

Kathy, Shelly, Nicki, and Ed.  Kathy and I were the first timers at the festival.

All of those pins are going in his face 

Almost finished with connecting the chains 

Hooked up (pun intended) and ready to go

More preparations

No words 

Jason was on a business trip so he got to enjoy this with us. 

This was too painful to watch 

Carrying more fruit 

Not only did this guy carry oranges on his back but he did it while wearing spiked shoes

Almost all of them pierce their face like this.  The horizontal spike goes through both cheeks and the tongue.

I am a bit squeamish (or maybe it was the fact I had just come down with a stomach virus) so this was hard for me watch.  I am glad I got the chance to go see it but hopefully will not have to again.  I am in awe of the devotion these people have to their religion.

If you would like to see more on Thaipusam, check out my friend Kathy's Blog.

New Zealand: Mt Cook, Rafting, and Christchurch

Our last three days in New Zealand seemed to contain the most driving.  We left Wanaka after breakfast to head up to Mt Cook for a day hike.  We heard that Tasman lake had icebergs in it so we had to go see.

Stop by Lake Pukaki.  Mt Cook is to the left.

One of the bridges on the path to Lake Tasman

Mt Sefton

This cloud hung around the top of Mt Cook all day keeping me from getting a perfect picture.

Made it to Lake Tasman.  The icebergs are chunks of the glacier that have broken off. 

See the edge of the iceberg at the end of the lake?  It is covered by till which makes it hard to see how big the Tasman
Glacier is. 

Up close of the edge of Tasman Glacier.  The till turns the lake this cloudy tan color.

Trying to get a picture with cloudy Mt Cook

A clear glacial stream

A resting point along the trail

 After the hike we headed to a B&B just outside of Twizel.  The B&B was located on a family farm and we had a spectacular view out the window of our room.  We ran into town for a bottle of wine and pizza which we enjoyed from these two chairs as we watched the sunset.  Definitely our favorite evening of the trip.

Peaceful

Sunset over Mt Cook

The next morning we headed to Geraldine to go rafting but there was some miscommunication and we missed our trip so we continued on to Christchurch to spend the day.  There wasn't much to do in Christchurch after the earthquake so all we did was go to Cashel Mall.  Cashel Mall is street shopping that was setup after the earthquake and vendors were not allowed to operate within the Red Zone.  The shops are in modified containers that they stacked and lined up along the street.

Derek and I studied the construction of these shops for quite some time.

The following day we were able to get spots on the rafting trip so we headed back to Geraldine for some rafting along the Rangitata Gorge.

Our rafting group.  We were with a group of European backpackers and our guide, Dan.

Heading down one of the first rapids, cheesing real hard.

First class 5 rapid 

Where did the boat go?

Probably screaming and choking on the river I just drank 

Beautiful Rangigata Gorge

About to disappear into another rapid

We made it through alive

At the end of the trip was Jump Rock where we leaped into the freezing cold water.  There were two different jumps and I only did the first one.  I didn't enjoy the long swim back to the shore in frigid glacial water.

Jump Rock

Here I go! 

About to hit the water

Derek's turn

Derek jumping from the higher point

Still falling....I think this was about a 15 meter drop.

We questioned taking the two hour drive back to Geraldine for rafting but it proved to be worth it and it was the perfect ending to our trip.  We are so thankful we got the opportunity to make this trip to New Zealand.  I hope we will get a chance to go back and see more of it before we move back to the States.  We still have half of the south island and all of the north island to see.  New Zealand is incredible!