Like in many international schools, Singapore American School offers students a short school holiday midway through the first semester. So in mid-October we decided to join our friends Mike and Tara and their three kids on a boat trip floating around Thailand. We flew to Phuket, where we met up with the crew of Merdeka …

Continue reading “Autumn” Break in Thailand

When we first arrived in Singapore a year ago we learned about the Singapore Grand Prix and the huge crowds that attended in the Before [covid] Times. I didn't really think much of it at the time since I had never followed Formula One or any other motorsports racing. This past summer during our D.C. …

Continue reading Zoom Zoom: Let’s Watch Formula One at the Singapore Grand Prix

Singapore is crazy expensive. In Forbes magazine's listing of cities with the highest cost of living, Singapore ranks eighth right behind #7 New York City and ahead of #9 Tokyo. Housing prices are bad enough, but car prices really make the head spin. Singapore is often cited as the most expensive city in the world …

Continue reading I Get Around: Or, Let’s Buy a Tiny Car for $100,000

It's a federal holiday in the US, which means that Mark had a holiday from work. Since the kids have been home since the beginning of June and have not really done much of anything, I decided to book a family outing. The destination: Jurong Bird Park. I first visited Jurong Bird Park in 1996 …

Continue reading A Very Rainy Ramble through Jurong Bird Park

We live in the north of Singapore, very close to the kids' school and Mark's work. And Malaysia! As the crow flies, our house sits just over two kilometers from the Causeway, the first and busier of two bridges to neighboring Malaysia. Johor Bahru's skyline, as viewed from the Singapore side Starting in March travel …

Continue reading Going abroad for Lunch: Or, a day Trip to Malaysia

Recently I joined the American Women's Association, a local group that organizes all kinds of events for the expat ladies. And on Monday I headed out on my first AWA event: a photo walk at Gardens by the Bay. Loyal martayaki readers may recall the family's foray to the Gardens on the evening of Chinese …

Continue reading Photo walk at Gardens by the Bay with new photo Friends

A few weeks ago I joined friends on a tour organized by the Navy's Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) office. Our destination: Thow Kwang Pottery Jungle. The Pottery Jungle hosts one of two dragon kilns on the island and in Normal Times offers all kinds of classes and workshops. Singapore's reopening to Normal crawls along, …

Continue reading A Visit to Thow Kwang Pottery Jungle

Last week we headed downtown for dinner, and we found ourselves near the storied Raffles Hotel. I asked that we pop in for a drink at the famous Long Bar, home of the Singapore Sling [cocktail]. The family agreed. The Long Bar hostess asked if we had a booking, but alas. We did not, and …

Continue reading “Enjoying” a Singapore Sling at the Raffles Hotel

While planning our Sydney vacation, one activity kept getting mentions from anyone who has visited Sydney before. And several of you asked in Facebook comments: any plans to climb the Harbour Bridge? We all definitely wanted to climb, but the incredibly unpredictable weather made planning a challenge. With all of our remaining days predicted to …

Continue reading One last Sydney Post: Climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge

Early in the trip Tessa mentioned that she wanted to hold a koala. So yesterday we headed out of Sydney to visit Featherdale Sydney Wildlife Park. We set out early, and frankly most of us were not in the best mood. The kids were tired and cranky from the early wake up, and I had …

Continue reading Wallabies, ‘Roos, Emus, and the Blue Mountains