I went to Singapore with only one thing in mind. Universal Studios. I knew that at least 4 out of 5 of us will love it. We hit jackpot. Carol also loved it.

Singapore turned out to be a place with a lot of stuff to do and see. We lived on the island Sentosa. A very green island (well, Singapore is all green but this was greener then the rest. Let´s call it jungle) with hotels, resorts and lot´s of activities. Luge was fun. It´s a track down the hill (like bob sledge in the summer). The boys tried surfing at a "bar/restaurant" (see pics).  You could also race down the hill, up in the air on a wire. You could even try indoor sky diving. And that's only around the corner from where we lived.

On TV in Viet Nam there has been a lot of commercial´s about Marina Bay Sands. Even TV shows on National Geographic. Off course we went there. You can´t resist the power of commercial. It turned out to be very nice. We sat in the bar and had a few drinks (mocktails for the kids) and looked at the spectacular view. To bad we didn´t bring the thick wallet because the shopping center at the Sands was huge with lot´s of very expensive shops. Outside the shopping center is the Promenade. It´s what it sounds like. With restaurants and places to sit down and relax. When we where sitting there watching the sun going down we had a surprise. They have a light/laser/water/fire show out on the water when it gets dark. Very nice with the famous Singapore sky line in the background.

In total, we are very pleased with this trip to Singapore. If we have the possibility at least I want to go back. So much to see and do. And so easy to get around.

If you want to read more and see pics just click on the link "read more" down to your right.

Last week there was a Swim Meet at UNIS. All grade 2-3 competed for points to their home´s. Ossian´s home is Tigers. He did good and won one of  his races and so did also two of his Swedish friends in Tiger house. Way to go!

It was special this day because Kaye was there. I think she enjoyed this as much as I did. Hope so anyway. We had to take Ossi from the meet earlier to pick up Ruben and go to the airport. Singapore was next stop for us.

I wonder how the competitions went

Yesterday Kaye arrived for a 3 weeks stay with us. Our plan is to go to Singapore this weekend. The kids are free from school on Friday. Universal Studios is on the schedule. I think Kaye are more thrilled about this than the kids.

We are also planning to go to Hoi An and Ba Be national park. Busy busy.

So, hang in there, updates about the trips will soon be here.

At Tet holiday we went to Penang, Malaysia. This Island was not what I expected. I had done no homework at all before we went there. The island turned out to be a big city with a lot of people and high buildings everywhere. I was expecting beaches and bunglows.

But the urban areas was clean and well organized. A dream compared to Ha Noi. But not as great character. The only wildlife we encountered was the butterflies and snakes and bugs at the butterfly farm. Oh, and also the runaway horse on the beach. Poor creature. I think he wanted to get into the shadows. Yes they have beaches there. They where, like the water, dirty.  The water was also murcy, just like the lakes back home in Sweden.

We took the kids to Escape. A big playground for older kids and adults. High altitude tracks (climbing and balance acts high up on wires - like an adventure thing) and other fun things to do. Do not go there on a weekend. A lot of people and the charm of novelty is not a good combination. Not for me anyway.

I would have liked to explore Georgetown a little bit more. It´s an world heritage site. The kids put an early stop to our trip there. You cannot argue with hot and hungry kids without starting third world war, so we went back to the hotel. Into the pool.

Despite my prejudiced expectations this trip was nice.

Read more and see pics by clicking on the link "read more" down to your right.

Update from autumn 2012. Sorry for the delay.
Anyway... we had a nice long weekend in Hue with Selin family, our neighbors. Did some cultural sightseeing and as usual the kids where not as pleased as the adults. Most of the time we spent on the beach and the pool. And at the hotel spa. Nice.

It was a lot of fun on this trip, the Selin brothers likes photography (they are 12 years old (tripling´s)). I spent a lot of time trying to learn them how aperture and shutter speed works together. And we also went around taking photos.

On the down side going to Hue is all the people trying to rip tourists off. We went on a cyclo trip (three wheeled bicycle to drive around tourists) and we agreed on a price before we took off. When we got to our destination they wanted A LOT MORE. I was really angry and was shouting a lot at them and trying to explain that we will not pay more than agreed upon... take it or leave it! When they finally understood that we was´nt any regularly tourists in Vietnam they took it and all was fine. I think those cyclo guys was well known to rip tourists off. The other cyclo people nearby did thumbs up and smiled broadly when we did´nt give up.

And then there where these people working on the streets selling paintings. They never gave up. They could follow you for 50 meters trying to show you all the paintings they had. Even when you told them during the first meter that you where´nt interested. This things never happen in Ha Noi. Here they are indifferent about you buying or not (except one or two guys selling books in old quarters).

Apart from the annoying cyclo guys and painting sellers, it was a very relaxing weekend at a very nice hotel. I can highly recommend Ana Mandara.

Took a lot of pictures. See some of them by clicking on the link "read more" down to the right.