New England Trip...

Hi Everyone,

Apologies for the lapse in blogging, but that's because I have just returned from a week and half trip to the States. New England to be exact. Kevin and I had a nice time reconnecting with old friends, eating our own weight in lobster, and even managed to meet up with our siblings. Anyway, now that I'm back on Okinawa, I can tell that the hot, muggy, summer has officially began. It was so much cooler in New England...sort of refreshing, really. And here, well it's hot, hot, hot ! Okay, I'll post a few pictures from our trip just as soon as I can.

Ta ta.....

~Chrissy

MCCS Broadcasting...Meet the Team

Hello everyone,

I know you are waiting with bated breath for the next installation of our trip to Singapore, right?! Alas, I've been busy with school (I go to class Monday through Thursday) so I haven't had much time to spend time on the blog. But no worries, I'll do it this weekend!

In the meantime, for those of you who watch MCCS TV here on Okinawa....thought I would let you know that our website now has a "Meet the Team" page! Woohoo. Read up on me and my crazy colleagues.

Enjoy!

~Chrissy

The End of our Singapore Trip Part III

After an exhausting day at the Singapore Zoo, Kevin and I spent the rest of our time in Singapore visiting some other popular landmarks including the Esplanade, the Performing Arts Center, and the Merlion. The Performing Arts Center is quite famous in Singapore as it is designed to look like a giant durian fruit. For those of you who don't remember what a durian is, take a look here.





Here are some photos we took at the waterfront with the Singapore Merlion.








Since we had one more night left in Singapore, later that night, we went to the park to watch a theatre performance of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Despite the oppressive humid heat, we did enjoy the show. We even brought some crackers and wine with us.








If you have the chance to go to Singapore, I certainly recommend catching a show!

~Chrissy

Singapore Continued Part II....

Well as promised here is the continuation of our trip to Singapore.

After the first day at the museum and Chinatown, that night Kev took me to Geylang street to have dinner at "The No Sign Board" seafood restaurant. This was my first time to Singapore, but Kev has passed through several times on his way to Diego Garcia for work. As a huge fan of this restaurant, Kev has always raved about the gigantic crab with white pepper and chili sauce.

There are several restaurants now in and about the city, but Kev believes the location at Geylang street is the best. Here's what the restaurant looked like:



Nothing too fancy....we decided to eat outside so we could people watch.



Apparently, the crab with chili sauce is a Singaporean specialty, but naturally as a seafood restaurant, there are a few other seafood delicacies to choose from.



As recommended by Kev though, we decided to go with the prawns in chili sauce and the crab with white pepper sauce. It was all a bit messy, but very good....Yum....







The following day, we got dressed and headed to the Singapore Zoo. The zoo is located just outside of the city limits within the Malaysian rainforest. The entire trip we had been sweating, but as soon as we arrived at the Zoo, it started to rain...We didn't mind though, this meant it was cooler! Awwww....relief.

While we waited for the rain to stop, we went into a little spa at the main entrance of the zoo. Here, Kev and I decided to dip our toes and receive some pampering---Dr. Fish style. For those who aren't up to date on this new therapy, let me explain:

Dr. Fish are better known as Garra Rufa. They are a type of fish that live in fresh water and are often used for patients with psoriasis. Well, obviously, I don't have psoriasis, but more and more often, the fish are being used by day spas and nail salons since the fish nibble dead skin off of toes and feet. Sounds gross, but actually, I think it works. Kev and I were offered some tea and then we were asked to dip our tootsies into an aquarium filled with hundreds of the little guys. We both received shoulder massages while the Dr. Fish went to work on our feet.

The fish don't hurt, they mostly tickle, but every once in awhile I saw one large one really going to town on my icky callous on my toe.... :)



Here's a shot of Kev's tootsies with the Dr. Fish....



There were a few other guests enjoying their treatment.....


Once we were done with the Dr. Fish, we headed into the zoo. The zoo was full of so many animals...I mean, really, it was amazing. And since most of the zoo is built into the natural rainforest, many of the animals had enormous enclosures and habitats. In some cases, we could get very close to the animals....

I'm not sure how many animal species exist here, but just take a look at this cute road sign and you'll get an idea....





We saw baboons.....







Orangutans....just look at how close we were to them.....they are free-range so they are able to climb ropes and walk about the zoo.












Asian elephants.......









Rhinos and giraffes.....









And then we got to see a Mommy lemur and her baby! So cute.....









And last but not least, tigers...White bengal tigers.....





We had a wonderful day at the zoo, but later that night, the fun continued. Once night fell, we stayed at the zoo to take part in the "Night Safari" to view the animals at night....unfortunately we weren't able to take any photos due to the poor lighting.

Then we went back to the hotel to sleep as we were exhausted.....nothing like walking around for 8 hours! :)

Well, due to the long nature of this post, I think I'll reserve the rest of the photos for another post.

Stay tuned for part III!

~Chrissy

We interrupt this program with a special report...

All-right....so I know shoes are MY thing. I own so many pairs of shoes, my Dad once called me Imelda Marcos. But despite the plethora of shoes that I own (most of which I wasn't able to bring with me to Okinawa....(sniff, sniff); every now and then I come across one pair of shoes that become a part of me...Can anyone relate? You know what I'm talking about. The pair of shoes that become a part of your pemanent wardrobe. You know the pair you MUST wear whenever, wherever, with whatever you can.

Case in point: My new Malindi crocs in Black.

I was able to purchase this fine specimen while vacationing in Hawaii. Hooray!

I know there are some folks out there who can't stand these "ugly plastic" shoes, but as a huge fan, all I can say is that they are soooooo comfortable, not to mention, sorta chic. :)

So before you knock them, give them a try. Did I mention they are washable? Yep, kiss those smelly shoes goodbye. Crocs can be washed in the sink, in the dishwasher, or even in the washer.

I *heart* them......

Okay, you can now go back to whatever you were doing before you read this post.


~Chrissy

Adventures in Singapore

Kevin and I had a wonderful time in Singapore, we spent five days in the city over the long Memorial weekend. We knew it would be hot, but we weren't expecting it to be over 90 degrees the entire time we were there! Wow...

However, despite the heat, we enjoyed ourselves. We stayed at the Carlton Hotel which was centrally located in the city and allowed us to easily get around to visit all the sites.

On our first day, we walked into a shopping center to get some relief from the heat and decided to have our first Singaporean breakfast. Here I am enjoying toast with kaya. Kaya is a local jam-like spread made with eggs, milk, sugar and coconut. It is spread on toast and often eaten accompanied with runny eggs. I wasn't a huge fan of the runny eggs, but I did enjoy my toast with kaya. Oh...and the coffee was pretty tasty too. Definitely different from standard American drip coffee. :)



Later in the day, we headed to the National Singapore Museum. This museum has several exhibits within its walls, but our favorite had to be the History exhibit. The History exhibit chronicles the very international history of Singapore and all of its immigrants. Singapore has a rich history as it was colonized by the British and later occupied by the Japanese during WWII.



Singpoare, now of course, is a major cosmopolitan city with large populations of Malays, Thais, Chinese, Indians, and ex-pats. Although several languages are spoken here on this island state, English is the official dominant language. Take a look at a sign I found at the train station. It sorta made me chuckle.



For those who don't know, durian is a type of tropical fruit found here in Southeast Asia. It is often called the "king of fruits." Durian is a large fruit with a hard thorn-like shell and emits a strong smell. So horrible is the smell, the fruit is banned on trains in Singapore. I have to say, I've never tried it, but from what I've heard, it tastes like custardy garlic and milk....so I'm not so sure I want to give durian a taste. Anyway, I digress.

Back to our trip....after the visit to the Museum, we found ourselves in Chinatown for lunch. We were able to find a place where several hawker stands sold multiple Chinese dishes. I was a little wary with eating at a hawker stand, but Kevin assured me that we would be fine.







To be honest, the food was actually quite yummy. The above photo is BBQ Pork with Hainese rice.

While in Chinatown, we came across a beautiful temple, the Sri Mariamman temple. As we walked inside, we could hear monks chanting. We could smell incense burning and our eyes were amazed by all the Buddhist statues covered in gold.







It was an amazing place....

Unfortunately I'm going to end this post here, but do stay tuned for part II of our adventures in Singapore. More on that later....

~Chrissy