Goodbye to Singapore!

I must say that Clark and I have had some great times while we have lived in Singapore. We have been able to travel all over Asia, meet great friends, and grow closer to one another. I def. think that we made the right choice to re route our lives and live in Singapore for a year. I wouldn't change our decision if we had to do it all over again. Clark was able to grow a bit in his job and be able to help open the RMS Singapore office and I was able to start a career in Marketing at an investment firm called 3 Degrees. Its great because we are both keeping our jobs when we are back in Florida!

My favorite workin girls!

One last lunch! I even got to take a picture with the food stall I bought from just about every other day! I'll sure miss my chicken and pork!

Bye bye beautiful building!

I can not tell you how sad I am to leave all our friends as they have all treated us like family. We have had some great times this past year and we will def. miss the many outings we were able to have.

One Friday we headed to Clarke Quay for one last dinner before we headed off. We were thrilled that most of our close friends were able to make it!

On Saturday we wake up early to make our flight to Beijing were we would be for about 5 days until we headed back to the States. My co-worker Tannee was so kind to take us to the airport and stay with us until we left. Clark's co-worker Carmen also came and hung out with us! I must say this was one of the hardest parts of leaving! Tannee and Carmen have been so great to us and I don't think our working experience would have been the same without them!

Also, Tannee and Carmen helped Clark and I stay sane when we found out that our 9:30am flight was delayed and would take off at 3:00pm instead!!! ugh! Once we boarded the plane we ended up taxing for another 2.5 hours on the runway as the plane was having problems AGAIN! We were not able to leave Singapore until 5:30pm and arrived in Beijing at 11:30pm...instead of arriving originally at 4:30pm. I will never take Air China again! ANYWAY...

there are many things we will miss about Singapore as it has been great to us. We received so many blessings from being there and have grown so much. We can't wait to tell you about our adventures there and also update you on our trip to Beijing! Stay tuned...

Jenna's 22nd Birthday at the Flyer

So this year for my birthday I was able to celebrate it in good ole Singapore! As you can see below, I am standing next to the Paris mark as we were there last year on my birthday!

I have 2 special things that happened to me o my special day so here is numero uno -1) My co-workers were so sneaky my last week that they pulled off a suprise birthday dinner for me at Tony Romas! I arrived with Clark thinking that there was a one-for-one deal (yes, leave it to us for online specials!) and that we were going to enjoy a nice "western"meal for a change. My co-workers were all there and yelled "suprise" when I walked in! THANKS GUYS!

Me walking in to the restaurant...

This oreo cheesecake was DIVINE!!!!

OKAY-

Numero dous 2) This year, Clark made plans and took me on the Singapore Flyer, the largest carousel in the world! The Flyer goes a full round in about 35 mins and you get to hang out in a huge capsule that overlooks the whole city of Singapore. Clark and I were able to have our own capsule all to ourselves which was nice!

Clark even planned it out so that we could be at the top when the sun was setting, how sweet :)

This is Clark squishing his office.

Lastly, we headed over to the Tex Mex restaurant called Jalapeno Peppers to enjoy a nice dinner and dessert!

Thanks to Clark and 3 Degrees for a wonderful 22nd birthday!

Steamboat Adventure

On Friday Clark and I decided we needed to try the local Steamboat before we left Singapore. Steamboat is where you choose a broth to cook/boil raw veggies and meat in. We decided we would try the pork broth and the some what spicy Tum Yum broth! We invited Kate and Lehi along as well and they choose the mild Mala broth and chicken broth. I felt bad because Mala is suppose to be really spicy and even though they choose mild their lips were burning!

Steamboat is also a buffet style where you go and choose all the meats and veggies you want to throw in the pot. I really enjoyed munching on the corn and noodles! I am pretty sad that we had not tried Steamboat until now but at least we had the guts to! If you ever visit Singapore take a trip to Beach Road and grab yourself a spot at a steamboat restaurant!

Chinatown and Jerry's Grill

Last week Clark and I headed to Chinatown with Kate and Lehi to eat at a tasty dumpling place...I forgot the name but we ate some dumpling pies and fried dumplings with pork inside! TASTY! We had to wait in line for awhile though but it wasn't too bad because we saw a rainbow during the sunset!

And since that wasn't enough for our tummy's we walked over to a hip street called Club Street and ate at Jerry's Bar and Grill and ordered a big slab of ribs! For dessert we ended up buying some McDonald's ice cream and fried apple pies! YUM! Yes, we ate three times but each time got better and better! oh and I forgot, we even grabbed some coconuts to try as we headed back home!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Never knew 22 could be so much fun!

Posts about my BIG DAY coming soon!

Frogger

So on Friday night Clark's co-workers took us out to a part in Singapore called Geylang to try the Frog Legs and Stingray! Clark and I were totally up for the challenge (okay maybe me more than Clark!) to try clay pot frog because neither of us has ever come close to even trying it. (Kinda stinks that Clark and I have started to me more adventurous now that we are leaving!)

Here we are before we were about to try the frog legs!

Also, here are the reactions of the both of us:

The frog actually tasted like chicken! I guess you can tell that I thought it was pretty good considering I shoved the whole leg in my mouth!


Next, we took on the challenge of eating stingray with chili piled on top. Clark went first and to be honest I am surprised he even attempted to eat it because he HATES seafood! But to my surprise he plopped it in his mouth and said it tasted pretty plain. However, he did say "I think this is the best fish I have ever had!" haha I am guessing it was because it was tasteless!

Lastly, we drove all the way down to Changi Village to grab some root beer floats. Thanks to Carmen for showing us a great night and introducing us to some "exotic" food!

Marina Pier - Riverboat

On Thursday my co-workers Esther and Tannee took Clark and I out to a really good Tex Mex Western Restaurant called Riverboat for a go away dinner. The riverboat is tied up next to the pier and doesn't actually go anywhere because they gutted the engine.

We started off ordering some virgin strawberry Margaretta's (YUMMY!) and some tasty chips and salsa. I can't wait to get back to the States where they typically give you the chips and salsa for free! We ended up all sharing a variety of food: fajitas (or fagitas as Tannee pronounces it!), chicken burritos, and a long slab of ribs! I can't tell you how good the food was because it was seriously mouth watering amazing!

After dinner we all enjoyed their tasty desserts! I can't remember the names but it was all delightful!

Thanks Tannee and Esther!

A Good Bye BBQ

Last weekend Clark's flag football team threw Clark and I a going away BBQ! We had tons of fun being with the team and enjoyed the food and the poolside. Clark will definitely miss this big group of guys! Go Green Devils!

The team signed a football for Clark!

The team!

A night in Singapore!

With just two more weeks left before we leave Singapore to head back home we were able to hang out with our good ole' Aussie friends Kate and Lehi. We hit up a tasty Egyptian restaurant called Al Tazzag along Arab Street. We all shared some pita bread with tons of dips and then came out our tasty kabobs! We were surrounded by carpets with pillows and a good amount of people smoking away on shisha pipes. It was quite interesting to say the least! I am surprised that Clark and I had not discovered or ventured down this alley before (and its even right by my work!).


Next we wandered down Arab Street and stepped into a Persian rug store where we stayed for awhile while the store owner tried to persuade Kate and Lehi to buy a huge rug! Needless to say, they didn't and we moved on.

The night wouldn't have been complete without getting a tasty little treat at Tom's Palette! Clark and I found this ice cream place when we first moved here and we have always taken our friends to try it! They make unique flavors such as Lavender and Redbean but Clark and I LOVE the Salted Carmel and the Granny's Favorite (malt chocolate with cookie dough!).

Our last stop was walking around Chijmes, formerly one of the last few cloistered convents in the world. There are now restaurants and bars in the place and you will find more tourists and expats than you can imagine! With the music playing in the background and hanging out with friends you couldn't have ended a better night!

Down Under Part 4.

Sorry it has taken awhile to post about our last day in Aussie land but here it is:

The last day we headed to the Caversham Wildlife Park to see all the cute little animals! Okay the only REAL reason we wanted to go was to pet the Koalas and play with the Kangaroos! Well Clark and I got there around 9:30am. You can take a shuttle from the entrance of the park...yeah they forgot to inform us that the bus didn't start until 10am so Clark and I being the not so patient type (or maybe just me) we decided to walk down the road to the park. So please enjoy the video of us walking like 2.8 km on a deserted road. Good exercise though!

Soon after we made it to the Park we headed to the Molly's Farm show where we saw a sheep get sheared and Clark and myself trying to snap a whip...well Clark could do it, I just looked like a dork trying. After the show we were able to milk a cows "teats" and feed a bunch of little bunnies! Here is Clark with a big fat wombat.

Next we walked around the park in hopes of finding the Koalas! Here are Clark and I with the Koalas. There were about 20 of them sleeping on little tree posts. Did you know they sleep up to 18 hrs a day and don't drink water!!

Oh this was the exciting part...playing with the Kangaroos!!! We were able to walk around the Kangaroo "park" and feed all 50+ 'roos! I swear this was my favorite part of the trip! I have always wanted to feed a Kangaroo...or I guess just seeing one would have been good too! The 'roos were pretty chill and would nibble the bits of food out of your hand. We also saw an albino roo as well just hopping right on past us. I def. recommend this Park if you are ever in Perth!

Lastly we were able to see the Kookaburras, Tasmanian Devils, and the DINGOS! Clark has always (okay maybe just after watching "Lost") had a fascination with saying "The Dingo ate my baby"...so this time he got a chance:

Before we left to go back to Singapore, we headed to the Margaret River Chocolate Factory! Oh it was so yummy! Right when you walk in you are greeted with white, dark, and milk chocolate chips to eat! We bought a nice lunch and chocolate milk and ate it as we soaked in the sun! There were also parts in the factory where you could watch the workers make chocolates! I think I would get reallllllly fat if I worked there. It would have been complete without buying some chocolates for the road!

Oh yeah almost forgot...while we were waiting for the bus to pick us up at the factory, we went across the road to walk around the wine vineyard!

Clark and I had a great time in Perth even though it was a pretty quiet city. Next time we want to visit the other side of Australia and see Sydney! We have one more "vacation" left until we head home...so stay tuned for "The Grays go to China"!!!!