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"!!!!

Down Under Part 3.

For one of the days in Perth we decided we would have to hit up a well known beach (well only Aussie's know it I guess). We hopped onto the train and headed towards Cottesloe Beach for a few hours. All I can say was it was WINDY! We even decided to lay out on the grassy area because we didn't want the sand to blow up on us. I tried to go walk a bit on the beach to take pictures but only lasted like 2 minutes because the sand was stinging my legs. We didn't even dip our feet in the ocean because 1. it was COLD and 2. we didn't feel like seeing any sharks. We were also beached and watered out because of our diving adventure the day or so before.

We also saw some local tropical birds hanging out in the trees. To me they look like parrots but they obviously aren't. I even got a peep show of some boobies on the beach...I just don't understand how people can be so "free"...yeah I made sure Clark looked the other way :) Yeah no pictures were takin of that...

After enjoying some ice cream we traveled back to the city to walk around and find something to do. Nothing was open (and yes it was only 5pm) so I forced Clark to take some pictures. Yeah we were acting pretty ridiculous but we had some good times...until Clark made me mad ;)

He always provides a way

Gave one of these Book of Mormon pass along cards away today on my way to church :) If you would like to learn more about my beliefs go here.

The Land Down Under Part 2

First off, I need to let it be known that we don't think ALL of Australia is backward...just a few things. I just wanted to assure Kate & Lehi that their beloved country is wonderful and we wouldn't mind living there one day. (...take that for six!)

On Sunday, wanted to take it easy as it is the day of rest. We went to the local LDS Church and it was quaint and small but nice. It is quite different than our church here where our primary alone has about 100 kids. After church we ventured out to some tourist spots. We visited Bell Tower which holds some of the most famous bells. Yes, they are famous but please don't ask me why. I just remember that they were rung for every King back in the Motherland of England.

After the tower we went and ate at an Italian restaurant and then took some pics in downtown Perth.

The Land Down Under Part.1

So, is it really the land down under...or is it just the land of backwardness? This question crossed our minds a few different times.

Or is it...

I wonder where they got their name from?

Perhaps...

Now, I do not promote such a company as below in fact you should probably join the cause and boycott it at all costs.

So, I decided not to post the picture that goes along with the above as young children look at the blog and I don't want to pervert their young minds :)

Jenna and I decided to head out to Perth, Australia to knock the country off our list before we head out Asia. It was only a 4 hour flight and costs less than a flight from Salt Lake to Chicago so we decided to give it a go. We flew out on Tiger Air which is a 'budget airline'. We have flown JetStar and Value Air which are budget airlines but we thought they were tons better than any US airline. However, Tiger was a different story. I literally had only 2 inches for my knees and I'm not that tall. The seats were cardboard thin and the seats only reclined 2 inches. To say the least, the flight wasn't much fun. It was so ghetto that the airline sold advertising space on the flight attendant uniforms!

We arrived to Perth at about 11 pm. Everyone always has joked that there isn't much to do in Perth and that everything closes at 5pm...well, they were right. The only thing opened was a 24 hour McDonald's so I you know me, I didn't complain about that one. The next day we woke up early and went scuba diving at Rotto Island. One thing that really surprised us was the water. IT WAS SOOO COLD! We just jumped in and we just looked at each other like, "what did we get ourselves into?" Once we got over the coldness, we went cave exploring. Even though the water was 20 degrees colder than what we are use to and it was not as beautiful as the other locations we have been to, this dive was our favorite. It was so neat to go exploring in the caves in the ocean. Some of the caves were so small we had to descend vertical into these holes just to get inside, it really got your adrenaline pumping...especially since you were always looking out for a great white. A diver was eaten by one in December '08 in Perth so that was in the back of my mind especially since I was the last person in our group.

Day 2 is coming....