Sunny Sunny Singapore: December 2010

Well, another year has passed. 2010 brought extraordinary change and amazing experiences. Last year while ringing in the new year in Europe, I never would have thought I'd be spending the next holiday season in Asia. But here I am, shocked that it's already Christmas while stuck in a time warp of eternal July. Despite the constantly hot and humid weather, Singapore does do Christmas well. In true Singapore fashion, which is over and above anything you'd ever expect, the city's malls and public areas have been filled with holiday cheer for two months now. I wanted to give all of you a chance to see what it's like in a city across a few seas from wherever you are.

Singapore is crazy about their malls. And their malls are, well, crazy.

We did some shopping in Chinatown for some fun things to send back to our families. Chinatown is always fairly festive on it's own, so this is standard but still pretty!

The great thing about nice weather is that you can always count on being outside! One weekend we went to a "Carols by Candlelight" concert in Fort Canning Park. We brought some blankets (well, tablecloths) and plenty of food to keep us company.

Finally, we walked down the premier shopping strip in Singapore, Orchard Road. The road is literally about two constant miles of shopping malls. These are some of the highlights along the way!

And this is a picture of our condo decorated for Christmas. I know I haven't posted many pictures of our place, mostly because I'm holding out until I feel it's a bit more complete. Don't worry though, we've been stocking up on furniture and I'll showcase our place sometime soon.

As for me, I'll spending Christmas and New years in Sydney Australia with Nat and some friends that are in the area. It will surely be different than most of you who will enjoy the holidays indoors, eating a lot roasted food while watching football and thinking about braving the cold to hit the slopes or stay put sipping a warm drink. For us, we'll be bbq'ing on the beach, giving the surf board a try, seeing the sights of Sydney, and taking a camper van into the Blue Mountains for some camping.

I hope wherever you are and whatever you do, it will be a memorable and amazing holiday spent with people you love. Happy Holidays and best wishes for an even better 2011!

Oh, and Go Ducks!

"Penang?" you all say, rolling your eyes. "Didn't you go there like 5 months ago?"

Well yes, it was back in October. Over Halloween, actually. But come on, you all know I get pretty behind at this stuff; and in true fashion I will come back and attempt to catch up with a number of frequent posts in a short period of time. Although, since this one was so long ago, I would generally just skip it! This time I thought I would at least give you a slideshow of the trip so you can see the best parts.

Penang is an island off of mainland Malaysia known as the "food capital" of the country. It is true that we spent a lot of our time either thinking, looking for, or eating food. But this island has a lot more to offer as well, including a nice National Park, Malaysia's largest temple, and a number of fun markets and streets to explore.