Chinese New Year

The Chinese or Lunar New Year is the largest of the Chinese holidays. We learned from friends and colleagues that Singapore would become a ghost down during this festival season, as shops and restaurants closed while people visited with friends and family. We thus decided to make a last-minute trip out of town. Unfortunately, flights to most of our preferred destinations, such as Phuket, Bali, Tioman, or Danang, were full, so we had limited options for getting off of the island. We opted to take the ferry back to Bintan, so that we could finish exploring the island that we had enjoyed so much on our prior trip. We did manage to enjoy an evening boat ride through a mangrove forest to see the indigenous fireflies, a unique ride on an elephant, and a traditional lion dance. Our pictures from these events are posted below.

Unfortunately, the events of Saturday, January 25th would leave a pall over most of our trip. While eating dinner at a restaurant on the beach, we noticed a commotion on the shore, as some individuals were dragged out of the water. Erin helped perform CPR on two different individuals, but it was too late. Ultimately three people died, all having drowned. We didn’t ever find out many of the details, and remain unclear as to how and why they got into a trouble. A sketchy article describing the event did eventually appear on the internet (http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc/2009/1/25/three-state-owned-bank-officials-drown-at-bintan-beach/), but lots of questions remain. Memories of the horrible events of the night plagued us throughout the vacation.

Bintan

The biggest challenge associated with our move to Singapore has been transitioning from a house in the mountains to an apartment on a busy city street. We are still adjusting to this really urban lifestyle. To get away from the hustle and bustle, we opted to spend the weekend in Bintan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bintan), an Indonesian island located within the Riau Archipelago, just 40 km from Singapore. The ferry ride from Singapore to Bintan only takes an hour, but, due to the monsoon winds, can be a little rough. A sizable percentage of passengers got seasick on our trip. We left on a Friday night, and returned Sunday, so we didn’t get a chance to explore much of the island. But we had a terrific and relaxing mini-vacation, and really enjoyed getting away.

Treetop Walk at MacRitchie Reservoir

One of our favourite activities in Utah was hiking, and we were anxious to take the kids out for some trekking in the rainforest. MacRitchie Reservoir (http://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/index.php?option=com_visitorsguide&task=naturereserves&id=49&Itemid=75), which is located in the middle of Singapore, has some excellent hiking trails. In particular, we were anxious to try the treetop walk (http://www.wildsingapore.com/places/ttw.htm), which is a hike along a free-standing suspension bridge spanning Bukit Peirce and Bukit Kalang, the two highest points in MacRitchie. A highlight of the 7 km hike was when we ran into a family of long-tailed macaques (monkeys) hanging out in the trees next to the trail.

Jack and Graham go to School

Jack and Graham go to Pat’s Schoolhouse (http://www.patschoolhouse.com/), which is located at Mount Emily Park, just up the road from our home. The school offers a bilingual immersion program which includes full-time Chinese and English-speaking teachers in every classroom. We have really been impressed by the active and energetic teachers, small teacher-student ratios (Jack has 2 teachers in a class of 6), innovative curriculum, and nice facilities. Below are a few pictures from the boys’ first day.