Showing posts with label Travels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Travels. Show all posts

5.04.2016

Langkawi, Malaysia

Greetings family and friends. I wanted to share with you some (okay, a lot) of photos from our first holiday as a little family of 3! 


The past couple weeks we had been going back and forth on weather or not we should attempt to take a little trip since this past Monday was a public holiday here in Singapore. With just a couple days left to plan we decided to pull the trigger and book a trip to the island of Langkawi, just off the West coast of neighboring Malaysia. I mean, how hard can it be to travel with a tiny 10lb human?! ;)

Now in Singapore if there's one thing they like more than on orderly queue, it's catering to those with extra needs. Let's just say we were a sight to see walking through the airport with multiple bags, a small baby, frazzled mom and dad in a massive arm sling still recovering from surgery. Michael and I joked we collectively qualified for like 4 out of the 5 reasons to receive special care. 

Long story short, we successfully got packed up, Marie was perfect on her first flight (only 1.25hrs to our destination) and in the end, even though a vacation with a baby is certainly not a vacation, we were so glad we did it. Not only did we have a wonderful time, but as first time parents we were so proud of ourselves for making it through and proving to ourselves we could do it. 

Now, onto the photos... 

The day before we left we tried on our swim costumes and had a little pep talk to get ready to hit the beach. 

(Confession: I mostly included this photo because it's my all-time favorite at the moment. I think Marie looks exactly like Michael here and it makes my heart swell)


Good morning Langkawi! We made it! 




Time to hit the breakfast buffet. Let's just say we're not liable to miss breakfast any time soon... 


The big kids pool (we never swam in). 



Marie's first time in the pool was a little hit and miss. She did okay in the water, but didn't like coming out and being cold much. Overall I would consider it a success. 




More relaxing by the pool with regular intervals to eat, sleep and take photos. We didn't do much else. "Vacationing" with babies is hard work - and not in the 'vacationing is hard, haha' kind of way, like it's actually hard. Good thing she's cute! ;)



We did however manage to make it out to dinner both nights (we WILL adult!). This is Marie checking out her first beach sunset in her pjs. Hehe - the struggle of living on the equator.  



The next morning we ventured out to dip our toes in the ocean.



As luck would have it, my real camera decided to stop working just as we got to the water. (If you've ever had a camera in a tropical location, you know that a camera sitting inside in the air con all night fogs up like crazy once outside and doesn't work until it adjusts) :( 

I still managed to get some cute pics and videos with my iPhone, but the mom guilt was in full force that morning. 




Back to our little pool - much better. 




Family selfie attempt. 



My favorite photo from the trip... bursting heart. 


And that's a wrap! 


It was certainly a MUCH different experience from our previous adventures, but we are getting used to and loving our new, crazy and exhausting normal.  

So long Langkawi! 


XO,
CD

P.S. Marie's official 2 month portrait :) We're celebrating by welcoming Nana and Aunt Niki to Singapore tonight! Woo! 


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4.25.2016

Hakuba & Tokyo, Japan


Hey All! So I'm only about a month late...but I wanted to share pics from the Duvall men's trip to Japan last month. Michael and I have been to the Tokyo airport en route back to the States more times then we'd like to remember, but unfortunately haven't had the opportunity to venture into the city. Well, the guys cleared their schedules about a year in advance and made the trip to Japan finally happen. 

They spent the week splitting their time between skiing in Nagano and eating their way around Tokyo. I was bummed to miss out, but they had a brilliant time on their guys-only holiday. 

Michael's been slammed at work so I'm going to take the reigns on the recap here. A sweet and simple summary below... 


Happy face! Since the guys were in town for spring skiing, the weather was a little hit and miss. The first day was absolutely horrendous with thick fog and heavy snow making it nearly impossible to see, but they still had a good time - on and off the slopes. They had much, much better skiing conditions the second day. 

Posing in front of the ski jump from the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics. 


Johnny ready to hit the slopes. 


Off the slopes there was a lot of ramen, sake and onsens (hot spring spa - not photoed ;)) to warm their bones. 



An apres-ski cafe with the biggest goldens you've ever seen roaming around? Sobbing on my keyboard. 


Cheers


The guys stayed in a chalet that was part of the Phoenix Hotel in Hakuba. 



Off to Tokyo... 


Getting to and from Hakuba from Singapore was quite the adventure of planes, trains and automobiles. 


"Enjoy Japanese Vending Machine Culture" 


Waiting for the famed bullet train (Shinkansen) back to Tokyo. 






Tokyo! The view from the Shangri-La. 


What's a night out in Tokyo without a show at the Robot Restaurant (as seen in Anthony Bourdain, Parts Unknown). 


No one's really sure what's going on... but I'm told it was a good time. 




The other main highlight of their time in Tokyo was a food tour around the city via Culture Bites Food Tours. The company was started by a friend of a friend of ours here in Singapore. 


Now THAT is some fresh fish. You need to check out this video below... (sorry, for some reason I can only see it from my computer and not my iPhone)


I'm told plenty of noodles, fish, sake and good times were had during the tour :)


The boys all agreed the trip was a great time and life-long memories were made along the way. The men were thrilled this trip came together and everyone had such a wonderful time. The Duvall women on the other hand were ecstatic no one was mortally injured while skiing ;)

It's always a brilliant time when our families come all the way out to Asia to visit us. Lots of love... 

XO,
CD on behalf of MD
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