The Weekender: Birthday 3-0

Greetings all! 

Just a quick weekend summary of our activities this past weekend. The highlight of the weekend was most certainly my birthday celebration - the big 3-0! EEK! The day was absolutely perfect, but definitely on the more low key side of things. If you can imagine, being 6 and a half months pregnant doesn't really scream 30th birthday rager ;)

 

We kicked off the weekend celebrations early with a lovely dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, BoCHINche, on Friday evening. It has become one of our favorite spots with its location just down the block, open fire kitchen and a to die for provaleta chesse dish that will change your life.

 

Saturday morning I was up early to attend a much anticipated Christmas wreath making class with the lovely and talented We Make Floral Magic. Going to a flower arranging course has been on my wish list for quite some time now, so I thought why not treat myself to some crafty fun on my bday.  

Two and a half hours flew by in a blink - I seriously could have stayed there all day it made me so happy. While I was thrilled with the outcome of my wreath and learned some great tips, I still plan on taking a more proper floral course. I feel like it's a good life skill to have, ya know? Classes are not that easy to come by here in Singapore.

Ta-da!

  

In true birthday fashion, I got to choose the cuisine and location for all of our weekend meals - including a Mexican place down the street that I love and Michael hates. What a good sport ;)

 

Thanks for the beautiful flowers mom and dad! <3

 

Come Sunday after candles, cake and presents it was time I pass the torch and attention over to Michael. 

For the third year in a row he ran in the Standard Chartered Half Marathon! You may recall that we did the race together the last two years (here and here), but in my current state I am semi-retired from the sport of running so Michael was on his own.

I cheered him on from the sidelines like a very proud wife. Michael did an awesome job considering the heat (90 degrees plus) and the fact he has been insanely busy at work and unable to properly train.  

Go, Michael, go!

The rest of the day was spent napping (for some reason I thought I earned a 2+ hr sleep as well), making dinner and recovering from a busy, joyous weekend.

Thanks to my wonderful, sweet husband and everyone for sending me so many birthday cards, texts, calls and notes on my special day. So much love. 

We leave for the States in 6 days and I'm no where ready! Tis' the season. 

XO,

CD 3.0

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The Weekender

Howdy all. First things first, are you diggin' the new look? Big shout out to Jelly Design Studio and Cynthia Arevalo for helping bring my vision to life. Also, a very happy Memorial Day to everyone back in the states! Being an expat has made me even more thankful to those who serve and keep our country and its citizens safe, both at home and abroad.   

Since I was MIA last week, this post includes a recap of the past two weekends and features two very special guests. Michael's mom and sis, Elaine and Rachel, traveled all the way from the good ole' USA to come visit us. Singapore is old hat for Mrs. D, but this was Rachel's maiden voyage, as well as her victory lap post graduation and pre entering the real world. A recap below- 

We kicked off the gals' arrival in Singapore at Alkaff Mansion Ristorante - the perfect place to dine and toast our special guests. The  restaurant / event space is set within an old colonial mansion built in 1918 and located up on a beautiful, secluded hill. I would definitely categorize this place as somewhere to dine out with the parents or celebrate a special occasion. (While we were there we were privy to an a-cappella marriage proposal at the next table over).

After a lovely initiatory dinner, the rest of the weekend was spent exploring the island and patrolling the usual hot spots: Boomerang Cafe (our neighborhood favorite), biking on the East Coast and cocktails with a view, of course. 

Biking + selfie stick'ing while riding past the CBD is no easy task.

East Coast vibes. I should add to my resume, 'proficient in self-timer photography'.

One cannot visit Singapore without a stop for an infamous Sling! I wonder what is the all-time record for most Slings consumed and/or monies spent at the Long Bar by an expat. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Also, one cannot pass up what we believe to be the best view in the city...

...another of our favorites, Level 33. I think it has a much more laid back and comfortable vibe, as compared to Ku De Ta (the bar/ restaurant located at the top of the Sands across the bay). 

Michael, give you me your best 'muse' look...

Cheese!

We wrapped the weekend up with a little culture - Shakespeare in the Park and a picnic dinner. The Singapore Repertory Theater is putting on a showing of The Tempest at Fort Canning Park all this month.  

I followed the story by taking cues from Michael and laughing after every time he laughed. The theater and actors put on a great show. I highly recommend checking it out. 

Come Monday, Michael and I sent our guests off to the Ceylon Tea Trails in Sri Lanka for a little R&R. The gals traveled to the same place Michael and I stayed during our honeymoon {recap here} and loved it just as much as we did. The gals made it back to Singapore just in time to ferry over to Indonesia for the much anticipated 2015 Bintan Triathlon. 

Last year the weather was about 156 degrees in the shade. This year we were treated to a full day of rain - I'm talking hour after hour of monsoonal downpours. I had brought along all my camera gear with hopes of becoming a professional sports photographer, but it was raining so hard I never took my camera out of my bag. Unfortunately, I was only able to sneak a few pics from my iPhone #Photographerproblems. Rain or shine, we had a great time swimming, biking, running and cheering on Michael during his far superior Olympic distance event.    

Go Michael go! 

He crushed the swim portion once again and beat his time from last year. We were three very proud ladies :)

The weekend was a great fun and a major success. We got our medals, got the t-shirt and had some awesome thai food and beers to celebrate our accomplishments. (We dined at Baan Aarya - the best restaurant on Bintan island IMHO).  

The Duvall gals are continuing on with their tour-de-Asia, but we will be reunited once again this coming weekend in Koh Samui, Thailand(!) Can't wait! We are most definitely feeling the love these past few weeks. Until next week... 

XO,

CD

P.S. ICYMI, I am very excited to have a small piece published in one of my favorite expat sites, Honeycombers! {link here}

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The Weekender: Niki in Singapore

Good day y'all! Back with an extra-special weekend recap as my sister Niki is currently visiting us in Singapore - woohoo! We have had an action-packed 3 days walking, running, shopping, sweating(!), taking selfies and eating our way around the island. A recap below:

Niki landed late on Friday night and Saturday morning we were up early to hit the streets on foot for our classic tour-de-Singapore a la Duvall. It's a beautiful long walk up the river to the sites around the Marina. Quick stop in Clarke Quay for our first photo op. Cheeeese!

Welcome to Singapore :) 

After a breezy water taxi back to our apartment we enjoyed a light lunch before heading to check out the nearby China town. It was considerably less crowded since the last time we visited during the new year celebrations. Not pictured: our matching $4 aviators we scored. They will make their debut on the next post for sure. 

Niki has been a master anti-jet lag champion so we were up and about most of the day on Saturday. After China Town and a small nap we ended the day with a beautiful walk around the Botanical Gardens (crazy, Michael and I had never been before) and an at-home pizza party. I was excited to take photos at the gardens, but sadly we were too late to get into the main orchid exhibit.  The Botanical Gardens are such a beautiful, relaxing space. We are certainly looking forward to going back soon - possibly with a picnic or bottle of wine in tow ;)   

Lots of little ponds at every turn.

Omg, we walked by various groups of people feeding THE biggest and grossest koi and cat fish in the this pond. Michael had to practically drag me off - I couldn't look away!  

Two of my most favorite people... :)

Michael, out of my shot! 

Sunday we were all excited to complete the much anticipated Green Run. The run was 10.5 kilometers along a historical rail line running North/South through the island. After standing in the sun for an extra 20min before we were allowed to start, we were off and had a wonderful time. Michael and Niki were nice and ran a touch slower than normal to keep pace with me ;)  

Pre-race selfie.

We did it!

After the run we treated ourselves to an awesome brunch at Artichoke. A touch hipster, a touch Middle Eastern - the food and ambiance are excellent. We've been once before, but have not been back in awhile and I have no idea why. Yum, yum. 

Love this pic. 

Feta barrata FTW.

Lamb shakshuka FTW x2! 

Monday we sent Michael off to the office and the Stamp gals headed out to explore more of the city. Our afternoon was spent dodging the rains and checking out the views up top. We started out at the Flyer and then moved onto classic drinks at Ku De Ta and Gardens by the Bay. 

TGI-Monday ;)

What's up Singapore! 

While at Gardens by the Bay we strolled along all the beautiful flowers and checked out the Skyway.  The trees are essentially large art installations with greens and flowers growing up them. The 'trees' light up in a goergeous variety of colors and patterns at night.  

The view of the back of the Sands hotel. 

Deep in Singapore thought. 

I was feeling the reflection of the Flyer in the Flower Dome.

And our last big adventure before we head out to BALI tomorrow - we ran around the MacRitchie Reservoir amongst the monkeys, lizards and birds. Much fun was had. 

I had the absolute best time showing my sister our little island and life out East. Tomorrow bright and early we are headed to Bali for a girls only trip. We can't wait!! 

XO,

CD

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