The Weekender

Hey guys! First and foremost - THANK YOU all for the very sweet and thoughtful birthday wishes, texts, posts and messages. Like I mentioned last year, it's fun having your bday while living in Asia because you really do get to be celebrated for two full days! (How do parents who've had a baby in Asia but moved to the US celebrate? It's like 'son, your birthday is today but really it was yesterday.' Trippy man). It's so wonderful how technology brings us closer and makes us feel not so far away. Thanks again everyone, you're the best :)

In summary, I had an absolutely awesome birthday weekend full of gifts, sweets, holiday cheer and a whole lot of running. Michael and I are both feeling the year end squeeze, both at work and with holiday gatherings, but even though we are crazy busy and it's 90 degrees out, it really is the most wonderful time of the year... 

Big shout out to the best FIL (family-in-law) for the gorgeous flowers. Everyone at work asked if they were from my husband. No! They are from his family tho. A-hem, where's my bouquet from you, Michael? ;) JK, JK.

Birthday-day lunch at one of our favorite hot spots - Din Tai Fung. 

My birthday night actually coincided with our annual office holiday party. The location and night was so much fun. The party was held at the historic Singapore National Museum - the food, drink and entertainment (my trivia team won!) was excellent. They were also so sweet about celebrating my bday as well :)

I rushed home to my sweet husband  just before midnight (I unfortunately couldn't attend the after party because of the impending half marathon a mere 36 hours later). He greeted me with a sweet gift, cake and candles. Hashtag blessed. 

Now. On to the main event! Michael and I participated ran in the Standard Chartered half marathon for the second year in a row(!) I'm far from a 'real runner' but like the idea of doing a big event once a year. 

Starting line selfie! Ugh - notice how much lighter it is than last year?

We arrived a little bit later than we wanted to and ended up flagging off in the third wave - about 35min later than the first start. Meaning an extra 35min in the direct sun and heat! Not making excuses here... But in hindsight this was a mistake on our part. Most cloudy? Lies. 

Anyway, we did it! I was pretty dissapointed in my time, but happy that I finished (I blame the heat, new route and Kanye West radio not being that sweet this month). Michael did great and beat his time from last year by 10 min(!)  

After we limped home, we showered up and headed to the Westin for a well earned, free flow champagne birthday  brunch. Yes - it's a 3 day affair. 

The Westin pulls out all the stops with the 3 V's: view, variety and Veuve ;)

SO much new construction.

Hmmm, meat. 

About midway through brunch we enjoyed a classic Singapore storm roll on in.

Even though we are so far from many of our friends and family it was a wonderful birthday celebration. Cheers to a great year to come! 

Tomorrow we are headed to Bintan, Indonesia for a relaxing beach vacay. We booked the trip equal parts post marathon, birthday and Michael's guilt for traveling so much lately. #Diva. It'll be a well deserved break to rest our legs and catch up on some sleep. Poor Michael just got back from India after 3 days, 7 meetings, 2 red eye flights and 1 bout of Delhi belly. Yikes. 

We leave for the USA next Friday and we absolutely cannot wait to see everyone over the holidays! Lots of love!!

XO,

CD

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Michael Down Under: Sydney, Australia + Auckland, New Zealand

G'day all you loyal LGE followers! It's been quite some time since my first and only foray into the world of blogging, and I'm glad to be back in action with a recap of my recent trip down under. 

It's been a hectic six months to say the least, beginning in June when Cassidy and I made the long trip back to the States to get hitched. Since then, between personal and business travel, I've been to Phuket, Bangkok, Bali, Hong Kong (thrice!), New York, Georgia, Kansas City, Connecticut, Mumbai and, most recently, Sydney and Aukland (off to India again next week...). The miles definitely take a toll, but the toughest part about the grueling schedule is being away from Cassidy for sometimes weeks at a time! Despite these negatives, however, I must admit that I've been incredibly lucky to get to see so much of this part of the world.

My most recent business trip to Australia (Sydney) and New Zealand (Auckland) was one of my most eagerly anticipated jaunts to date. It's also a trip that I can't wait to repeat in a more leisurely fashion with my wife by my side! Business travel is great in that it has little impact on my bottom line, and most often I get to travel in relative style (Singapore Airlines biz class is as ballin' as it gets), but I'm usually so busy that I barely have time to look around. Lucky for me, my colleague, Javad, who I was traveling with is pretty much in love with Sydney (he's been many times) and had never been to Auckland. He was really cool about encouraging me to get out and about - and even played tourist with me on Saturday in Auckland before we headed back to SNG. 

The above photo was obviously compulsory. I was lucky enough to stay right up the street from the Sydney Opera House -- literally a 2 minute walk downhill to the harbor from the Intercontinental. It sounds a bit funny, but I was actually rather unimpressed with the building from up close and in broad daylight...picture a white car that never gets put in the garage...

...what a different story at night! This photo was taken from the other side of Sydney Harbor (also known as Port Jackson). 

I feel like you can see the difference in weather (from Singapore) by the color of the sky in these photos. It was much cooler and less humid than what I've now become accustomed to - I think you can see the crispness in the air here.

    Sydney Harbor Bridge

On my second night in Sydney I finished meetings in time to enjoy the last couple hours of sunlight. I took advantage of the free time and caught a ferry out to Manly Beach. The above were taken from the top deck of the ferry, which departed from Circular Quay and arrived at Manly Wharf about 30 minutes later. 

If you ask me, it was way too cold for surfing (~65 degrees F), but there were tons of bros out in the water, even at dusk. 

On the other hand, I needed to find a hole in the wall somewhere to warm my bones...and this was just the place. It was a great place to enjoy a local brew (or two...and maybe also a specialty gin drink...) after the sun went down and the weather turned cold...middle of the day in the summer might require a slightly different setting, though.

Manly Beach faces pretty much due east, so the sun was setting behind me over the rest of the Australian continent.

I'm not much of a photographer, but I tried my best to capture this moment on the ferry ride home. 

......

Mid-week I was off to Auckland! I had a couple days of meetings, and managed to push my Singapore return flight off until late Saturday night (1:00am to be precise!) in order to have a day to explore the city and surrounding area. 

The most striking thing about New Zealand, to me, is how lush and green everything is. I took the above photo on my iPhone as we approached Auckland from the west. We've descended quite a ways by the time I snap this picture. 

So this was kinda funny. I'm walking along after my first work meeting on Friday morning...desperately seeking a flat white (which is the only coffee drink to order down under)...and all of a sudden I hear someone in the street shouting my name: Duvall!!!! 

I turned around just in time to brace myself for a bear hug from one of my closest college friends, Chris (DB)! WHAT!?!? Chris and Kate just so happened to be on the second leg of their honeymoon (which, by the way is a year long trip around the world --> you can follow the O'Dennys travels here). I was was a groomsman in their wedding no less than 6 weeks earlier! How crazy. I scurried off to my next meeting and we met later that night for drinks and made plans for the next day. 

Here we are on the ferry to Waiheke Island on Saturday morning (shouts to my dude - er, boss - Javad for taking this pic). 

Scenes from the top deck ^

Three people I never expected to be in the same place at the same time (Kate, DB and Javad) -- it's such a great thing when worlds collide unexpectedly. I believe that if one chooses to associate oneself with genuine, honest and interesting people, mixing circles can be one of the must enriching experiences around! 

A 20 minute hike through a neighborhood of vineyards...

...and we arrived at this little gem.

And what a gem it was. Here's DB looking smug, as usual, with one hell of a horizon behind him. A person could soak up this view for hours (ahem, out of the way DB...) and that's just what we did. 

To the right, a chopper that was shuttling folks back and forth from the city to the vineyard and landing about 50 yards away from where we lounged. Now that is LUXE.

Spent the second half of the day with good friends, a bottle of local Sauvignon Blanc and a nice beach view. That sounds kinda queer but it felt so natural at the time.  

(not pictured: me getting horrifically suburned.  Apparently there is an ozone problem down under)

Did I mention the Rolling Stones were playing in Auckland that night? Apparently Auckland was the last stop on the Stones' "14 on Fire" tour. We couldn't pass up the opportunity, and somehow managed to snag some great tickets at the last minute.

Here's one of the newlyweds jamming to "You Can't Always Get What You Want." Just below that, some Kiwi friends that we met outside stadium before the concert. Apparently these ladies were told they were "too drunk" at the gate and that they needed to wait 10 minutes to sober up before they were allowed in (haha). Provided some unexpected but good humored conversation to get the night warmed up. 

Below: Keef working his magic on the six string.

What a whirlwind of a trip - full of surprises around every corner! Nothing to do but roll with the crazy twists and turns that life throws at you. 

I boarded an 11 hour flight back to Singapore roughly 2 hours after this last photo was taken, by then ready to be home to my wife, but at the same time incredibly thankful for adventure I'd just been taken on. 

Until next time,

MRD 

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A Playa del Carmen Wedding

Hey gang! I have recently returned from a very short, but mighty trip across the Pacific to one of my very best gal friend's wedding. My friend Neely and her fiancé Tim were married at a gorgeous oceanside ceremony in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. The travel was long (Singapore - Tokyo - Houston - Cancun, and back) but it was certainly worth the journey. It was so wonderful to see two amazing people exchanging their vows and making it official. I wouldn't have missed it for the world! A recap below -

Kicking off the weekend festivities, I arrived on Thursday evening just in time for a late dinner. 

Some señoritas getting settled and enjoying ourselves on the nights leading up to the main event...

Heeeey...

The wedding weekend took place at The Royal Playa del Carmen, which is an epic, all-inclusive resort overlooking the Caribbean, filled with refreshing winding pools and just a few steps from town (in case you needed a break from one of the many bars on the property!).  Needless to say, much fun was had. 

As Michael was unfortunately unable to make the journey, my date for the weekend was my BF4L, Amy, who was also sans husband (and precious new baby).   

Pre ceremony  (sunny) selfies. 

It was so much fun (TOO much fun at some points ;)) spending time and catching up with many of my soul sisters whom I miss deeply. 

Wildcats represent. 

It was an absolutely perfect afternoon in paradise for a wedding. So much love. 

Kappa gals with our beautiful bride. #getschmolked #holyschmolke 

The beaming K family. 

After the ceremony we moved indoors for a delicious lunch, wedding cake and dancing. My photos from inside the ballroom didn't really turn out with the lighting, but I CAN tell you there were glow sticks, fireworks, a tequila conga line and a rendition of 'tie-limbo' involved. After the reception it was time to hit the pool to complete the fun-filled, love-filled, piña colada-filled day. 

Cheers to the newlyweds!! 

And while I was sunning myself by the pool, Michael was working hard, eating (hard) and navigating the protesters in Hong Kong. We were quite literally two planes passing in the night...

As I am settling back in the comforts of the equatorial heat (I'm sorry to everyone in KC and Omaha who had to travel home to cold and SNOW), Michael is currently 'down un-da' in Sydney (he's been gone a lot lately, right?!). He has taken the nice camera with him and promises a full blog recap upon his return.

Cheers to a swift and warm week y'all.

XO,

CD 

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Lately

Hey Friends! 

I'm back! Did you miss your weekly dose of LGE? Sorry for being MIA the past few weeks. Full-disclosure, the reason is three-fold. 1). My muse Michael was traveling for the month so I was solo in SG and pretty low on material. You guys really don't want to see a weekend recap that solely consists of photos of me sweating my face off 1/2 marathon training and drinking wine on the couch watching reruns of [The Office/GIRLS/Friday Night Lights/Alaska: The Last Frontier]. 2). The times I was social and did neat things it was with very new friends and I felt seriously uncool trying to secretly photo journal the event :) and 3). the camera on my iphone broke - just the back camera. I can now only take front camera selfies (as seen below). SO - with that, a quick weekend recap and a random photo dump of things 'lately'. Miss you guys! How many days until Christmas again?  

In between long runs outside - 33 days until race day - and a couple great meals, we had a big adventure to the Thompson Road plant nurseries. It felt like a very 'old married couple' mission. We walked around sweating through our shirts trying to pick up the perfect balcony plant (I killed our last bamboo plant with a serious lack of love) and debating on the appropriate amount of money that one should spend on a single plant. (spoiler alert: it's not $350)



We ended up with this beauty. I love how it turned out. The nice people also delivered and potted it for us a few hours later (aw, city living). 



We also snagged this little 'lime' tree for homegrown gin & tonics, which to our surprise actually turned out to be an orange plant. So there's that. 



And finally a beautiful little orchid for inside. BIG SATURDAY! 




Sunday was spent running, re-hydrating, reading and napping. (Not That Kind of Girl - amazing).

We ended the weekend with a lovely, healthy dinner and viewing of The Godfather Part II.
 It felt so good to have our little family of 2 and routine back in order :)

...Lately...

As I mentioned, Michael spent ~3 weeks in October back traveling around the US: 

Going on runs with this handsome pup in KC.



And being a groomsman in not 1 but 2 gorgeous weddings 

Georgia

(still not over the fact I could not be there).

Connecticut

Back in Singapore people are gearing up for Christmas. (Halloween isn't really a thing and Thanksgivings doesn't exist, obvi, so we start to gear up for Christmas about mid-October).

The weather remains unchanged. 

I cut 5.5in off my hair. 

I attended my very first Chinese wedding with my work colleagues. 

I got new glasses.

...And we spent 1 amazing week cheering on the Royals (at 8:00AM).

That's about it folks, but things are looking to pick up soon - I am jetting off to Mexico later this week for my dear friend's wedding.  I can't wait! Once I return Michael will be gone for a couple weeks for back-to-back work trips to Hong Hong, Sydney, Australia and Auckland, New Zeland. I tried to tag along for part of the trip but the timing just didn't work out - do you know far away AUS and NZ are from Singapore?! Ugh. Next time you see Michael give him a hard time for leaving me behind AGAIN while he gets to go on all the fun adventures without me ;)

Until next time...

XO,

CD

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