The Week(ender): Duvalls in Singapore!

Reunited and it feels so good.

Hello dearest family and friends! 

I am a little late on the recap here - as you can see this is mainly because 1. we are still recovering from an incredible, unforgettable, epic two weeks with Michael's parents in Asia and 2. because, well, Michael was working in Hong Kong all last week and took the laptop with him so I had no way to upload pictures from my camera. Couples fail.

The Duvalls trip to come see us had been in the works for quite some time so we were all beyond thrilled when it finally came around. As amazing as our little life and travels out here are, we do get incredibly homesick from time to time so this trip was just what the doctor ordered! 

Lots of photos (Michael would argue I habitually take way too many) of eating + drinking + fun + love. It was hard to narrow them down, but below I present to you what I believe is a lovely recap of our time spent in Singapore. (separate Bali recap to come!) Love you guys to the moon - and sometimes Singapore feels like the distance of the moon - and back!

Before arriving in Singapore the Duvalls made a quick 3-day stop in Hong Kong to see the sights and get over their jet-lag while Michael and I worked mid-week. By Friday night everyone was reunited, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in Singapore just in time for cocktails and our first dinner together. 

We took them out for our favorite Friday night outing of Korean BBQ. Mmm, Soju...

Cheers! 

After dinner we strolled around the area and stopped for a drink on Club Street. Club Street is a small winding stretch of bars and restaurants where they close the street to traffic and people wander and socialize and have themselves a good time. Often too much of a good time ;) Michael's dad, Greg, commented, we could be in the middle of Westport right now! It's so true. People often comment on how un-Asian Singapore can sometimes feel depending on where you are. 

Friday night was an absolute blast and a great kick-off to the weekend. 

Saturday afternoon we braved the heat and went out for a leisurely bike ride on the East Coast. It's often nice to get out of the city centre (<--- we're becoming so British ;)) and get a little more local Singapore flare. The large boats and ocean liners stretch as far as the eye can see are also a very distinct feature of Singapore - a view that never, ever gets old.  

Next up on our Singapore to do list was to get cleaned up and partake in high tea at the famed Raffles Hotel. 

I am not sure how accurately high tea describes the event -- it is a full blown  buffet. Someone, who shall remain nameless, was once quoted as saying, I don't like buffets, not even at country clubs (to which I fell off the couch laughing). If there ever was a buffet to love, it is this one. I'm talking pristine service, amazing small bites, champagne and a harp player. Class, class, class.

  

When we move home you can expect high tea at our house every Sunday. We've got the crumpet stands on the wedding registry and everything :)

You didn't think we would go all the way to the Raffles Hotel without stopping upstairs at the Long Bar for a Singapore Sling did you?

I love these 2 photos not because they are the best pictures, but because they make me the most happy. One weekday evening we fired up the grill down by the pool and had a wonderful All-American family dinner of steaks, portabello mushrooms, beets and orzo. It felt so good and natural and not at all like we were half way around the world from what we once knew. The saying really is true 

- home is wherever I'm with you - 

<3

Man, do I wish we could teleport our families to Singapore for dinner all the time. 

I see you, Michael :)

On our final full day in Singapore we had drinks at where I believe is the best view in Singapore,  Level 33.

I mean, look at that beautiful couple - post card worthy pic for sure! 

Side note, Michael unfortunately had a crazy week at work that week. Pretty nice way to spend time waiting for him to go to dinner though ;)

There he is! Just in time for the Marina Bay Sands nightly light show.

As homesick as we do sometimes get, sharing this view and this city with the ones you love is pretty darn special.

[Wow, great photo, Cassi. Why thank you!]

For our last supper we headed to an amazing local hole-in-the-wall sushi restaurant. We had been here once before with Michael's co-worker and his girlfriend and couldn't wait to take Michael's parents. The entire experience from start to finish is quite unique (read: mall crawling with working ladies) and the fish is amazingly fresh. 

It was the prefect ending to our time in Singapore. 

After dinner we headed home to pack up and get psyched for our trip to Bali! 

So much love.

-C

Read More »

Pulau Sibu, Johor, Malaysia

Hey friends!

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter - from the looks of it on social media everyone was well dressed, well fed and time was well spent with families. Not going to lie, I was feeling a little blue on Monday looking at ya'll.

Anyway, here is how Michael and I spent our long Easter weekend. But Cassi, you ask, how can you possibly feel anything but awesome when you spent your weekend at an awesome looking beach?! It's possible my friends and family, that's just how much we love and miss you :) 

Side note: did anyone else have like 8 engagements on their newsfeed this weekend? Is Easter the new Christmas proposal? Congrats to all the happy couples. 

Okay, the good stuff. We spent 3 days and 3 nights at this resort / dive base on a tiny island in Malaysia. (as I am typing this Michael just leaned over my shoulder saying how we NEED to learn how to dive. In due time - I still don't like to swim out far enough that I cant touch the bottom for fear of getting eaten by some mysterious sea monster - a real fear in SE Asia!) Anyway, the island was very 'back to the basics.' We stayed in this little amazing beach chalet right on the water. Like I am talking about the slightest sneeze of a tsunami and we'd be so dead. We somehow got the best chalet closest to the water. The beach huts like the one we stayed in all had a little wrap around deck, a single bed and small bathroom (no aircon, no hot water, no cell or internet, no chance of not being continually covered in sand). We slept under a large mosquito net with the windows and doors open to the open ocean - it was magical - spiritual almost! The huts around the island don't even have keys or locks. You check your valuables at the front desk and just chit your way to beach bliss the rest of the weekend.    

   

We got in late on Thursday night, but here is the Friday morning boat ready to join the fun. The journey from Singapore by car (a van from the resort) was about 3 hours. From the jetty to our island was about 20 min - a little nerve racking in the moon light, but it was really neat looking back. Beach to room to bar in lickity-split! 

Our chalet. Lucky number V0.

Tiny little A-frame huts. 

This is us dying laughing at the slightly inappropriate and for whatever reason extra loud sound of a beer cracking open. Hey! It's always 5:00 somewhere when you're on island time :)   

Part of the beach bar and activities headquarters. 

Friday night we signed up for the sunset beach cruise. It was by far our favorite part of the trip. We took a short boat ride over to this teeny-tiny white sand beach to build a fire and watch the sun set. We were with a few other couples, young and old, best friends and happy families. It was a really special evening.

My favorite pic from the trip ^^

I snagged a few pieces of the most perfect white coral for some new home decor.

  

This darling couple has been coming to Sea Gypsy for many, many years. They were celebrating her birthday and they were the absolute cutest couple I had ever seen in my life. 

Most of the weekend was spent bouncing between our deck chairs, the water and the bar reading, relaxing and enjoying each others presence (because we don't spend enough time together we joked ;))

Taking a break from all that nothingness, we decided to sign up for a jungle hike. 

  

A quick boat, 30 min of legit hiking (in sandals, oops) and a whole lot of oily tropical sweating later, we made it to this little fresh water pond. They say the waterfall is usually a legit waterfall, but today it was just a trickle. 

The water was deep enough for a few cannon balls for those who dared.

 Sadly, there are more than a few abandoned resorts in the area. 2 on our island and 1 where we went on our hike. There was also an abandoned and run down sea turtle sanctuary - all the turtles were stolen by poachers a few years ago :( (my initial thought was, are poachers a slightly nicer word for pirates?!) We were told a lot of the resorts are owned by foreigners living far away who do a poor job of managing their local staff or their own finances for that matter. The place goes bankrupt and it's just abandoned to rot - pretty sad. Not to mention, no one is responsible for cleaning up the beach in that area which seemed to collect a shocking amount of trash - save the Earth people! 

  

Omg is that one of those cool, expensive resorts on stilts?! Nope, we were told this is just the Sultan of Johor's private holiday fishing village. I am not sure if the rumor is true.

The restaurant. Did I mention everyone on the island eats breakfast, lunch and dinner together at the same time? It was like camp! (not that I have ever been to camp...)

And that's all folks! 

Xo,

C

[Disclaimer: it was the perfect weekend except 2 major fails. I brought my nice camera with all intentions of making this post even more awesome. I brought the battery charger but failed to bring the wall adapter #expatfail. Secondly, I made a point to double check with the resort if there was room in the van for us to bring a guitar. Of course they said no, and once we got to the car there was in fact tons of space for it (not sure Michael forgave me the entire weekend). It was an ask for forgiveness not permission kind of situation. Lesson learned on both fronts.]    

Read More »