Helping Families to Connect and Thrive

A Morning at the S.E.A. Aquarium in Singapore

02.22.16

We have absolutely loved our time in Singapore! Between photo sessions we found time to do a little exploring and sightseeing. Last week we spent a morning at Singapore’s S.E.A. Aquarium on Sentosa Island. Overall we enjoyed ourselves, but did have some mixed feelings about the experience.

Pros:

The facility was massive and gorgeous! It was sparkling clean and easy to navigate, with wide hallways, elevators and ramps (perfect for strollers).
The aquarium boasts an INCREDIBLE collection of marine life from regions all over the world.
All of the exhibits were immaculate. Tanks were clean, beautifully designed and labeled clearly.
The staff were friendly and helpful.
Children under 4 enter the aquarium for free. Isla received a complimentary water bottle when we bought our tickets- not sure if that is the norm or something to do with Chinese New Year?

Cons:

In several exhibits, emphasis on ease of viewing the animals seemed to take priority over animal comfort. For example, we counted 18 moray eels in one modestly-sized tank, which seemed very crowded. Also, some animals, like the octopus, did not have anywhere to hide within their habitat. While the viewing was amazing, we walked away feeling sad for these animals.
Rude, ignorant tourists were everywhere! They were crowding, pushing, banging on the glass… of course this is not the aquarium’s fault at all, but dealing with so many obnoxious people was draining, and definitely put a damper on our experience. Don’t even get me started on the twerps with the selfie sticks…

I do think the aquarium is a fascinating place for families to visit while in Singapore. I’d suggest visiting on a weekday and getting there right when it opens (most mornings at 10:00am) to try and avoid some of the crowds.

SEA Aquarium0001 SEA Aquarium0002 SEA Aquarium0003 SEA Aquarium0004

The image above gives you an idea of how many people swarmed around each exhibit. Luckily, there seemed to be some natural ebb and flow of traffic, so we’d wait until a large group moved on, then sneak up close to the tank for a few quiet moments before the next wave of people rushed in.

Portrait of the Week: 7 of 52

02.21.16

7 of 52

Noodles at the Maxwell Hawker Stalls in Singapore

5 Weeks in Southeast Asia!

02.20.16

When we made the decision to move back home to the states and change careers, it was the perfect opportunity to structure a lifestyle that included even more of the things we loved. A lot of dreaming, reflecting and deep discussions took place to try and establish what was most important to us, how we wanted to spend our days, and how we would achieve our goals. We knew we wanted to spend lots of time with our loved ones, work together in a meaningful creative profession, and devote much of our time to traveling and experiencing the world as a family. Deciding when to travel was more or less influenced by our sweet home state of Oregon. The Pacific Northwest is absolutely beautiful, but in the winter it can be a bit dreary. We figured these cold and drizzly months were the perfect time to seek out a warm-weathered adventure.

Next came the task of deciding where we would go. Southeast Asia is a region that we hold very dear to our hearts. During our 8 years abroad, we found ourselves drawn back to that part of the world over and over again. It sounds totally strange, but there’s just something about the grit and the heat, and yes, even the pungent smell of fish sauce, that makes us feel very much at home. Generally speaking, Southeast Asia is a safe place to travel, very affordable, and quite easy to navigate. There are vibrant cultures, lush landscapes, mouth-watering cuisines, and adventures around every palm-fringed bend in the road. Considering all of this, deciding where we would go on our first big family travel/work trip was a no-brainer: Southeast Asia!

We built many wonderful friendships during our years in international schools. Teachers who work in these communities regularly move around the world, and so now many of our teaching friends are sprinkled throughout Southeast Asia. Their connections to the expatriate communities were critical in helping us find photography opportunities. We considered our friends’ locations when planning our trip, and decided to make 3 main stops in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and Bangkok, which some free time for family travel between cities.

We arrived in Bangkok for a quick overnight before flying to Singapore. We flew into the Suvarnabhumi airport around midnight, and knowing we had an early afternoon flight the next day, we opted to stay at a nearby hotel called Thongtha Residence. The room was clean and basic and for a reasonable $28, worked very well for our quick overnight.

When we arrived at Thongtha Residence, Isla immediately spotted the hotel’s two cats. She quickly observed that the cats had the exact same coloring as our two cats! So, these two kitties became known as Thai Miller and Thai Safa. Obviously. While such a simple coincidence, beginning our adventure at a hotel with these two doppleganger cats felt like a comforting sign… as if we were right where we were meant to be.

Before breakfast Isla brushed up on her dramatic, “Let it go” performance. And we have never even shown her that movie!

Breakfast was included in our room rate. We were served a simple and delicious chicken and rice soup. The broth was flavored with lemongrass and cilantro, and so yummy!

Thai Safa joined us for breakfast and was so patient while Isla loved on him.

After breakfast the hotel staff quickly helped us hail a cab and we were on our way. Our flight to Singapore was out of the Don Mueang airport, which was about an hour drive by taxi from the Thongtha Residence.

Portrait a Week Catch Up… Already!

02.13.16

Wow. I figured I’d get behind on our Portrait a Week project of Isla from time to time, but did not anticipate it happening during the 2nd week of January! Oh well, such is life. Here are portraits from the last few weeks…

2 of 52 Making Pancakes

3 of 52 First Taco!

4 of 52 Zoo silliness

5 of 52 All about jumping these days

6 of 52 Love you more!

Isla’s First Visit to the Oregon Coast Aquarium

02.12.16

I have been wanting to take Isla to the Oregon Coast Aquarium for a long time, and we finally made it happen! A Wednesday morning in early January proved to be the perfect time for a visit. Most people were back to work and school, so if felt like we had the aquarium to ourselves. Exploring the beautiful exhibits at our own leisurely pace was wonderful. Isla was completely captivated, and she peered into each tank with all the wide-eyed wonder and amazement that I had dreamed she would. She greeted the fish, blew them kisses, and confidently informed us that each animal was her friend. Watching these sweet little moments of excitement and discovery was absolutely magical!

Isla was especially eager to go visit one particular friend: the octopus. “Let’s go surprise the octopus,” she said excitedly. “He will be so happy we are here!” Where does she come up with this stuff?! When we finally did make our way to the Giant Pacific Octopus’ tank we found him tucked away in a crevice, with only a few tentacled arms and his underside showing. We could see his beak opening and closing, and Isla thought that was the coolest thing ever! She still talks about it and uses her hands to animate, “The octopus’ mouth went open and shut and open and shut.”

While initially hesitant, Isla did feel the anemones in the touch tank and reported that they felt “ticky”.

We finished our visit with a walk through the passages of the deep. Look at that awe…Before heading back to the cottage we stopped off at Rogue for lunch. Yum! The light streaming in at our table was just too perfect to ignore, so I documented silly things, like Isla playing and Daddo trying to get one of her stubborn boogies… you’re welcome =).We’re already looking forward to our next visit to the Oregon Coast Aquarium this spring!