The Nutcracker was showing this holiday season and the timing was perfect as my Mother-in-law was visiting so we were able to enjoy the festive seasonal ballet together. The Nutcracker performed by the Singapore Dance Theater brings audiences on a journey through the pre-WWI, turn of the century Shanghai featuring favorite and familiar characters including Clara, the Snow Queen, the Sugar Plum fairy and her Cavalier. Based on a story by E.T.A Hoffman, featuring the adventures of Clara after she receives a beautifully crafted doll from Dr. Drosselmeyer during a Christmastime celebratory party. This enchanting ballet featured a spectacular set and gorgeous costumes by local designers. Lesley and I so enjoyed the evening show and fell asleep that night with sugar plum ferries dancing in our dreams.
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Living in Singapore
Yesterday we watched the International Premier Tennis League at the Singapore Indoor Stadium featuring some incredible tennis players many of whom were ranked # 1 in the world at some point in time. The level that these players played at was just phenomenal, I was able to capture a hint of the skill level in the video below.
Tennis League Singapore from
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Living in Singapore
Last weekend we said farewell to our friends Brian and Tess who are moving to New Zealand next month after spending the last 11 years in Singapore. Brian was a good squash buddy of Kingsley's so his presence will be missed around the squash courts at the Singapore Cricket Club.
Later in the evening, we enjoyed listening to the live music and watching the annual Singapore Light to Night Festival displayed on the facade of the National Gallery building.
Back by popular demand, the highly anticipated Facade Show had a successful display last year during the Gallery’s opening weekend. This time, Australian Spinifex Group’s spectacular projection show transforms the Gallery’s stately facade, turning it into a dazzling light and music extravaganza. From 8pm onwards, the facade of the City Hall building will be covered in luminescent paint, along with objects such as picture frames, paint tube machines, and art desks to create magical scenes inspired by the abstract artworks in the Gallery’s collection.
Singapore Light Festival from
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Living in Singapore
Bali Bliss 2016 was another epic adventure. This trip has become our annual tradition with the
Temple Pilots, a group of paragliding pilots based out of Pune India. This year our longtime friend and paragliding pilot Ashley joined us from Australia. Due to Kingsley's work schedule, we only had a long weekend to spend with our friends but we packed more than enough fun and adventures into every minute of our time there.
Bali Bliss 2016 from
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Bali
Though Mauritius was an incredible island to explore, my favorite part of the trip was spending time with some special friends from Kingsley's Universtiy years. Below are a few of my favorite snapshots from the week.
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Mauritius
Our first day in Mauritius we took the opportunity to dive at a beautiful dive site called the Aqarium. This was my first time in about a year so I was a little apprehensive about it, especially since the surface waves were fairly significant just above the dive site. I also had not done any diving in water that far south so it despite my 5mm wetsuit I was pretty cold, well actually freezing during the entire dive. But all of that was so worth it for the beautiful turtle encounter I had which can be seen in the video below.
Mauritius Diving 2016 from
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Mauritius
In mid- August Kingsley and I spent a week staying at a wonderful hotel and resort in Mauritius called the One and Only St Geran. It's located on the East coast of the island about an hours drive by road from the airport, the hotel occupies a private peninsula with golden sandy beaches. Of course, the views and the facilities are magnificent but more than that we felt immediately at home after our arrival.
Mauritius is an entire nation of immigrants, many of which are from India. Kingsley went to Universtiy with quite a few Mauritians who became his close friends. Thus our trip back to visit these friends was very special for Kingsley after all of these years. Creole is the informal language and is spoken in homes and between friends, but everyone also speaks English.
A good portion of the island is surrounded by an outer reef, which creates calm and piercingly blue lagoons for swimming and awesome water sports. We had a chance to kayak, water ski and do some amazing diving while staying at the resort.
Overall I would highly recommend this hotel as a gorgeous place to stay in Mauritius. I am hoping we can return to visit again someday soon.
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Mauritius
