Jacob's 9th Birthday

Jacob's birthday celebrations started last Friday at his first warm birthday party.  He invited 7 friends from school and they spent the afternoon playing in the pool and enjoying the warm November weather.

Then last Saturday, we took the coach to Legoland in Malaysia for a day filled with rides, laughs and fun!  As Jake put it at the end of the day - "This is the BEST day ever!"

It seems like the birthday celebrations don't end in this house!  Today, Jacob celebrated his day with our usual Thursday playdate group.  

Happy 9th Birthday, Jacob!  We love you!

Student of the Week

Last week, Jacob's class has started Student of the Week and Jacob and another student were chosen to be the first students of the week. Each day of the week the student is recognized with a special activity. On Monday, the student was allowed to bring in 3 items and Jacob chose to bring in his hockey mini-stick, a stuffed animal and a cowboy hat (can I get a yehaw for the Calgary Stampede!).  Tuesday, Jacob shared with the class his favorite book. Wednesday, the teacher read a letter from the parents.  Thursday, a parent (or someone else special to the the child) was invited to come and have lunch at the school and on Friday, the student was recognized with a special certificate.   Jason crafted a really nice letter and I just had to share with you.  Enjoy!

Dear Grade 3 Class,

I’d like to share with you a story that begins in Calgary, a cowboy town in southern Alberta, Canada.  In a city surrounded by wheat fields and mountains that reach into the heavens, a small boy named Jacob Plamondon was born.  From early on, his parents recognized him as a special kid and it was not long before someone else also saw potential in Jacob.  As it turned out, there was a group of people who had been waiting a long time for Jacob to come of age.

It was in May of 2013 that Jacob's father got a call from The Shield, a global crime fighting unit.  They told Jacob’s Dad that they wanted to recruit Jacob as its newest superhero member. They said that Jacob was “The Fun” and that he would be known in The Shield as Jake the Snake. Yes you heard right, he was not “The One” like Neo in the Matrix or Harry Potter.  He was “The Fun”.  The Shield had determined that in order to be more successful in their fight against crime, they had to find a way to prevent crime, instead of fighting it and to avoid kids turning into super villains in the first place.  Jake the Snake was the answer. 

His smile can pierce through the coldest of hearts;

He can defeat the most evil genius with the smelliest of farts;

His mountain of stuffies - a prison of comfortable cuteness unbearable to the angriest villain; and

His excitement and positivity will attract fun loving kids to build a legion

The Shield wanted to send Jake the Snake to Singapore.  They had determined that there was a critical mass of kids moving to Singapore from all points around the globe who would be capable together of defeating evil once and for all.  What they needed was “The Fun” to spread fun throughout Singapore, encouraging kids to be positive global role models for their return to their home countries around the world.  Wielding warm smiles, soft stuffies, positivity and smelly farts, this legion of global crime fighters would defeat evil once and for all.

So now you all know that among you sits the greatest of all super heroes…”The Fun” Jake the Snake, who was sent here to Singapore to recruit an army of friends with a shared vision.  It’s up to you now to decide to join “The Fun” to defeat evil by laughing and smiling and enjoying everything you do, just as he does. 

Congratulations Jake, on being student of the week.

Have Fun,

Jake’s Mom and Dad

Even if it breaks your heart…

There is solace is knowing that your family is in a good place.

Josh.  He is a happy, fun, little boy who loves making people happy.  He genuinely loves life.  His throaty laugh is contagious and I love that how much he is like his Dad.  Kids and adults want to be around Josh.  He exudes happiness and its so easy to want to be in his company.  

Jake. He is an inquisitive, questioning leader.  He is incredibly patriotic and loyal.  He is goal driven while being a team player.  He is rigid and gentle at the same time.   I love how he is so much like me.  He is family-centered and is happiest when in the company of his family and friends.  

Jason. He is handsome, thoughtful and witty.  He naturally makes those around him happy.  He is dedicated to his family and open-heartedly puts his their needs before his own.  It's easy to become addicted to his company.  He is easy-going, fun and loyal. He makes me so incredibly happy.

As we approach six months in Singapore, it is so comforting to have my family is good place.  And even though it break our hearts to be away from our friends and family, especially now that we have another sweet little niece, I am so blessed to have a family that is open to adventure and new experiences. 

Gili Islands in Indonesia

October Break!

The boys have a two week break from school and since this time off aligns with friends of ours who are teaching and living in Macau, we decided to spend a week together vacationing in The Gili Islands.  The Gili Islands consist of three small islands, Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air, all offering a remote island experience.  All motorized vehicles are prohibited on the island, so the preferred method of transportation is by foot, bicycle or a chidomo (horse drawn carriage).  'Gili' in Sasak means "small island" and diving and snorkelling is very popular due to the abundance of marine life and coral.  We had a wonderful week enjoying the sand, sun and company!

We left Singapore Friday night, stayed over in Kuala Lumpur then caught the morning flight to Lombok with our friends Amanda, Les and Kaidyn.

 

From the airport, we travelled by car for 1 1/2 hrs then hopped into a boat to get to our destination.

This is the main road that circles the island, Trawangan.  Our bungalow hotel was just off the main path but near to a wide selection of restaurants.  We rented bikes for two days and leisurely biked our way around the island.

 The water is clear, blue and very warm.  The coral surrounds the island so we were able to snorkel from the beach to see a beautiful array of fish and even saw a sea turtle.

While walking along the beach, Kaidyn decided to help Mother Nature and started to pick up garbage that had floated up along the shoreline.  Josh quickly followed suit and before long, the boys had nicely cleaned a strip of the beach.

We spent an afternoon on the north side of the island consuming the local beer, Bintang, and enjoying the scenery.  Jason captured the view in a drawing.

 Taking a ride back to our bungalow in a chimodo.

We rented a boat and snorkelled around all three islands.  Les & I were lucky to see a sea turtle!  It was truly amazing!

Amanda & I thoroughly enjoyed our large Bintangs.  At one point during the trip, we stopped for a pit stop at a beach restaurant/bar and Jake said to Amanda "Look, you can get your Large Bintang here!"

 The Kiat's introduced us to Vacation Olympics - so fun!  One afternoon was spent doing the aquatic events, the other doing beach track & field.  Some highlights were Singles Synchronized Swimming, Coral Inukshuk building (which was judged by a nice couple from Kelowna who are living and teaching in Seoul), Javelin/Archery and Long Jump.

Jason was very proud of his Gold in Synchronized swimming.  His performance to "Crazy Train" was amazing!

Playing with army men in the sand.

Kaidyn celebrated his birthday while on our trip.  For his 9th birthday, we went geo cacheing which took us up the only hill on the island.  The view was beautiful!

Each evening we spent playing "Truth of Dare" with the boys.  The kids looked forward to this every evening and many laughs were shared!

A great week!

And the best part, the boys & I are still off for one more week!

East Coast Park

Prior to moving to Singapore, Jason & I were fortunate to know some friends from the hockey community who had lived in Singapore for a number of years. Over dinner and a few bottles of wine, they shared all the insider's tips & tricks to living in Singapore, from where to live, shop and their favourite hang out spots.

Like all major cities, Singapore is divided into different communities.  Holland Village is a popular area for expats and is located close to the main core and has a quaint street filled with restaurants & watering holes.  And although there is nothing Dutch about this area, a windmill can be found in the heart of Holland Village!  Little India is the spot to find fabulous Indian food and is also the home to a large, and busy, supermarket called The Mustafa Center.  Chinatown is near Little India and although we have yet to visit this area, I have been told that it has retained significant historical and cultural significances.

Then there is the East Coast.  The East Coast is largely residential but, like all places in Singapore, is filled with loads of restaurants, shops and attractions.  The one selling and distinct feature of the East Coast is the 20 km of white, imported, sand that parallels paved pathways for recreational use.  Our friends recommended this area and we settled on the East Coast even before arriving in Singapore.  It's been a couple of weeks since we officially made The East Coast our home and we couldn't be happier.

The East Coast Park is the largest park in Singapore and is a popular hangout for families and friends.  From our back gate, we can access the East Coast Park through an exceptionally clean underpass in about 10 minutes.  For the past couple of weeks, I have been meeting up with some girlfriends for a run on the promenade after I drop the boys off at school, and it's beautiful. The canopy from the rain trees and palm trees offers the perfect amount of shade from the sun and the view is amazing.  The paths are clean, clear and flat.  Along the strip, there are a number of activities for families & couples to enjoy.  You can camp, fish, barbeque, run, rollerblade, bike, waterski/wakeboard on cable-towed lines, eat, drink...everything!  Its amazing!

I have included some pictures.