Leaving Texas and Getting to Germany

It was so good to be back home in Texas. I missed my family and friends so much. There was a lot of eating, visiting, and a little bit of shopping (considering Singapore prices, I had to shop while I was back in Texas at reasonable prices).  I also had a quick weekend trip to Beaver Creek in Colorado to see one of my good friends say “I do” in a picturesque town. The time went by so fast and I didn’t really want to leave. I told my Mom as much as I had wanted Ryan to come back to Texas it was good he would be meeting me in Germany, giving me a reason for wanting to leave for another extended period again…not that Germany isn’t a place someone wouldn’t want to go because it is gorgeous both in scenery and weather but I couldn’t wait any longer to see my husband.  And before I knew it was time to leave for Germany….

Nala wanted to come with me.

I arrived four days before Ryan. I slept for about two of those days. What can I say, jetlag is hard on person. Our apartment is really nice. I prefer it much more than our Singapore apartment. For starters we’re on the third floor and we have a good size balcony with a view of the lake and Swiss Alps. We have real wood floors, plush rugs, a big comfy couch, actual SEPARATE rooms, actual color on the walls, and a TV. Who knew such simple things could make a person so happy. But these things make it much more “homey” and comfortable than our cold white box we lived in in Singapore.

Our separate living area.... no bed in here! or kitchen! :)

Our view.

So in Singapore we went without some “luxuries” that we were use to back home, like a TV, microwave, and dishwasher. And here we are going without some luxuries as well. No AC. And before you panic, it’s ok here. For starters, it’s the “hottest” time of the year and I’ve worn pants and a jacket every time we leave the apartment. All it takes is to crack open a window and it’s the perfect temperature inside. Oh and no humidity, did I mention that?!? I love the weather here (and so does my hair)!  Second luxury we’re missing is a clothes dryer. And yes you can panic for me on this one. Nobody uses clothes dryers here. Apparently they're really bad for the environment and Germans are really conscientious about that... I never knew. But we don't even have a hook up for one in the apartment. I looked because at first I was like, "no way, I'm finding a dryer!" haha.  I've done a couple of loads of laundry and they do dry like in fifteen minutes of just hanging outside... not bad and they smell nice too. Luckily we also have a dry cleaner within walking distance. Two more luxury items we’re missing that we also went without in Singapore, a microwave and dishwasher. Luckily I’m used to being without these now. Ryan and I produce hardly any dishes to be washed, although this is probably the effect of me never cooking. As for the microwave, after getting creative and heating up leftovers, etc. on the stovetop or in the oven I’ve come to the conclusion that once we’re back in the Sates permanently I just might try going without a microwave period. Food tastes so much better heated up the other ways.

Yep those are our unmentionables hanging out to dry on our balcony. 

We love it here already. Small town, no fighting crowds, the weather is great, we get to drive without traffic, and the list goes on. But we’re finding it a bit more difficult to adapt here than in Singapore. Which seems odd since you might think, “Southeast Asia easier to adapt to than Germany… in awesome Europe???”  Well since we’re in a small town hardly anyone speaks English and there are no signs in English. This has proven difficult. Yesterday I had to translate my grocery list online before I went to the grocery store. I did it and got everything I needed but it’s just taking a little more time and effort to get around and get things we need. Something that I’m sure will soon pass. I would also like to mention that no more buying prepackaged food that I can just throw in a pot and cook. I took one look at the directions (that are in German) and decided it would me much easier to make things from fresh food and where I can find directions online…. in English. I attempted dinner last night and it was actually good. The fish was ok, but the veggies I made were delicious… I was happily surprised, as was Ryan.

Dinner on the balcony. We're taking advantage of the weather here!

Ryan and I have explored our little town a bit and ventured off to Austria a couple of weekends ago. We have also already visited Neuschwanstein Castle, yes the castle that the Cinderella castle was based on. We have also already taken a road trip to Prague to visit our friends, Karina and Justin. I’ll be posting pictures of all of these trips soon.

Borneo & Northern Asia Cruise

It’s been quite a while since I have updated my blog. Let’s see, since our adventure in Australia and Zealand a lot has happened. Ryan and I took one last trip while we were both still in Singapore together to Borneo with our friends Liana and Todd, we took a cruise with Ryan’s parents, I went back to Texas for four weeks and we made our way to Germany.

Borneo was pretty cool in the short three days we got to do and see several things. We got to go to a cave where they harvest birds nest soup. This was not my favorite activity and here is a link to Liana’s blog to see why. Also here are some creepy pictures. 

The big, bad, scary cave. And yep, that's several feet of guano. The smell was overwhelming.

This thing was actually really big.

Everywhere!!!

Everywhere!

We also got to take a boat tour of the Kinabatangan River where we saw Borneo’s wildlife in action (elephants, orangutans, monkey’s, etc.). But by-far my favorite thing… we went to Selingan Turtle Island, where they monitor mama turtles and their babies. There was even a Nat Geo crew on our little island trip to see the turtles which I thought was pretty neat. So you get to see the mom’s lay the eggs and you get to see the eggs hatch and the baby turtles make their way to sea. Now all this is monitored and controlled by the authorities because these turtles are in danger. Once the mom lays her eggs (any where from just a few to almost 200) the ranger takes the eggs where the eggs are then laid in the ground in a protected area safe from lizards and other predators. Then eight weeks later they hatch and the rangers then release them later that night to the water. LUCKY for us, because this really was rare, sometimes a nest is missed and the turtles hatch and make their way to the water on their own. Now they usually hatch at night. How do these babies know its night time while in the ground? By the temperature of the sand, i.e. if it’s cool and damp it must be night time. Well one mom laid her eggs in the nice shade back into the trees. And since it was in the shade the babies thought it was night and decided to come out while we were chilling on the beach. We got some great pictures and a video (below) of the cute little things going as fast as they can to the water. It was amazing.

My favorite part of the trip.

Watch the baby turtles make their way to the water! 

A short week and a half later we were all packed and out of our apartment and on our way to Tokyo where we met Ryan’s parents for a cruise that stopped twice in Japan, Russia, South Korea, and China. This might be my new favorite way to travel.  It went by really fast and was amazing to see all these different places in a short amount of time. We ended in Beijing and I flew back to Texas with Ryan’s parents and he made his way back to Singapore for the next four weeks before we both left for Germany. 

The Great Wall of China!

Australia & New Zealand

There are not enough words and the pictures definitely don’t do it justice… New Zealand was absolutely amazing. We started off in Auckland where the weather was cool and comfortable. We walked around the historical town of Devonport, about a five minute ferry ride from Auckland. Devonport is small town that reminded me of Fredricksburg in Texas except surrounded by beaches with crystal clear water. The following day we took a ferry to Rangitoto Island where hiked up the dormant volcano to reach amazing views of the north island. Afterwards we headed to Waiheke, another island of the coast and about a thirty minute ferry ride from Auckland. Waiheke looked like a piece of Tuscany had been cut out of Italy and dropped off the coast of New Zealand. We drove around the small island’s rolling hills for the remainder of the afternoon touring wineries and tasting some of New Zealand’s finest wine and food.

Just arrived in Queenstown

The next morning we caught a plane to Queenstown. IF I were to ever move out of the United States it would most definitely be to Queenstown. A small town nestled in the mountains on the south island of New Zealand. There is plenty to do here, ski, hike, plenty of cute boutiques and restaurants, there is an amazing (clear I might add) lake, and endless possibilities for the adrenaline junkie. IN FACT…. You wouldn’t believe it, BUT me (yes the terrified of heights and flying Laura) took a ride on the world's largest swing (Nevis Swing-World's Largest). I promise I’m not exaggerating… it’s more scary than it sounds. Five hundred and thirty feet above the valley below is a cable strung across two mountain peaks. In the middle of the cable is an enclosed platform where you are connected to 393 feet of rope. Basically you jump off and reach a speed up to 93 miles per an hour and start off in a 984 foot arc that eventually dies down and lets you hang above the river and valley before they pull you back up. Luckily two people can jump at a time! Lucky Ryan got to hear me screaming the whole way down… only after some light tearing up and almost backing out. Ryan, rode upside down and I opted to ride right side up, jumping off (to what seems to be your death) was enough for me, there was no way I could go upside down. At the end of the day I was proud of myself and happy I did it and even more happy that I never have to do it again.

Watch us fall!

The largest swing in the world! This was right after we did it, can you tell I'm more relaxed? :)

I encourage you to click on the picture so you can take a look at the difference in "smiles" between Ryan and myself. I was in the middle of a tiny panic attack.

The next morning we woke up super early and left at six in the morning and headed towards Milford Sound. The drive from Queenstown to Milford Sound was voted one of the top drives in the world to take and I can see why. It takes roughly five to six hours from Queenstown to reach Milford Sound but for us who stopped every several miles took us about eight hours. Every time you think you have come upon something that is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen you drive five more miles and are proven wrong. It starts off hilly then the tuscany’ish hills turn into mountains with the clearest lakes in between, then the mountains start to turn out waterfalls, then hundreds of waterfalls right before you reach Milford Sound where you take an hour cruise to see more of the magnificent mountains and waterfalls along with seals, dolphins, and wildlife alike. The first excitement that we came across on this particular road trip was a very nice officer who handed Ryan a ticket for going over the speed limit. Ryan was not happy BUT if he had not been pulled over we wouldn’t have come across a random rain shower over a lake where we saw a double rainbow… on Easter I might mention. We actually saw the end of the rainbow in the lake! It was pretty awesome.

Gotta love the faces. But check out that rainbow! It was a double rainbow at one point. 
AND it was Easter morning, I think it was from God ;)

The next drive we took was from Queenstown to Fox Glacier. The drive was about the same length and had just as many beautiful sights. Once we reached Fox Glacier we geared up and set out on a four hour hike across the glacier. It was rainy and cold but still fun... I mean we got to hike across a glacier! The glacier was kind of dirty from dust that had made its way from Australia but the further we hiked the less dust and got some great photos of the ice. We learned that at one point on the glacier it’s so wide that you could fit the whole island of Singapore on it! Not that Singapore is a huge island but it puts things into perspective. We spent the night in Franz Josef just a short drive fifteen minute drive up the road at one of the cutest and nicest hotels I have stayed in, especially for such a small town. Franz Josef’s population is approximately 330 people. The next day we headed towards Christchurch and then took a short flight from Christchurch to Sydney.

Ryan

Me

Australia had equally awesome weather and people. We did all the touristy things we could in Sydney including the Opera House, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, The Rocks shops and restaurants, The Royal Botanical Gardens, the zoo and more. We concluded Sydney by seeing Tony Bennett in concert at the Sydney Opera House. We were probably the youngest people in the crowd but Ryan loved it and it was cool to see a show in one of the most famous opera houses in the world. The next day we spent driving to Eden (halfway in between Sydney and Melbourne). We took a treetop walk with more amazing views of the hills and valleys. By the way… parts of Australia look like Tuscany too! I had no idea. After the treetop walk we drove through Kangaroo Valley where we saw no kangaroos! It’s ok we saw some wallabies (smaller kangaroo look alikes) later on and I was satisfied. Although we did see a couple of dead kangaroos and wombats on the side of the road, kind of like deer in Texas. So we spent the night in Eden and headed out early once again. We were on Phillip Island by mid-day where we got to see koala’s and wallabies in a somewhat natural habitat, more of a nature reserve. The island was gorgeous (of course), clear blue water and lots of wildlife. Right before dusk we took our seats on the beach to watch the nightly “penguin parade.” This is where the penguins (the smallest in the world) make their way back home from fishing in the ocean all day. Slowly they pop out of the waves, roll on the beach and once “safe” enough and on their feet, in large groups they waddle at their fastest rate back into the small hills to their nests for the night. They were so cute! And so scared when there was nothing to be scared of. But the whole ordeal lasted a little more than an hour as group by group of penguins arrived. Unfortunately and understandably photography and videos were not allowed, so if you would like to see what we saw just click on this link, Penguin Parade.

Treetop Walk

I feel like they put this one up just for tourists... it's every animal a tourist is on the look for.

We made it to Melbourne late that night after the penguins. We woke up early the next morning and walked around in the beautiful weather, 75 + sunshine = happy Laura. So we walked around shopped, saw the docks, went to the aquarium and relaxed on our last day of our trip.

This trip’s scenery by-far blows everything else we’ve seen out of the water. I hope my pictures (click here for my photography blog) do it justice but you obviously have to see it in person to get the whole effect. If you ever have a chance to drive New Zealand and Australia I highly recommend it! On another note, with limited time we did not get to see all of Australia we wanted. Sometime in the future whenever it might be we want to see Tasmania, tour the outback, Ayers Rock, etc. and make our way to Darwin and then the Great Barrier Reef. Who wants to join??? 

Wow this is a long post. With all of that said we only have several days here left! We officially depart Singapore May 31. We will spend a couple of days in Tokyo before we go on a cruise with Ryan’s parents to Japan, Russia, China, and South Korea. We end in Beijing where we will go see the Great Wall of China (I’m super excited about that!). And then I’m back in Texas June 14! And On July 10^th it’s off to Germany to meet Ryan in our new location. In between now and then there is lots to do, packing, getting rid of things, figuring out how to ship my table I bought here, getting enough Din Tai Fung, and saying goodbye to our good friends we’ve made here.

Wir sind nach Deutschland bewegen!

It has been almost two months since I have posted. It’s a lot easier to post pictures on my photography blog than it is finding time to write.

Well our trip to Cambodia was amazing... definitely needed since India didn’t go so well. The people are so friendly and welcoming. The staff at our hotel are people we will never forget. Of course the food was amazing and so were the sites. (There are photos on my photography blog and facebook page.)

We also recently traveled to Vietnam. We stayed in Hanoi and then sailed through one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, Ha Long Bay. Hanoi had great shopping a lot of sites to see. Again our hotel was fabulous as was the staff. Ha Long Bay was amazing. It wasn’t sunny and bright it was actually very foggy and misty but it made for some neat looking photos. (Photos to come soon.)

Sometimes I can’t believe all the things we are getting to do at such a young age. We are trying to cram things in though. We’re just not sure when we would ever make it over to this side of the world again.

Next week Ryan leaves for the Middle East on a business trip. He is stopping in Doha, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi to visit his customers. I wish I could go but unfortunately time just does not permit it. In three weeks we leave for New Zealand and Australia, I could not be more excited! We are actually doing a road trip across both countries… not a big deal at all EXCEPT they drive on the other side of the road. How did I let Ryan talk me into this??? I’m sure it will be fine once we get used to it and for the most part both drives are on one major highway just going straight.

It also hit me the other day we only have about three months left here and I’m actually going to miss it. Well parts of it. There is some food I know I won’t be able to find back at home or where we’re going next. I won’t ever live in another city as clean or safe. I do know I won’t miss the crowds. But what I will definitely miss are some of the friends we have made here, people I know we will keep in touch with.

So I guess it’s time to announce where we are headed next…. If the title of this post didn’t give it away (well I hope it did, I used a free online translator, I hope it says what I think it says) WE ARE MOVING TO GERMANY!!!  We are so incredibly excited! It’s a small town called Friedrichshafen on the border of Switzerland right on Lake Constance. I’m excited that it’s central Europe, I’m excited that it’s a small town (Singapore has cured me of ever wanting to live in a crowded city ever again), I’m excited that it’s on a beautiful lake, I’m excited that the fabulous Swiss Alps skiing is only four hours away, I’m excited that I’m half German and will be seeing part of my heritage (as is Ryan), and last I’m excited that the weather will start off cool and then get really cold (by the time we’re done with Singapore I will have had a full year of hot and humid summer, I’m ready for some cold weather!).  Now it’s time to start researching places to live and things to do. Germany is one place where it’s really hard to get a visa to work. Most likely I will not be able to work (darn! ;)) But since I’m getting there a month behind Ryan and since we’ll have lots of visitors it’s probably best that I can’t work. I would love to take German lessons if possible and I would love to love to start working out (we’ll see about that one). Other things on my to do list, TRAVEL. Places we want to see include but are not limited to:

• All of Germany
• Czech Republic (the other half of my lineage)
• Switzerland
• Austria
• Hungary
• Croatia
• Romania
• Poland
• Ukraine
• Pretty much East Europe, we’ll do the west when we’re in England

Ever needed a vacation from your vacation?

For the past couple of weeks we have been recovering from our India trip. It was somewhat of a disaster. We had to cut our trip early and head back to Singapore. Ryan got very sick.... so sick there was no way Ryan could make it to the airport 3 hours away much less get on a plane so he could get treated in Singapore. So we had to go to a hospital with less than ideal conditions. Needless to say you do not want to get sick in India! After getting back four days early we pretty much just rested and thanked the good Lord that we were back in Singapore. We spent a quiet New Year's watching the firework show from our sidewalk outside our building, it was actually quite nice and relaxing. We could have been in Sri Lanka on one of the worlds top ten beaches but at this point we were just happy to be back.

This week we leave for Cambodia. We'll spend one day in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia before leaving for Siem Reap. We're very excited and keeping our fingers crossed this trip goes much more smoothly.

On a different note I was thinking the other day about all the food I miss from back home. Don't get me wrong Singapore has a tremendous variety of food from Tex Mex (and I use the term loosely), to Chinese, to Italian, Indian, you name it they pretty much have it. But there are a few things I miss from Texas that I just can't find here and I thought I better write them down so once I'm back home in June I'll be sure to have it once or twice before leaving again. Here's the list:

 Everything from Mom's kitchen including but not limited to:

• Mom's spaghetti
• Mom's meatloaf
• Mom's cheesey potatoes
• Dad's BBQ chicken
• Mom's Homemade lasagna

Fast Food:

• Chick-fil-la
• Sonic (specifically they're mozzarella sticks and cherry limeade)
• Whataburger

Others:

• Angie's Okra
• Ryan's Mom's salads
• Anything Nikki cooks
• Hido's (Yes I know this is Asian but I still haven't found fried rice better than theirs)
• Smoothie King
• Sylvia's Kitchen
• Lupe Tortilla
• Los Cucos
• Casa Ama's
• Pretty much any Mexican restaurant and BBQ restaurant
• Chicken fried anything

And just to keep it even here is some food we will miss from Singapore:

• Steamed pork buns from Din Tai Fung
• Noodles (oh the noooodles)
• Gong Cha Tea
• Real yogurt based froyo
• The fruit! Real tropical fruit! mmmm pineapple!

I have a feeling I will be adding to both of these lists before our time here is up :)