Rising Sun

After a nice goodbye get together, (my friends Sabina and Simone came to my surprise, along with all my family), we were off to Asia!!

Goodbye Roger, now go already!


A bit sleepy Frances on the plane...
So I just arrived in Singapore after a long and not so exhausting flight playing the in-flight games, watching videos and hanging out with Francis, who is brave enough to start this RTW trip with me before heading out to Australia to become a bartender...now there is a plan!! The flight was half-full (ah! see, not half empty.. amazing what a few days of relaxation after 80+h/week thesis writing will do to ya!) so we had plenty of space to sleep...

Old and new mix well.....

Singapore was fun and we immediately started the "traveler" experience by choosing the cheapest (not sure if it is even legal) "hostel" we could find.. essentially you duck and run through an extremely hot and busy kitchen and disappear in what looks like a 2nd world war trap door to enter the "hostel" part of the building... there are several "rooms" that consist of a double bed that is about 1 foot smaller than the room, so essentially you enter the room and drop on the bed... kind of reminds me of the description of "The Beach" if anyone s read the book instead of watched the dorky movie. Ok, ranting, let me continue with the real stuff... two things impressed me about Singapore, the crazy cool orchid gardens, the largest in the world, with hundreds of types, where we spent an afternoon rummaging around, and the night zoo. What the heck is a night zoo... well smarty pants singaporians seem to be the only ones that figure out that since most animals are night active and sleep during the day "daddy is the lion dead or why is it not moving??", one could have people go to the zoo at night. Great idea, even better conversion. A walking tour and a tram that shuttles you through the park at night... all cool till Francis lost her head in the Bat room... little did she know we were going to encounter much, much more of those critters and she would have to get used to it very quickly.

Seahorse cleaning... it is supposed to be great for potency...


"Super turtle tanning salon"