Pit Spot #3- Singapore

We really only had a long layover in Singapore. We were on our way to India and our layover was for about 8 hours so we decided to send our luggage straight through and get out of the airport to explore a little bit before our next flight. Unfortunately, our flight to get to Singapore left at 1am and got there around 5am and neither of us slept much on the plane. We walked off the plane like zombies. I was so grumpy that whole day. Pregnant people and no sleep just aren't a good mix. My Husband will vouch for that. 

 Peyton had been to Singapore before so he knew the layout of the city pretty well, which was helpful. Singapore was very clean and beautiful! It was a very cloudy day and rained a few minutes while we were out. We decided that we wanted to go and see the hotel called, "The Marina Bay Sands". Its iconic because of its structure, but it is also considered to be the most expensive stand alone casino property. It is so tall, so we decided to go to the top and get a birds eye view of the city. Peyton has a fear of heights and looking down from the top made his knees weak at first. I kept telling him to look out far and not look directly down. Of course thats easier said than done with this view! 

This is the pool at the top of the hotel that we didn't have access to. Bummer. 

Can you tell how tired we are? 

The view from the bottom.

Next we wanted to go check out the "Gardens by the Bay" which was conveniently located next to Marina Bay Sands hotel. It is a large indoor/outdoor arboretum with all kinds of rare plants. It was a little funny because they had a "California" plant section. Just your typical daisies and garden flowers! This place was decorated for Christmas, also. We saw lots of poinsettias. 

                  

Our absolute favorite part of Singapore was this creative creature. She decided that she was going to put her doll places in the atrium and take pictures of her. She continued to comb and fix her hair and then put her in different poses. We could not stop laughing. Other people were intrigued, as well. She never caught on that she had an audience. I am almost grateful for that. I hope she got that winning shot! Alien Barbie has never looked better and more exotic. I also believe my Husband has never been more happy to own a telephoto lens in order to get these shots of her. 

 Peyton has really been missing his Krispy Kreme since moving to China. One of our friends gave us false hope that there was one in Shanghai, but we learned it had recently been closed down. Peyton googled and discovered there was one in Singapore and added it to our layover. He was so excited to see his Krispy Kreme. They had interesting flavors, like pumpkin, cookie dough, and cookies and cream, we decided to get half a dozen, but my honey still stuck to his original glaze. He was so happy after this and probably devoured two doughnuts in about two minutes. I should have timed him. By the way, guilty pleasures are quite expensive. Half a dozen of those doughnuts were about $18 US. That smile is worth every penny! 

 All in all, Singapore was a fun destination to have a long layover. Next time i'd like to stay a little longer and go to Universal Studios and swim in that pool at the Marina Bay Sands hotel. Maybe next time the weather will be happier also.

Pit Stop #2 Sri Lanka

After we left the Maldives we decided we wanted to spend a few days in Sri Lanka. It is very close from the Maldives, around a 2 hour plane ride. It was much different than I expected. We flew into Colombo, Sri Lanka which is the largest city and also the capital. We then took a cab about an  hour to our hotel called "The Mount Lavinia". We chose this hotel because it is recognized to be one of the oldest and most famous hotels in the country. It has been a hotel since 1947, but was the Governors Residence since the 1800. It was really neat to stay in a place that was so old, but was turned into a hotel. It was really nice and the location was right on the Mount Lavinia beach. We stayed there for a few days and laid on the beach, went walking around the city, and continued to stay lazy. Obviously, we needed to relax after our really hard and strenuous vacation from the Maldives. 

When we boarded the plane we saw that right next to us was a gurney. We were laughing cause it was just so random, but next thing we knew they were wheeling Grandma in to take her to Sri Lanka. It was definitely a production. They eventually put up curtains around her so she wasn't looked at the whole flight. She had her Son with her, a flight attendant, and a special Doctor. Luckily, the flight was very short, but he did need to administer an IV in that amount of time. Poor girl, I bet they didn't even offer her peanuts. 

Here is our hotel, "The Mount Lavinia". We loved saying the name of it whenever we could because it sounded so royal and grand. I believe we walked around talking to each other in accents for a good portion of the stay, as well. We got there on New Years eve day, so it was still decorated in all the Christmas decorations. We loved Colombos beachy Christmas feel. 

The hotel had its own private beach that was really nice. We laid in lounge chairs and read our books and Peyton braved the water. It was pretty warm but the waves were a little rough. It was also really hot! We had just received some fresh sunburns the day before so I avoided the sun like the plague. I kept telling Peyton while we were in the Maldives, "I don't sunburn. I have a natural olive complexion." The Maldivian sun was not amused by this statement and decided to humor my Husband. I was so burnt! I don't think I have been that sunburned since I was a little kid at the lake. Lesson learned. Thank you, Mr. sunshine. 

Another great thing about this hotel was that we prepaid for 3 meals to be included in our stay. They had huge buffets for breakfast, lunch and dinner that we cashed in on. They had so many types of fish, curries, kebabs, soups, fruits, desserts and anything else you can imagine. We were in heaven. Speaking of heaven...

One night they had this dessert called Heaven Slice. We decided that it definitely needed to be experienced, and we were not disappointed. It truly felt like we flew up above for a few moments. Peyton went back to experience heaven about 3 times. I had a few extra slices (for the baby, of course). 

Our last day in Sri Lanka was my 2nd absolute favorite day of the whole trip. We sat on the beach during the day, took a nap, had a buffet breakfast and lunch and then treated ourselves to a couples massage. I am not a huge massage person, but this was so divine. We have been having trouble finding people who would massage me because of the pregnancy, but the resort had a prenatal massage option. All the plane traveling and walking was making my feet swell and I would have paid the homeless man on the corner to just rub them. Luckily, a lovely Sri Lankan lady did it, and it was amazing! (I need to insert here that Peyton offers and gives great foot massages, also. I am totally milking this pregnancy thing until this babe comes.) 

We are trying to collect at least one souvenir from all the places that we visit. In Sri Lanka we found this great authentic cultural mask. We were told that the Sri Lankans display it in your house and it  provides "protection" over your family. It is the perfect souvenir, however I asked Peyton to put it in his office because its a little frightening. 

That night we randomly found this cafe that was having an open mic night on their rooftop and we needed to grab dinner before heading to the airport. They had some yummy milkshakes, hamburgers and even potato chips. The open mic night was fun because it was about three 15 year old boys who had some great talent. Sadly, there was only one other couple there to hear them. It was kinda nice to have our own private rooftop concert, and we made sure to clap and shout for them really loud. It was really surreal to think that we were in Sri Lanka listening to a teenager play Green Day on an acoustic guitar. 

Sri Lanka was such a pleasant surprise and we loved every minute of it. We would definitely recommend Colombo as a destination and of course, Mount Lavinia Hotel. Make sure you talk in an accent while you are there! 

The Madlvies- a picture perfect paradise

Peyton and I decided that we wanted to take a "babymoon" vacation for Christmas this year. We had some destinations that we wanted to go to before the baby arrives and we thought this would be a good time to do it. We are really fortunate to be close to many destinations living in China. We decided that we would spend about 5 days in the Maldives, a couple days in Sri Lanka, a day in Singapore, and 3 days in India. The Maldives were our first destination and we were so ready for a relaxing getaway! 

Quick Geography lesson: The Maldive Islands is an island nation in the Indian Ocean. It lies right about between Sri Lanka and India. Its a collection of about 1,200 islands. The Maldives are also considered the smallest Asian country in both population and land. 

I have always wanted to go to the Maldives and I had it on my bucket list of dream destinations, so when we found out we weren't that far living in China we decided to go for it! The move and the pregnancy have been pretty stressful for us so the Maldives were a great place to finally relax. We were also sad we were missing Christmas with our families, so it was a great way to distract ourselves and create our own little paradise Christmas. It was definitely one I will always remember! 

While at the airport getting ready to board we were bombarded with a million asian teenagers screaming. We asked someone what was happening and apparently there was a Korean Pop star passing through the airport. These girls went so bananas. We still don't know who he is, but his appearance made us laugh. 

Since the Maldives are many different islands, you usually take speed boats and catamarans to different islands during the day. The first Island we visited was more of a local village and it was fun to see the everyday Maldivian lifestyle...until we stumbled upon this thing. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am deathly terrified of large lizards. We saw this one in the street just hanging out and I took off running. I don't think the Maldivian people have ever seen a pregnant person run that fast before. I still can't even look at these pictures. I have one eye open as I type this. 

Apparently, homegirl does not share my phobia. 

Day number two we spent on the Island of "Bandos". This was our most amazing day of the whole trip. The weather was great, hot but not terrible, our best weather day, as well! The whole Island is not very big and we probably walked around the whole thing in about a half hour. We sat in lounge chairs, read a book, took a nap (or two), ate a buffet island brunch, and did our favorite activity of snorkeling. This island is so beautiful and the water is so clear! The sand is so smooth it feels fake. We kept asking each other if we could really believe we were in the Maldives. 

We have an underwater camera that we have really enjoyed using while going snorkeling. It came in handy when we were snorkeling in the morning and came across a shark! I was terrified and swam to find Peyton and tell him. I told him and instead of consoling his hysterical wife, he swam off to go take pictures of it. I swam directly to the shore. The pictures are cool though, so I will excuse him. 

 The sunset was amazing and one of my favorite parts of the day.

The other days were spent island hopping some more, a little fishing (no luck), more snorkeling, drinking $6 Diet Cokes and seeing some bats!  Heres some pictures around the islands. We are convinced that you cannot take a bad picture here. Everywhere you look its an instant screensaver! 

The last night we had a local that owns a BBQ cook us an authentic Maldivian BBQ on the beach. It was really cool to talk with a local and to see what they do everyday. He prepared us fresh fish and chicken that were marinated in a maldivian spice. It was the spiciest thing Peyton and I have ever eaten in our lives. We had tears running down our cheeks and couldn't stop laughing. Our new friend kept saying, "Its not too spicy, is it? I made it mild." We are such weak sauce. 

We asked him if he realized that he lives in paradise. His response took us for a loop. He said, "to me, paradise is somewhere there is snow." WHAT?! I guess the grass really is always greener on the other side. 

I told Peyton that in 3 months when we are holding a screaming baby in our arms we will look back on this paradise vacation with fond memories. I already miss it.