Welcome visitors

Hello out there,

Well we have been here in Singapore now for 9 months. The weather is getting hot again,
you don't realise its been cool - until it gets hot again!!

We have had a busy month, having our good friends Caz , Hugh, Daniella and Jess over for a fortnight has been the highlight. There arrival meant we got out to discover some of the sights with them. Singapore Zoo really is a fantastic facility, most of the enclosures are so open and relatively large, that you feel as though you are watching the animals in there native environment. ( If you have issues with zoos, read the novel "The Life of Pi" the main character gives a good argument for the benefits of zoos to the animals) . We were all entranced by the magnificence of the 3 rare white tigers. The primates crisscrossed over our heads as we walked along the path. The zoo has wonderful jungle like gardens, and are quite an oasis amongst the city of Singapore. I had to tell a local that no "that's not a koala, its a lemur" obviously he had not seen the film "Madagascar"!

The night zoo is well worth a visit also, but perhaps not on the same weekend. Saw some hunting cats, tapirs and other creatures that were quite unfamiliar.

We hired a car so we could get around for the weekend easily and it was great not to be reliant on public transport. We visited a couple of temples both Chinese, Buddhist and Sikh temples in the Chinatown area. It is lovely that the congregations are happy for us to look around while they go through the worshipping rituals. Found a fantastic cheap tasty vegetarian Indian restaurant where the girls ate with gusto , as we all did- we will be back.

Lots of shopping was done, Little India, Chinatown, and the Arab quarter, all colourful with great textiles, fans, and knick knacks for souvenirs.

The Rogers family and I then went to Phuket for 8 days, poor Kafil had to stay home and work over the Easter weekend. I love Phuket, we stayed at the swishy Courtyard Marriott and were a 5 minute walk from the beach. Every morning we went to a beach cafe where we feasted on fruit pancakes with fruit shakes. Jess's favourite was lemon, and sometimes she complained it wasn't sour enough!

The food was glorious, tasty & fresh with heaps of delicious seafood and tasty papaya salads.
We had a fantastic day snorkeling. The fish were colorful and plentiful, however the coral was quite dead, this was accredited to the effects of the tsunami. The iridescent clams of electric purple where stunning, as well as angel fish and lots of exotic warm water colorful fish.

My sun burnt face and lips were a reminder, that sitting on the front of a boat all day without a hat was pure madness. But worth it for the views, and our own personal viewing position.

We were in Phuket for New Years Eve, where the key event is dousing passing vehicles with water. A water pistol seemed fair, but some people were throwing buckets of water we were in a Tuk Tuk, and those sitting on the wrong side got really wet, and we were concerned about the cameras. It reminded me of the old days when we used to douse ourselves under the sprinklers at home, (pre drought water restrictions). Our hotel had a wonderful buffet dinner, with a colourful dancing display. (I have had 3 New Years Eve's this year, thankfully they were not all late night drinking ones).

It was fabulous to go away with such good friends, it was a pity Kafil hadn't been able to join us.

Our nex t trip we are off to Hong Kong for 3 nights, it is such a great life we have here, so many places to discover and enjoy.

Until next time
Love Kerri and Kafil

Vignettes via Vietnam

Hello to our friends and family,

Kafil and I have just returned from 2 weeks in Vietnam. As most of you would know we were in Hanoi, and the northern part of Vietnam, and then down to Hue and Hoi An, early last year.
We had an excellent time and couldn't wait to get back and visit Saigon and the Mekong Delta areas of southern Vietnam.

Saigon is a much more motorised city than the charming Hanoi. Motorbikes and scooters are the main form of transport and they scoot up over the paths and around you all the time.Crossing the road is an adventure as you step out in front of bikes and scooters as far as the eye can see, on major intersections.

We had an interesting morning, being driven on a cyclo, or pedal powered rickshaw. We had resisted such transport in the past, but the drivers were confident they could haul us around.


It is an ideal mode of transport as you can watch lifes passing parade at a leisurely pace, without the hassle of avoiding the traffic, and more importantly without getting hot and sweaty.

We visited historic temples including an 8 story pagoda and a temple dedicated to a goddess of Mercy Quan Am.
Like Singapore Vietnam, has a varied religious following which was evident in the temples, Gurdwaras and Mosques we visited, along with the Notre Dam Catholic church in the heart of the city.

We went to the obligatory war remnants museum, where there was some poignant, and disturbing photos of the "American"war and its aftermath. I don't usually seek out such places, however the effect of the 14 year war is so evident in the people and the countryside, I felt it was worth visiting. Which it was, a truly moving and interesting couple of hours.

Saigon, has some very wide boulevards, remnants of the occupation of the French, the most interesting buildings there were French and I will include some photos to show their faded grandeur.

The food in Vietnam, is great we loved the green mango , banana flower and
pomelo salads and all the varieties of rice paper rolls. the food and drink is cheap, and I had to force myself to partake in a few refreshing cocktails whilst we were there.
The Seafood is plentiful fresh and tasty and the misnamed shrimp, one of my favourite dishes.
(I would say they were very large prawns!)


We then went on a trip to the Mekong Delta, the "ricebowl" of Vietnam. The Mekong has 9 substantial tributaries which snake over south Vietnam; their presence means many people live and work on the river. We went to some vibrant river markets, where wholesalers sell products from their large barges to local sellers who then take it to the landed markets. the boats are typified by a large pole showing the item for sale hanging from it. The produce was mostly fruit and vegetables.


People who live on stilted shacks on the river, live in extremely poor conditions, they fish and eke out a living on the banks of the rivers.


However they are very friendly and happy to look at us looking at them. We visited a family sweet shop "factory" where they produced rice popcorn (delicious) especially when hot from the fire and covered in coconut caramel - Yum.
We also saw the intensive labour of rice paper being made by hand to be sold in rounds about
40 centimetres in diameter.



We stayed in two Mekong cities, Can tho and Chau Doc, where we visited a colourful Khmer
pagoda, with the friendliest young monks who were eager to practice their English with us.


We also spent 4 days on the island of Phu Quoc, a tropical island with beautiful beaches, and 85% covered by National Park.

Kafil and I stayed in a small bungalow room overlooking the sea, it was idyllic.
Phu Quoc is mostly visited by Vietnamese people and has just started to attract western visitors. The water at the beach was so warm it was like splashing around in a gigantic bath. A few ladies offered massages on the beach for the princely sum of $5.00.

Kafil and I hired a scooter, the first time in 23 years, that he and I had been on riding together. . I felt like I was in the movie "Easy Rider". It has spurred us on to consider a scooter here in Singapore to get around on. It was great to follow the coast line around on an almost deserted dirt road down to the southern most part of the island. The coast line was idyllic framed by wavering palm trees, and small fishing boats bobbing in the water.