Verified by Nicole and I, Singapore wins as the cleanest country in the world.  Even though we haven’t been many places, I can tell that they mean business by having a $500 fine for spitting on the street. (which I did twice by accident and hurried to run from the police)

The main part of this trip was to see my family and spend time with them.  Most of them met us at the airport and it was great to see them.  I could recognize my Aunt Angelena by her face because she looks just like my mom.  Total we got to see 11 of my family members, 8 of them I have never met before.  

Hotel 81 was what we called home and it was about 7 feet wide and 10 feet long not including the bathroom/shower combo .  Though it was small it was in the perfect location.  We were in the heart of Chinatown and very close to the MRT subway station.  My family was gracious enough to not allow us to pay for anything so we were given the rooms, and MRT cards for free.  The first night was late as we went straight eat dinner and then back to the hotel to get settled.  This was fantastic because we had just finished traveling about 30+ hours (about 6 spent in Seoul, South Korea).  

Day 2 started fairly early with going to eat at the local McDonalds (for free Wi-Fi) and then meeting up with my aunt to eat again.  I would have to say that we ate more in 3 days here than we eat in a whole week in America.  After a breakfast, brunch, and then lunch we went to the Hippo tour.  This gave us a quick tour of downtown Singapore and took us to the Singapore Flyer (tallest ferris wheel in the world).  Before eating again we took a trip to Mt. Vernon and took some pictures on Grandmother’s grave.  Mom has never seen this so we brought a flower in her honor and shot some video to show her when we get back home.  The dinner planned to be interesting because I knew we would be trying some things we never have eaten before.  I think the only weird food we ate that night was Octopus.  Nicole almost choked because it attached to her throat on the way down.  Once we stabbed it a few times it was ok…..(just kidding, it was dead). 

Day 3 was again another day of eating and touring.  Uncle William didn’t meet us for dinner the night before but planned to spend the whole day with us on this day.  This was the first time I had met Uncle William so it was a very nice encounter.  The first question he asked when we met was, “Are you hungry?”  From eating we went on a walking tour of the downtown area with a history lesson about what the family use to do before the “modernization” of Singapore.  It was really nice to hear about mom’s childhood.  We did get to go to the highest sky park in the world on top of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel.  This place was AWESOME!  Probably the finest hotel I have ever been in.  Then night plans where to see the only Night Safari in the world.  Though we have already been to the Serengiti this was to be a cool experience because of being able to see some nocturnal animals.  It was great as expected and my Uncle Stewart picked us up and brought us back to the hotel.  

The last full day consisted of a little bit of relaxing, shopping, and yes….eating.  By this time Nicole was getting tired of the local food so we found her a Subway.  Later in the evening my Uncle William suggested we go to Sentosa Island.  We didn’t have much else planned so we went.  Come to find out that this Island is popping with excitement.  They have a resort with tons of attractions, a Hard Rock Cafe, and there very own Universal Studios.  None of my family mentioned this so we were very surprised and already want to come back to Universal in Sentosa Singapore.  We toured the island, got into the (water) and spent a nice few hours on the island.  Again the night was topped off with a boat load of Asian food for dinner.  The crazy thing about being a guest is that they think we can consume just as much as they can….

As I am writing we have left the family and are heading for Hong Kong.  I really wish I could spend more time with them.  I am hoping with this trip that I can keep in touch more and make future plans to travel with mom back to Singapore.  

Remember that Jesus Christ Reigns,
Chris