Christmas in the Tropics

Hi everyone,

It's been a long time since we've posted due to illness, moving around alot, lack of internet access, hassles in online bookings, etc. While we're about to leave Hong Kong, we'll talk about "HK" in our next posting. In the meantime, let us bring you up-to-speed on everything prior to that, including Penang, Langkawi and Singapore.Penang, contrary to our belief, is NOT famous for the Penang series of dishes. Those dishes are actually of Thai origin ... don't we feel like goofballs? Despite this minor setback (we were planning to have lots of Penang curry), we still had a good time touring the town which has been influenced by the colonization of Chinese, English , Dutch, Indianand Portugese over the last 400 + years or so. There are remnants of all influences throughout the main city of Georgetown:

Our time in Langkawi was spent at Rebak Island, which is a small island privately owned by Taj Resorts off of Langkawi. Being a private island, it is very secluded, and a great spot to relax over the course of a few days. We had a beautiful room with a sea view and the resort had its own private beach. We were even able to go out for a spin on their wonky bicycles one day. Here are some pictures:

We then came to Singapore to celebrate Christmas. This was easily the most over-the-top Christmas we've ever seen. Rather than being motivated by family togetherness or religious reasons, Christmas in Singapore seems to be motivated by shopping. On both Christmas Eve and Christmas day, the streets were packed with dance performances going on, concerts, etc. And we've never seen so many Christmas lights anywhere ... Prague, Vienna, Toronto, New York, etc ... sorry guys, you have to play second fiddle to this celebation. Here are some pictures and videos from the festivities:

In case you don't believe me that the celebration in Singapore was truly over-the-top, check out me eating this giant Snicker's bar (I couldn't resist):

Nadia and I had a special dinner out where we celebrated in style with a Christmas Eve steak and lobster dinner at Morton's restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental. Delicious!

By far the best part of Singapore for us was the night safari (thanks for the recommendation Sophia!). Much different than your typical zoo, the park doesn't open until 7:30 pm and you take a night tram through the park. You can also get out and go through walking trails, as well as get up close and personal with some of the more tame animals. Nadia and I had a close encounter with a GIANT flying squirrel that nearly swooped down right onto our heads. No pictures or vids for this one - it was way too dark to snap a lot of shots ... other than these goofy ones of us hiding behind the bushes:

Since that time, we've been in Hong Kong to celebrate New Year's. In a separate blog entry, we'll fill you in on all the festivities here as we rang in 2010. With any luck, that'll be in the next couple of days. Until then...

Mike and Nadia