People who know us, know we attend New Creation Church in Singapore.  The main Pastor is Joseph Prince, who is well known internationally, taking the message of Grace worldwide through his books and broadcast ministry. His latest book, Grace Revolution, was released today and we were able to get a copy signed by the man himself!

It took a long queue, for a very short time signing, but Teddy is happy to have his booked signed!

This is just the two of us, rather than the wider family - but it still counts! On Good Friday, as we had a day off school, we decided to do something different.  We booked ourselves into i-fly, an indoor wind-tunnel that mimics sky-diving. The Singapore centre apparently has the largest such wind-tunnel in the world!  The website for further information is http://www.iflysingapore.com.

We had lots of fun, although the time 'in the air' is very short.  The three flights each have been woven into the short video below.  Enjoy!

Summer 2009 proved to be another busy summer. With the Beijing job not working out as hoped, we accepted positions in Singapore, but my official starting date was to be the 13th July. As I had already booked to finish a course in London, and also a chance to see Mum, we agreed with the new school to start on the 27th July.

So, the summer began, as last year, with me completing my certification in order to become a school principal. The two courses this year were 'Instructional Supervision - Planning and Assessment' and 'Leadership and Group Dynamics'. Once again, I got to meet Shanhong's new boss, also on the course with me, and also a colleague from Thailand was also on the course. Both courses went well, and I now have a nice plaque! The decision now is whether to attend more courses in the next few years to qualify for the advanced certificate, or to finish there; particularly as my current role has no management responsibility whatsoever!

As last year, Shanhong took the opportunity to see a few shows... I managed to see Oliver, Peter Pan and Sister Act with her, but the rest she saw on her own - getting half price or day tickets each day. She also picked up another free CD when she visited Hillsong church at the Dominion Theatre.

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We then went to Shrewsbury to stay with mum - she's still doing well - getting out to visit members of the family, walking to the shop or post box, there are even rumours of her dancing at a church event and testing a bouncy castle. The physiotherapist has said that in another 6 weeks or so she should be walking much more confidently and normally - so we hope for continued improvements. We'll be back at Christmas, so will see how things have moved on by then, but really hope to get mum out to Singapore sometime - it's a place she says she has wanted to visit for some time.

We did a bit of shopping - both in London and in Shrewsbury - nothing very important, but some new clothes, some nice chocolates and an unbelievably cheap coat for Shanhong. Trouble is, with the weather like it is here, I really cannot see us needing coats at all! You can see from the photo on the left that teddy was with us as normal throughout the summer - he got a new top from the Build a Bear Workshop in Covent Garden. He made some new friends too, as Harrods and Hamleys both had sales in the toy department.

Our New Home

We arrived in Singapore late on Wednesday evening, and checked into a hotel for a week. The hotel was in a great central location - but a long way from school. Thursday we met with a housing agent and viewed 11 different apartments. Some we liked, some we didn't! It certainly looked like we were leaning towards the larger apartments - but after weighing up other costs, and distance from school for the daily commute, there were pros and cons to them all. The agent took us to see two further apartments in the evening and we decided to go for one of those. A few negotiations later, it was all signed Monday evening and we checked out of the hotel Tuesday morning and moved in. Our shipping then arrived from China on Saturday, so we've been unpacking, sorting and making this 'home'.

The apartment is quite small, on the eighth floor of one of a pair of towers, just 10 minutes from school, and even less distance from the nearest metro station and shopping mall. The towers have good security, and some good shared facilities including a small gym, sauna, tennis court, barbecue pits and most importantly, a rather nice swimming pool. We've been down for a quick swim every night and hopefully, as well as being enjoyable, it may help with the lack of fitness and excess weight!

The following pictures will give you an idea of what the apartment is like inside. We have two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a small kitchen and a small living/dining room. Not big by any means,(around 750 sq ft or 75 sq m), but fine for us, especially given the location - and we still have a spare room for visitors.. anyone interested?

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Just one word of warning for anyone who is thinking of visiting... you are very welcome, but start saving! Of course we are not going to charge you for staying, but Singapore is proving an expensive place to live. We are finding that typical supermarket prices here are dearer than London - and about 4 or 5 times what they were in Beijing. Having said that, there are plenty of food courts - and prices are reasonable - so we've been eating out a lot - including Indian, Korean, Chinese and 'Fish & Chips' - something for everyone!

Keep in touch!

Trevor, Shanhong & Teddy

xx

Not too much has happened since the big trip to the US, so this report may be a little ‘bitty’, but at least it will fill some gaps and keep you up-to-date.

Immediately on return from the States, we moved into our new ‘work apartment’. The big difference is we no longer have a pool, which is a pity, but we do have nice views, and the apartment itself is a little more quirky and more comfortable.

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Eagle-eyed observers will have noticed the address on ‘Shrewsbury Road’ and the barbecue cooking nicely!

We went back to China for Christmas this year – the first time in 5 years – and spent some time with Shanhong’s parents. We did a little construction work on the apartment we have bought there, but after much discussion – have decided not to finish it – but leave the bare concrete as an investment – and hopefully in a few years, sell for a little profit.I did see the perfect apartment while I was in Beihai, so my dream now is to be able to afford that one – it is smaller by far – but a view to die for!

Anyway, being Christmas, we had to put up the decorations, and we had a few friends of Shanhong’s mum and dad come to visit too, so I got to show them off.

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As you can see, Teddy dressed up for the occasion, in his new Santa Suit from the Bowen’s – thanks guys! The last picture is nibbles – a gingerbread house and a chocolate house – they may not sell Turkeys but Chinese supermarkets don’t miss out completely on the chance to make some extra cash! Our Christmas meal was not traditional, I couldn’t find anything so we ended up gathering friends and heading out to a Mongolian restaurant for a good meal.

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I had to come back to Singapore on the 1^st January, and was in school on the 2^nd, but Shanhong got to enjoy a couple of extra weeks in Beihai.We are both back now, and already getting into the routines of the new school year.However, it was Shanhong’s birthday last week, and it was Chinese New Year yesterday, so we needed to do something to celebrate. So, Friday night saw us enjoying the Singapore version of Wicked! and yesterday we spent the full day in Universal Studios. The following pictures are all from our day out.

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For anyone thinking of visiting, the secret is to be there as it opens. We managed the 4 main roller-coasters in the first 20 minutes of arriving (although we did then need a break while our stomachs recovered!). It was a good day out – tiny compared to the Disney parks in Florida, but still enjoyable.Now it is back to work for a few weeks, until March, when we head back to Israel on a school trip, and then UK in April.

Take care and keep in touch!More photos on the website.Trevor, Shanhong & Teddy xx

I'm not sure if we'll be able to keep up 'a report a month' but, being new to the island, we certainly wanted to get out a little more and see a few things, and so, up to this point, we've had a bit of an explore, and have had two major 'tourist trips'. The first was to Jurong Bird Park. Established in 1971, it is one of the first public parks dedicated to conservation of different bird species - very similar to Loro Parque in Tenerife for those of you who have known me for some time!

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The exhibits include penguins, free flying African birds in the world's tallest aviary (with the world's tallest man-made waterfall inside an aviary), free-flying parrots, flamingoes, storks and plenty of other birds I cannot remember, together with fish and turtles. Do visit the website www.birdpark.com.sg for more details.

We 'made friends' with one set of birds - mainly because we had their favourite food - but one bird in particular really seemed to want to have a conversation - we got quite a few amusing photos of this one!

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You'll have noticed Teddy featuring as always... he is enjoying himself in Singapore. Our other 'tourist visit' was to the Singapore Night Safari www.nightsafari.com.sg. Owned by the same group as the bird park, this trip offers the chance to visit the Singapore Zoo at night, and see some of the nocturnal animals while they are awake and active. Again, it's a nice place, and a good trip, but unfortunately my cheap camera does not take night pictures, and so we don't have any evidence. This row of photos is courtesy of the internet.

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The other photos are relatively random images of Singapore from our early exploration. It is a very well-organised country, clean, easy to get around, with endless shopping opportunities. Unfortunately it is also very expensive. My brother will appreciate the pineapple rice - food here is superb - and food courts reasonably priced at around $6 (GBP 3) a meal, so we are eating well. Only one meal in a proper restaurant so far though, when Shanhong met an ex-student, and that was over 50 pounds - London prices!!

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So, there you have it, our first three weeks in Singapore. We are already both busy at work, so our free time is limited, but with the slightly unusual holiday schedule, there seems to be lots of opportunities for going out. We have booked a trip to Bangkok for the end of August/beginning of September, and we'll be seeing 'Michael Learns to Rock' (or MLTR) in concert on the 4th September. We hope to go back to our house in South China in October, and maybe even look at apartments in another area. Then, the main Christmas holiday should see us back in the UK.

Do keep in touch. We are using the school address for mail, you should see an address sticker on the other side. Let me know if you want some stickers sending - you can use them on the envelope and save some writing!

Love n Hugs

Trevor, Shanhong and Teddy

It has been a busy month or so! March saw us leading a school trip to Israel. We mainly covered the same places as our tour in 2010, so I won’t be creating lots of reports – you are welcome to go back and view the old ones – but I can update you with a few new photos. We did get to one or two new spots – such as the seaside of Tel Aviv, the city of Joppa and the Hula National Park.

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The trip was a great success, so much so that school has agreed to build it into the calendar as a biennial trip, and so plans are already in place for Israel 2014 with an even better itinerary including Petra in Jordan.

We got back from Israel late one evening and the following evening we were back on a plane travelling to the UK to visit mum and the family in England. As always it was nice to see everyone and to catch up with news and gossip. The biggest news is that mum has moved in with my brother and the old family home will be put up for sale. This led Shanhong and I to have a look around for a new base, and we did find a nice small apartment just six minutes from my brother’s house. So, a few forms later and a small mortgage, and we have a home in Telford! It is a new-build and won’t be ready until November, but we hope to be back for Christmas and so will be able to take photos then. Until then, here is the outside view – ours is the top floor on the right-hand side. The other photos are from Ironbridge, a rare day out looking at another possible apartment!

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We flew back to Singapore to arrive Sunday evening, and on Monday we were back at school! As you can imagine, we needed a bit of time to get back into normal routines – but are now very much busy at school with all the day-to-day events and activities.

Tuesday this week was ‘Labour Day’ a national holiday here in Singapore, so we decided to do something a little different, and went out to one of the parks on the Eastern side of the island. We hired bikes, and took advantage of the Parks Connection Network (PCN) to visit a number of the parks in the East. The PCN is a great example of the organisation in this country. Cycle paths have been set up between parks which are well signposted and it is possible to pick up a bike in any park – and return it to any other – so there is no need to backtrack. We started in Sun Plaza and cycled via C, D, E, and F back to East Coast Park.

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That’s all for now. Take Care! Trevor, Shanhong and Teddy xx

Summer 2012 started with a one-week course in Miami, ‘Instructional Supervision – The Teaching Process’. Lots of great material, good networking, and fantastic breakfasts – but, unfortunately, no time to explore the city – I didn’t get any further than the local supermarket! A stopover in Singapore to change cases, and I was off to join Shanhong in China.

We started with a few days in Shanghai. Shanhong’s brothers both live there and Shanhong’s mum and dad had stayed on a little longer for us to arrive, so it was a good chance to get the family together. We had a nice day out in "Thames Town" a very ‘British’ compound just outside of Shanghai and a celebration of her parent’s golden wedding anniversary followed by a posh 5-star hotel meal! I also had a chance to meet up with some of my ex-colleagues from when I worked in Shanghai.

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Then, it was back to Beihai for two lazy weeks in our own home. For those who don’t know, Beihai is on the South Coast of China, still quite undeveloped with long beaches… and home is a pretty spacious house full of teddy’s friends! Of course, one thing we always do well in Beihai, is eat well!

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After Beihai, we spent the last week in Dalian, at the home of Shanhong’s mum and dad. I hadn’t been there for six years – so we became very touristy, with visits to the Forest Zoo (just at the bottom of the hill from where they live), to Dalian Discovery Kingdom (a Disneyesque theme park), to Lao Hu Tan (a Sea World style park) and of course, to the beach, and the shops (including IKEA – a Shanhong favourite!).

Dalian Forest Zoo

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Dalian Discovery Kingdom

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Lao Hu Tan

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Well, there you have it. I am already back in Singapore and back at school. Shanhong has a few more days in China before coming back and starting in her new school.

Take Care and Keep in Touch!! Trevor, Shanhong & Teddy. xx

Since getting back from China, Shanhong and I have started a new habit of going for a walk each Saturday – partly simply to get out a little more, rather than sitting in front of the DVD player, and partly to get at least a little bit of exercise in the week! Although Singapore is small place, the government have heavily invested in a series of parks and ‘recreational areas’ for locals to enjoy a ‘Garden City’.

Our first trip took us to the ‘Gardens by the Bay’, one of the newest parks which opened in late 2011. Designed by a British company, the park covers 54 hectares and cost over $1 billion to create and covers some prime land in the newly redeveloped Marina Bay development; the map and web photo below show the impressive design of this park. Incidentally, this is just the first stage of a three stage development in this area, so there is much more to come!

The photos below are all from our own trip to the park, and include the ‘skywalk’ between the ‘supertrees’ and visits to the two main greenhouses.

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As can be seen, it is a pretty impressive place. My brother will be impressed that we queued for over an hour to go in (yes, me, queuing for an hour for tickets to a garden!!). Of course, we also had some very nice Bratwurst for lunch at one of the cafes in the park – and ice-cream too – and Shanhong bought me a lovely polo shirt which she is wrapping up for Christmas!

The second of our walks since getting back took us to Labrador Park, and a walk along the beach and around part of the coastline. This is another area that is being redeveloped with high-quality condos and a marina. Very nice to look at, but with a price tag of around 1.5 million pounds for a 2 bedroom apartment, and over 10 million pounds for the penthouse, I am guessing we won’t be moving in very soon.

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Finally, for this report, we also walked through the Hort Park. The Hort Park is a gardening hub, but forms part of a walking trail that includes a history trail and a treetop canopy walk. It also rather handily ends next to IKEA, which meant we could call in and plan some furniture for the apartment in England, as well as enjoy some Chicken Wings!!

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More walks to follow! Take care and Keep in Touch, …… Trevor, Shanhong and Teddy xx

Autumn/Winter 2013 was a quiet time. Shanhong started her new job in the Canadian International School and found herself instantly more busy that she has ever been. Her role there includes teaching Drama and teaching a band programme (Flute, Clarinet, Trumpet and Trombone) in Middle School, so it’s certainly very different to her last school – no more tiny kids! I have also been busy at my school with exams and a new online learning environment. I also started a Law Degree – so there is always plenty to be done.

I made a few applications in the summer as my contract as SJI is up for renewal, and one application led to me being flown out to Kazakhstan, a part of the world I have never been to before – so that was a nice trip – but did not lead to the offer – and so the pictures below will be the only view of Kazakhstan for a while!

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I went home in September to visit my parents, and Shanhong had a trip back to China in October to visit hers – but very little of great excitement happened until Christmas, when we got the keys to the apartment we had bought in the summer! We bought it from a diagram as a new build – so this was the first time we got to see exactly what it looked like. I was back ten days before Shanhong, so it was my job to get all the furniture in place before she arrived. So, here are a few ‘before’ pics.

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I think the result is pretty good – we went with a very simple ‘black & white’ theme!

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Shanhong made a lovely video of the house which I’ll be loading up to our website – so if you really want to look around, that’s the place to go – or else come visit! It’s certainly nice to have our own place close to mum and my brother and sister – very easy to visit everyone when we’re in the UK.

We did, of course, visit a number of family members when in the UK, and had visits from others in our own home, so if you haven’t met them – the next few photos are the English side of the family!

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We also had a trip out to see a Musical we hadn’t seen before, so that also meant trying the food at the German Christmas Market in Birmingham.

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Very little else to share, except for the fact our church moved into its new premises in January. The new venue seats 5000 in each service, and we still need four English services each Sunday (there are separate Youth, Chinese and Korean services!). I think you’ll agree the venue is impressive, although I know it will not be my mum’s idea of what a church should look like!

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Well, that’s all for this report! Our regular Saturday walks restart soon – so I will be able to share some lesser known parts of Singapore. Take care and keep writing! Trevor, Shanhong & Teddy xx

Now the New Year has begun and we’ve settled into school, it was time to reinstate some traditions such as the Saturday walk! For the first walk, we knew we wanted to be in the Chinatown area for some Chinese food shopping, so we chose a city walk through Ann Siang Hill Park.

A short MRT ride and walk brought us to Telok Ayer Green – home of some early religious establishments. Thian Hock Keng Temple is the oldest Chinese temple in Singapore. Also known as the ‘Temple of Heavenly Happiness’, it was completed in 1842 with materials brought from China.  Almost next door is the Nagore Durgha Shrine, a house of worship for Indian Muslims since the 1820s – and further down the street is the Al-Abrar Mosque, built in the mid-1850s with an Indian-Islamic theme. It is not unusual to find places of worship of very different religions so close together in Singapore – Shrewsbury Road, where we live, houses a Hindu Temple, a Buddhist Temple and a Christian Church, all in a row! Singapore has done much to promote racial equality and harmonius living.  

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Cutting through the temple brings us to Telok Ayer Green, a very small park – a perfect retreat for office workers at lunchtime, and again marked by cultural statues that reflect an Indian Milk trader and a Chinese lantern procession. From here we climbed Ann Siang Hill, stopping to look at the Tamarind and Breadfruit trees, and the Nutmeg and Cinnamon Trees. The other end of Ann Siang Hill path brought us to Chinatown, and just a short stroll to the tourist shops, and to the Chinese food stalls and supermarkets. Here we loaded up with goodies for the evening meal, and made our way back home!

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Legoland, Malaysia

We both had a long weekend for Chinese New Year, but having left it too long to book any flights, it was a case of checking out what was available by land! The winner was a coach trip to Legoland, Malaysia. Situated just over the border from Singapore (where land prices are about half!), Legoland, Malaysia is the 6^th Legoland in the world, and the first in Asia. It opened only last year, and will grow year on year, with a waterpark being added in 2013 and a hotel in 2014. It certainly doesn’t have the high-speed rides of Universal Studios Singapore, and is much more family-orientated – but we still had fun! It is also only around an hour on the bus from the Singapore flyer. 

Word to the wise – don’t eat inside the park. Leave the park to the adjoining shopping centre, which is basically a collection of great restaurants and fast-food joints. You can have your hand stamped when you leave the park, so can go straight back in after you’ve fed. The following photos were all taken in Legoland.

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Well, Chinese New Year is over, Shanhong is back at school tomorrow – I have the rest of the week off, but will also go in to school and get some work done. Time to write more essays for my course too! No more holidays until Easter – and we’ll be back in Beihai. My nephew and his wife are coming out in April to visit Singapore and then we’ll be in both China and the UK for the summer. We may be changing our apartment in Singapore in the summer too – looks like the rent might go up too high for this one. No posh holiday this year – we have the UK apartment to pay for, but we’re already talking to the tour agent about Israel 2014 – another school trip!

Take care and keep in touch,   Trevor, Shanhong, Teddy xx

It has been some time since the last report was written as there has been nothing ‘major’ to report on. Weekends have seen us take some short walks and holidays have seen us back in China, and UK, but all have been reported on before –nowhere new. So, this report will try and bring us a little more up to date – but it will be a little ‘bitty’. The first pics are from Beihai, where we have our family home.

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In the summer, as well as visiting Beihai, we had a few days in Shanghai, a few days in Telford, UK, and a week in London where I was doing a course. Shanhong and Teddy also got to Korea with her parents! The following photos are all from those summer trips, including meeting our newest Goddaughter, Ella, and a meal at the Thai restaurant in Shanghai where we had our very first date.

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We also had a visit in Singapore from my Nephew and his wife – nice to see them! Their itinerary gave us ideas for many trips to come! We did manage to go with them to the Bird Park – one of my favourite places in Singapore, and it was a great excuse to pig out on Pizza!

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In the summer we changed apartment. The old one was great – but unfortunately the landlord wanted to put the rent up higher than we were prepared to pay – so it was time to change. We found a nice one-bedroomed flat in a fantastic location – complete with small swimming pool and it seems to be working very well! Here are a few photos of the new place! Visitors will need to sleep on the sofa though – sorry!

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Recent Saturday walks have included checking out the new ‘River Safari’ at the Singapore Zoo, Fort Canning Park and the Istana – home of the Singapore President, and today we took the Cable Car over to Sentosa and the beach. All very enjoyable – Saturday walks are here to stay!

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Anyway, that brings you up to date with some of the visits of the last few months. Should be a nice report soon, I’ll be in Hong Kong next week for the first time, and we are having a trip to Cambodia in October!

Love and Hugs,  Trevor, Shanhong & Teddy xx

We recently had a long weekend from school, and took the opportunity to finally visit Siem Reap, home of Angkor Wat, a place that had been on my list of places to visit for many years. Flights all worked very smoothly, and we had a lovely hotel – even had a bathtub on the balcony (and yes, we did use it!)

As you can imagine, the main ‘event’ was visiting Angkor Wat – it really is as beautiful as it seems! 

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 What I hadn’t realised is that Angkor Wat is just one of many, many, many temples in Siem Reap! The first day we signed up for an official temple tour – and were taken around in a minibus with a guide. Interesting – but, to be honest, a little too much. The second day we hired a tuktuk with driver and no guide and just enjoyed taking photos – and enjoyed it a lot more – even when the storm came and we got soaked! Although there are obvious similarities – every temple is very different – and well worth a visit on its own. My favourite is almost completely taken over by tree roots!

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 Of course there is more to see than just temples. One morning we took a boat trip out to the floating village…

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 … and another afternoon we went quadbiking through the countryside!

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 Of course, one thing we are exceptionally good at, is finding good food wherever we go – I can highly recommend a restaurant on Pub Street called Sanctuary!   You also remember I said we had a nice hotel?, here are a few hotel and food shots to finish.

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That’s all for this trip – we enjoyed our long weekend – got to plan another one nowJ. 

Take care and keep writing!   

Trevor, Shanhong & Teddy (who got a Cambodian Stamp in his passport!).

After the success of the Cambodia trip in October, we booked another long weekend for Chinese New Year, this time to Bali, a destination that has been on my ‘must do‘ list for some time! It was a nice weekend – but, unfortunately did not live up to expectations – maybe because of a wrong location?

I took advantage of an Air Asia special – and we had a nice villa in the Kerobokan region – miles from anywhere – so every trip out required a taxi. We didn’t see any beaches until we had a trip out to a temple which was built on a rock jutting out into the sea, and actually the best view of the sea we had was from the airport! Never mind! As you can see, the villa was quite nice with our private pool.

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On our arrival day we took a taxi to the nearest mall area – but didn’t really find anything special, no night market, no ‘bar street’ so we ended up in a Thai coffee chain for an evening meal, and made the decision to book a trip for the next day! So, day two we were picked up early to go cycling in the countryside.

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It was a nice day – we certainly caught a bit of sun too – pity I peeled so quickly!!

The following day we went out again – this time a quick tour of three tourist spots… firstly the Royal Temple. 

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From here we went to the monkey forest, where monkeys roam freely.

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And finally, to the sunset temple, built on a rock jutting out to sea and the only beach we saw on the whole trip! The last three photos are by professional photographers, stolen from the internet – impressive indeed!

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So, there you have it, our long weekend in Bali. No surfing, no beautiful sandy beaches – in fact nothing that I was expecting of Bali at all. It was a good trip – it is always nice to get away, but I guess we won’t be heading back that way in the near future; lots of other places to visit instead!    

Keep in touch!    Trevor, Shanhong, Teddy.  xx 

Summer 2014 was another busy summer. It started with three days in our home in Telford – a chance to see the family – one of the highlights was taking mum to see the animals at West Midlands Safari Park. That went so well that we returned two weeks later for another trip. The photos below are a mixture of the two days (as clever people would have spotted from the clothing). As you can see, the animals get up close – and I can tell you from personal experience that giraffes, while very gentle, have very, very big and sticky tongues !!

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We did make some other trips too – one day was spent at Blists Hill Victorian Museum – a working recreation of life in Victorian England.

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One further trip, on the way home from visiting my sister, took us to see the ruins of an Abbey just outside of Telford.

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After the few days in Telford, it was down to London where I was doing the last of my Principals’ Training Centre courses. While I was busy studying, Shanhong got to explore a little more of London. As she had already seen most of the tourist spots, it was the turn of Museums and Palaces.

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Of course, as always, Shanhong also got to a few shows , including ‘The Commitments’, ‘Matilda’ and Sunday service at Hillsong London. I managed to join her for both ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ and for my all-time favourite, ‘Miss Saigon’ which has just been revived.

The last few pics are with Eden and Ella, my two nephews' beautiful daughters.

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Keep in touch! Trevor, Shanhong and Teddy xx

It has been a while since I wrote the last report, and already we have had two short holidays. For the first we had a very quick trip to Bangkok, just 4 days with a budget airline. Plenty of time to do some Christmas shopping though (so much cheaper than Singapore) and to see a show. We also had plenty of time to enjoy some great Thai food!

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For the second trip, we went to Beihai - our family home. Again, a very short trip - just 6 days, but long enough to do a few odd jobs, including framing the wonderful cross-stitch my brother did of our house. We ended up doing something a little unexpected too, which is described on the next page.

Shows/concerts continue to be plentiful in Singapore. We have already been to see 'Michael Learns to Rock' and 'Il Divo' in concert, and saw 'Mamma Mia' while in Bangkok. Between now and Christmas we have 'Duck and Dive' - a new musical which combines the stories of 'The Ugly Duckling' and 'The Frog prince'. Also, 'Victor/Victoria' a broadway musical, 'Reverie' an acrobatic ice-show created by the Cirque Solei team, and 'Menopause' a comic musical based on middle-aged women - not bad hey?

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A new apartment

Having discussed lots of possibilities for some time, we took a day out while in Beihai to look at some of the new apartments they are building. We went to quite a few, including construction site visits, and found two in particular that we really liked. A few calculations later, there was one clear 'winner' and the next day we went back to put down a deposit. The apartments are still being built - ours will be a duplex on the 18th and 19th floors - and they are currently building the 5th floor of our building. In theory, the construction will all be done in late 2010 and we should get the keys around Easter 2011.

The apartments are obviously brand new, and so are sold only with exterior doors and windows. The rest is bare concrete, so we will have lots of fun planning floors and walls, choosing bathrooms and kitchens etc, before we can even begin to think about furniture. The plan is to move in for 2012 and then rent out or sell the house. The floor plans below give a rough guide to the layout.

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Basically we have a reasonable sized lounge with small kitchen and two guestrooms downstairs - and the upstairs will be knocked into one large room with open plan bathroom, wardrobes etc. We liked it and cost wise, it works. Things are getting dearer in Beihai. This bare concrete 212sq m apartment will cost more than our completely finished and furnished 350sq m house did! But, on the other hand, the house has almost doubled in value since we bought it, and the apartment is still under 100,000 GBP, so compared to UK prices, still good value. There won't be any photos of this apartment for around two more years - so that's it for now!

Take care and keep in touch,

Trevor n Shanhong (and me, Teddy!)

We had another chance for a weekend away – using a hotel voucher from Thai Airways – so took the opportunity to go back to Chiang Mai for the first time since living (and getting married) there.  It was nice to see some old places and meet up with some old friends. So, arriving in the late afternoon it was straight for Thai food – and on to the night market.

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The following morning we were ‘real tourists’ starting at the Umbrella Farm – mainly because the artists there will point on anything, and when we took the family during the wedding time, my brother had elephants painted on his jeans, and, as that was 8 years ago – he really wanted some new ones doing!

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From there it was on to Tiger Kingdom, a place we had not visited before – where you can get up close with the tigers: very different to be inside the cages with the animals rather than outside looking in.

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One moment of fun when we took teddy out of the bag, one very sleepy tiger that had ignored both Shanhong and I got up and started pacing – he did not look happy – we left quickly!

After Tiger Kingdom we stopped off in the Monkey park to see Sam (a performing monkey – who, when given a tip, when straight to the fridge and bought a drink!) and on to meet friends that we used to work with.

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The evening saw us at another night market, and the next day we travelled back to Singapore. The next weekend away is booked for Chinese New Year when we’ll be heading to Yogyakarta in Indonesia.

We’ve had some more musicals passing through Singapore – the latest was Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, story of some drag queens crossing Australia! The show was held on Sentosa, Singapore’s beach and fun island – so we took some pics in the chocolate shops! Next week we’ll be back at the theatre for Mamma Mia – the last of the musicals before Christmas (although Cats is here early in the new year!).

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So, there you have it – our most recent adventures. My final year of Law has begun, so life is busy again, especially as my books were sent to the wrong address so I started late, but I have now caught up.  We had a one-week holiday in October and joined a coach tour of Taiwan. Not the most exciting of trips, but I will get some reports written to share the photos we took.

If you haven’t been to the website recently – do go see the changes. It’s had an update and now has more of a blog feel. All the old reports are still there though – and some extras that I cannot put into a written document!  Http://www.mrhughes.net  Let me know if you find any broken links – and do go sign the guestmap!

Yogyakarta, or Jogja is a city and the capital of Yogyakarta Special Region in Java, Indonesia. It is renowned as a center of education (Kota Pelajar), classical Javanese fine art and culture such as batik, ballet, drama, music, poetry, and puppet shows. Yogyakarta was the Indonesian capital during the Indonesian National Revolution from 1945 to 1949.  Yogya means "suitable, fit, proper", and karta, "prosperous, flourishing" (i.e., "a city that is fit to prosper").

Always interested in seeing new places, we decided to escape Singapore for Chinese New Year and have a week in Yogyakarta, taking advantage of cheap flights and a good hotel deal.  The first day was spent at the most famous temple complexes, Prambanan and Borobudur. Candi Prambanan is a 9th-century Hindu temple compound dedicated to the Trimurti, the expression of God as the Creator (Brahma), the Preserver (Vishnu) and the Destroyer (Shiva). Candi Borobudur is a Mahayana Buddhist Temple from the same century. Both compounds are now UNESCO World Heritage Sites. 

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Both complexes are impressive… unless, like us, you have already visited Angkor Wat in Cambodia, in which case, these fade a little in comparison.

The following day saw us visit two places, the first being Taman Sari. The name Taman Sari comes from the Javanese words taman, meaning a "garden" or "park" and sari, which means "beautiful" or "flowers". Hence, the name Taman Sari means an area of a beautiful garden adorned with flowers. An old article described it as a "water castle" as by shutting the watergates, the complex would be completely immersed in water, leaving tall structures standing out.

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Next on the agenda was Kraton of Yogyakarta (formally known as: Keraton Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat). This palace complex is the main seat of the Sultan of Yogyakarta and his family. It serves as a cultural center for the Javanese people and contains a museum that displays the sultanate's artifacts.

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The last pic there is a very happy Ted, who discovered that in Indonesia, he is a millionaire!  Obviously he was not so happy to discover even an ice-cream cost thousands…. Poor lad!

Well, that was our Chinese New Year trip to Yogyakarta, nice to see somewhere new again.

Take care and keep in touch!

Trevor, Shanhong & Teddy    xxx

The big news for us is that we have booked a 'holiday of a lifetime' for March/April 2010! We were originally hoping to do an Alaskan cruise in the summer with Michael W Smith, a Christian Singer, but Shanhong's change of job has meant the dates do not fit with our holidays. But, when God closes one door, he opens another - and we are now booked on a trip that should prove to be every bit as exciting! (Oops - can't find the 2010 advert - so you'll have to look at the 2011 one!).

We are joining others from New Creation Church in Singapore and worship leaders Bob and Kathy Fitts from USA for an Easter tour of Israel and Jordan, following in the footsteps of Jesus.

New Creation Church has become our home church here in Singapore and we have been attending for around 6 months now. The Senior Pastor, Joseph Prince, is a very humorous and charismatic speaker and his messages are entertaining, whilst also challenging. The church focus is on the finished work of Jesus and the unmerited favour and grace of God. Interestingly, services are recorded and shown throughout the world on Christian television. When I was home for Christmas I discovered that 'Destined to Reign' broadcast live from our church, was even available in the UK through Sky!

Bob Fitts is perhaps best known for the song 'Blessed be the Lord God Almighty' but has been writing songs and leading worship for many years. We had the privilege of attending a worship concert led by Bob and Kathy Fitts while teaching at Prem in Chiang Mai in 2008.

The tour takes in the most famous biblical sites throughout Israel and Jordan with teaching and worship in each location. It is not cheap, but I believe it is a holiday that will stay in our hearts for a long time, and look forward to writing more reports with photographs once we return. For now, I can only supply the itinerary , but that in itself is pretty exciting, especially to anyone who shares the Christian faith with us.

No other news at present. I am busy at school - including a Grade 7 sleepover Friday night, and exam results being released on Monday. Shanhong has had a week in her new school setting up her classroom, meeting other staff and attending training - students start tomorrow. So far she seems much happier than she was at SJI, so I am hopeful that life is going to be good for both of us. I've finished two more modules of my degree - and submitted a dissertation proposal - so that is still moving forward too.

We are still enjoying the pool and having fun with the Wii - so, getting a bit of exercise at last. You never know, we might lose some weight - but maybe not when you see all the chocolate and snacks in the fridge.

Take Care,

Trevor, Shanhong and Teddy

In the Footsteps of Jesus – 29^th March – 9^th April.

Mon 29^th March

Fly from Singapore via Qatar (with a 3 hour city tour in Doha) to Jordan.Visit Mount Nebo, where according to Deuteronomy 32, Moses was given a view of the Promised Land.

Tues 30^th March

Visit Bethany, where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, and Elijah’s mount, where the prophet Elijah ascended to heaven in a whirlwind on a chariot of fire. Drive on to Petra, a spectacular ancient city nestled in mountains south of the Dead Sea.Enter the city by donkey into the ancient land of the Edomites, and enjoy the spectacular structures carved into the rock, made famous in the movie ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’.

Wed 31^st March

Cross over into Israel at the Red Sea and visit: Eilat – referred to as Elath in the Old Testament, this is a port and holiday destination on the Red Sea.Timna National Park – including the Wilderness Tabernacle, a reconstruction of the Old Testament tabernacle, King Solomon’s Pillars, and other sites. Mount Sodom – One of the prominent cities of old destroyed by Yahweh with fire and brimstone. Ein Gedi – an oasis by the Dead Sea which was David’s refuge when he fled from King Saul. Today we also get to swim in the Dead Sea – where anyone and everyone floats!

Thurs 1^st April

Jewish history day – with visits to the Israel Museum, Holyland Model, Holocaust Museum and the caves of Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947.

Fri 2^nd April

A visit to the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed, was betrayed and arrested. Visit to the Pool of Bethesda where Jesus healed the paralytic. Visit to the Garden tomb, believed to be the site of Jesus’ resurrection

Saturday 3^rd April

A Day in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus and of David.A visit to the Upper Room where Jesus celebrated the last Passover with his disciples and a visit to the house of Caiaphas where Peter denied the Lord three times.

Sunday 4^th April

A visit to the temple mount to see one of the most sacred sites of the Christian, Jewish and Islamic religions – including the Wailing Wall – which is broadcast live on the internet 24 hours a day – maybe you’ll catch a glimpse of us!

Monday 5^th April

On the road to Emmaus – where the resurrected Jesus appeared to the disciples – and to Joppa where Peter raised Tabitha from the dead

Tuesday 6^th April

To Nazareth – where Jesus spent his boyhood, and to Cana in Galilee where Jesus turned the water into wine.

Wednesday 7^th April

A visit to the Mount of the Beattitudes where Jesus gave the famous Sermon on the Mount, and to Capernaum, located on the Sea of Galilee, home to Matthew the tax collector

Thursday 8^th April

A boat trip on the Sea of Galilee where Jesus rebuked the storm and walked on water – followed by the retun to Jordan, for an afternoon flight back to Oman, and onward to Singapore.

To celebrate 50 years of Independence, Singapore announced an additional public holiday which gave us the chance to escape for another long weekend - this time to Macau, a special region of China. In 1557, Macau was rented to Portugal as a trading port. The Portuguese administered the city under Chinese authority until 1887, when Macau became a colony. Macau transferred back to China in 1999. 

After a quick trip up the hill to the lighthouse, our first day was spent walking around the Historic Centre of Macau, a collection of over twenty locations that witness the unique co-existence of Chinese and Portuguese cultures in Macau, and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

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After a full day of walking, it was time for some good Portuguese food, and a rest in one of the many casinos.  Yes, I did walk through multiple casinos in Macau and no, I didn’t gamble!  We had decided we were going to have one go each in a big slot machine that could win millions – but couldn’t work out even how to put the money in, so gave up!

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One of the highlights of the trip to Macau for me was to see the ‘House of Dancing Water’ show at the City of Dreams resort. This show’s theatre transforms from a very deep pool for high diving, to a stage that stunt motorcyclists use – and is like no other show I have ever seen.  We also got to see the Musical, Ghost, as it passed through Macau – so the final pics are from our nights out!

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Hope you enjoyed the report – next trip is Viet Nam in October!  Take care,  Trevor, Shanhong, Ted xx

Easter saw us back in Beihai, our China home. For those who don’t know Beihai, it is a city on the South Coast of China, not too far from Vietnam and Halong Bay, with a 25km sandy beach that stays empty most of the year. We have a lovely house here, with plenty of room for visitors! Shanhong’s parents are in the same city for the winter months, so it is a good chance to catch up, and go fly a kite! The Beihai barbecued chickens are the best in the world. Try one, and you won’t disagree! We spend quite a bit of time sorting out the overgrown back garden, and I planted some cacti – so we’ll see if they survive!

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In April, my back went again – a recurring problem, but unfortunately one that seemed to be happening more frequently. When it didn’t recover as quickly as usual, it was time to see a specialist. X-rays and MRI’s later revealed a slipped disk from years ago, that was now completely dead and impinging on a nerve. I booked the op to take out the dead disk, put in a spacer, and bolt two bits together and was in hospital for two nights. Unfortunately, a complication (leaking spinal fluid) meant I had to go back in – but I am pleased to say Singapore hospitals are good, insurance paid (over $70000), and my back is doing well! If you want to see what I had done, you can watch this video! http://www.spine-health.com/video/spine-fusion-surgery-video. It worked… in July I was kayaking for a full day, horseback riding, and did the longest zip-line over water in the world!

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We had a visit from Shanhong’s niece’s husband to be, and another musical in Singapore, and that brought us to summer. Our main holiday of the year was to be in USA, but on our way over, we did visit the UK to see Mum, to meet the newest member of the family (Scarlett, seen here with her big sis Eden, and Shanhong) and to spend a bit of time in our apartment there. Mum had unfortunately moved into a nursing home since our last visit at Christmas - not a place she loved, but there were some good days – and here she is singing along with a visiting entertainer! What she did love was getting out, and a favourite trip, given the season, was to the Rose Gardens nearby.

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As you can see, a beautiful place when all the flowers are in bloom. It was an indication of mum’s dementia however, that having gone once and spent a good few hours, when we went back two days later, mum was convinced she had never been before. Little were we to know these would be the last photos with mum.

So, that’s all for this report – that brings us up to our departure for USA – and the next set of reports will be on that main summer holiday – hope you are looking forward to making that journey with us!

All the best, take care and keep writing

Love as always Trevor, Shanhong & Teddy (and friends) xx