What a trip!

The McMillan's have come and gone, but we were able to have lots of fun during the time in between! We explored Singapore, headed off to Indonesia in a ferry, then jetted off to Malaysia. It was so good to have a touch of home, even if we didn't leave the Asia Pacific.

We started the trip off by showing them the sites of Singapore. We went to the usual places, China Town, the flyer, Orchard Rd, etc...and a few of our favorite hangout spots!

Hanging out at East Coast Park for some local specialities!

Having a Singapore Sling at the Long Bar (where it was created).

One of our favorite Mexican places Cha Cha Cha.

After showing them the sites of Singapore, our first stop off the island was to another island in Indonesia. We took the 55 minute ferry ride to the island of Bintan. We really didn't know what to expect (since all of the reviews I have heard from others were pretty mixed), but we decided to try it out for ourselves. We rented a private villa that was a stones throw away from the beach and had a private pool. It ended up being a great choice! The view was amazing, and it literally took us 30 seconds to get to the water. Since we were in a villa, we had to option of having someone come in and cook for us. We decided to have them cook the first night. The food was wonderful, and it was nice to sit back and relax while someone else did the cooking and cleaning! The rest of our trip was filled up by a mangrove tour , some shopping, and a little bit of lying around! Here are some photos of our trip to Bintan Island.

Our awesome villa, and view from the top balcony!

Getting ready for our feast, and photo from the mangrove tour.

From there we took the ferry back and hopped on a plane to Kuching, Sarawak; Malaysia. This was by far the best part of the trip! The people were so friendly, and the food and shopping were amazing. I can't wait to go back! I'm already trying to figure out a reason for a weekend trip. Here we went rainforest kayaking and took a sunset cruise. There were so many other things we could have done, if only we had the time!

View from our rooms and photo of hotel from river

The rainforest kayaking was great! It was so peaceful and you couldn't beat the scenery. During the trip we made a stop at one of the villages along the river. The people here were so welcoming and didn't mind showing us how they live. If anything, I think they were excited to show us! Most of the people here are farmers and they sell the items to the city. They farm all types of fruit, black pepper, rice, curry leaves, and they make rubber! They showed us how they dry out the pepper and rice, and what the rubber looks like before it's cut. The little village looks deserted when you first enter, but there are still about 250 people that live there. At one point they had about 700, but most have moved into the city.

Photos of our kayaking adventure! The sign says "Welcome to the village Kampung Danu"


A sign that life does exist! This person is a pepper farmer,you can see it drying out on the deck.

Photo's from the water.

The sunset cruise was a great way to see some of the sites and learn a little bit of history about the city. There are several small villages along the river. The people here are so friendly. They would stand outside and wave to you as you went by! The town was also in the process of getting ready for a festival that's coming up soon. We were told that one of the things they do is a dragon boat race and that a group of kids from each village participates. We were able to see several of them practicing.

A few sunset photos from our cruise.

Here's to the end of a wonderful trip! We had a blast and found a new favorite spot in the process. It was nice to finally have someone to share the experience with!