The difference between Seattle and Singapore

Seattle and Singapore are two of my favorite cities in the world. They have several similarities: both are very green and have large Asian populations among other things. This picture illustrates one major difference. And no, your eyes aren't deceiving you. These Birkenstocks have sparkly stones and feathers on them. I can't imagine any Seattle shoe store selling Birks like these.

A seemingly impossible dance performance

This is a moving video from a dance competition in China. The dancers, Ma Li and Zhai Xiaowei, perform beautifully and athetically despite the fact that she has only one arm and he only has one leg. My mother sent this link to me. She got it from a friend of hers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnLVRQCjh8c

Zorro the hunter

These pictures show how Zorro usually looks. He sleeps all day to store up energy for night hunting sessions. Usually these hunting sessions involve carefully watching birds far beyond reach or batting around his toy fish. Last night, however, he got a cockroach out into open, toyed with it for a half hour, pounced on it for the final time and ate it. What an attack cat! I fussed over him for another 30 minutes so he'd know killing cockroaches is a great way to get exercise between naps.

New glasses

My much loved pair of chunky purple glasses broke across the bridge. For my new pair, I thought that I would completely break with the past and get rimless ones. There are almost like not wearing glasses at all. In fact, I'm so used to having the purple around my eyes that I feel like my eyes look naked with the new ones on. Leo likes them though because it is easier to see the color of my eyes.

Sightseeing in Malaysia and Singapore

While waiting for my wedding photos, I'll show you some photos from the places we took everyone sightseeing. You can check them all out by clicking on the photo albums link on the left. They're in the file labelled "Wedding trip with family and friends".



The first picture is of Hartleigh at the Jurong Bird Park in Singapore. She volunteered to be the perch for a vulture.














The second one is of my friend, Sara, demonstrating how her boyfriend's nephew will enjoy playing with his new Christmas present.














This Sara at the Cultural Village near Kuching in the Borneo part of Malaysia. It's like a homestay where tourists can stay in the traditional houses of the Borneo aborigines. A few people of each group also stay there to run the homestays and answer questions about how their people live. If you ask the right questions, it can be really interesting. The tattoo uses a traditional design of the Melanyu people (I think). It made Sara feel very fierce even after it washed off.












Here's Mom, Dad, Leo and I on a traditional bridge at the Cultural Village.

One Wedding photo (more to come later!)

Many of you have been asking about the wedding photos. We haven't got them back from the photographer yet, but here is a a preview from the Kuala Lumpur reception. From the left, there's Hartleigh's friend Arania, my sister Hartleigh, the bride Dara, the groom Leo and Hartleigh's husband Andrew. The picture was taken by Arania's fiance, Terence. Thanks Terence for sending us the picture!

Photos of my Singapore apartment

Here are some photos of my Singapore apartment. It's still a bit bare but my mother sent me my pictures and rugs that I have collected through my travels. Over the years I have found quite a few things that I liked well enough to imagine them in my home, but I had never found a place I liked well enough to go to the trouble of sending for them. Singapore, however, fits most of my requirements.