Small Japanese town near Okayama

I’ve already written a little about how much we liked Habikino, but I have more pictures to show and more stories to tell about some fun activities we did in the region during our 5 week stay. Here are the highlights.

Camping Near Yubara Onsen

River in Yubara -- can you see the onsen?

About two hours by car from Osaka, past tranquil mountain towns and beautiful scenery lies the quaint town of Yubara, home to one of Japan’s last remaining family (co-ed) nude hot springs. Now before you start thinking anything kinky, realize that public baths are normal and respectable in Japan, and have been a daily practice in some towns for centuries. These days, most hot springs in the cities have had buildings built around them, with rooms to separate men and women, and they charge a fee. As for this particular spring, it’s right next to a serene river, surrounded by mountains, is completely free, and has three natural pools of differing temperatures. And some people do cover up when not in the water.

Emily at Yubara Onsen

We actually made this trip twice with a couple different groups because we enjoyed it so much. Both times, we also camped in tents at a nearby campground — a first for our girls who have always wanted to sleep in a tent.

Camping in Yubara

We also visited nearby waterfalls, and on one trip, stopped at the beach on the Japan Sea to play in the sand for a bit. A big thanks to Lawrence for organizing everything associated with these trips and for the stimulating philosophical conversations along the way.

Kids at the beach (Japan Sea)

Lantern festival

Harmony / Peace

In a neighborhood not too far from Habikino we went to a lantern festival at a local park. They had music, dancing, food, carnival games, and thousands of candle-lit lanterns laid out on the ground to form various words and shapes. We also visited the nearby Buddhist temples and their gardens, and learned that the area used to be one big temple complex. It was a fun local event we were glad we could attend.

Downtown Osaka

Downtown Osaka

One day, we took a trip to downtown Osaka to meet John Bardos, who runs JetSetCitizen.com and who interviewed me a few years ago about our travels and business. He and Motoko showed us around the town, where they’ve spent a lot of time in years past, and we browsed through some shops together while chatting about life. With all the noise and the concrete, I’m reminded again about how much I don’t want to live in a city, but they are fun to visit every once in a while.

Barbecues, Cherry Blossoms, and Go-Carts

Go Carts in the Park

Thanks to Lawrence, we had plenty of opportunities to meet new people and make friends with all the barbecues, gatherings at parks, and cherry blossom watching parties he invited us to. It was a lot of fun and always an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon. At one of the parks, there was a go-cart track, and the girls and I enjoyed taking a ride together.

Most of the time, however, we just hung out at “home.” I started a consulting business. Jen and I thought and wrote a lot. The kids got addicted to Minecraft and drawing art on the iPad. And when the weather was warm, we enjoyed taking bike rides together through the rice fields or to Baskin Robbins for a delicious treat.

Kids on bikes

Now it’s back to Bali, where we’ll be staying for a whole year, minus a few visa runs to neighboring countries. We’re going to miss you Japan, but we’ll take lots of good memories with us on our way. Here are some video clips and more pictures from our time here.

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If you’re at all interested in starting a business, if you don’t feel passionate about your job, or if you feel unsure about how to earn a living in this rapidly changing economy, give yourself a present for my birthday and buy this book.

In The $100 Startup, Chris shares story after story of entrepreneurs who, with simple ideas and almost no money, discovered how to create a living for themselves doing what they love. Chris was kind enough to send me a preliminary copy of the book, as my story is one he chose to highlight, and I was very impressed. The stories are inspiring, and Chris did an excellent job identifying the overall key factors to the success of these individuals. The principles, tools, and ideas he presents are invaluable for any aspiring entrepreneur, and have also been helpful to me in my own business.

Speaking of creating a successful business, I’m now offering business consulting services to entrepreneurs, especially those looking to create web applications. If you or anyone you know wants help starting an online business, just fill out the consulting form at http://pearceonearth.com/consulting and I’ll be happy to help. Creating a business and gaining financial freedom is a lot of hard work, but as Chris shows, it’s not as complicated as it seems, especially if you have guidance along the way in the form of good books and consultants. These will help you avoid common pitfalls and discover new opportunities that can make all the difference to your success. I look forward to helping more entrepreneurs achieve their dreams, as I’ve achieved mine.

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Here are the places we visited in Kyoto this trip:

Kiyomizu-dera. The “Temple on Stilts” originally built in 778 A.D. without any nails. There are several shrines around the temple and impressive views of Kyoto and the surrounding mountains.

Nijo Castle. Completed in 1626, this large palace surrounded by a moat and amazing gardens and ponds housed shoguns during the Edo period. It was also intentionally built with “squeaky floors” that sound like birds when walked on, to make it easier to detect intruders.

Maruyama Park and Gion. Walking around the streets of Gion gives you the feeling of stepping back in time, with the small wooden houses and lanterns, and especially if you’re able to spot a geisha (or even someone dressed like one).  Maruyama Park is a large park in Gion with many cherry trees, temples and shrines.

Gion Corner. This is a place for tourists to get a sampling of Japanese cultural arts. In a short hour, you get to see the tea ceremony, koto playing, flower arranging, geisha dancing, court music and dance, comedic performances, puppets, and more. It’s fairly pricey (2800 yen for adults), but if you don’t have much time and won’t see these things elsewhere on your trip, it’s worth a visit.

Kinkaku-ji. The “Temple of the Golden Pavilion,” a famous icon in Japan with beautiful strolling gardens and a three stories of gold-plated goodness. Beautiful. But I’d still like to go inside.

Ryouan-ji. Like the last time I was in Kyoto 2 years ago, this temple was again my favorite. It’s a zen temple with a serene zen garden inside and amazing strolling gardens surrounding it. We spent some time meditating in front of the rock garden, which also had cherry blossoms cascading over the wall and raining down like snow (see the video below). In other parts of the garden, the mossy ground was almost completely covered in pink blossoms. Such a beautiful sight!

Arashiyama. We enjoyed this peaceful and picturesque town. We arrived somewhat late in the day, so didn’t make it to the monkey park or take a boat ride, but we enjoyed walking around the town and through the bamboo forest. The mountain backdrop was quite spectacular. Note: We started looking for a restaurant right before 6pm, and then everything started closing up, so if you want to eat dinner there, make it before 6.

Here are some videos and more pictures of the trip.

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Breakfast in the hanare

We’ve been staying in a traditional Japanese house in an older neighborhood called Habikino, about 45 minutes by train from the center of Osaka. The house was dubbed “Kigouya” and was renovated by Lawrence and Tomoko, our amazing hosts and now friends, who have been hosting guests here for over five years. The house is surrounded by rice fields and a bamboo forest, but has plenty of restaurants and convenient shopping nearby.

Bicycles are a popular means of transportation here, and the sidewalks are extra wide to accommodate for them, so we wanted to explore the town by bike. Lawrence had several bikes for Jen and me to use, and also helped us find some used bikes for the kids. Many Japanese throw away perfectly good quality items, from almost new electronics to used-once barbecues, and fortunately for us, even bicycles. At what would be considered a garbage dump by the Japanese, we bought two nice bikes for the kids for just 1,000 yen each (about $12 USD).

Park in Osaka

We’re enjoying sleeping in futons on the hand-made rice tatami mats, the rooms divided only by sliding shoji doors which, when opened, reveal the sculpted trees in the garden. There’s also a fancy Japanese toilet here that washes, massages, and dries your behind after doing your business. Oh yes, and it also opens for you when you walk in the room — seat pre-heated — and automatically closes and flushes when you get up to leave (and turns the lights on and off for you too). Anal hygiene has never been more advanced. Amazingly, we’ve seen similar toilets in various public restrooms here, too.

Like most of Japan, Habikino is a clean, safe and efficient town. Most people don’t lock their doors, if they even have locks. People generally pick up their trash and carry their garbage home with them, rather than leave it on the road. Children take the trains to and from school by themselves every day. And of course the trains are always perfectly on time.

Cooking okonomiyaki

We’ve been enjoying Japan’s unique culture and food, too. From the moment we saw two sumo wrestlers buying sweets at a gift shop in the airport, we have continued to experience things in Japan that exist nowhere else in the world. Emily and Jen are especially excited to be here and can’t stop talking about how much they love it. The food here has been incredible as well. We’ve eaten all our favorites, sushi, katsudon, gyouza, ramen, yakisoba, udon, okonomiyaki, curry rice, gyuudon, and more. We probably don’t eat quite as healthy here as we do in other places because most of the food we’ve been cooking is pre-packaged and ready-made for quick and easy serving. Buying fresh fruits and vegetables here is extremely expensive. There are also an abundance of new treats and snacks to try, and we’ve been indulging a bit in that.

Daddy and Baby in the blossoms

One of the main reasons we decided to come to Japan this time of year was to see the sakura (cherry blossoms) which Japan is so famous for. So far, thanks to Lawrence, we’ve been to two “o-hanami” (flower watching) parties with some new friends, and will attend more later this week. We also had a little chocolate egg hunt on Easter Sunday. Flowering cherry trees are everywhere, but it’s especially beautiful to see so many in one place, in a park or near a river, and to sit under them and enjoy a picnic with friends. Our first week here was really cold for us, but it warmed up just in time to see the blossoms.

Osaka Castle

We’ve also taken a few day trips, including a visit to Nara, the capital of ancient Japan, where the kids enjoyed feeding the deer that roamed the park. There, we saw todai-ji temple, the largest wooden building in the world housing the largest bronze Buddha in the world. We also visited Osaka castle, but were disappointed that the inside has been turned into a modern museum. Still, it was interesting to learn about what it used to be like, and the grounds of the castle were spectacular, with more blossoming cherry trees, displays of bonsai in the front, and a very large children’s playground.

We’re taking this trip as it comes so aren’t really sure what we’ll do next, but we’re considering a short trip to nearby Kyoto, and will also be visiting an onsen with our hosts. In the mean time, we’ll keep doing our best to soak in Japan, trying not to get too distracted by the 12 mbps Internet connection here (compared to our 768kb connection in Bali). Not an easy challenge for us computer lovers!

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In fact, there are several shrines in the villa we’re staying at and each of them need to have offerings placed in front of it morning, mid-day, and evening. Fortunately, that service is included in the rent.

While Indonesia is a Muslim country, the island of Bali is predominantly Hindu, and its Balinese traditions have intermingled with Hindu and Buddhist traditions to produce a unique and beautiful culture found no where else in the world. With my mom here to visit us for a couple weeks, we’ve taken the opportunity to experience a taste of this culture, and have even participated in some sacred ceremonies.

Here is a brief summary of some of our cultural experiences over the past couple weeks.

Since we had an extra room in the villa, we invited my mom down to Bali for her birthday, and surprised her by arranging for Balinese dancers to come and perform some traditional dances, including a welcome flower dance, warrior dance, barong dance, and others, all accompanied by a gamelan orchestra. We also had some children from the neighborhood come and join us for the celebration and they sang “Happy Birthday” at the end to my mom. It was a really fun evening and interesting cultural experience. You can read about it in detail on my mom’s blog with pictures and videos.

We’ve also seen several ceremonial parades or processions while we’ve been here, some on the street right in front of our house. Dressed in their traditional clothes, the Balinese walk together to and from the local temple regularly for different ceremonies. The women often carry boxes full of offerings for the gods on their heads, and they are usually accompanied by musical instruments or chanting as they walk. Each temple has regular ceremonies and some families belong to multiple temples, so much time is spent in preparing for and participating in these rituals, which have much meaning for the Balinese. You can see deep devotion on some faces, joy on others, but also boredom on occasion. Still, it’s a wonderful sight not to be missed if you come to Bali.

One of our most moving, educational, and spiritual experiences was participating in the cleansing ritual Melukat, in the holy spring waters of the Tirta Empul Temple. We were led through the ritual by a smiling and devoted Hindu priest (Mangku) with a long beard and hearty laugh. We gave offerings, meditated, changed into sarongs, bathed and drank from spring water, and were blessed and cleansed in the temple as we let go of all the bad in our life. It was an amazing day that I won’t soon forget. And thanks to my mom, you can read a detailed account of the entire ritual here.

In addition to parades, we’ve visited some of the larger and more famous temples in Bali, including Tanah Lot, the temple that’s built out on a rock in the ocean that you can walk to during low-tide. And also Ulun Danu Temple in Bedugul, which looks similar to a Chinese pagoda on a serene lake.

We were also lucky to be in Bali for the Balinese New Year, or Nyepi. A few days before the new year, shrines from many temples get paraded down to the ocean where they are purified. Then, the day before the new year, the townspeople bring out their ogoh-ogoh (giant demonic monsters made of bamboo and paper) which they’ve spent weeks preparing, and parade them around the town to traditional music. That night, the monsters are burned, symbolizing the removal of all the negative and evil from our lives. The day that follows is a day of silence and self reflection. No lights or electricity are allowed. No one can leave their homes, except for the guards patrolling the streets to make sure people are following the rules. No working, pleasure, or traveling is allowed. Even the airport is closed for the day. If these rules are broken, it’s believed that it invites the evil spirits back in. It’s a quiet day that’s perfect for meditating, reconnecting with yourself or loved ones, or pondering the mysteries of the universe, which are some of my favorite past times anyway.

The hardest part for me was staying off the computer, but I’m glad I did as I was able to connect better to my offline world. The electricity and Internet actually went down for a while the following morning, too, so I was forced to continue the ritual longer than I would have preferred. But as long as it’s not too many days in a row, I think it would be good for me to have more Nyepi’s in my year.

Yes, there is an abundance of culture in Bali. It’s imbued through every level of their society, and is impossible to miss. I’m so glad that we’ve been able to not only see and learn about Bali, but also experience and participate in it ourselves, and meet some of its wonderful people. I’m still in love with Bali, and am excited to be spending an entire year here, once we get back from Japan in May. I hope you enjoy the video and photos below.

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The view we enjoy daily

Of course, our desire to stay here has probably been helped along by the fact we’re spending the month in a luxury villa overlooking rice fields, with our own private chef (incredible food!), housekeeper, nanny, and occasionally, a driver. I’m in absolute heaven in this beautiful house, and I only wish we could stay here permanently. Fortunately, there are an abundance of options in Ubud for both short and long-term furnished rentals, many of them including service staff, pools, and amazing views for reasonable rates.

The villa we're staying at in Ubud, Bali

I continue to be in awe of the natural beauty that surrounds this town, the friendliness and smiles of the people here, the high quality of service I receive everywhere I go, the ornate temples and intricate architecture visible at every turn, the Hindu and Balinese rituals constantly being performed around town, the delicious and varied food, and the low prices on almost everything. Food is even cheaper than in Penang, Malaysia, in many cases, although Internet is slow and very expensive.

Here are some examples of prices, estimated to their USD equivalent at the current exchange rate of about 9100 rupees to the dollar:

• Magnum ice cream bars (our favorite premium ice cream snack) are less than $1 USD here. We’ve seen them for $2.50-$5.00 in Malaysia and Singapore. (Not sure what they cost in the states, as they’re fairly new there).
• Men’s haircut: 76 cents USD. (rp 7000)
• 1-hour massage: $6-15 (and these are very good massages!)
• Our chef bought a whole live chicken for about $5 which she cooked for us that same day. (By the way, she does all our grocery shopping for us, too. So nice!)
• 10 organic chicken eggs: $2.15 cents
• 1/2 kilo (1 lb) of avocado: 70 cents
• 1 kilo (2.2 lbs) of zuccini: $1.40
• 1 kilo of Tomato: 86 cents
• Fresh baguette: 85 cents
• You might pay $3-6/plate at a nice restaurant with a great atmosphere and amazing food, although we haven’t eaten at very many yet because of our incredible in-house chef, Ketut.
• A full-time nanny or housekeeper might cost around $100-150/month USD.
• However, you may pay $75/month for a 1mb Internet connection and $150/month for a 2mb connection, and you’ll often only get half the speed you pay for as it’s a shared connection. If you want a dedicated 2mb connection, expect to pay over $400/month, and it’s only available in some areas. Ouch!

Fresh mint juice and broccoli. Mmm...

Besides the slow Internet, the biggest down side for me has got to be the roads. Wow. It’s chaotic! I thought I got used to crazy roads in Costa Rica and Penang, but they were nothing like this. Yes, there are pot holes and narrow roads with no sidewalks and pedestrians and dogs everywhere, but there are also swarms of motorbikes constantly trying to overtake someone, and so little room to squeeze though without hitting something or someone, and very few of the drivers seem to be paying attention. I’m also driving a clutch on the left hand side of the road, which I guess I’m still getting used to. There are a few two-lane roads that have been converted to one-lane, one-way roads, which are okay. But it’s still scary to be a driver or a pedestrian on most of the other roads. I do not like driving here. It’s a white knuckle ride every time. So I think I will employ a driver when we find a long-term place.

Typical side street in Ubud

The other downsides for me are small things like mosquitos (I’m being eaten alive!) but you’ll find those just about everywhere that’s green. Also, there is quite a bit of garbage lying about. Some beautiful areas on the side of the road have been turned into neighborhood garbage dumps. I assume there is some sort of garbage collection and disposal service here, but it looks like it could use some improvement. And despite the apparent poverty of some of the people here, most seem genuinely happy. But this is definitely wild country. There are no perfectly manicured streets like Singapore and no massive shopping malls like Malaysia. Actually, I think there are some malls near the beach towns, but that’s over an hour away. And I’m okay with that. I prefer real nature. It feeds my soul.

One other thing that held me back from wanting to live here was the visa requirements, which I thought required us to leave every 30 or 60 days. But it sounds like it’s possible to apply for a 60 day visa which you can extend each month for up to 6 months. I don’t fancy standing in lines to renew visas each month, but I do like the idea of being able to stay here for 6 months without having to fly to another country for paperwork.

Intricate fences and temples are everywhere

We’re still getting oriented in many ways, and are still planning to go to Japan in April, but probably won’t stay as long as we thought. We’re ready to settle down for a while, as we’ve been traveling at a pretty fast pace for the past few months. We’ve started taking daily lessons to learn the language, Bahasa Indonesia, and hope to meet some more friends here soon.

We also looked into a couple of interesting schools here, which I hadn’t heard of before, but which are apparently quite famous for their pioneering of more environmentally focused education: Green School and Pelangi School. We’re still not sure if we’ll send our kids to a school or continue homeschooling them. We’re really enjoying homeschooling, but we think the kids might benefit from the chance to mingle more with other kids and other adults on a regular basis, work in groups, and have a more structured schedule. But if not, there are plenty of classes like art and dance they could take in the community. We’re still weighing our options.

Green school campus

We’re also excited that my mom will be coming to visit us at the villa next week! The kids are counting down the days until Grandma comes. We plan to have a lot of fun with her, as well as spend time just relaxing, which is one thing that Bali makes very easy, as long as you’re not driving.

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Proboscis Monkey at Singapore Zoo

Singapore Zoo. This zoo is rated as one of the best zoos in the world, and we can see why. There were so many interesting animals to see, some of which we’d never seen before. There was a lot of educational information about each animal and the exhibits were large and well taken care of. The grounds were natural and beautiful, with tall trees and foliage everywhere, and a large reservoir on the outskirts. I took over 300 pictures that day (I love the continuous shooting mode on my new camera!), and we learned a lot about the animals.

Lion at Night Safari

Night Safari. Next to the zoo is the Night Safari. I was thinking it would just be a tour of the zoo at night to some of the nocturnal animals, but it’s actually a completely separate zoo, housing its own unique animals, attractions, and exhibits! It was interesting to see these night-time animals in their more active states, although it was often hard to see them because it was dark. Still, we had a great time.

Petting the dolphins at Underwater World

Sentosa Island. At the southern end of Singapore lies Sentosa Island, which has kind of a resort or theme park atmosphere, and in fact does contain a number of large resorts and theme parks including Universal Studios, a Sea World-like aquarium called Underwater World, a giant Merlion statue which you can climb, a lookout tower, zip lines, a luge / go-cart ride, beaches, movies and theatrical performances, and much more. We only spent a day there, and chose to do the luge ride and Underwater World. The luge was similar to the Alpine Slide in Park City, Utah (near where I grew up) but much wider, and you could actually steer the car left and right as well as control the speed. Underwater World was great, too. The kids especially loved the dolphin show.

Kids at Singapore Science Center

Singapore Science Center and Snow City. The Singapore Science Center is a very large and informative science museum with many interactive and interesting exhibits. We spent several hours there and still only got through about 1/4 of it, but we tend to be very thorough at museums. I was sad that we missed the tesla coil demonstration, as I’ve always wanted to see one of the those. Maybe we’ll go back next time we’re in Singapore. Next door to the Science Center is Snow City, where you can put on coats, long pants, and gloves and play in the snow, go down snowy slides, hide in igloos, and more (I didn’t see any snowball fights, though). Jen and I don’t enjoy the cold at all, so we didn’t go in, but our two oldest girls had a lot of fun playing together in the snow, which they’ve missed.

Water lily near Marina Bay Sands

“Wicked” and Artscience museum at Marina Bay Sands. One of the highlights of our time in Singapore was seeing the broadway performance of the musical “Wicked“. This is the first time any of us had seen the show or heard all the music and we loved it! I was especially intrigued by how Elphaba learned the truth about what was going on in Oz behind the scenes, but instead of being praised and respected for standing up for what’s right and proclaiming it, she was rejected by her society who was led to believe she was wicked, and even by her friends who would rather fit in (be “popular”) by telling people what they want to hear, rather than what’s true. There are some great lessons to learn in this show. Near Marina Bay Sands is the Artscience museum, which is basically a small but expensive art museum. But we had some time before the show, so thought we’d check it out. The main exhibit was the “Titanic,” and the history, artifacts, and recreations of that tragic event, both leading up to it, and the aftermath. A very humbling exhibit.

Chinatown Singapore

Chinatown. One day, we took a trip down to Chinatown. There, we found street after street of great shopping at reasonable prices, authentic Chinese restaurant options (and some very strange looking food), as well as some cool temples (including, strangely, a Hindu temple). We didn’t explore all of it, and could certainly enjoy another trip there.

Beyond that, we relaxed at our hotel, walked around the Orchard area a lot, explored the malls and restaurants surrounding our apartment, went out to eat with some local friends who live here, and met other locals and travelers as well. Even though Singapore is a busy city, our baby still gets lots of coos and smiles from people passing by, and we found it fairly easy to meet new people. Overall, we loved Singapore, but we’re done with being in a big city, and are very much looking forward to relaxing in Bali for a while. We fly out tomorrow!

Here are some pictures and videos of our time in Singapore.

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Here is a list of some of the cool gadgets I use in my travels, many of which I’ve only started using in recent weeks, thanks to being in more developed places like Malaysia and Singapore where you can actually find some of this gear (although often at higher prices than Amazon).

Click the heading or picture of any item below to learn more about each product.

Bose SoundLink Wireless Speakers

If you’ve seen some of the super small portable speakers you can get, you may have been disappointed with their sound quality and volume levels. These may be fine for listening at your desk, but if you want to listen to music throughout your house, and without a weak and tinny quality, you need a bit more power. These Bose speakers fit the bill without filling the suitcase. Yes, they’re not cheap, retailing at $299.95, but they pack excellent quality sound in a small package. They even work wirelessly via Bluetooth and can run for 8 hours when fully charged.

Sack ‘n Seat Portable High chair

If you travel with a 6-30 month old, you may run into the problem of not having a high chair for your baby, whether in an apartment or house you rent, or at restaurants you visit. The Sack ‘n Seat solves this problem with a very portable cloth high chair (or baby chair, as they’re often called here in the Southeast Asia) that drapes over any existing chair back and folds up into a bag about the size of your baby’s head. Very convenient. Washable. It holds our baby in better than some of the restaurant high chairs we’ve run into.

Columbia Silver Ridge Convertible Pants

These have got to be the ultimate traveling pants! The material is super light weight and thin, but very strong. They’re full of pockets. They keep you warm in the cold, and cool in the heat. They have built-in UV protection, stay dry in wet conditions, resist stains, and supposedly can’t be penetrated by mosquitos. But the best part? You can convert them into shorts by unzipping them at the knee. And they’re comfortable to boot. What more can you want in a pair of travel pants?

Pacsafe wallet

Having been robbed within the past year, I’m still fairly paranoid about keeping our stuff safe. One way I’ve done this is by buying a secure wallet and attaching it to my belt loop via a strong chain. This wallet opens with velcro, has a zipper for the currency pocket which has a divider that I appreciate when dealing with multiple currencies. It also has plenty of spots to store credit cards, coins, and other items. I feel much safer traveling around with this wallet

Apple iPhone

I know, I know. This is old news, and an Android phone could probably do the same things. But I’m still amazed at how often I use my iPhone. Some apps that have been really helpful are the Sygic GPS maps which completely replaced my Garmin GPS, GoTasks which I sync with Google Tasks to remember things I want to do, Collins dictionaries for learning languages and looking up unknown words, and Flashlight, currency conversion, and other unit conversion apps. And I’m always looking up questions we have as we’re out and about. Travel would be a completely different experience without it.

iPhone Chain

I’ve never broken my iPhone from dropping it. But I’ve had friends who have not only dropped iPhones, but had them stolen out of their pocket. And I don’t want that to happen to me. So I bought an iPhone Chain that attaches my iPhone to my belt loop and makes it more difficult for pickpockets and gravity to take my phone away. It’s a great idea and I’m glad someone thought of it. The company even agreed to ship it to me in Singapore.

Solar USB charger

iPhones and other electronic devices are only useful while they have power. If you drive on long trips or spend much time away from a power source, you may find a solar charger useful. There are a lot to choose from, and I didn’t take time to research much with this purchase. But the one I have comes with a windshield attachment for cars and can store power in it as a backup battery as well, which can be used to charge any USB powered device including iPhones. It can take 16 hours to fill the battery, depending on the amount of sunlight its receiving, but every little bit helps when you’re away from power.

Pacsafe anti-theft backpack/bag protector

Can I share just one more anti-theft device? This one is useful for securing a backpack or bag in a hotel room when you leave. You can wrap it around an opening in a bed’s headboard or footboard, plumbing, toilets, or whatever seems secure in the room, and its strong wiring should help deter thieves, or at least slow them down.  The mesh packs up pretty small into a nice bag that’s probably well worth its weigh if it helps prevent a theft.

Have you used any of these? What other gadgets have you found useful or fun when you travel? Share your thoughts below.

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First, it’s incredibly expensive! The average hotel is around $300/night. Normal monthly rent for a small 2 bedroom furnished apartment is around $6,000, and that’s on a long-term lease (and you can find much higher). If you want to buy a car, you must pay $50,000 for the right to drive it, and you have to renew that every ten years, in addition to the cost of the car itself which is also ridiculously high. Fortunately, the public transportation system is fantastic with trains, buses, and affordable taxis, so a car isn’t really necessary. Food can be found at reasonable prices ($2-6/plate) in the hawker stalls (food courts) but prices at restaurants vary greatly.

Second, it’s a big city on a small island. While you can find nature here, most of it is cultivated. You won’t find sweeping hills of untouched foliage with no sign of man, or a spot where you feel alone and far away from it all. And I would miss that. I already do. It’s a very busy and crowded place. But it’s still wonderful and amazing for what it is. They do have some nice nature spots in the botanic garden, Sentosa Island, and in parks, but you can’t really live in a park.

Despite all of Singapore’s benefits and the number of fun activities to do around the island, the locals I’ve talked to all seem to echo a similar sentiment: it’s boring. Although they say it’s less boring than it used to be. We have been anything but bored since our arrival, but maybe that’s just because it’s all so new to us.

Because the prices were high already, we decided to kick off our start in Singapore with a bang by staying at the biggest hotel in Singapore, Marina Bay Sands, which looks like a giant boat held up by three tall buildings.

Unfortunately, we were all recovering from bad colds, and Jen was sick in bed both days we stayed there. But if you have to stay in bed, it might as well be a comfortable one, with good room service, and a view like this:

The long infinity pool on top of the hotel is quite spectacular, and you can see far out into the island on one side, and the harbor on the other side.

There’s an upscale mall connected to the hotel, and a cool fountain show by the bay at night for free, which you’ll be able to see some of in the video below. We didn’t go to the nearby Art/Science museum or do much besides eat (the food court in the mall is great), but we still enjoyed our time at Marina Bay Sands. And we’ll be returning one evening next week to see Wicked on stage!

Next, we moved into a serviced apartment in the Orchard shopping district. While there, we met a really nice family from Ireland. The wife is Singaporean, and they invited us to a fish farm along with her family. What a cool experience! We took a boat out to a floating fish farm in between Singapore and Malaysia. The kids especially enjoyed feeding the big fish with the smaller fish, and also going fishing for their first time (then eating the catch). We watched a beautiful sunset over the water and had nice conversation over some of the freshest and most delicious seafood I’ve ever eaten. Thanks Peter and Pyn for the great time!

Here’s the video and the rest of the photos.

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Moving a group of elephants is no easy task, for the humans or the elephants, but domesticated elephants like those in the sanctuary are used to encourage the wild elephants to move to their new location, often requiring a trip on a truck or boat. At the sanctuary, we watched a 30 minute video of the process, which mostly left me feeling frustrated about the destruction of the forests to create farms, and feeling sorry for the elephants who had to leave what was once their home. They also had a small museum where we learned about elephants and their abilities.

We enjoyed a nice lunch and then got to meet the elephants themselves. The babies were especially cute but all of them were fun to see. We fed them bananas, peanuts, and papaya, rubbed their trunks with love, and even got to ride them for a few minutes! We all enjoyed the ride except for Aysia, who cried the moment we put her on the elephant and didn’t stop until we took her off. We could have gotten in the water with them as well, but we didn’t want to get splashed by the workers like everyone else was.

A visit to the sanctuary is free of charge, but donations are requested. There is also no way to get there via public transportation, so you either need to rent a car and drive (that’s what we did), hire a taxi, or pay an overpriced tour company to take you there. But we found our visit to the Kuala Gandah elephant sanctuary to be very enjoyable, educational, and worthwhile.

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