New Year's Eve Game Night

To end up the year and celebrate with friends, we had the Bouwens over for some game night fun.  We culminated with a rousing game of Guesstures.  Rania did quite well, and somehow, someway, the boys beat the girls (yea!!!).  What incredible expertise, wit, wisdom and genius (of course).

Seri Hening BBQ

Thanks to the generosity of our friends, the Spandes, we had a delightful evening with them before the close of the year.  Good times with the tropical evening swim (and a bit of rain).

The Force Awakens (Again)

With my excitement of the next installment of Star Wars, I even managed to get Tracy to see the movie with me.  I think this might be the third time to see The Force Awakens.  The first time with Reeve, once in 3D with the kids, and now convincing Tracy we could see it again.  Fun! (Especially considering the reasonable price of KL movie tickets.)

ISKL Fantasy Football Champion!

With the final week of Fantasy Football wrapping up, I managed to cap off a come-from-behind recovery from a 7-7 mediocre season and end up as the Super Bowl Champion!  Looking at my final roster, I think I only played one player who I drafted, and only had three (?) on my roster from the draft.  Lucky!  The randomness of Fantasy Football!

Goodbye Singapore

What a delightful few days in Singapore and many, may thanks to the hospitality of our friends for letting us enjoy such a fabulous time over Christmas.  I especially loved their wall hanging and wonder what words and what story we would tell of the Woodwards.

Science Museum

We made our way across town to the Singapore Science Museum and were able to have a bit of a strange day.  As a promotion, we got to watch Jurassic Park in the theater, a bit of a strange add-on to the science museum.  They also had a special exhibit of monsters of the deep. The tornado of fire (see above) was a pretty impressive (and hot) demo!

Christmas Dinner & Evening Beach Walk

After a delightful Christmas meal on the beautiful porch, we went for a walk in the evening to visit the East Coast Park, the long area of park that is along the beach.  We managed to get some ice cream - and some very poor attempts at night action photography. 

Christmas Morning

What an absolute delight for the generosity of Claire & George  Psillides and their family allowing us to use their home while they were away.  It was truly an amazing opportunity to get to enjoy their beautiful home and see Singapore without as much stress of managing hotel rooms. 

We even got to use the Psillides' Christmas Tree for the Christmas gifts.  How fortunate that Santa was able to find us! A very Merry Christmas from Singapore.

Orchard Road on Christmas Eve

Indeed, it was quite a crowded downtown as we ventured out on Christmas Eve to Orchard Road to see the lights and the sights.  There were definitely a lot of people with the same idea.  In the midst of all the mass commercialism, there was, brazen in lights, a bit of a clear message, even if the irony of the medium was hard to miss. 

Sights and Sounds from Universal Studios

It was a fun day at Universal Studios.  Here are some of the sights and sounds.

Universal Studios

We had tickets for Universal Studios and made our way over to Sentosa Island before getting into the park.  Wow, what a busy place on the week before Christmas.  We had a great time, with several fun shows and some impressive rides.  How nice to have Singapore snow falling as part of the Christmas celebration. 

Drive to Singapore

As installment #1 of our travel plans for Christmas, we drove to Singapore.  Shockingly, this was our first trip to Singapore with the kids - and our first time driving.  The border crossing was easier than we thought, and we were able to get the necessary insurance and paperwork which helped us be in Singapore.  If you are not in Singapore too many days a year, the driving costs in urban areas are especially reasonable.  What a relief to get across the border without any issues - and arrive without any problems.  We were quite surprised and impressed with how easy it is to drive in Singapore - such wide highways, limited traffic, and clear signage. 

Christmas!

After our delicious Christmas dinner, we had the chance to open presents and celebrate together as a family.  There were some fun presents which were received and some good surprises.  As we think about this Christmas season, we are truly blessed by the incredible generosity and joy of faith, family, friends and an abundance of love.  Merry Christmas!

Christmas Dinner

We had our traditional Christmas Dinner with our family.  It was good to get awah's ham recipe, try our own family Christmas dinner, and have a chance to celebrate at home before being away over Christmas.  The traditional Christmas Dinner is always a highlight.  Yum!

Friends

As Christmas break started, it is a fun time for those who are still in town to get together.  Gabi had the chance to get together with her friend, Mikaela.  We're also excited for a fun Christmas break with lower key travel plans.  Should be a great time to get away.

Elves and Palko Craziness

We dressed up as elves.  Of course, we did.  This was part of Ms. Palko's year-end Christmas celebration and the teacher skit that was a part of it. 

Somewhere in the back is Doug, one of the elves in Santa's workshop.

Year End Tech Party

We visited the Black Bull at Avenue K (near KLCC) for the end of year Tech Party.  As always, Dave Neudorf put on a great party.  The white elephant gift exchange was, of course, epic.  Max's home made brew was a highlight. . .until one of them broke through the bottom of one of the wrapping papers and created a massive mess. 

I ended up with a  coloring for calm book.  And where else can you have a two lane bowling alley right next to where you are eating your burgers?  Good celebration and part of an amazing team!

Visitors!

In one of those rare, hardly ever happens events, we had visitors!  We found out recently that one of Doug's former students at The Oaks Academy, Elizabeth Dewes, was going to be traveling through Malaysia with a friend.  She was taking a bit of vacation from her jobs in Indianapolis.  What a delight to have young, energetic backpackers in our house, hearing stories and tales of adventure and seeing Kuala Lumpur (and Malaysia) through fresh eyes and a new perspective. 

Birthday Celebration

With an extra holiday and the weekend, it was an opportunity for the biggest Woodward sleepover ever - and a chance to have lots of friends come over to celebrate the Birthday Girl's big day.  Not quite all of them stayed for the night, but it was a fun time to have lots of friends over.  Ice Cream Cake (from Baskin' Robbins) and some fun presents, lots of laughs and even some sleep.