Soccer Tournament

Doug got to coach the U13 team in the ISAC championships.  Unfortunately, our semifinal duel with Alice Smith ended up with us on the losing end, so we settled for third place.  It was a fun, busy, hot day, and good to cover for Coach Arber, while others took care of my team in the other ISAC division.

Halloween!

We had the chance to celebrate Halloweeen, which because we're in Malaysia, it was decided to celebrate on Friday night (easier for kids?).  So we made our rounds in Taman Tar, with the amazing MS teachers putting together an incredible Inside Out theme - complete with all the prizes inside colored "memories" (balloons).  WOW! 

The crazy cat lady; the angel.  Fun times with friends.  Charlotte, Natasha, and Zoey had a sleepover, which was fun, too. 

Spirit Week!

Of course, Spirit Week matched up with Karen Palko's birthday, so we put together a nice little surprise in the gym under the guise of meeting for Spirit Week.  It was a fun day - and my did the MS teachers sure look funny!  How great to be working with middle school students.  What a blast!

Volleyball Hardware

Reeve and his volleyball team competed in the ISAC competition, and came back with a great gold medal victory, thanks to some great teamwork, some amazing saves and excellent play.  How fun to watch them play together and have such success.

Literary Hero Day

We had a fun dress-up day in Middle School, as our favorite literary hero.  One of my students made this amazing (and intricate) Mockingjay pin.  Wow.  What ingenuity. I just had to share a picture.

Choir Festival

Gabi had the opportunity to be part of a choir festival, where she performed and a guest conductor from New York helped the choir students improve their skill.

Arm Wrestling MC

Some of the silliness of the middle school shows up with Spirit Week!  Fun

Lost in Haze

Unfortunately, a return to KL meant back to “haze season.” Yuck.  When you can hardly see the twin towers from the elevated highway, it is no fun to be outside.  Yuck.

Explorers!

For our final day in Siem Reap, we had the chance to visit one of the temples that truly makes you feel like an explorer.  With heaps of rocks piled on top of each other, it is quite a site, and we were able to explore – everything from darkened hallways to massive rock piles to epic trees  and hanging branches. 

We were sure thankful for our driver, who was incredibly helpful throughout our entire time in Siem Reap. 

 

Once back, it was more time in the pool.

Way Back

On the way back, our driver had to stop for lunch.  We got to hang out for a bit in some hammocks.  Guess what Gabi was up to?  Surprise, a book! 

In the afternoon we got to enjoy some time by the pool, with more reading and more playing.  

Floating Villages

After a longer tuk tuk ride, we got to see some of the floating villages in the area.  It was reminiscent of our visit to Inle Lake in Myanmar, and amazing to see entire communities that live on the banks of the river.  Not pictured is the iconic Doug as tourist photo plaque we had to get. 

Circus Videos

Circus

One of the highlights of Siem Reap is the circus.  Developed to help provide schooling and skills to rural students, it now has an international reputation for acrobatics.  Put together to tell a story, it was sight to behold.  Wow!

Sunset Temple

It was definitely not sunset; it was way hotter than the evening weather, but it was great to avoid the crowds and have the nice walk up to a view across much of Angkor Wat.  At the top, which we had to ourselves, there was a chance for some silly posing. 

Preah Khan

Now we had a short walk through some of the temples to a site that was under restoration, but my-what a climb!  Though it reminded Gabi of Guatemala, it was not quite as steep as Tikal.   We enjoyed climbing up the stairs and it was a great view from the top.

Bayon

One of the big, famous temples is known for its intricate carvings and incredible reliefs on the rocks.  There were also elephants there in the morning, so we had to let the kids get an elephant ride, which was enjoyable, even if the perfectly posed picture was difficult to come by.  (Photographer error, likely).

Foot Reflexology

What better way to end the day than enjoying a foot massage along one of the places in downtown Siem Reap.  After dinner, we enjoyed a bit of walking around, and had an enjoyable foot reflexology session.  Fun!

Ta Prohm

 

After Angkor Wat, the next step is the famous overgrown, out-of-this-world temple made famous by Angelina Jolie’s depiction of Lara Croft, Tomb Raider.  How amazing to see the huge trees that have overgrown the structure. 

Angkor Wat

Of course, to start the tours of famous temples and historical sites in Cambodia, you have to start with Angkor Wat.  It was certainly a warm day; we loved having our private tuk-tuk driver, and we saw the massive and stunning complex of Angkor Wat.