SINGAPORE STORM

Here's a crazy thunder & lightning storm that started around 5:00pm on Halloween night and at time of posting (7:15pm) is still going strong, that "static" sound you hear under all the thunder is the torrential downpour:

RECUPERATION

Well, with the parents gone, we thought life would get back to normal, not so, we got incredibly sick. My dad was extremely sick his last full day here, we thought it was immense food poisoning but no one else in the house was ill even though we all shared dishes at dinner. He got better for his last day in Singapore and we thought the ordeal was in the past. My folks left around 4:00pm and we left the airport to meet our friends AAMIR & DENISE for a bite and beer in Holland Village. A few hours and a few laughs later, we were at home when Michelle started feeling off, soon she was feeling ill and before you know it, she's full blown sick (if you know what I mean). Within moments, I start feeling it too and in under an hour I've taken up permanent residence in one of the bathrooms, Michelle was in the other one. It was the roughest night for either of us in a long time.

Needless to say, I didn't go to work the next day but we were surprised to find that Aamir & Denise were okay... hmm, maybe this wasn't food poisoning, maybe we caught what dad had. We found out later that my stepmom got hit with the sickness as well, while on the flight to Australia. Turns out it was a wicked stomach flu that my dad had somehow caught and passed onto us.

Anyway, we're all good now, back to normal and living da vida loca. It's too bad, the last day of my parents trip had to be a rough one but their overall time here was awesome! I'm glad we're all feeling better now as well!

IT'S OUT...

When I first joined the team here in Singapore, they were wrapping up their next DS game, the aptly titled STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS: REPUBLIC HEROES and it's out and ready to play! Give it a whirl and enjoy some Star Wars goodness! REPUBLIC HEROES is also available on Wii, PS3 and X360 but our team worked on the DS version. Proud of my guys!!!

THE PARENTS VS. SINGAPORE

So, Mario... Gina... let's talk about Singapore:

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT SINGAPORE?

• MARIO - More than anything, I like the cosmopolitan flavor here, and the easy going nature here is great, you just feel comfortable. Also, the modern architecture is amazing... obviously all the restaurants are fantastic. And I like all the green!

• GINA - Ofcourse the Quays (Clarke & Robertson), all those restaurants... the neatness of the place and how organized in general this city is.

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF SINGAPORE?

• MARIO - Believe it or not, Arab Street, it's great!

• GINA - Definitely the Quays, I like the to be by the Canal.

WHAT DIDN'T YOU LIKE?

• MARIO - The heat... the humidity... the price of Alcohol!

• GINA - I think the HDB's are great but I didn't like that some of the public spaces were unclean and run down... so many of the HDB's and the facilities were too close together.

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE FOOD HERE?

• MARIO - If it was one dish, it would be the Crab, Butter Crab & Black Pepper Crab... the Ton Katsu was quite the experience, I never thought I'd like that. The best food was in the simple places, like Gillman's Seafood and Mellben Seafood. I kinda liked the Gong Gong and Kung Pow Chicken in Bintan as well.

• GINA - The Black Pepper Crab was very, very nice... another thing was the Bah Kut Teh and the Thai Pineapple Rice, I'm going to make that at home... Crispy Fried Fish, I absolutely loved it.

NEXT TIME YOU COME TO SINGAPORE WHAT DO YOU WANNA DO?

• MARIO - Not much more than I did this time, just enjoy the city. We did just about everything, I don't think there's anything else to do.

• GINA - Spend more time at the Quays at night, more time around there, I like the music, the ambiance, I like to be up late.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PEOPLE YOU MET HERE?

• MARIO - What your friends? Your friends are great, each of them is number one. I like the camaraderie you all have. I'm very glad you have found some good people to be with.

• GINA - Everybody is very friendly and very respectful. I love the people and I appreciate them being very respectful, that's the way I grew up. I have a very good opinion of the people here, I didn't see anything wrong. I really like the respect they have for us older folks.

ANY ADVICE FOR TRAVELERS TO SINGAPORE?

• MARIO -Wear very comfortable shoes and be aware that it's quite humid and warm, don't drink too much alcohol because it's bad for your liver and your wallet.

• GINA - Okay, my advice would be to come to this city with an open mind to understand their culture and to respect their citizens whom I find admirable.

ANY FINAL THOUGHTS?

• MARIO - I think if you guys are gonna stay here for a few years, I'd like to come back!

• GINA - If I could, I would live here six months out of the year.

MICHELLE? GIO? ANY THOUGHT ON MARIO & GINA'S VISIT?

• MICHELLE - My favorite part of having them here was that we could take them anywhere and they would fit right in. They would go everywhere, meet everyone, try everything, it was great.

• GIO - Wish I could have seen more of them but a little bit of time is better than nothing. Having them here, meeting our friends and seeing our life here was just awesome!

Thanks so much for coming folks, we loved having you here and hope your time here was memorable. Come back anytime...

PICS OF THEIR VISIT HERE!

BINTAN

While my folks are here visiting, Michelle and I thought it would be cool to go away for the weekend with them and show them a little more of SE Asia other than Singapore. With so many options available, we decided to do something local and we spent this past weekend on the Indonesian Resort Island of BINTAN!

Only a 55 minute ferry ride from Singapore, Bintan is a quick getaway destination for many Singaporeans due to its ease and comfort. There are many resorts there from the immensely swank to the ultra low-rent, we stayed in the three star "middle of the road" resort called Mayang Sari. We got some cabins on the beach, checked it and had some lunch. We then hired a driver to take us on a four-hour tour of the island so show my folks some of the local Indonesian "flava", we then came back, got cleaned up and headed to the Katong (Floating Seafood Restaurant") for an awesome dinner. The next day, we had breakfast, went for two hour massages, came back to the hotel to chill on the beach before heading back to the ferry for the return trip to Singapore.

My parents loved it, we loved it and I am sure we will be going back to Bintan for another relaxing weekend. Check out our pics from the 36 hour funfest HERE!!!

THEY'RE HERE!

Mario & Gina are in Singapore and loving it. Pics to follow soon!

BUSY SEPTEMBER

Here's a look at the hectic month of September:

• We toured Singapore's CHINATOWN!

• We celebrated our fourth Wedding ANNIVERSARY!

• We took part in a cool COOKING CLASS in Clarke Quay!

• Some pics from my BIRTHDAY!

• At the end of the month we spent a magical weekend in BALI!

• And here's the rest of our September PICS!