Ansley is F-O-U-R !!

Just a few short weeks back our "baby" turned 4!!! Where has the time gone? Didn't we just finish B-school and then a few short months later Ansley arrived? Well, yes our BABY did turn 4 and boy was she FULL of herself!! She LOVED being the center of attention and ate.it.up! We had an Ariel pool party birthday (for the sheer fact that we can while living here in Singapore) for her complete with Ariel swimming with the kids! Ansley loved having all her little friends over to celebrate her birthday! Here are some pics of Ansley just enjoying being 4 - FINALLY!








Enjoy being four my precious baby girl!!

Hannah and her Teeth

The tooth fairy FINALLY visited the Levy household in December. Hannah had this tooth that I really thought was going to come out in Vietnam, but Hannah didn't want it pulled. So we waited, waited and when it was FINALLY dangling by a thread and Lenny had already tried pulling it - I pulled it out (after bribing of course!). She let loose - LAUGHING! The tooth fairy visited and brought $10 (first tooth rate), Kinder Joy (candy with a toy I REFUSE to buy) as well as a large Hershey Bar....talk about racking in!

The second tooth finally came out in February after my parents had left - same situation as the first but she didn't want her father trying this time (although his pulling on the first one definitely helped me pull it out easier!). The tooth fairy visited AGAIN but brought only $2 as well as Kinder Joy (again, she was giddy as I don't buy it).

The two top are FINALLY loose but heck, we maybe in the states before she looses those this summer!

Chinese New Year (Snake) with Grammi and Pop Pop

So, the Schwartz's made the maiden voyage from Florida all the way to Singapore - not without obstacles though! They landed the morning of January 22nd and the girls had no clue that they were coming! We surprised them at school at pick up time and they weren't sure WHAT they were doing here! Needless to say, the girls were VERY surprised! We started our week with my DOD (dear ol dad as I like to refer to him as) getting the flu - I really thought that he was going down for the count for this vacation! After a trip to Dr. Rashid at Camden Medical Clinic he was up and running with Theraflu in a few days! We FINALLY were able to take the Duck Tour here in Singapore as well as going on the Singapore Flyer, which the girls couldn't wait to go on again! Here are a few pics of their few weeks here with us!!

Mom and DOD's Arrival in Singapore:

On our Duck Tour around Singapore:
A few of the major sights on our tour: Marina Bay Sands Hotel/Casino, Merlion Park and Singapore Flyer
After our tour, we headed down to Arab Street to have a look. It's a quaint place with lots of little local shops selling all kinds of things from carpet to candy! Our final stop was a gorgeous Mosque (aren't allowed in) and everything went downhill from there - literally!
While the parents were here we also took a bus trip to Malacca, Malaysia. If you come half way around the world you need to see as much as you can and Malaysia is just a hop, skip and jump away! It was a RAINY 2 days but we made the best of it - MOST of us did at least! (DOD - you are a TROOPER!) Here are a few pics from our VERY short trip:

We rounded out our trip to the Night Safari as well as a little shopping in China Town. Oh, and you can't forget the final trip to the Alexandra ER (total cost was less than $100 USD) as DOD got Conjunctivitis!! Finally, alas time to bring my parents back to the glass windows that separate you from everyone traveling and customs!



Happy Chinese New Year - the year of the Snake!!

Opening Cermonies of Chinese New Year

So last weekend we went with some friends to dinner and then headed to the opening ceremonies of Chinese New Year. Who knew how big and fabulous it was going to be!!! But it was a blast! Here is our sights in pictures!

Looking down the main drag in Chinatown is this huge Snake (2013 is the year of the snake):

Belly Dancer:

Dragon Dancing - head and tail:

Ansley's vantage point sometimes:

But Ansley does LOVE to get down in Chinatown!
Chopsticks anyone!?

TO BE CONTINUED......when Grammi and PopPop return from Thailand!

Holiday December 2012 - Good Morning Vietnam!!

So the girls were out for a month for holiday and we NEEDED to go somewhere - and Vietnam hit three out of the three criteria - CLOSE, CHEAP and most importantly, FUN! We arrived Saturday, December 22nd and it took a bit to get through the Visa process. All in all it was quite easy but some were a little frustrated with the process. I opted to get get the "visa on arrival" so we wouldn't need to leave our passports with the Vietnam Embassy and honestly, it was a little cheaper. I sent away for the letter required and filled out all the paperwork and had it in order upon arrival. Then we had to wait about 30 minutes to get our Visas processed and we were on our way!

We headed to a hotel Lenny had found on trip advisor and it worked for us. We usually stay for free on points, but since Vietnam was so inexpensive it wasn't worth wasting the points here versus going somewhere really she she and using the points there. So Ha My 2 Hotel it was!

We did a lot of really fun things while we were there....
Day 1 Saturday - Headed to the tailors to get Lenny some slacks and shirts made. Talk about INEXPENSIVE!! So we live in Asia but the Asians are NOT Lenny's size so tailored clothing is really the ONLY option! BONUS - I also got a dress made for a wedding we are headed to this summer....very excited!

Day 2 Sunday - Headed down the Mekong Delta River. The Mekong delta region encompasses a large portion of southwestern Vietnam and the area covered by water depends on the season. We hopped on a bus for a few hours drive and then headed by boat down the river. We saw floating markets (mass quantity purchasing only ON THE RIVER), how they make puffed rice and even took a paddle boat ride with a driver. It was really a neat experience. Here are some pics of our trip!

We stopped on our trails and ate lunch at a local place where we had fish and rice. The girls were in heaven! Then we walked around for a few minutes and then took our paddle boat back down the river!

On our way back to the bus they take you through the local market....needless to say, its MUCH different that our local market in Singapore!

Day 3 Monday Christmas Eve Day/Night - Decided to be a local and do as the locals do. We hired drivers and motorcycles and took the girls on a tour of Ho Chi Minh City. I have three words about it: IT.WAS.AWESOME! The girls were giddy with excitement....you may as well have told them that Hanukkah Harry existed! The drivers were very surprised that we wanted helmets for the girls cause apparently that's not a "local" thing! We hopped on our motorcycles and off we went! I think the best part of this tour was the fact that we went to party of the city we wouldn't have otherwise seen. Lenny took all kinds of random pics while on the bike. We each had a driver, kid in the middle and then us at the end. Motorcycles here can hold an entire family if needed!

Probably one of the funniest things that happened on our motorcycle trip was Ansley falling asleep on the MOVING motorcycle....complete with hat ON!

On the other hand, Hannah REALLY wanted to sit in front like the local kids on the bike....and so she did and LOVED it!

Here are some of the highlights of things we saw in Vietnam: Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica:

Post office:

Day 4 Tuesday - To spend Christmas 2012 we decided to head to the Cu Chi Tunnels. Again, we headed on a few hour bus ride to head out to the tunnels and on our way stopped at the largest Pagoda in Vietnam.

Little snack break with daddy - this girl LOVES fresh coconut!

We then headed back on the bus and on our way to the Cu Chi Tunnels. The tunnels of Củ Chi are a network of connecting underground tunnels located in the Củ Chi district of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam, and are part of a much larger network of tunnels that underlie much of the country. The Củ Chi tunnels were the location of several military campaigns during the Vietnam War. The tunnels were used by the Vietnamese as hiding spots during combat, as well as serving as communication and supply routes, hospitals, food and living quarters for numerous fighters. Here is Hannah and Ansley showing us how small the openings were:

I have really never considered myself a claustrophobic person but man I think I am. We went into the tunnels for about 60 meters and it had 6 openings where you could come out every 10 meters should you want to so when Hannah said she wanted out at the first opportunity I took it and ran with it! Not only was it really small within it it was really HOT! I never had to crawl but I did have to take off the backpack to just get through to the first opening. To think people LIVED down there!

So Ansley decided after she came out that she wanted to finish going through the rest of the tunnels....so she went back in with a girl we met from Australia on the bus and here she is finishing the entire 60 meters!

Day 5 Wednesday - Our last day here we went and picked up our clothing we had made as well as shopped at the Ben Thanh Market. We took a leisurely ride back to our hotel and headed to the airport....good bye Vietnam you have treated us well!

Happy Holidays from the Levy's holidaying in Vietnam!