Kota Kinabalu

We spent last weekend in Kota Kinabalu, a city in Sabah, Borneo. We stayed with our good friends Chris and Suzanne in this amazing villa right on the ocean.

The sunsets were absolutely incredible the entire weekend. We were so lucky with the weather, we were warned it tends to rain daily but it was clear skies the whole time. Here are a bunch of pictures in our backyard at the villa with several different sunsets.
GORGEOUS!
We also took a trip to go visit the orangutans. They are an endangered species in Sabah, and we were able to see the orangutans at a rehabilitation center where some were being treated before going back into the wild. All the proceeds went to the rehabilitation and protection of these animals. The ones we saw were so cute, very active and seemed happy! Did you know they have 96% of the same genes as us, crazy!

Our first night together we decided to BBQ at the villa. We had a huge spread and the food was delicious!!
We also got to play a game of tennis. It was really too hot to play but we all seemed to manage somehow. The surroundings of the court were beautiful. Here is our team photo! Haha
We had one nice dinner out at the Shangri-La Hotel. Here are some couple shots before we left.

One afternoon after some debating between the boys over what brand of beer was best, we decided to do a blind taste test of 3 types of beers. The game was to try to identify the different brands, and pick our favorite. Funny enough, everyone got it wrong!!! And the few people (aka Chris) who were insistent about a certain brand being superior, in fact ended up choosing that said brand as his least favorite during the blind tasting. So funny.


The rest of the weekend was spent poolside or bar-side during happy hour.

Overall it was another very fun weekend full of many laughs and great memories. We are very lucky to travel to so many great places, and enjoy these times with amazing company.
You can view the rest of the photos of the weekend on my snapfish account by clicking here.

This is a post of random photos of last weekend. We both worked a ton last week and had a pretty mellow afternoon Saturday after I got off work. We went out to dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant, Iguana's, and after a tequila shot and margarita each we went to watch the FA cup final at a local bar named Harry's. One of Justin's best friends, who is also one of my best friend's boyfriend, is named Gary but we call him Harry. So we always laugh when we go to Harry's bar. Clearly it doesn't take much to humor us. We walked everywhere that night and I wore jeans which is a cardinal sin in this heat. I also wore new heels that were killing me, double whammy. Here's pics of us at Harry's and my adorable but dreadfully hot and uncomfortable outfit.Sunday we went on a 3 hour bike ride. Justin is obsessed with pumping up his tires and oiling his bike before we go on long rides. It cracks me up, he acts like he's a professional rider. So I had to take a pic. And one of the patient wife waiting during his tune up!
It was a beautiful day, with a slight breeze which was nice but I forgot sunscreen and got sunburned :(. We stopped for lunch in an area called Dempsey Hill. I love going up there because all the restaurants and cafes remind me of the US. That was about it for our eventful weekend.

OMG - I just remembered this story as I was uploading the pics to the blog. So on the bike ride Justin was ahead of me and came to a really fast stop. He kept pointing at the sidewalk in front of him and when I caught up to him I saw there was a HUGE Komodo dragon in front of us. Ok that's an exaggeration, but this lizard was the size of half my leg and was walking really fast. It ended up jumping in the bushes but we were both in shock at the size! Never seen anything that size outside of a zoo! We rushed to get a photo, but it wasn't the best shot since that thing was on the move.We are going away on Thursday to an island in Malaysia called Borneo with our friends Chris and Susie who live in Hong Kong. They have a friend who is letting us use their villa in a city called Kota Kinabalu. Its only about an hour flight away, and it is a popular city because it has the 3rd largest mountain in South East Asia there called Mount Kinabalu. We are looking forward to a fun weekend of hiking, laying out and cooking! Here are some pics of the location, and I'll post my own photos when we are back next week. :)

Rock Climbing

Our Sunday morning activity consisted of rock climbing and flea market shopping. The flea market ended up not being that great, but rock climbing was very fun! I found out last week the largest indoor via ferrata wall is about 5 minutes from our house. Via Ferrata is similar to a rock climbing wall, but the things you climb up on are metal rods instead of those funny shaped imitation rocks. Here is a blurb from their website with the history of it

Via Ferrata is a traditional European mountaineering activity, reputed to have been started in Italy in WW1 as a means of letting the Italian troops cross the Dolomites. Since then, many other via ferrata routes have sprung up around Europe, allowing hikers and mountaineers to ascend peaks in total safety.

Here are some pics of the wall for you to get the idea
The wall is 8 stories high
Standing below the wall I think we were both expecting it to be an easy climb and it was absolutely not! We were both shaking and dripping sweat at the end and it took us 40 mins to get to the top. The whole way up you are unhooking and hooking yourself up to safety lines so there is quite a lot of concentration involved. We both really enjoyed it and want to do it again. Here is us learning how to use the safety latches.We are making home made pizza with a friend tonight. Pretty fun Sunday. :)

Date Night :)

Sky Gym

I came home this afternoon in between clients to have lunch and get a quick workout in our building's sky gym. It's called the sky gym because it is on the 34th floor of our complex and the views up there are pretty amazing, especially on days like today.Here is an aerial view of our complex from the gym balcony. The pool mirrors the Singapore river that we are next to. Not a bad place to workout is it?

Stressful

My sister loves to joke about how "stressful" my life is. Let's be honest, my life is basically the furthest thing from stressful. Today was one of those "stress" filled days, and due to my current boredom of waiting for my dinner to cook I thought I would share.

I started off the day with a great gym class of total body toning. I am on a serious health kick for the next 3 weeks to prepare for our sailing trip at the end of the month. I figured I should make an extra effort since I will be spending a week in not much more than a bikini. I bought a bathing suit a month ago without trying it on and the bottoms were just a little tight, it is super cute and I want to wear it so I am using the fit of that suit as my inspiration for the trip.

Second stressful thing of the day was deciding between threading or waxing! I know it sounds tough. I went in for my monthly maintenance on my eyebrows and upper lip, I always wax but I didn't make an appointment today and when my waxing place was booked I was faced with the dilemma of waiting till tomorrow to get waxed or try the lady that does threading instead. I have heard about threading but have never tried it and since I work all day tomorrow I thought no better time than now to give it a try!Well I have to say I am not convinced! It was pretty painful. I know waxing isn't pleasant, but at least its all over with in one fell swoop. Threading consists of a lady rubbing two pieces of actual thread together and pulling out your hair one little section at a time. Ouch! I think I will wait for my wax appointment next month.

In other daily breaking news, I got a hair cut. I cut a whole 5 inches off and I have to say I couldn't be happier. I love long hair, but my hair sucks in Singapore. I can't go 10 minutes outside without sweating up a storm and then my hair frizzes. If I straighten it, it goes curly. If I curl it, its gets stringy. I reiterate, life is clearly very stressful with such obstacles to face on a daily basis. Post hair cut my hair feels so healthy, so much lighter and I swear I wasn't as hot walking home with my new do. I am not one to take solo photos but thought I'd share a pic.I wore my new Theory dress today that I bought in the US and just think it is adorable, so while I was posing for my solo shot I got a pic of that to share as well but not so sure that angle is doing it or me any justice.This stressful day is going to be finished off with watching the first episode of the new season of Real Housewives of New Jersey before my husband gets home (judge all you want, I love that show!), then dinner and bed.
Life is tough, but someone's got to do it ;) xo