Today, we went to Ayutthaya, a Unesco historical park. We visited the Summer Palace and several temples. We knew temples required shoulder and knee coverings so David and Tyler wore cropped pants. Turns out the Summer Palace required long pants for men, so they had to buy these tourist pants ($3 USD).

It was really hot. Luckily some temples provided umbrellas.

For dinner we went to a placed called Rot Rue Dee, serving authentic local Thai food. Everything was tasty, but also very spicy!

After dinner, we went to two night markets

Favorite part of the day:
David: temples 2 & 4
Nat & Ty: night markets
Me: the tour overall

We have a hosted tour today to two different markets: a floating market and a train market. We needed to have an early start since we had to meet our tour group by a certain time and squeeze in breakfast before that.

Our hotel in Bangkok comes with daily breakfast. David loves this part of Asian hotels. He can eat for days if he had the time.

Boy catching up on sleep

Our first stop, floating market. This is the original floating market in Bangkok.

Next stop, a temple. This temple is special because trees grew around it, protecting the buddha.

Train market. This train path has become very popular because there are vendors along side the railroad and when the train comes through, the shops need to pull back their merchandise or furniture. The train was late today so lots of tourists were just waiting around.

While we were waiting, we decided to get a seat at a rail side cafe to have a light lunch and get a good view when the train came by.

We got back to the hotel in the evening and headed to Chinatown.

Not long after we arrived in Chinatown, it started to rain. We went into a 7-11 thinking we could wait it out but it rained harder and harder. So we bought ponchos and headed back out to the street.

With the heavy rain, we weren’t able to walk around much so we got a Tuktuk and headed to a restaurant Nat picked for dinner.

Dinner was not without drama. We arrived and it was still raining. Turns out the restaurant (Rongros) is very popular from being listed in the Michelin Guide. They require reservations, but we didn’t know. Nat was turned away at the door. We stood across the street under a hotel awning trying to figure out what to do next. David tried again, but they said no. After about 15-20 mins, he tried again and they were able to seat us! What luck. The food was amazing and the view of Wat Arun was even more amazing. The rain started to clear while we were eating. It was a nice end to our day.

Favorite part of the day:
Tyler: TukTuk ride
Me, David, and Nat: Dinner at Rongros

We left Singapore today and headed to Bangkok. Nat was excited to leave Singpapore. She had a great time here but was ready to start a real vacation.

After 2 long days of walking and heat, we had a small window of time to rest a little longer before starting our day.



We went to the airport early to explore it some more. Nat also wanted us to eat at the food court since it was the first place she ate at when we she arrived in Singapore.

The food court is at the bottom floor. This is bottom of the Jewel fountain as well. It turns on everyday at 10:00am. We were waiting for it the turn on.










Bangkok. It’s really hot here (too).

After checking in to our hotel, we headed to Chatuchak Weekend Market. Only open on weekends, it’s the largest market in Thailand. We got there late in the day so we only explored some of it. Plus it was really hot.

For dinner, we went to ICONSIAM, a large high-end mall. At the bottom floor is a floating market with cuisines from all over Thailand. The kids had fun buying a variety of food here.

Favorite part of the day:
Tyler, David, and me: Chatuchak Market
Nat: floating market at ICONSIAM

We started our morning having breakfast at YY Cafe Dian. Nat said this place is popular for their traditional Singaporean breakfast: Kaya Toast. It was different from what we had at Toast Box but still really good, especially paired with coffee.


I’m not sure what’s going with Tyler here.

Tyler was having golf withdrawal. We found a golf store at a mall nearby so we headed there so he could swing some clubs around.

We spent the next few hours at Gardens by the Bay, a 260 acre nature park. This place is really relaxing and nice to take a stroll throughout. We were tight on time so didn’t get to explore the full park. This picture was inside the Cloud Forest.

Late lunch at another hawker stall center called Hong Lim.








After lunch, we headed back to the hotel to grab a few things and met Nat’s friend Eric at his hotel and we escorted him to the airport. Eric was heading back to the US and helping Nat bring one of her luggages back. The airport itself is a tourist attraction. Attached is a large mall with a large beautiful fountain inside called the Jewel.



For dinner, another hawker center called Lau Pa Sat. This one was newer and really pretty on the outside.



This dish was delicious.









After dinner, we walked around the pier and checked out the Merlion.









When we got back to the hotel, the kids and David went to the pool one more time.




Favorite part of the day:

Tyler: going to the golf store
David: Cloud forest inside Gardens by the Bay
Nat: pool at night
Me: Lau Pa Sat hawker stalls dinner

Nat had a summer internship in Singapore from June – August at a research company. She met a lot of great new friends and also took the opportunity to travel to Bali and Malaysia while she was there. David, Tyler, and I met her in Singapore at the end of her program and are kicking off our summer vacation in Asia. We were so excited to be reunited with her.

We arrived in Singapore around 6:30am local time. After dropping our luggage off at the hotel, we walked over to a place called Toast Box for a traditional Singaporean breakfast while waiting for Nat to meet us.

Soft boiled eggs, kaya toast, and coffee. Simple and delicious.

Throughout Singapore, we took the MTR (subway). Nat has become a pro with all the MTR lines and stops. It was nice not to have to look at a map and just follow her direction.

Our first stop was Chinatown. There were lots of cute shops with souvenirs, cafes, and this big beautiful temple. We picked up a few souvenirs in Chinatown.

Lunch at a hawker stalls near Chinatown called Maxwell

Tyler said this was the best Hainan chicken he’s ever had

After lunch, Nat took us to through Haji Lane, a narrow street known for its street art, with cafes and shops. Then we checked out this Sultan Mosque and then walked through Arab street and shopped at Bugis. It was very hot.

In the later afternoon, we headed back to the hotel to enjoy the rooftop pool and relax a bit before dinner. The pool and the view of Singapore were amazing!

For dinner, Nat took us to Jumbo Seafood. The restaurant is known for their chili crab. It was very tasty!

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to get a spot at the rooftop to watch a firework show. It was Singapore’s National Day so there were lots of celebrations, including a parade and firework show. Watching the fireworks from the top of the hotel was pretty cool.

Favorite part of the day:
David: the rooftop pool & fireworks
ME and Nat: family reunion
Tyler: hawker stall lunch – Hainan chicken rice

Tyler’s high school graduation was last week. Auntie Wileen, James, Uncle Chubs, and several friends came to watch his graduation ceremony. While I’m relieved high school is over and both kids are “adults” now, I’m sad there will be no more school athletic games or performance shows to attend. Tyler plans to start competing in amateur competitions so hopefully we’ll get to watch some of those.

David and I gave each other a pat on back for doing a good job as parents. We’ll be vacationing more now (without the kids!).

After graduation, we invited some friends and had dinner at his favorite restaurant: Pho Kim Long

Nat participated in a fashion show last week at school. She designed and made 3 outfits herself, modeling one of them and her friends modeled the other two. David and I drove down to see the show and PoPo and Big Uncle came from LA too. Her designs were wonderful and showed off her craftiness!

Pre-show. Last minute touch ups

The next set of pictures were taken by a photographer at the show

Tyler qualified for BVALs (Blossom Valley Athletic League) again this year. His school was originally only allowed to send 1 player because they didn’t have a team and there was another player with slightly better scores than Tyler. But since Tyler’s scores were good, Coach was able to get Tyler in as an individual competitor. Tyler played the best game of his life! It turned out to be a really big day for him. He got 7 birdies and scored a 67, 7 strokes better than the next higher score, and ended up taking 1st place!! We were all so thrilled for him!

Coach Liv and the marshall for the match, who happened to be Prospect High’s former golf coach

Wileen and James came out to watch too

Champion!!

His name is on the school marquee for all to see!

David summarized the match in this video below. 4+ hours condensed to 16 minutes.

Tyler’s school prom was last Saturday. He went solo with friends and said he had a good time. His friend Nathaniel whom he’s known since kindergarten came over to carpool with him.

I have two adult children now. It feels wierd saying it. Uncle Chubber referred to Tyler as the “adult”. And I totally agree. While it’s true based on his age he’s an “adult”, he still very much acts like a baby. And I call him “The Baby”.

We spent his birthday weekend in Monterey where he participated in a two day golf tournament at Del Monte Golf Course. After we got home on Sunday, we had dinner at his favorite Pho restaurant with Uncle Chubs, Daniel, Vanida, and Wileen.

The Chiu cousins weren’t able to join us for pho, so we met another day and had hot pot at Seapot, followed by boba! The kids are so lucky to have so many family members around.