overnight stay in KK

From Singapore I traveled across to Kota Kinabalu, the capital city of the Sabah region in Malaysian Borneo. From the air, the landscape is unlike anything I’ve ever seen, with beautiful green countryside and oddly shaped cloud topped mountain peaks jutting out of nowhere. A coastal area, I hear it is one of the top rated dive spots in the world. After landing was a different story all together. The small part of the city that I saw was quite run down. I wouldn’t call it extreme poverty, but is definitely 3rd world. Little shacks dotted the road on the way to the hotel. As we passed onto the hotel property it was like entering an entirely new country. There was no more trash scattered on the roadway, no more pot holed half paved streets. All that was visible was the pristine shoreline and distant peaks. I’ve never been to Hawaii, but this little hotel and the surrounding grounds are exactly how I would imagine one of the upscale Hawaiian resorts to look. The first thing I thought when I got there (after the initial shock of “where did this place come from all of a sudden?”) was what a waste to be staying at a place like this without Wendy. The second thought was what a waste that I was way too tired and short on time to enjoy any of the amenities. I wanted nothing more than the bed and the shower. I had a flight to catch at 7:00 the next morning to Tawau, but I had to take a walk around the property before the sun set just to take a few pictures. Maybe Wendy and I can come back some day and do a little diving and whatever else there is to do around here.

Behind the hotel

The pool deck area with sunset in the background

Little Tiki Bar on a jetti pininsuila

Back to School

Well, after what seems like eternity, we have finally gotten back to our Heart of Dakota materials for school. We took a break from that starting with the week of our move, and due to moving in, unpacking, and a week-long Thanksgiving vacation we are just now getting back into the 'groove'. The kids have been working on handwriting, english, math, and doing lots of reading the whole time...but now we get to add back in the activities and read alouds for science, history, and story time. So far, it's been a good transition. We still have several things to do in the house to be considered completely moved in, but we're good for the most part. I'm hoping to get a lot of it done while Karl is away on his trip. I still have 7 days until he returns, so I think I can do it. :) I do still need to begin getting up at a regular (earlier) time, but we're still able to get all our stuff done...there's no going anywhere right now since I am not driving in the snow, so it doesn't really matter when we start or finish. I just feel better when we get started and finish earlier in the day.

I have been researching other curricula...which seems to be a constant pass time of mine, even when I'm happy with what we're using. I don't know if it's a constant need for change, a desire to make sure we aren't missing the perfect curriculum, or just a desire to find things I can add that are exciting...who knows? The problem is, I never seem to add the things I download for that purpose, because we don't really have a lot of time for that even with no extracurriculars on our schedule. The main reason I am searching now is because I am concerned that HOD will be difficult to use when the baby is here. We will finish out the year with it, so I'll have 3 months to try it with her in the house, but I want to research now so I'll be prepared if I feel we need to go with something different. Some things I am looking at are: Christian Light Education, Abeka, Core Knowledge, Landmark Baptist, Rod and Staff (we already use their English and the kids do great with it), Robinson Curriculum, A-Squared Homeschool Curriculum, and The Classics Curriculum. What I'm really looking for is something that will free me up to work on reading and math with Corbin, and of course to spend the time with the baby that I'll need. For now, Corbin has just begun using http://www.time4learning.com/ and is doing pretty well. It's done on the computer, has reports that I can look at so we can go back and work on something if he struggled, and it's self-paced. I think it'll be a good fit for now...and we'll get to LHTH with HOD if and when I carve out time in our schedule. So, it's a lot to consider. I definitely want the older to to begin to learn to be more independent, and we've already been doing that with English, math, and handwriting. I am of course available if they have questions about anything. So, if there are any of you in cyber-land that have used these curricula in the past, I would love to hear from you about how it worked, or didn't work, for you. I love personal recommendations, either for or against. I am also considering creating my own curriculum using the many things we already have on hand...I think I could do it but I also have a lot of self-doubt. We just have so much great stuff to teach from, I hate to keep buying curricula, adding to our piles of teaching materials, and not using what we already have. I may research that too...I know there are books available that tell you how to put together your own plan. I may need to make a trip to the library...or the bookstore.

Well, it's getting close to dinner-time. I need to get something on the stove so I can feed my hungry babies...and me too! Until next time...adieu!

Never Waste a Layover

For any one who doesn't know, I’m Karl. Wendy’s hubby of 13 years. I’m currently on my first trip to the Far East since taking over the region as program manager. I will be spending a majority of my time on Borneo Island at the eastern tip of Malaysia. I’ll try to post snippits of the trip on Wendy’s site as time permits.

I Arrived in Singapore after a nonstop flight from Newark, NJ. This was an interesting flight on Singapore Airlines, as the entire plane is configured for business class seating. I’ll go ahead and say it. I don’t care how nice the seats are, 19 hours is a long time to be on a plane. Landing meant time to stretch my legs.

I had an 8 hour layover here before traveling to my final destination in Tawau, Malaysia, and not wanting to spend it in an airport terminal, I decided to take a taxi downtown. I did not know this, but the country of Singapore is not much more than the size of a large US city. It sits right middle of the two main land masses of Malaysia and is separated on all sides by water. The city proper is very clean and modern. Once downtown, you really wouldn’t know you were outside of the states. It was Just before 7 am local time when I arrived, and most of the downtown area was closed. Because of this I had the Taxi driver drop me off a couple miles outside the downtown area in a residential area that contained a shopping district that he said was open 24 hours. This particular strip reminded me of some of the costal areas of Mexico and the Caribbean, and is probably where most of the locals do their day to day shopping. Interesting side note. I had something happen to me that I never experienced before. When the taxi let me out the meter read 20RM. (RM is shorthand for Renggit, the local currency). After giving the driver 24 he said "you gave me more." and haded back the extra 4. I never thought I'd live to meet a cabbie that didn't accept tips!

From here I hoofed it to the downtown harbor area, which was beginning to open for business by the time I arrived. In a previous post I think I remember writing about my ride on the London Eye, created as the largest ferris wheel on the planet. As cool as it was, I remember being slightly disappointed that by the time I got to it, a larger one had already been constructed… in Singapore. So on my way downtown I walked through Singapore’s new creation, the Singapore Flyer, which was of course built a few meters taller than the one in London making it the new largest. But as is the case with all record breakers, they are due to be one day broken themselves. Dubai is currently working on the Great Dubai Wheel which is due for completion next year.
This was taken from one of the overpass walkways on my trek downtown. That’s the other tip off that you’re out of the states. Everyone drives on the left side of the street. I really like those trees.

This is me across the harbor from the business district on my way downtown. Notice the little white objects in the water behind me. I was told that they are wishing balls. They are the size of large beach balls. The idea is that you pay a little bit of money to write your wish for the upcoming year on one of them and set it afloat in the harbor. I’m not sure if this is an old tradition or a new idea thought up to raise money for charity, but is seems fun. Also note the little white post over my left shoulder on the opposite bank. This is a Mer-Lion. The next picture is a closer view of this, but I just wanted to give a sense of perspective to the distances of the pictures.

This is a closer shot of the Mer-Lion, guarding the downtown harbor area. It is a half Lion half fish combo (think Mermaid, but fuzzier) and is apparently a national symbol of Singapore. Since taking this pic, I’ve seen a couple in tourist brochures taken from a different angle to make it appear as if the water from its mouth is flowing into the open mouth of a person in the foreground. I wish I had thought of that. Oh well, maybe next time.

After getting my morning exercise I hopped back into a cab for the next leg of my journey that would take me for an overnight stay in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. Overall, it was a great morning. I think my new travel motto will be “Never waste a layover.”

First Lego League Tournament...

The competition was fierce yesterday at the First Lego League Championship Tournament, but our team did very well. We did not win the championship title, but the Lego Lambs did come home with 2 trophies (for the team) for second highest in points and most innovative robot design. Here is an article if you'd like to read more...it includes a photo of two of our team members. We also hear we were on the nightly news...captured collecting one of our trophies! Cool stuff. :) I found a link to that too...we are the team in the dark aqua shirts...shows just a brief glimpse.

Such a cutie...

I have something cute I want to share that Corbin said today. :)

We finally bought Wall-E and watched it today. During a scene that shows the Milky Way galaxy Corbin tells Logan, "The Milky Way..where the aliens can get milk." I just thought his innocence was so cute..he'll learn all about the world soon enough, and I'm still enjoying his fresh, untouched perspective!

We also got our Christmas tree up and decorated today, and it looks very nice. Now it really is beginning to feel like Christmas! We've gotten our Christmas shopping done..just have to send some packages to family members. And I do still have to wrap the kids presents....we'll save that 'til just before Christmas day. We're gonna work hard at 'school' for the next two weeks, then we'll be off again until after New Year's Day We'll start back once Karl returns to work in the new year. And then, of course, we have Hailey and Logan's birthdays. They want us to go to Splash Lagoon again; I'm not sure if we're planning to do that or not. It was fun, so maybe we will. I have to do shopping for that too, but I'll wait for the after-Christmas sales to try to get some good deals!

Well, I have to keep an eye on dinner. Have a great weekend everyone, and keep Logan's team in your prayers His big competition for Lego League is tomorrow.