Siem Reap, Cambodia - Part 2 Ta Prohm

The second stop on our temple tour was Ta Prohm.  This place was like something out of a movie.  Well, actually it was in a movie…Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.

Visiting here felt like stepping back in time.  It would be easy to imagine you were the first to discover this vine-covered temple.  You follow a wide, stone path dominated by enormous trees with sprawling roots toward the decrepit structure.  The way the jungle twists and curls around the stones,  you almost have the feeling it is trying to pull the building down into the center of the earth, angry for having been trespassed upon in the first place.  It is enchanting and foreboding all at once.

Note: Check out the Stegosaurus bas-relief (carving).  Interesting stuff!  Scroll down to picture with caption.

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Because it seems totally safe and responsible to parade your family of small children through a crumbling temple where giant stones litter the hallways...

Can you see the woman staring out from the roots?  Spooky!

Do I spy a Stegosaurus???

Dear Not-So-Baby-Boy,

Dear not-so-baby-boy,

Caleb, you turned two about a week ago.  I have put off writing this blog post in the hopes that I could somehow suspend time.  Maybe if I didn't write about it, it didn't actually happen…

But, alas, it has happened.  You have grown.  Your baby legs are longer and stronger, pulling you up stairs without a pause in between.  Your words are recognizable to strangers.  Your will has made itself known - and what a strong will it is!

Somehow in the monthly hair cuts, the weekly nail trimmings, the nightly baths, and the endless diaper changes, I missed the big picture.  I failed to see how your brow no longer banged against the table edges because you could see over the top.  I didn't notice you sticking your arms through your sleeves without my help.  I heard your sentence without registering the effort it took for you to string those three words together.

My sadness of losing my last baby to childhood is eclipsed by the joy of watching you grow.  You are a light.  Your bright blond hair is like a natural beacon, drawing people (especially Asian people) to you.  And once they see your sweet face, they are hooked.  You have an absolutely devilish grin and the biggest, roundest, deep blue eyes I've ever seen.  Your chubby cheeks beg to be squeezed and stroked.  In fact, it happens so very often, you don't even pause anymore when passers-by touch your face.

You adore your older siblings.  Unable to pronounce the letters "p" and "r," you call Parker "Cocoa."  Maddie is "Yah-yah," a nickname she gave herself.  For some reason, you refuse to say Jack's name, and only grin when we ask - just one example of your playful, willful personality.

You have an absolutely unnatural obsession with shoes.  You try on anyone and everyone's shoes.  In Asia, most people leave shoes outside the front door.  You wait until we have a houseful of guests, then sneak onto the front porch, and parade around in the treasures you find.

Every morning you wake and chant "Poo!  Poo!"  Thankfully, you don't mean you need a diaper change.  You are trying to tell me you want to go swimming.  At 6:30.  You are a fish, son.  You hop right in with no thought as to the consequences.  Thank heavens for the flotation vest Grammy got for you!

You imitate every single noise you hear, often with uncanny accuracy.  Be it a baby crying, a cat meowing, or a jackhammer breaking up concrete, you shout, "Mom! [noise]!"  You are thrilled when I guess correctly.  You remind me of a character in the movie Police Academy…

I love the way you cuddle and snuggle and rub your cheek against mine.  You love to push me into a lying position, peel my shirt back over my belly button and lay your head on my stomach.  I think you would crawl back inside if you could.  You love to hold hands when we walk.  You love to be carried.  You often surprise others with your affection, pointing to their faces and make kissing noises (indicating you want a kiss).

You have traveled more in your 24 months on this earth than I had in my first 37 years.  You've been to the U.S., Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, and recently Cambodia.  You are an amazing traveler.  Each trip gets better and better.  You wait patiently in the immigration lines, you stay buckled in your seat for take off and landing ("bump!"), you nap, and you've stopped kicking the seat in front of you.  I'm so proud of you!

I pray that your life would continue to bless others with joy and love.  I pray that you will continue to grow and thrive.  I thank God every day for the gift of you.

Happy birthday, little boy!

Love,
Momma  

Your birthday pool party

Your birthday present

  

Siem Reap, Cambodia - Part 1 Angkor Wat

The kids were in good spirits while we traveled. 

We were greeted at the airport in Siem Reap by a very sweet tour guide who led us to a large, comfy van.  So far, so good.  After driving a short distance, we arrived at a gorgeous hotel.  We spilled out of the van, and the kids wrestled on the couches in the lobby while Aaron went to the front desk to check in. After only a moment, the staff brought rolled, ice cold wash cloths for our faces and hands and mango juice in long-stemmed glasses.  I was liking this place (even if I did question their judgment in serving juice to my two year old in a glass).  

After a few minutes of confusion at the desk, Aaron realized his secretary had initially booked us here, but then cancelled and put us in another hotel.  Whoops!  Thanks for the free juice…

We piled back into the van and arrived at another beautiful place.  More free juice and cold towels…and more confusion.  Almost immediately a very apologetic employee came over and began speaking to Aaron in worried, hushed tones.  I watched in amusement.  Yup.  Looks like we were moving again.  They had a pipe break in our room and offered to put us up in another nearby hotel.  We laughed at the absurdity of it all and piled back into the van.  We just made it out of the driveway when the driver received a call and turned back into the hotel.  A manager came rushing toward us.  

"I saw you were traveling with small children.  I'm a mother, too.  I have moved other guests out.  Your rooms will be ready shortly."  

Wow!  Then they upgraded us to adjoining rooms.  (I can't tell you how huge this is when you have 2 adults and 4 kids - all of whom require supervision.)  What a blessing!  We settled in, and the older kids watched cartoons while Caleb napped in the other.  We had lunch, put on bug spray and sunscreen, and headed out for our first adventure…Angkor Wat!

This place has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember.  I don't where I first heard of Angkor Wat…whether it was from my mom with her illustrated archaeology books, a PBS program, or something I learned about in school.  I just knew I wanted to venture into the jungle and see these magnificent ancient ruins for myself.

Angkor Wat is a temple complex and the largest religious monument in the world.  Historians believe it took 300,000 builders, 6,000 artisans, and 40,000 elephants 40 years to build and decorate this structure in the first half of the 12th century.  Dedicated to the Hindu god, Vishnu, it was built as the king's state temple and capital city.  

The complex was made of millions of tons of sandstone (more stone than all the Egyptian pyramids combined) that had to be quarried from over 40 kilometers away.  Nearly every stone (including columns and lintels) are intricately carved.  Miles and miles of carvings!

It was raided in the 14th and 15th centuries by the Thai and abandoned for the current capital of Phnom Penh in 1434.  It became overgrown by the jungle, its history lost and mostly forgotten until the ruins were discovered by the French in 1861.  Many monuments were restored, and restoration is ongoing.  It is now utilized as a Buddhist center of worship.

We were greeted by giant, restored, 7-headed serpents (Nāga) on each side of the wide sandstone causeway that lead into the city.

Heading into the city!

The moat surrounding the complex used to be filled with crocodiles to keep enemies at bay.

Caleb loved our tour guide!

Taken inside one of two ancient libraries (empty now) that flank the broad walk up the main temples.

I was so thankful we could climb these safe, wooden steps, as opposed to the original, steep, stone steps below!

Indiana Jones has nothing on this guy!

I think this may be our Christmas card this year…

Monks sitting outside the temple

Goodbye, Angkor Wat!

Next stop: Ta Prohm!

Note:  All historical information in this post came from our tour guide, Wikipedia, infoplease.com, or hotel staff.  

Catching Up - unrecorded travels

Aaron and I just celebrated our 15 year wedding anniversary (and by "celebrated," of course I mean we spent time ALONE - away from all our lovely little monkeys).  As much as I missed the kids, this time was invaluable.  We could do all those gross and boring things grown-ups do when they are away from kids...snuggle in bed without little elbows pushing us apart, hold hands, kiss, talk, etc.  Grammy was home holding down the fort with the help of our amazing helper, and we were in the most beautiful place on earth (which deserves and will get its own blog post at a later date). There, in the comfort of our room, suspended inches from the ocean, I could think.  We could dream.

We dreamt about the future and reflected on the past.  We told stories we've told a thousand times, laughing at all the familiar places.  We shook our heads in amazement of our fabulous kids, grateful for the opportunity to walk alongside them as they grow.  We thanked God for our health, our family, our love.

We found ourselves talking about the amazing adventures we've taken in the last 10 months.  What a whirlwind!  I realized that there are a number of trips we'd taken around Asia that I had never recorded.  Some took place right when we arrived (when my world was turned upside down and I couldn't seem to string a sentence together), some later in the year when we were busy with the daily grind of school and work.

This trip was the perfect time to jot a few notes and share a few pictures.  I was thankful Aaron, with his often annoyingly accurate memory, was there beside me to help fill in all the details...

We arrived in Singapore in September 2015.  After spending 5 weeks in temporary housing, we moved into our home on Maddie's birthday, October 30th.  That same day, Grammy (Susie) arrived to help us unpack.

The following links will take you to our Asian adventures thus far:

Legoland - Johor Malaysia

Kota Kinabalu, Borneo, Malaysia

Penang, Malaysia

Ubud, Bali

Hanoi & Halong Bay, Vietnam

Beijing, China & the Great Wall 

Taipei, Taiwan

Taipei, Taiwan

We arrived in Taipei in the evening.  We were just settling into our hotel when Aaron had to leave for a business dinner.  The kids and I ordered room service, took baths, and had a dance party to the strange music videos we found on T.V.  

The next day, Aaron was in meetings all day.  It was pouring rain.  Refusing to stay cooped up in a hotel room, the kids and I donned our ponchos and headed out.  We found the subway station, bought some passes, and started exploring.  I had read about an amazing park for kids that was just a few stops away.  A quick ride and we were there.  And wouldn’t you know it, thanks to the rain, we had the place all to ourselves!  The first thing Caleb did was stomp straight through a giant puddle.  No towels, no extra clothes or shoes.  I prayed we wouldn’t catch pneumonia.  Gritting my teeth, I smiled and told the kids not to worry about getting wet.  Have fun!  Parker and Maddie gave me uncertain sideways glances. After I assured them multiple times I really meant it, they went to town.  We tried every slide, ride, and climbing wall.  

Leaving the park we [mom] decided we couldn't just go back to the hotel without a teeny tiny bit more sight-seeing.  Yes, we were soaked, yes we were shivering, yes our shoes squelched and leaked water whenever we took a step, but c'mon!  We were in Taiwan!  We might never get to see this place again!  So I dragged the crew to the famous Lungshan Temple.  It was founded in 1738 (rebuilt in 1919) and absolutely stunning.  I've seen lots of temples here in Asia, but none quite like this.  It was constructed of stone, wood, and bronze.  It even had Corinthian capitals on some of the columns.  Beautiful!  

Shockingly [note the sarcasm here] our young explorers failed to appreciate the architectural masterpiece they beheld and began to melt down.  I hurriedly snapped some photos, and we hightailed it out of there, so as not to disrupt the worshippers.  

Once outside, we decided to stop for a snack before heading back to the subway.  As in Beijing, a crowd gathered to count the brood and take pictures.   I had Parker take a picture of the crowd.  It didn't faze them.  I suppose I was thinking they may feel a bit awkward (as I did).  Nope.  Everyone just stood and stared like it was lion-feeding time at the zoo.  We finished our snack and finally headed back to the security of the warm, dry hotel room.

Once rested, we made plans with our friends (one of Aaron’s coworker’s wives and her four kids) to have dinner together. We walked to Outback Steakhouse of all places and enjoyed some traditional Western fare.  Boy did it feel like home!  American accents all around the table, country music, even line dancing performed by the waiters and waitresses.  What a blast!  We made plans to meet up again the next day to visit the zoo and ride the Maokong Gondola.  

Rain, rain, and more rain.  We decided to go to the zoo anyway.  We were joined by Missi and her four children, as well as another coworker’s spouse, Scott, and his two kids.  And so it was that three adults attempted to keep track of ten children in a foreign zoo.  We only lost one.  Seriously.  He was with us; then he wasn’t.  We had all exited the zoo, or so we thought, when we realized the poor kid was gone.  Found him in the visitor’s center.  All’s well that ends well, I suppose.  We snapped a photo in front of the zoo and headed for the gondola.

Tiny frogs we found on the ground at the zoo.  I'm afraid the stroller wheels found a lot of them, too.  

Jack and Caleb were in the stroller.

Did I mention I am afraid of heights?  I can handle gondola rides for short periods of time, but this sucker was nearly 3 miles long!  We opted for the glass-bottomed car, of course.  “

We’re gonna die.  We’re gonna die.  We’re gonna die!” I moaned half the way up.  The kids laughed nervously, “Are we really gonna [die], momma?”  Uh-oh.  I turned away from the window and stared into their wide eyes.  In my fright, I had half forgotten they were with me.  “Um, no, kids, we’re not going to die.  Well, we’ll all die someday, but…”  The terrified looks on their faces weren’t helping matters.  “We’ll be fine!  We’ll be fine!  Mommy just gets nervous that we’re up so high.  It’s unnatural, really…”  

Why couldn’t I just shut up?  I plastered a smile on my face, forced myself to laugh, and pretended everything was fine.  They pretended not to notice their mom had lost it.  Once I was quiet for awhile, everyone began to relax and have fun.  We made it up, then down, then called it a day.  Whew!

Whose kids are those [not afraid of heights]?  Weirdos.

On our last day in Taipei, I took the kids to the 101 building.  Built in 2004, it held the title of world’s tallest building for six years (until some other giant skyscraper in Dubai was completed).  It’s still the world’s largest “green” building due to its energy efficiency.  

Just outside the 101.

Of course, it was still raining, so we weren’t allowed to go to the outer observation deck.  Instead, we rode up to the indoor observation area and were mauled by other tourists.  It was bananas.  I’m not sure where these folks came from, but at one point, security guards approached us to make sure we were okay.  People were picking up the kids, taking photo after photo.  By the end, even Maddie, who typically adores the limelight was burying her face in my stomach (making it impossible for me to move forward).  

Caleb was the only one who didn’t seem to mind.  He reminded me of the penguins on the movie Madagascar: Just smile and wave, boys.  Smile and wave.  So that is what we did: we smiled and waved and shoved our way out of there.  I felt like a celebrity security guard.  Comin' through.  Nothing to see here, people.  Keep moving!  I may or may not have run over a few toes on the way to the elevator.  

I was glad we'd visited, and I was really glad to get home to Singapore.  What a memorable spring break!