outdoors | Nyan Thomas L's Blog

Nyan Takes to the High Seas

Well, not exactly the high seas. But a local bank offers free sailing sessions in Marina Bay, in downtown Singapore. It’s tough to get a slot as it’s very popular, and the program was halted for quite a while during Covid. But once they re-started the program, Daddy quickly scored some seats. He and Nyan kept it a surprise from Mommy, who loves to sail. Here are Mommy and Nyan just before the event:

Here we are, getting ready, and then boarding the dinghy that took us out to the sailboats.

We think the boats they use are known as SM40’s, if that means anything to you, dear reader. Whatever: it was pretty great! Check out all these pics.

Nyan helped out with pulling the lines and whatnot (can you tell your correspondent doesn’t know much about sailing?)

Some great views from the boat and the dinghy, too. Singapore sure is a photogenic place:

The whole thing lasted about 45 minutes. Highly recommended!

Afterwards, we took a casual family stroll around downtown, walking down some picturesque streets and ending up in Chinatown.

We posed for a few pictures too.

A really great weekend afternoon outside!

Leave a comment

Posted by Chris L. on March 8, 2022 in Uncategorized

Tags: outdoors, Singapore

The Great Outdoors

10 Feb

January in Singapore means winter – but that doesn’t mean snow and ice. Instead it means slightly cooler temps (very slightly, but noticeably) and, often, a refreshing breeze out of the north. It’s certainly almost always the nicest month weather wise, and we took advantage of January 2022 with a good amount of time outside.

That included, of course, the swimming pool. There was plenty of slow-motion jumping into the water:

And flips too:

Our hero also continued to work on his diving, with the help of his swimming instructor Pang:

We also went for bike rides along the coast. I mean, just look at that:

Look!

Just lovely.

Leave a comment

Posted by Chris L. on February 10, 2022 in Uncategorized

Tags: outdoors, Singapore

Going Downhill, Fast

07 Dec

Singapore has an entertainment district on a near-shore island called Sentosa. It’s attached to Singapore proper by car, walkways and whatnot, and it’s got hotels, beaches, the amusement park, the aquarium, etc. And…a luge ride! Basically motorless go-carts. One day in November, Nyan went with Jayden and his family.

You have to ride a ski lift-style cable car to get to the site. Pretty great views from up there!

And finally, the ride itself!

Not much more to say. I think Nyan was a little nervous ahead of time, having never done this before, but he had an absolute blast and is already making plans to return!

Leave a comment

Posted by Chris L. on December 7, 2021 in Uncategorized

Tags: friends, outdoors, Singapore

A Visit to Sungei Boleh

05 Aug

In the far northwest of Singapore is a place called Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, a coastal nature reserve featuring jungles and wetlands, with boardwalks and trails and viewing platforms to look at the birds and lizards that live there. It’s quite a haul from our place, but one morning in July Nyan and Daddy headed up there for a morning of light hiking and communing with nature. We were glad we did!

It’s a beautiful place. Supposedly there are crocodiles there, though we didn’t see any. We did see this water monitor lizard though:

Nyan had a good time.

Listen to those jungle sounds!

At the end of the trails is a more curated area with small man-made ponds you can sort of walk through. Bit different from the raw nature of the rest of the park, but fine enough.

All in all, a great way to spend a few sweaty hours!

Leave a comment

Posted by Chris L. on August 5, 2021 in Uncategorized

Tags: animals, outdoors, Singapore

A Sunday Morning Nature Hike

16 Jul

One steamy Sunday morning, Nyan and Daddy set off on a jungle hike to a place called the MacRitchie Reservoir. It’s a series of trails along the shores of a man-made lake. It was hardly roughing it: the place is a 20-minute taxi ride away, all the trails are wide, well-maintained boardwalks, and the place was mostly heaving with other people having the same idea. Still, it was a nice escape.

This being the Singapore jungle, yes there were monkeys.

And plenty of turtles in the near-shore areas.

Pretty great scenery and a good little break, complete with fresh air and (modest) exercise.

Leave a comment

Posted by Chris L. on July 16, 2021 in Uncategorized

Tags: animals, outdoors, Singapore

Multi-Adventure Camp

12 May

Nyan had some time off from school around Easter, and with the Covid pandemic starting to subside for the moment, we were able to send him to an activity camp. We chose “Multi-Activity” which included, well, multiple activities!

There was tent pitching:

And cooking over an outdoor stove:

There were also games like four square, and activities like orienteering, first aid… frankly it reminded us of what Daddy learned to do in Boy Scouts!

Lots of kids, and it was a great time by all accounts.

Leave a comment

Posted by Chris L. on May 12, 2021 in Uncategorized

Tags: outdoors

In the water!

04 Apr

We spent a lot of time in the pool in March 2021. Let’s take a look.

Nyan’s been working on learning to dive:

He’s getting better!

Nyan likes to start off his weekly swimming lesson by tossing a pool float into the water and then jumping in after it:

Wanna see Nyan do a cannonball in slow motion?

More diving. Some better than others. But he’s improving, and that’s what counts:

We try to get him to run a lap or two after his swimming lesson, just for good measure. Check out his form in slow motion:

And running up close, still slow-mo:

And finally: a relaxing time in the pool with good pal Nadia, viewed from 20 stories up.

Leave a comment

Posted by Chris L. on April 4, 2021 in Uncategorized

Tags: outdoors, swimming

Connecting with Nature

08 Mar

As you’ve seen, we like to stroll down to the coast (about a 10 or 15 minute walk) and play in the sand and just soak in the fresh sea air. Here’s one of our visits from February 2021.

We did some sand drawing. Daddy helped – he’s not quite the artist that Nyan is. Oh well.

We like to connect with nature even at home. Our balcony is filled with plants, one of which is pineapple plant we grew from a fruit we bought at the grocery store. Every once in a while it bears fruit!

Also, remember last year when some birds build a nest outside Nyan’s bedroom window and a baby bird hatched? (Read about it here) Those birds still visit our balcony (and in fact built a fresh nest this spring). One day in February, one of the bird visitors looked an awful lot like the little fella who hatched. Can’t say for sure but we choose to believe it was our little guy, back to say hello!

Leave a comment

Posted by Chris L. on March 8, 2021 in Uncategorized

Tags: outdoors

Of Forts, Friends and Feathered Friends

17 Feb

Nyan spent some time in January building a couch fort. It became a favorite place to chillax and read (or play video games):

We spent a lot of time with pals in January, as usual. There was a playdate with Oscar, Noe and Edris:

Fun times with Haowie:

And of course, sleepovers and other fun with Jayden:

And we went on many bike rides along the coast. On one of them we came across a pair of hornbills up a tree. Very cool!

Leave a comment

Posted by Chris L. on February 17, 2021 in Uncategorized

Tags: animals, friends, outdoors

An Afternoon in an Urban Garden

10 Dec

One weekend in November, Mommy signed up herself and Nyan for an urban gardening workshop, to get back in touch with their green thumbs.

They learned about different types of plants, planting techniques, and more. And it was hands-on! Lots of digging and planting — with several planters full of plants that came home and are now happily growing on our sunny balcony.