Memoirs of the Hansens: October 2016

Oh my goodness, October was busy!!! Shaun and I went to Singapore, Malaysia, and Japan the end of September and the beginning of October. We originally planned to only go to Malaysia and Japan, but we had a delay in San Francisco and got rerouted to Singapore for a 12 hr layover. I was NOT complaining! Singapore was one of our favorite parts of the trip and it worked out so perfectly! Grandma Patsy had the kids during the week and my parents took them the first weekend and Kim the second weekend.
Here we are in the Singapore airport we had been stuck in San Francisco the previous day, got on a plane that night, lost a several hours flying, didn't sleep on the plane..... we were dirty, exhausted, jetlagged, but so excited to be there!!

We rode the subway into the city and the got on the hop on, hop off bus. It took us all around town and we saw so many fun things!!

Here's some friends we made in line for the botanical gardens. They were so sweet and asked to take a picture with us. We kind of stuck out as Americans and felt like celebrities!

The botanical gardens were AMAZING!!

Little India in Singapore. We ate lunch there and browsed all the shops

That night we flew into Malaysia. By the time we got there, I was falling asleep standing up. I can't remember a time I've been more exhausted. Todd, Pam, and Elise picked us up from the airport and I kept falling asleep mid conversation in the car!! Here's a beautiful shot of the Patronus towers. Todd works right next to them.

Late dinner

Todd and Pam's house is so fun!! It's in a beautiful gated community with jungle right next to it. The house itself was beautiful and huge! We got the 3rd floor all to ourselves, I loved staying with them!!
The next morning I went to Todd and Pam's branch. Todd is the Branch President and they meet in an old embassy. They put in a baptismal font, and it looks really nice! The only thing that gives it away as an embassy is the barbed wire all around the building. That afternoon we went to Genting Highlands. It is a Buddist temple and was one of my favorite things that we saw. So beautiful!!

I loved how it was surrounded by jungle

Right after Genting Highlands, we went to Batu Caves. It's an old Hindu temple right inside this mountain. There are usually monkeys all over, but we came in the evening and didn't see any. So amazing!

The next day, (Monday) we went on a little waterfall hike with Todd and Pam.

Shaun pretended to be Tarzan for about 30 minutes!

After our hike, Shaun and I decided we wanted to stick around and do an ATV waterfall ride. So beautiful!! There are tigers in the jungles and our ATV guide told us how he's seen them at night when he's repairing the roads. Creepy!

That night we went into the town (Kuala Lumpur) and visited China town. Awesome food, fun shops, we loved it and stayed until they closed!!

Shaun trying durian. It's a fruit native to Malaysia that is definitely an acquired taste.

On Tuesday Shaun and I split off on our own and visited an Elephant Sanctuary. We feed adult and baby elephants and even got in a river and helped give a baby elephant a bath.

So cute!! That river was hard to get into. It was so dirty, slow moving, and the large elephants had just bathed in it and pooped in it. I also saw a huge river lizard in the river that the workers chased away right before we got in. I'm so glad we didn't get sick!!! CUTE ELEPHANT!!

After the elephant sanctuary, Shaun and I noticed a cute petting farm. Here's Shaun with an Anaconda.

The next morning (Wednesday) we left for Japan. Right before we left for our early morning flight, we got news that Shaun's stepbrother, Bryan, had passed away. We were heartbroken!! It was all I could think about the plane ride to Japan. We almost came home early, but decided to stay.
Here we are in Tokyo!!! We stayed in a beautiful hotel and found a restaurant that night that had Yaki Soba. So delicious. I could easily live in Japan.

Thursday morning tour to Niko National Park

This park was so beautiful!!

Complimentary lunch for our tour, I honestly have never had a meal I liked more!

Waterfall!

Beautiful rest stop on the way back to Tokyo

That night we explored Tokyo!! Here's the Tokyo scramble. Such a crazy busy street!

We got McDonalds for dinner because they have a Teriyaki burger Shaun loves

Hachiko statue. Real dog that waited for it's owner at the Subway every day.

On Friday we explored Tokyo a tiny bit more, visited a fish market, then took a bullet train to Kyoto. We stayed in a little apartment and it was so fun to see how Japanese apartments actually are. They really utilize their space!! That night we went to a beautiful restaurant where we cooked our food on a little grill in front of us. So cool!
Saturday we went on a tour of Kyoto. There were so many cool things to see!!

Golden Pavillion

My favorite thing was a buddist temple that had 1,000 hand carved statues in it. They didn't allow photography inside, but it was AMAZING!!

That night we walked around Kyoto. Here's some girls in Kimonos.

Here's our apartment!

All packed up Sunday morning ready to go home.

Riding the bullet train back to Tokyo

Finally home with the kids!!! We missed them so much. Here's their Japanese pj's, and Lila's Kimono.

Crazy hair day!

Just 4 days after we got back, Shaun had shoulder surgery. Poor guy!

Gardner Village with the kids. I love going there in October!

After we went to Village Baker and Shaun left work to meet us there. So fun!

Here's Cornbelly's! October isn't complete unless we go!

Halloween dinner at Grandma Jo's

Petersen Farm's pumpkin patch

I got my black belt!! I've started going to instructor classes on Saturday mornings. I haven't been able to go the last few weeks because got a concussion at one of the classes the end of October, and then I had a little surgery. I'll be back at it around Christmas!