Where Have I Been?

Well, happy summer! I’m sorry I’ve been MIA but I have several good reasons for my absence. First and foremost, summer in Europe means holidays for many which means my work schedule becomes much lighter. Great for keeping up with my European Adventures but not so great for making money and paying bills. But I have been able to do a lot of more local, short trips on the cheap. Some examples include: Beaune, France, Bruges & Dinant, Belgium, Altfels & Saarburg, Germany, Upper Sur Lake in Northern Luxembourg & a hot air balloon ride in Thionville, France. And while I’m writing this, taking a long drive to Florence, Italy. I’ll be sure to update you on each of these trips in the near future.To help compensate my funds, I’ve also become a paid weekly contributor for RunnerClick. RunnerClick millions of readers with whom I’ve been able to share destination runs, exercise and rehabilitation programs, interviewing other inspiring runners, and reviewing up and coming running brand businesses. Go ahead and check them out, if you haven’t already. In the meantime, I’m honored to have been interviewed by Boston Voyager Magazine. Being able to share my story and hopefully inspire others to follow their dreams, puts a huge smile on my face.As I’m sure most of you are aware, my strong passion besides sport is travel. I’ve recently made a video entry for a contest through Travello to win an Ultimate Australian vacation and adventure trip. The contest ends this week and I would so much appreciate your support and clicking here to vote for my entry to help increase my chances to win this Epic prize! I’ve also been fortunate enough to live in the country of France and watch them win the World Cup this year in Russia. Although I’m not a huge soccer fan, it’s fun to be part of the excitement of a huge world sport. Allez Les Bleus, Champions du Monde! And to top it all off, I’ve started my 11th Marathon training for the NYC Marathon on November 4th. Training in the summer is not my favorite but running NYC is on my bucket list and brings me to 4 out of 6 in making my way to complete The Abbot World Marathon Majors. Doing NY also brings the opportunity to visit home and Boston right before my birthday!So, here’s the brief catch up on my side of the world. I’ll be back soon to dive deeper on my local escapes! See you soon!

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What to do in Singapore and from One Runners Perspective. A weekly series of daily itineraries: Day 9

Well, I’m finally finishing up my blog posts about my Singapore trip and the things to do in there and near by South East Asia. If you’ve been following along, I appreciate your support and patience as I know some posts were not always a week apart. I have to admit it’s because I’ve become a regular contributor for the site RunnerClick, plus work, and half marathon training. Time has become more and more occupied with free time becoming less frequent. But enough with excuses, here’s my finale to my series!

Day 9 brought about a final day of running, as I was still training for the Paris Half Marathon in early March. The race would be immediately after a 13 hour flight home to Luxembourg and then a train ride from Metz to Paris. Check out that race recap here.

On my final full day, I made an 8 mile run out to a unique park called Haw Par Villa. It was created by the man who invented Tiger Balm to teach youths and others about Asian historical stories. Entrance into the park is free allowing one to view the most colorful, somewhat crazy and interesting sculptures depicting different eras in eastern time. Most stories are fables or folk and lore while others are about royalty and religious conquests.

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Haw Par Villa

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After getting my unique cultural history lesson, I took the metro over to the Chinese Gardens. Here I found beautifully kept landscapes with authentic Chinese and Japanese architecture housing the most amazing bonsai tree collection.

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Chinese Gardens

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Making my way back to the hotel to shower and pack, Katie and I had a final happy hour with dinner and meeting some other expats and Australian tourists before making I made my way back to Chiangi Airport for a red eye flight.

In summary, Asia has some of the most beautiful, culturally influencial countries in the world with the most amazing food and people. I’m thankful for the opportunity to visit Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, and Indonesia. Being able to experience this interesting world is my strong passion and I can’t wait for my next adventure.

What to do in Singapore and from One Runners Perspective. A weekly series of daily itineraries : Day 8

If you’re just checking in for the first time, I’ve got 7 days of what to do in South East Asia that you can check below! Otherwise welcome to the continued journey bringing us to day 8 back in Singapore.

Day 1: Singapore Popular Tourist Sites

Day 2: Sentosa Island

Day 3: Little India

Day 4 & Day 5: Siem Reap, Cambodia

Day 6: Running Tour of Singapore

Day 7: Bintan, Indonesia

On this day, I ventured out to Marina South Pier in Singapore by metro to catch a 10am morning weekday ferry with Singapore Island Cruise. The cruise ventures to a couple of the smaller islands (St. John’s, Lazarus, and Kusu Island) off the southern part of Singapore, just past Sentosa Island. The ferry first brings you to St. John’s which has a connecting land bridge to Lazarus, from there they give you 2-3 hours until the ferry picks you back up at St. John’s Island for a quick trip to Kusu Island for 45 minutes and then back to the mainland by late afternoon.

St. John’s Island

Known as an old quarantine island for immigrants who suffered from cholera and leprosy, now vacant for campers, tourists and homeless cats and my main reason for this adventure. The ferry dropped us off at a jetty near a lagoon. I made a quick tour of the main lodge and campground sites before feeding the homeless cats that all seem to hang out by the bridge landing before heading to Lazarus Island. After a 15 minute feeding session, I made my way over to Lazarus which took about a 15 minute walk.

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Photo 1: Welcome Lodge to St. John’s Island, Photo 2 & 3: homeless cats of St. John’s Island

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Lazarus Island

Here is where the more tranquil and quiet beaches rest. I think mostly because it was a weekday but also being a secluded island, I basically had the place to myself except for a docked boat and two other ferry passengers. Although I’ve read, weekend trips here will be packed.

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Photo 1: Bridge Walkway between St. John’s Island & Lazarus Island, Photo 2: Enjoying the quiet beaches of Lazarus Island

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Kusu Island

After about 3 hours, the ferry picked us up for a brief stop at Kusu Island. This is a legend island known for its Tortoise Temple and fostering turtle sanctuary. The layover to Kusu was only about 45 minutes but have you enough time to visit it’s temple, shrines and sanctuary before heading back to Singapore.

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Kusu Island and Turtle Sanctuary

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After a relaxing, touring day, I made it back to the main island for ladies night in the financial area. Meeting up with my friend Katie, we started our evening at Level 33 to catch a glimpse of the evening light show of Gardens by the Bay and the Marina Bay Sands Hotel. We then headed over to The Fullerton Hotel rooftop bar called Lantern which has free drinks for the ladies. After several cocktails, we knew we needed dinner and headed along the waterfront near Merlion Park and ate outdoors at The Pelican to continue to get great views of the evening light show.

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Photo 1: Katie & I at Level 33, Photo 2: The Fullerton Hotel Rooftop bar, Photo 3: The light show view from Waterfront

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Join me next week as I conclude my journey with a last long run in on my last full day to visit the bizarre tourist attraction called Haw Par Villa.

What to do in Indonesia & Singapore from One Runners Perspective. A weekly series of daily itineraries : Day 7

When you’re in Singapore, you are given many chances to visit near by countries, quickly and affordably, and that’s exactly what I did.

From Singapore’s Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal near the airport, one can take an hour long ferry to Bandar Bentan Telani in Bintan, Indonesia. This northern island of Indonesia, second most promoted after Bali, is cluttered with resorts along the coast. Picking one over the other can be your hardest decision of the day but you will be completely pleased in any one of your final destinations in Bintan.

I opted for the day pass at Club Med Bintan. For under $100 dollars you get pristine white beaches, 2 pools, 2 all you can eat and drink restaurants, daily sponsored activities like water aerobics or any water sport and even a trapeze lesson. Friendly servers, delicious cocktails and serene beach coastlines filled my day in Indonesia. It was paradise.

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After spending the day and afternoon in Bintan, Indonesia, I took the ferry back to Singapore. A taxi ride later and I made my way to meet up with my friend Katie at the famous Newton Hawker Food Center. A huge outdoor fast food court with hundreds of options for Asian cuisine. You can go off the beaten path and try a unique delicacy like sting ray or stick to more traditional tiger prawns, chili crab, beef skewers or bbq chicken. You really can’t go wrong, especially if you enjoy meat, for an incredibly cheap price you can wash it all down with one or two Tiger Beers. A great way to close out the evening!

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What to do in Singapore and from One Runners Perspective. A weekly series of daily itineraries : Day 6

Making my way back from Cambodia, I had a lot on my plate planned for seeing more of Singapore. An early rise at 8am & after breakfast, I had a long run planned and started by making my way towards Arab Street and the Kampong Glam District.

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Masjid Sultan

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This area hosts many mosques along with brightly painted buildings full with street art, souvenir & coffee shops. It’s serene, hip, & cool. Perfect for colorful photo opportunities.

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After exploring a bit, I made my way over to East Coast Park. A perfect area made up of a long stretch of walking, running & bike paths parallel to the beach and lined with easy going restaurants.

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East Coast Beach

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After a 13 miles I was ready to hit the beach. After a quick swim, I showered up at one of the free public restrooms equipped with showers and caught a bus back into town to stroll in the Botanical Gardens.

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Botanical Gardens

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A huge park with several species of flowers, plants and trees, one could spend an entire day in its peace and tranquility.

This busy day had me tired early so I just grabbed some take out and planned my day 7 which included a day trip to Indonesia. Check in next blog for a day in Bintan, Indonesia!

What to do in Siem Reap, Cambodia from One Runners Perspective. A weekly series of daily itineraries : Day 4-5

This week’s series of daily itineraries in South East Asia brings us to the ancient temples of Siem Reap, Cambodia. Since we were here for only a short weekend, I’m going to quickly wrap up the weekend in today’s series. Want to know what I’ve done up to this point? Check out Day 1, 2, & 3 in Singapore.

Last we left off my friend Katie & I had arrived at our resort in Siem Reap with plans for a 4am start for Day 4. Our hotel arranged everything for us with a day long tuk-tuk and even a boxed breakfast to take with us. Leaving in the dark from the hotel, our driver took us to the ticket booth for the Angkor village. We weren’t alone with the early morning start, finding lines of foreign tourists. The ticket booth has two areas to line up, one for a day pass ($37USD) and another for multi-day passes (3 day $62 or 7 day $72). While one of us waited, the other was able to grab some decent iced coffee to get us motivated for this early morning start. After about 30 minutes including taking a quick photo for the pass, we had tickets in hand and made the 15 minute journey to the massive Angkor Wat temple.

Upon arrival, our driver confirmed a 2 hour later pick up and left us to walk in the dark with the masses of people to grab a sunrise view. Now the waiting begins for the sun to rise with a couple thousand others. We unfortunately had a day with overcast, so the colors weren’t so magnificent but the daylight brought an incredible view to the massive temple.

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Angkor Wat Sunrise

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After you’ve had your Instagram moments, you are then allowed to explore the insides of the temple. As a respect to the religion and culture, people are expected to cover their shoulders and knees, making the exploring a bit sweaty after some time, even at 6am. After about 45 minutes of climbing the inside and out of the temple, we passed through a small street market filled to the brim with small souvenirs from pants & tank tops to straw hats while other options included artistic leather cut outs and paintings, all negotiable with the aggressive sellers. After a couple of small purchases, we made our way back to the tuk-tuk but not before passing wild monkeys that wait by the exits for tourists food.

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Inside Angkor Wat – the largest temple in the world, beginning as a Hindu temple later transitioning to Buddhism & declared as UNESCO Heritage Site in 1992.

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Beginning with the largest and most well known temple, our tuk-tuk then took us to several smaller temples over the 500 acres of land reserved for the heritage site. One can literally spend days exploring the massive lands, but we made our trip through the early afternoon until the sun rose and made an exit before the temperatures became too hot.

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3 stops from several of the different Angkor temples

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Our tuk-tuk brought us back to the resort where we made use of the pool by having lunch and beers before a well deserved nap.

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Pool Vibes

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Our resort, Borei Angkor Resort & Spa, also hosts a cultural dance and dinner every Tuesday and Saturday evening. Instead of venturing out, we opted for the dinner and show which was not the least bit disappointing.

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Traditional Cambodian dancing and cuisine

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That evening we ordered another tuk-tuk from the hotel to take us 10 min down the road to the infamous Pub Street. This is a section of town that hosts the nightlife including bars and restaurants, massages from a person or a foot massage from fish, fried scorpion on a stick, homemade fried ice cream and the night market. Fantastic, lively place that should not be missed if visiting Siem Reap.

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Pub Street and Night Market

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An eventful day led to a good night’s sleep where we returned back to the pool on Sunday morning (Day 5) before we headed back to Singapore with an afternoon flight. Next week I’ll give you my Day 6 last, long running route in Singapore prior to my Paris Half Marathon, where I hit up Arab Street, East Coast Park and the Botanical Gardens.

What to do in Singapore and then Cambodia from One Runners Perspective. A weekly series of daily itineraries : Day 3

We’re continuing on with my weekly series of what this runner did while visiting South East Asia in February of this year. Day 1 itinerary included must see icons of Singapore. Day 2 was a trip to Sentosa Island. We’ve made it to Day 3 and we start in Singapore but make our way over to Siem Reap, Cambodia for the weekend.

Little India

Reminder: I was still training for the Paris Half Marathon which would be 10 days away so I still had to get some runs in on my travels. I made a morning start from Orchard Road and made my way over to Little India, about a twenty minute run. A 9am start may have already been a little too late as the heat pelted on me with minimal shade. I headed east, past the extensive shopping plazas, until I hit SOTA (School of the Arts Singapore) and made a left. Following this about a kilometer you eventually make it to a crosswalk with two life-sized Elephants, made from purple, yellow and pink flowers to welcome you to the gates of Little India.

The area is comprised of narrow streets filled with gold jewelry shops, a temple and a market.

However tempting it was to buy some gold bangles, I held back and went to admire the colorful roof of the Sri Veeramakaliammam Temple.

After I crossed the street and ventured towards the Indian Heritage Museum and market. Adorned with bright hand bags, intricate wood carvings and incense, I figured I would have to make a return trip as I knew I wouldn’t be able to run back with my hands full. Enjoying the flavor of the culture for about 30 minutes, I made my way back to the hotel the same way as I came. I quickly showered up and got ready to take the hour and twenty minute bus directly to Changi Airport for an afternoon flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia where my friend Katie and I would explore the Ancient Temples over the weekend.

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1. Running on Orchard Road, 2. Through SOTA, 3. The greeting Elephants of Little India, 4. Sri Veeramakaliammam Temple, 5. Running towards the Indian Heritage Museum & Markets

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Siem Reap, Cambodia

After a brief layover in Bangkok, Thailand (in my opinion one of the least attractive or accommodating airports, at least where our gates were), we made it to Siem Reap Airport by early evening. Definitely, one of the smallest airports I’ve been to (the smallest being Beckley, West Virginia) it was quite easy to figure out where and what you needed to do in order to get a visa. Strangely enough, they take US dollars in Siem Reap. So upon arrival you hit up an ATM to get $35 for your Visa and then make your way to the taxi stand to get to your resort. Cambodia is still a third world country so everything in comparison is very affordable, the cab being $10 for a 15 minute ride. Upon arrival at our 5 star hotel called the Borei Angkor Resort & Spa, we made reservations for a sunrise tour (4am departure) with a day rented tuk-tuk to take us to the Angkor Wat Village. Even with our early wake up call, we finished the evening with a couple nightcaps at the hotel bar before getting some shut eye.

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Katie and I making our way to Siem Reap, Cambodia via Bangkok, Thailand

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Stay tuned for next weeks itinerary of the 4 separate days wrapped into one!