Botanical Garden

 On Wednesday morning Mia didn't feel well and she stayed in bed when we met Ji's aunt and cousin when they showed us the botanical garden. Since we really enjoyed it we also took Mia there in the afternoon when she felt better again. It was quite hot so we had to look for a cold drink

Some strange creatures were running around in the park

We cooled of in a cool house for orchids that grow on mountains

When it turned dark we headed to a hawker market in China Town

From there we then walked to the river after some fresh squeezed organge juice from a vending machine

Trip to Singapore

For Mia's two week break in early June we decided to combine a trip to Shanghai with one to Singapore - it was almost the same price for both stops on the same airline ticket.
Ji's cousin who lives in Singapore and who she last saw more than 25 years ago in the US picked us up at the airport and drove us to our hotel on Orchard road. First we tool some pictures at a indoor waterfall at a mall attached to the airport

The next day we explored the area around Marina Bay. We could see chickens in different parts of the town

We cooled off a bit and had lunch at a huge mall

We watched a light show in the evening

On the way back to the metro station a long tunnel with mirrors was used by groups of young dancer for the practice

Shopping for summer clothes

For our upcoming trip to Singapore and  China we needed to buy some extra summer cloth. So we went to hughe shopping mall north of Mannheim. We even took a fashion advisor along

BOGY

For the week of May 2 -9 Mia went every day to Frankfurt to work for her BOGY internship at a big service company there. The internship is required by the school in grade 10 and a Girl Scout leade had helped her get the spot

The last day she helped out a a public event with very tall basketball players

Easter

 We were back from our trip to Saxony in time for a Easter egg hunt at home

Mia tried to thorough the eggs she found  into a bowl - this was not so easy

But eventually it worked

Halle (Saale)

After visiting a museum on German history in Leipzig - which was one of the centers of the peaceful revolution in East Germany - we went to the nearby city of Halle.The city is the birthplace of Georg Friedrich Händel - another famous composer fromthe baroque.

We walked a bit in the old town and discovered an Easter market in an former monastery

Next stop an old castle- the Morizburg

Exploring Leipzig

 In the morning we spend some time to check out the train station in Leipzig - one of the largest in Europe

Then we stopped at a museum for German history. It is in Leipzig because it was one of the centers of the peaceful revolution in East Germany in the late 80'ies.

In the evening when it was raining a bit we also went to see the monument for the Battle of the Nations that was build to commemorate a giant battle where Napoleon was defeated at the outskirts of Leipzig