Travel with Mona. Visit Singapore

The Republic of Singapore is an island country and city-state located in Southeast Asia. The island has four official languages; English, Tamil, Malay and Mandarin and celebrates the national holidays of many different religions.

High temperatures and nearly constant precipitation are the norm throughout the year.

Singapore is the second most expensive city in the world but has been identified as a tax haven for the wealthy due to its low tax rates on personal income and tax exemptions on foreign-based income and capital gains.

It is one of the cleanest cities in the world. Thanks to rules about spitting and littering, Singapore is free of unpleasant smells or unsightly litter. We were warned not to bring chewing gum on the island.

 Also, it is one of the safest places in the world. Crime is extremely rare in Singapore. Most people feel absolutely safe venturing out on the streets at night. The laws are strictly enforced.

Singapore is described as a Garden City. The Singapore Botanic Gardens, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, covers an area of 74 hectares and is home to multiple themed gardens, three lakes, and a tropical rain forest. It’s the most visited botanic gardens in the world receiving over 4 million visitors annually. 

The orchid is the national flower. As the flower most associated with hybrids, the orchid is a symbol of Singapore’ s multicultural heritage, a representative of the harmony among the various ethnic communities. 

Visiting a Buddha temple is a must.

In addition to buying jade bracelets and earrings in Singapore Chinatown.

If you have the chance to visit Singapore, don’t hesitate. It’s certainly a memorable visit.

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My, how picnics have changed…

Picnics have been around since before I was born and that was a long time ago. Mom made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on store-bought white bread, the kind that tore to pieces if the peanut butter was too thick. We didn’t have baggies of any sort, either. The sandwiches were wrapped in waxed paper or aluminum foil. We took fruit – maybe a watermelon if it was the right season – and a bag of chips. Ah, remember Wampum chips? They were the ‘other’ corn chip. Tortilla chips didn’t come in bags back then. There were only two flavors of potato chips then, too: plain and barbecue. Nothing fancy like the gyro or biscuits and gravy flavored ones I saw recently. Times were tough…

We had an honest-to-goodness picnic basket, not a paper bag or cardboard bucket. Ours was made out of wicker – the natural fiber kind, not plastic. The set came complete with Melamine-type plates (sectioned with ridges so the beans didn’t slop over into the potato salad or sandwich). There were probably paper plates available, but we never used them. We were treated to a bottle of soda or shared a pitcher of Kool Aid, chilled and in cups we took home with us to wash.

Nowadays, if we go on a picnic, we drive through a fast food restaurant or stop by the grocery store. A bag of burgers and fries or an eight-piece pack of fried chicken, a few pints of various sides, and maybe some Jo Jo’s (the most awesome super-fries in the world). Instant gratification but high cost, low nutrition, and loads of garbage to dispose of!
Back in the day, if we wanted music, we’d open the car door and listen to music on the AM radio. No Sirius, Alexa, or streaming tunes through a smartphone. Of course, there were battery-operated transistor radios around. They came out around 1955. Aw, how great to listen to music without power cords.
We sprayed DDT-type bug spray or swatted flies and mosquitoes with a fly swatter, but otherwise were pest free. We didn’t have to worry about being interrupted by phone calls either. There were no such things as portable phones, much less cell phones. That’s why it was so important to let someone know where we were going and when we’d be back. Sort of like a flight plan for a day trip on the road.

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Travel with Mona to Thailand

Visit the Island of Phuket

When I was still at University preparing for a Ph. D. in Analytical Chemistry I became a good friend with Tumany, a graduate student from Bangkok, Thailand. She talked daily about her home town, its history and many treasures. When she offered to have her brother act as our guide, I couldn’t resist the temptation of going to Thailand. My husband had endless free mileage from business trips and said why not. Several of our professors asked me to bring back sapphire rings or necklaces for their wives and daughters. During an exhausting three-day visit of Bangkok we ate the spicier food I’ve ever tasted, admired the most gorgeous sapphire rings I’ve ever seen, and visited more than a dozen temples, and then we headed to Phuket.

Years later I returned to Phuket on a cruise. This island boasts some of the most beautiful beaches with fine white sand, nodding palm trees and glittering sea such as the mystical Phang Nga Bay.

The rock was the filming site for the 1974 James Bond movie, The Man with the Golden Gun.

Phuket is blessed with more than 30 amazing beaches to choose from. I had the chance to soak my feet in the Indian Ocean. But we were more attracted by the exotic aspect of the island.

The statue of the Big Buddha looms above the city. It’s a150 ft statue made of marble. We didn’t visit it but I took pictures from far.

Wat Chalong or Chalong Temple is the most visited, revered, and largest temple in Phuket. Highly considered as a must cultural visit in Phuket due to its history and scale.

Built in 1837, Wat Chalong Phuket is the most popular Thai Temple on the island and is one of the cultural highlights on many Phuket sightseeing tours. The tallest building, Chedi, is 60 meters high and is said to hold a bone fragment of Buddha himself. The interior of the building contains pictorial illustrations of Buddha’s journey. The building alone is three floors filled with golden statues.

Its historical significance was that the monk founders of the temple, Luang Pho Cham & Luang Pho Chuang led Phuket’s Chalong District citizens to fight against the Chinese Rebellion in 1876 using their knowledge of herbal medicine to heal the injured.

As a place of worship, tourists will experience many locals offering prayers and lighting candles, which is generally a very peaceful experience, but one that is often interrupted by the loud bang of Chinese Fire Crackers to ward off bad spirits.

Dancer
Silk weaving

At the Thai Cultural Village we enjoyed several shows with dancers and watched silk weavers at work.

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from the Some Girls Like It Cold series

What made me so self-conscious?

It was my name. Not Sara–my last name–Bellagamba. (I knew you’d understand.)

When I was young I couldn’t say it right and when I tried, the kids made fun of me.

Handy Hint: explaining the meaning of your name–Bellagamba means beautiful leg in Italian–to a bunch of five-year-olds won’t stop their teasing. In fact, I think it’s like some kind of trigger for escalation.

And I’m pretty sure if I didn’t run, they would have stoned me for being crazy. (only slightly exaggerating)

Fast forward

to my current post college career and nothing much has changed. I’m still self conscious and still have a tendency to say ridiculous things at inopportune moments.

Except now I’m working for the Boston Brawlers NHL organization, my dream job–because I’m a massive hockey fan and a particular fan of one player–Quinn James.

The Brawlers just signed him and I almost passed out with excitement over the unexpected news.

I won’t lie–I want him. (Yes, that way.) Bad.

Fat chance of that happening

Even if I weren’t so self conscious, I’m not in his league. He dates starlets and models and was last seen with a princess on his arm…

Quinn

Why did I sign a deal with the Boston Brawlers?

I was a f**ing NHL super star in L.A.. My life was perfectly scripted with fame, fortune and all kinds of women throwing themselves at me.

But a hushed up incident with a certain princess caused me to miss seeing my dad on his death bed. Now my family is pissed at me. And I need to deal with them–and the loss of my dad.

So I signed with the Brawlers, moved from L.A. to come back east and return to my roots.

Between hockey and dealing with the need to square things with my family and get real about relationships, I have plenty to concentrate on.

So why do I find Sara, the awkward little puck bunny and big f-ing distraction, so irresistible?

Why do I let Sara Bellagamba of all people, sidetrack me from what’s most important in my life, family and hockey?

The Puck Bunny, a Boston Brawlers Hockey Spin-off, is the first in the Some Girls Like It Cold Series, a funny and poignant romp where the awkward girl gets her dream guy against all the odds, scoring big for her team which includes every secret Puck Bunny everywhere. And the dream guy gets the deeply satisfying life with the dream girl he never knew he desperately wanted. HEA Ending! (duh!)

(Warning: language and sex for a mature audience.)

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Hockey Heartthrob

Second chances don’t happen every day. I was too focused on trying to break through with my hockey career to really make a move on Nastia Schmetinova when we were at the U together. Imagine my surprise when I learned that she was going to ref our Saint Patrick’s Day game.

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