Where's the Beefa?

If we go with the Urban Dictionary's definition of Beefa, there should have been quite a bit of drama when my bff Cara came to town. I wonder if the folks at Urban Dictionary would be sad to hear she doesn't create beefs or drama with me.

If we go with the resident 15 year old's definition, my Beefa is my "back up" bff. The one I'd call if my "real" bff wasn't there.

No y'all, my Beefa came before any definition. I am her Beefa and she is mine. We met 10 long years ago. Since then she's graduated from Dental School at the University of Florida and is now a real life Dentist. So weird. It's so grown of her.

We've been through a lot together and we can now add "Southeast Asia" to the list of places we've been together.
First day of her trip, a couple of significant things happened.

#1 Immanuelle Marie decided that people other than her Mommy weren't so bad afterall.

"Thanks Aunt Cara for feeding me breakfast. Sorry about getting it all over you."- love, Immanuelle

The train in Singapore. This tiny little island nation brings their A-game when it comes to public transportation. It was fun!

Taxis can be fun too!

 #2 significant thing was a snafoo of sorts while crossing through at immigration. (not NEAR as sna-fooey as this one) The Beefa was cool, calm, and collected and we made it home and my dear sweet pack mule of a friend unloaded her goodies.

That's a table full o' awesome.

In our city we shoved our faces full of delicious fresh bread from the "Hiap Joo Bakery" and ignored the calories. Fresh coconut and brown suga'll do that to you.

It is so multi-cultural here and we wanted Cara to feel it. So we took a stroll through a Hindu temple. Then we walked around the block, passing a Sikh temple (which we didn't stop at this time) to head to...

a Chinese temple. 

All that temple-ing will make you hongry. Eating delicious Indian food on a banana leaf with your hands? Yes, please!

 A day trip to the capital does you a lot of good. And while we didn't see everything, we saw a lot. But most importantly, we went to "The Winnie Hair Salon."

America! When are you going to catch on?

Monkeys! I see them frequently but my Beefa nearly had a conniption when we walked out of the salon and saw these guys hanging out. Standard-lah.

The happiness from monkeys quickly vanished as our car wouldn't start. Good thing our hair looked awesome as we bummed a ride to the gas station to get "petrol" to bring back to the car. TWICE! Folks. If you're gonna show your Beefa a good time, you might as well throw in a Pakistani to fill up your illegal (in the States) gasoline container, a la- a 1.5 liter water bottle, and get your rainbow-colored hair salon owner to take you there. Park on a incline so the first bottle-full isn't enough. Laugh, rinse, repeat.

 Back in our city, we squeezed even MORE southeast Asian goodness in...

What dentists take pictures of at the grocery store. Apparently this much xylitol in gum is hard to find in the US.

It is ALWAYS fun to get on the escalators at the grocery store. Magnets hold your cart in place. Mind blown yet?

Durian. The King of Fruits my rear-end! Beefa agrees.

So. Before my blonde friend came, I just THOUGHT I got stared at a lot in public.

We even gots rainforests!

And waterfalls!

And waterslides AT the waterfalls! How long does Cara's leg look in this one?
Beefa Fact: Her hands are the smallest ever. Ever. And in the Law of Complimentary Beefa-ness, my hands are approximately seal-flipper sized. Cheese and Macaroni y'all.

She passed the "Auntie" test with flying colors. If only she were STILL here to hold Immanuelle NOW so I can blog without a crying baby! It's just a small reason her trip was a treasure!

I saw a dragon fruit and a durian on "Journey 2: Mysterious Island" and I'm fairly sure it was supposed to be exotic looking and mysterious. Such is my life and I'm glad Cara came to see it!

Love you Beefa! Thank you for coming as far away from home as is physically possible. Even if you were the type to bring drama and created beefs with folks, I'd still love you. SO glad you came!

For Real For Real Mother's Day Gift...

In the interest of keeping a linear account of all the fun shenanigans that have transpired since I last wrote, I'll keep you waiting no longer. But we are heading back to May now because who doesn't love chronological order?

My Mother's Day present this year was made in AFRICA, sent to AMERICA, then brought to ASIA by my bff... It's weird to think my shoes have been somewhere my feet haven't.

photo via ssekodesigns.com

Sseko Sandals (Say-ko).

Why get sandals from Africa when I can just buy really super cheap sandals right here in Asia?
Because I'm the Mama and I said so. That's why! Kidding. But I did drop a hint and the hubs picked up what I was puttin' down. "Love. This is what I want for Mother's Day." He's so in tune with me.

I was going to post a pic of me in the sandals, but since I haven't taken any, that presented a problem. After a month and a half of not blogging, I wasn't going to let a lack of a photo stop me. No siree bob.

Now, while I go make a couple more blogposts about the summer fun so far (before the next round starts), you go to the Sseko website and check out why this was one of the best Mother's Day gifts ever.

Go there and check it out.

(Anthony got me the teal straps as pictured, but then I also have black, brown, and a patterned one. Holla for mother's day sales!)