Will, a Northwestern friend, moved to Asia twenty years ago for work and never left. Despite the distance, both Sarah and I have been able to catch up with Will & his wife Sachiyo a descent amount across the Pacific.
Early 2000s
I saw Will numerous times when I was playing tennis and frequently in Japan
At Will and Sachiyo’s wedding in Hawaii
On our honeymoon as we passed through Hong Kong
Sarah spent a weekend with the Freunds and Billy as a toddler when in Tokyo for work
2015
Via a random text, we discovered that Will, Sarah and I happened to be in San Francisco at the same time and managed a quick meetup.
2019
When Sarah and I decided we were a go for this trip, it wasn’t long after we were on a video call with Will & Sachiyo to pick their brains on destinations in this part of the world. They were quick to offer up staying with them for our Singapore stop over.
The Fellow Food Obsessed
They’re a family as food obsessed as we are; it makes for a good match. We enjoyed getting out for some famous Singaporean Chicken Rice, feasting in China town and a delicious Indian lunch.
We also especially enjoyed family dinners around the table at their apartment. I took on cooking two of the nights and Sachiyo whipped up delicious Japanese meals (and chocolate sweets!). We particularly couldn’t get enough of her famous nabe, or Japanese hot pot on the last night.
Library of Billy
Billy was kind enough to let the girls ‘check books’ out of the shelves in his room. He had lots of great books he’s kept from his younger reading days that Paige and Sadie devoured during our stay.
At night, they joined Billy and Will for reading time on Billy’s bed. Lots of intense and subject diverse book-worming was going on:
Billy: reading and sharing facts about different socio-economic levels across the world
Paige & Sadie: graphic novels, like The Adventures of Dogman
Will: reading a book about junk bond investing
Doug: back issues of the Economist Will saved for my arrival
Australian Open
With the Aussie tennis open in full swing (pun intended), we turned on the TV to catch some of the action each night. While it was on, the girls whacked away at Billy’s tennis ball on a string in the living room.
Sports
We spent more time playing sports this week than we had during the first six months of our trip! Read about the 10+ sports we played in this post.
Thank You Freund Family
We really had a great time hanging out with Will, Billy and Sachiyo. We soaked up some social family time and enjoyed a week of being back in an environment that was probably the closest thing to New York City we’ve been in since we left the United States. We're very grateful for their hospitality and friendship.
“I want to live here!”
Almost daily, Paige verbalized that she was all-in on making Singapore home. It was partly down to a return of home-like creature comforts, but certainly it had a lot to do with our awesome hosts Will, Sachiyo and Billy.
Thanks to the Freund family for a special week in Singapore! Can't wait to see where we next meet up in the world!
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