1. A short 2.5 hour flight took us to Bali, Indonesia from Singapore. We reached Changi Airport 45 mins before our flight time and still managed to have 20 mins to spare before taking off. Yes, Changi is that efficient. On our return leg, our wait time for the taxi was actually longer than the time it took for us to disembark the plane and clear immigration & customs.
2. I love setting foot in a new place, at night and soaking in the newness in the dark. Then the next morning when you see it in broad daylight, you can compare notes with your imagination if the sights actually appear as you thought they would?
3. We stayed in Ubud, Bali, for the first half of our vacation. Our home there was a lovely, spacious Villa; the highlights of which were our own plunge pool and an outdoor shower area. I was taken back to my days in Auroville, India where open showers and living with nature were an everyday phenomenon, for the 3 months I spent working there.
Our days in Ubud, would start with a lazy breakfast along the rice terraces, followed by a few hours in the plunge pool and then random sight-seeing around town. Ubud is famous for it's hippie aura and shopping along it's main street. "Eat Pray Love" was shot all over Bali, specially in Ubud, so those 'types' are found here, serenading nature and lounging around in cafes all over the island.
4. A deja vu moment occured when our Balinese driver who picked us up from the airport, sang "Tujhe Dekha tho ye jana Sanam" ( complete with the side-to-side-bobble that is so SRK) with me in great synchrony. While Hubster wore an amused look on his face, the daughter chose to wiggle her torso (yes, she has a pivot for an abdomen) to our tune. Another one to join the 'co-singer-cum-driver' list of filmy's I've encountered all over the world on my past travels.
5. This was our first trip with none or minimal baby food. Training the toddler to eat what we eat and wherever we eat topped my list of things to do, when we moved to SE Asia. After all why deprive her of all the yummy street fare that SE Asia has to offer? From 5-star hotel breakfast buffets in Singapore to street food off of Hawker markets or shacks in Bali, so far she's been obliging everywhere and perhaps from our next trip onwards, we could be baby food - free! Yay to that!
P.S: With regards to the baby and her food, interesting piece of trivia here. In Bahasa (Indonesian), milk is known as 'susu'. Yeah 'susu' was written all over the box. Zoe drank 'susu' everyday in Bali :) Silly but funny, yeah?
6. In my pre-trip research, I had read that the Balinese love babies. I saw it for myself when I visited. We would show up at a restaurant for dinner and the wait staff would whisk Zoe away to play and take pictures with her, while we had a glass of wine and talked, bringing her back just in time, when our meal would arrive. Across the island, wherever we went people picked her in their arms, hugged her, talked to her, played music to her and tucked flowers over her ear. Zoe must have thought we are in India, that's how much of an object of affection/ attention she was in Bali. She even spent one afternoon getting all dolled up by a babysitter, while we went to the spa to find our bliss. No wonder then, Bali is a highly recommended place to visit with kids. There's something to be said about the 'Happy factor' of islanders and their love for children. Perhaps its the eternal sunshine or the aura of the ocean all around them, I have yet to meet an islander lacking a sunny disposition.
7. Rice terraces abound everywhere around Ubud. While I 'wowed' at the lush green terraced landscape, Hubster found nothing new there, as his childhood was spent vacationing in his native place, where rice terraces flourish everywhere.
8. Little 'prasadam' kinda offerings can be found outside, wherever you go, in leaf-thatch trays. Shopkeepers worship their shops multiple times in a day and as an offering, place a biscuit in the tray. Interestingly, Starbucks at Denpasar Airport, places an espresso cup with their brew of the day in their prasadam tray. Even God needs caffeine, see!
9. One is never too far from a temple in Ubud. None of them have shrines. All of them have broken arched doorways. Not deliberately broken by someone, but built such. Sashes and sarongs are distributed for free at the entrance, for tourists, since most temples require specific attire to enter.
10. The Indonesian Rupiah when compared to the US Dollar can easily make one feel like a millionaire. A few hundred USD convert into millions of Rupiahs. I was a happy 'crorepati' in at least some part of the world.
11. The latter half of the trip was spent in Uluwatu, closer to the southern part of the island, literally spilling out into the ocean. Anantara Uluwatu is a brand new resort and spa that sits perched atop a cliff, overlooking the Java sea. With multiple infinity pools, this was our dream come true vacation spot. Hubster and Baby loved lazing around in the infinity while I caught some special moments on camera. In quintessential Balinese style of a private water body per unit, our room here too had a jacuzzi tub on the patio, open to the ocean view. Needless to say, nonchalant, outdoor bathe-ing certainly was the highlight of this trip.
12. Padang Padang Beach is accessed via a steep rock-cut stair that goes in and out of cave-like rocky outgrowths. It didn't make it to our list of "wow" beaches we've been to (Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands & Hawaii were far better). So we just make-did for the time being, spending a lovely yet hot afternoon there as Zoe took her first ocean dip ever.
13. Tropical fruits such as the Dragon fruit aka Pitaya (White background with black polka dots, encased in a hot pink coloured shell. It's like the fruit just stepped off the fashion ramp) and Mangosteen (flower shaped, white juicy pulp in a brown shell) often cross paths with us here. Oh and yes, Zapota aka the Indian Chikoo is also easily available at our local Japanese grocers. Our faithful fruit bowl of a few years, flown in all the way from the States has some new friends to make.
14. Bali has local wine. And it was good. My staple poison for the trip.
15. Bali is predominantly Hindu, as against the rest of Indonesia, which is primarily Muslim. We managed to watch the traditional 'Kecak' dance twice on our trip, which is a Balinese version of the Ramayana, laying more emphasis on Hanuman's role in the mythological tale. The costumes were grand, however when actors wear masks during the performance, that's kinda like cheating the act, right? So although they performed acrobatic antics and there was a fire in the climax, it felt overall like an expressionless and commercialized act, with English words interspersed in what might otherwise have been an ancient Bahasa script.
16. We flew back a happy trio, relaxed and rejuvenated from our vacation, just in time for the weekend. This one was was spent with more settling in activities and a surprise birthday lunch for a very dear friend, organised super-secretively by his lovely wife.
There's more travel coming up in the near future, so that should be fun. For now, I need to get back to arranging my huge 'earring' collection (the daughter will be one lucky inheritor if she behaves herself) and perhaps stealing some more drawers before the Hubster claims them.
Until the next one, be well and visit Bali if you can, atleast once in a lifetime.
Shweyta
2. I love setting foot in a new place, at night and soaking in the newness in the dark. Then the next morning when you see it in broad daylight, you can compare notes with your imagination if the sights actually appear as you thought they would?
3. We stayed in Ubud, Bali, for the first half of our vacation. Our home there was a lovely, spacious Villa; the highlights of which were our own plunge pool and an outdoor shower area. I was taken back to my days in Auroville, India where open showers and living with nature were an everyday phenomenon, for the 3 months I spent working there.
Our days in Ubud, would start with a lazy breakfast along the rice terraces, followed by a few hours in the plunge pool and then random sight-seeing around town. Ubud is famous for it's hippie aura and shopping along it's main street. "Eat Pray Love" was shot all over Bali, specially in Ubud, so those 'types' are found here, serenading nature and lounging around in cafes all over the island.
4. A deja vu moment occured when our Balinese driver who picked us up from the airport, sang "Tujhe Dekha tho ye jana Sanam" ( complete with the side-to-side-bobble that is so SRK) with me in great synchrony. While Hubster wore an amused look on his face, the daughter chose to wiggle her torso (yes, she has a pivot for an abdomen) to our tune. Another one to join the 'co-singer-cum-driver' list of filmy's I've encountered all over the world on my past travels.
5. This was our first trip with none or minimal baby food. Training the toddler to eat what we eat and wherever we eat topped my list of things to do, when we moved to SE Asia. After all why deprive her of all the yummy street fare that SE Asia has to offer? From 5-star hotel breakfast buffets in Singapore to street food off of Hawker markets or shacks in Bali, so far she's been obliging everywhere and perhaps from our next trip onwards, we could be baby food - free! Yay to that!
P.S: With regards to the baby and her food, interesting piece of trivia here. In Bahasa (Indonesian), milk is known as 'susu'. Yeah 'susu' was written all over the box. Zoe drank 'susu' everyday in Bali :) Silly but funny, yeah?
6. In my pre-trip research, I had read that the Balinese love babies. I saw it for myself when I visited. We would show up at a restaurant for dinner and the wait staff would whisk Zoe away to play and take pictures with her, while we had a glass of wine and talked, bringing her back just in time, when our meal would arrive. Across the island, wherever we went people picked her in their arms, hugged her, talked to her, played music to her and tucked flowers over her ear. Zoe must have thought we are in India, that's how much of an object of affection/ attention she was in Bali. She even spent one afternoon getting all dolled up by a babysitter, while we went to the spa to find our bliss. No wonder then, Bali is a highly recommended place to visit with kids. There's something to be said about the 'Happy factor' of islanders and their love for children. Perhaps its the eternal sunshine or the aura of the ocean all around them, I have yet to meet an islander lacking a sunny disposition.
7. Rice terraces abound everywhere around Ubud. While I 'wowed' at the lush green terraced landscape, Hubster found nothing new there, as his childhood was spent vacationing in his native place, where rice terraces flourish everywhere.
8. Little 'prasadam' kinda offerings can be found outside, wherever you go, in leaf-thatch trays. Shopkeepers worship their shops multiple times in a day and as an offering, place a biscuit in the tray. Interestingly, Starbucks at Denpasar Airport, places an espresso cup with their brew of the day in their prasadam tray. Even God needs caffeine, see!
9. One is never too far from a temple in Ubud. None of them have shrines. All of them have broken arched doorways. Not deliberately broken by someone, but built such. Sashes and sarongs are distributed for free at the entrance, for tourists, since most temples require specific attire to enter.
10. The Indonesian Rupiah when compared to the US Dollar can easily make one feel like a millionaire. A few hundred USD convert into millions of Rupiahs. I was a happy 'crorepati' in at least some part of the world.
11. The latter half of the trip was spent in Uluwatu, closer to the southern part of the island, literally spilling out into the ocean. Anantara Uluwatu is a brand new resort and spa that sits perched atop a cliff, overlooking the Java sea. With multiple infinity pools, this was our dream come true vacation spot. Hubster and Baby loved lazing around in the infinity while I caught some special moments on camera. In quintessential Balinese style of a private water body per unit, our room here too had a jacuzzi tub on the patio, open to the ocean view. Needless to say, nonchalant, outdoor bathe-ing certainly was the highlight of this trip.
12. Padang Padang Beach is accessed via a steep rock-cut stair that goes in and out of cave-like rocky outgrowths. It didn't make it to our list of "wow" beaches we've been to (Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands & Hawaii were far better). So we just make-did for the time being, spending a lovely yet hot afternoon there as Zoe took her first ocean dip ever.
13. Tropical fruits such as the Dragon fruit aka Pitaya (White background with black polka dots, encased in a hot pink coloured shell. It's like the fruit just stepped off the fashion ramp) and Mangosteen (flower shaped, white juicy pulp in a brown shell) often cross paths with us here. Oh and yes, Zapota aka the Indian Chikoo is also easily available at our local Japanese grocers. Our faithful fruit bowl of a few years, flown in all the way from the States has some new friends to make.
14. Bali has local wine. And it was good. My staple poison for the trip.
15. Bali is predominantly Hindu, as against the rest of Indonesia, which is primarily Muslim. We managed to watch the traditional 'Kecak' dance twice on our trip, which is a Balinese version of the Ramayana, laying more emphasis on Hanuman's role in the mythological tale. The costumes were grand, however when actors wear masks during the performance, that's kinda like cheating the act, right? So although they performed acrobatic antics and there was a fire in the climax, it felt overall like an expressionless and commercialized act, with English words interspersed in what might otherwise have been an ancient Bahasa script.
16. We flew back a happy trio, relaxed and rejuvenated from our vacation, just in time for the weekend. This one was was spent with more settling in activities and a surprise birthday lunch for a very dear friend, organised super-secretively by his lovely wife.
There's more travel coming up in the near future, so that should be fun. For now, I need to get back to arranging my huge 'earring' collection (the daughter will be one lucky inheritor if she behaves herself) and perhaps stealing some more drawers before the Hubster claims them.
Until the next one, be well and visit Bali if you can, atleast once in a lifetime.
Shweyta
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