The Trip: Part 2

Nikko Bali Resort & Spa

On our last day in Bali, we decided to stay within the resort and enjoy its amenities. No more running around! The pool beckons.

Picking Nikko over the other hotels was an easy choice - it is owned and run by family - and we couldn't be more glad that we came here. The resort is gorgeous. From the location to the landscaping, the hotel always reminded us that we were on vacation in paradise. Balinese gamelan music wafted through the hallways, and you could catch the scent of frangipani even against the salty ocean air. Every elevator lobby had a stunning panoramic view of the pool below and the ocean, it's no wonder we kept missing our elevator. Our room was minimalist and modern; we were on the 10th floor and had a great view of the ocean. My mum and aunt shared a room on the 1st floor, which - get this - had a sliding glass door that led right to the pool. Yes! We had a basket of fresh tropical fruits in our room, which was much appreciated.

For breakfast each morning, we had a choice of American or Japanese. I was quickly addicted to the coffee and homemade yogurt at the Brasserie, and the silky smooth rice porridge at Benkay begged for seconds and thirds.

The gardens were beautifully laid out; anywhere you stand would practically make a great picture. (Placed on a cliff overlooking the ocean, it's hard to go wrong.) My one regret was not visiting their chapel, Wiwaha. One of the managers gave us a pair of Wiwaha champagne flutes anyway, but I wish I had visited the chapel to remember the glassware by.

A picture tells a thousand words; these are some photos we took:













E and I, being the solar-deprived Pittsburghers we were, decided to soak up some sun on the beach with our umbrella drinks. We might have been skimpy with the sunscreen lotion... it had been less than an hour, but later we realized we had been scorched. Hubby looked like a lobster and I had funny streaks on my legs (where I missed the sunscreen). Lesson learned: always use protection.

Before we learned about our need for aloe, we visited Mandara Spa for a spa sampler session. At the reception, we were treated to ginger tea and cool mint-scented towels - not a bad start. We were asked to pick among 4 aromatherapy oils for our massages, and then were escorted to a private villa. It was E's first spa experience and he was adorably shy about disrobing. First on the menu was a foot scrub - big bronze basins with rose petal water, lots of sea salt, and some essential oil. Then we moved to the massage table for a thorough (and authentic!) Balinese massage. Lastly, a warm bath was drawn in a huge stone bath in the garden, with lots of rose petals (we had fun with them); towels were laid out, and each of us got a tray with a pot of ginger tea and shortbread cookies. The whole thing lasted 2 hours.

(Being a photo freak, I had to take pictures of the spa too, of course:)






Hubby soaking in the bath

We really enjoyed our stay, even though we wished we had more time. Onward to Jakarta! (To be continued...)

The Trip: Part 1

We arrived in Singapore on Sunday. My parents looked mostly the same; my dad lost some weight.

It was our first time in the new place. Our old building has been marked for redevelopment and they're going to convert it into some ridiculously posh condo with lap pools in each apartment - honestly, I think the real estate industry in Singapore has gone mad. For the rest of the day, we toured the surroundings, ate (E wolfed down 4 bowls of chicken porridge), and chilled around the house.

With law-defying odds, E's childhood friend from home happened to be in town too that weekend. (Really, what are the odds?) Microsoft put him up at the Ritz-Carlton (poor kid) but work kept him from sightseeing, so we took him on a quick tour on Monday. He likes durians! He met my parents at our wedding, but there's still something surreal about seeing them in the same room.

Bali Hai

Tuesday: A hop and a skip to Jakarta, then Bali's Denpasar airport. The city was typical of many Indonesian cities, until we got closer to Nusa Dua. The mesmerizing ocean reminded us at once that we were on the Island of the Gods. We stopped at the gate, the security guards circled the SUV with mirrors, we drove in; we arrived at Nikko Bali Resort & Spa. We got a warm and personal welcome, and laid out our itinerary for the next few days.

First, a visit to Bulgari's new hotel in Uluwatu. The resort was located on a cliff; each private villa was its own little sanctuary and had not only an outdoor pavilion lounge with sofas and a bar, but also its own infinity pool. Inside, the rooms were lined with dark wood and crisp white linen. The luxurious bathroom was, of course, stocked with Bulgari products and fragrances. Guests can soak in this extravagance starting at USD1,200 a night. :)




Villas facing the ocean


Luxurious bathroom; the staff spoke fluent Japanese

After the tour, we rode a golf cart to the bar, which was by the pool. The poolside area looked really inviting... the bar wasn't shabby either. We spread out on a plush black divan on the deck, where we had a stunning view of the ocean, and sipped on the most expensive iced cappuccino ever.


Pool area


E and I lounging around

Man oh man... if we had all the money in the world. We savored our coffee down to the last drop, then it was off to the other side of the island for dinner.

Driving in Bali was definitely not for the faint of heart. Our driver, thankfully, was a pro; he managed to squeak past scooters and vans on narrow dirt roads while everyone's going all directions at all speeds. He made good time AND didn't put a single scratch on the car. (E: "Traffic rules? Bah... they're more like guidelines, anyway.") Sometimes it was better not to look outside; there were too many narrow misses to be good for your heart. The gasps and "omg!"s from the back of the car would probably be distracting, and we really didn't want to distract the driver.

Indonesia works in mysterious ways; how we found our driver was one example. Upon arriving in Bali, my aunt simply made a long distance call to her office in Jakarta. In a matter of minutes, a young guy (who?) pulled up in a car (whose?) and voila, he was our reliable escort for the day. During the trip, my aunt complained about the car being too dingy. The next day, he greeted us at the resort lobby with a handsome black jeep. It's definitely not like a limo service; he's a friend of the family of one of the chauffeurs in Jakarta. But where did he get the cars? I didn't ask.

That night, after a seafood dinner at a Chinese restaurant, we retreated to the resort to find this ethereal sight:


Moon rising over the Indian Ocean

Day 2 was another day packed with sightseeing, starting with the iconic Barong Dance.




The Barong

Then it was a long drive to Ubud, the art hub of Bali set among rice padi fields and breathtaking landscape.


Rice terrace along the way; Mt Kintamani, a volcano and its surrounding lake and valley


Lush green rice padi field

Our first stop was a plantation that had vanilla, coffee, and cocoa beans, among others. There were a fair number of tourists, despite its remote location; the staff spoke Russian, Spanish, Japanese, Dutch, English... We chatted (in Indonesian) about their incredible aptitude for picking up languages, and they laughed modestly. Samples of freshly brewed coffee, lemongrass tea, and hot chocolate were passed around; we picked up a lot of souvenirs.







Lunch was at a restaurant called Bebek Bengil, which translates to 'Dirty Duck'. The Dirty Duck Diner is popular among tourists for good reason; it is nestled among rice padi fields (great view), and diners sit in airy outdoor pavilions as they enjoy the duck specialty with sambal. Cool concept!






For E's benefit, we stopped at a Monkey Forest to watch mischievous Balinese monkeys at play.



Being in a place like Bali, we couldn't get away without getting souvenirs for everyone and their brother. We went into town, Kuta, to pick up knick-knacks for co-workers, neighbors, friends. The jeep passed the site of the 2002 bombing and the adjacent memorial; my mum emphatically warned E, "Don't tell your mum I brought you here!" We must've stopped in every store on the street. It was bustling with activity; locals were hawking their wares, traffic was heavy, shirtless Caucasian teens walking with their surfboards (it was a few blocks from the beach)... As the sun set, we gave up on finding the 'perfect' gift for our long list and called it a day.

After a long day of sightseeing and shopping, we were famished; we headed to Jimbaran beach to eat at Ubung Cafe. It was like nothing I've ever seen before. Rows upon rows of seafood vendors, with huge tanks of fish and other short-lived sea creatures ready for your picking; smoky grills fired up with hot charcoal, secret marinades and sambals in dishes. Stepping through the thick veil of grilling smoke, you see hundreds of tables illuminated by candlelight, right on Jimbaran beach, and while you hear the waves roll up to shore, you also hear guitars and serenading. Once you get over the smoke (which was really hard to ignore), it was a surreal beach experience... one of a kind.


Ubung Cafe on Jimbaran Beach

The next day was devoted to relaxing at the resort. Finally!

Reverse Culture Shock

Just when the occasional reader thinks I've been kidnapped and thrown to the bottom of the ocean... a post!

Yes, I'm back - from the trip, that is. It was the best 2 weeks of the year (apologies to other fortnights, no hard feelings). There truly is no place like home! Now I feel odd being back, a little displaced, even though I've lived in this country for almost the last one-third of my life. Wow. It seems like just yesterday; packing up the car, teary goodbyes at the airport, emergency credit card, holding out for that food craving until I got home during the school hols... I never thought I'd leave home for good. *sniff* (Okay, I'm well-adjusted, really. I'm just PMSing.)

More about the trip later. First, a few thoughts about coming back:

* Americans suddenly look really... unhealthy.
* There are not enough coffeehouses, bakeries, and hangout places here.
* Thank goodness for our car, or we'd be pretty screwed (and bored).

My co-workers threw a little "welcome back" party with bagels, juice, a nice card, and a lot of questions. They loved their batik art, and everyone raved about the Balinese coffee I got for the common pot. (Last year I got tea from China, this year it's coffee from Java... you can say I'm sort of a modern day trader. Haha!) Nothing catastrophic happened while I was gone, my desk was just the way I left it, and a few hundred e-mails waited patiently. Just as a score of random colleagues wished me happy trails, a different set of random people welcomed me back. I thought I would be moody from the jetlag and withdrawal, but everyone was awesome and it made coming back a lot easier than I expected.

The apartment was a giant fur patch when we came back. The kitties have obviously been having a good time, and due to ambiguous feeding instructions, the cat-sitters have been giving them twice as much food. Pepper has replaced her trot with a lazy amble and her belly jiggles more noticeably; Salty just got bigger. Other than the aloe plant that got tipped over and a few disheveled rugs (from the kitties skidding across them), everything was fine.

There were so many things we didn't get to do, people we didn't get to see, but overall I'd say it was a pretty good trip. Hopefully it won't be long before we go back again - Chinese New Year would be fun, then we can introduce E, a REAL-chinese-new-year virgin, to the visual assault of red and gold on the streets, the new year music on loop at the malls packed with shoppers, endless feasting, and all that good stuff.

Pictures in the next post(s)!

Robopup

Got to take portraits of E's toys at work today for the website, and I snuck in some fun shots while I was at it. This is what he tinkers with everyday... lucky bastard. Here's an old friend, Sony's AIBO ERS-7 - the source of much joy and frustration for hubs, an accomplice in his wedding proposal, an all-around sexy pup.

Sexy Beijing

I've recently discovered a fun series on Youtube: Sexy Beijing. It's a collection of light social commentaries hosted by a spunky Jewish-American, Sophie aka Su Fei, in a well-done SATC parody (narration and all). Hilarious stuff! She goes out onto the streets interviewing the locals on various subjects from feminism to weddings to Christmas, giving interesting insights into lifetyles and culture in Beijing and beyond.

She speaks crazy good Chinese. (For a 'lao wai', anyway.)

Here's an episode:



Wildly entertaining. Check it out!

Wedding and Birds

Back from my 2-month blogging hiatus, and I don't have much to report. Life goes on in its non-blog-relevant ways. Carnival, RI Gala, obscene amounts of retail therapy, seeing old friends, discovering simple pleasures... We hosted 2 big dinners: one Indonesian theme with R and 6 of the guys, one major fondue party with the Grey's Anatomy crowd. Hubs went from being ambiguously in his mid-20s to definitively in his late-20s, though he denies that he's any older than 21.

Ben got hitched this weekend. The bride is from Taiwan, and she had an entourage of 30 or so family members that are here just for their American wedding. They already had a big affair in Taiwan, maybe even two. Hubs was a groomsman, just as Ben was a groomsman at our wedding. Between them flipping roles, the relatives from afar, little things lost in translation, and the multiple ceremonies, it was like I was at my own wedding again. It's the cliche of two people from opposite ends of the globe falling in love, much like the Mastercard 'priceless' commercial, but it's such a complicated brew of emotions and it's weird to be able to say I've been there.

Anyway, it was beautiful. The ceremony was at the famous Heinz Chapel, and the reception was at the Pittsburgh Athletic Association. When I wasn't ushering, I toted my little Drebel around.


Heinz Chapel and the magnificent stained glass


E's tux and bout, and the bridal party's flowers







I was miffed at my (cheap) zoom lens because I missed a number of good shots. If I had glass with IS, I could've rocked da hizouse. Of course, I'd rather not pay the price... you get what you pay for.

Much to my amusement, E was actually hung over at the wedding. He had a little too much with the guys the night before, and unbeknownst to the bride and groom, he was sick as a dog all throughout the wedding. (Thank goodness he didn't make a scene at the altar.) Of course, the guys sniggered and hi-fived when they saw E and his 32oz. bottle of Gatorade. Nice job, boys.

The wedding was in the afternoon; we took a short break after the reception and headed to Harris Grill with the gang for supper. By this time, E's liver was ready for more, so we went down to Soba Lounge for martinis, then back to PHI. Went to Pamela's for brunch the next morning, before everyone parted ways. Now we're just waiting for another wedding to have our next reunion!

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Went to the National Aviary this afternoon. It was my first time, and unfortunately it was a let-down despite all the hype I've heard. Still sore about my telephoto lens, I decided to get some practice. Got some good shots:





And my favorite:

The penguin was taking a stroll among giants - it was being escorted by staff and curious visitors to its exhibit, I think. Odd but cute.

Now that the sun's out for good, the bike trainer takes a back seat to the open road. Brought the bike out for a ride today - 12 miles through Schenley onto the Eliza Furnace Trail and back again. One of the guys at work has been nagging me to bike to work with him, and the office is just a bridge more from the end of the trail. I felt good today, and I think I may be ready to beat the morning traffic with my silver stead soon. We rounded the evening with Greek food and a hearty smoothie.

Long weekends make the first day back at work suck. Bedtime!