B...aaaaaaaaah...LI!

We spent spring break in Bali, Indonesia. We'd heard a lot about Bali over the years, but this was our first trip there. It won't be our last.  The beaches aren't nearly as beautifl as Phuket, Thailand or Boracay, Philippines, but Bali has an almost magical feel about it. There's art and spirituality at every turn...unless you never leave Kuta, in which case there are bars and probably hookers at every turn!

Ubud Villa

We spent the first half of the week at an amazing villa outside Ubud. We traveled with another family (The Weiss family: Serge, Sally, Westen & Anika) who also had 2 kids, same ages as Aidan & Brenna. Our kids were friends at Shanghai American School. The villa was huge - 3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, kitchen, dining area, living rooms, a couple of balconies, our own pool, etc. Plenty of room for the 8 of us. 

Below: the kids enjoying our pool and that entire house behind them is our villa! 

There were a few other villas in the compound. Here's a picture of Brenna helping Devey (a very friendly worker who totally fell in love with Brenna, aka Baby!) put offerings near around the grounds our first morning in Bali:

Here are more pix from the villa and Bali:



I could go on and on about the villa and Bali, but I'll cut to the highlights of the trip...

White Water Rafting

We went white water rafting on the Telaga Waja River. The 2 hour trip was full of class 3 and 4 rapids,  waterfalls that we boated under and it ended with a 12 foot drop off a water damn! Very fun!

We had a girls raft and a boys raft:

Westen and Aidan chilling under a waterfall during our half-time break!

Anika and Brenna in the waterfall:

The Williams-Weiss gang riverside:

More pix of rafting:

Surfing in Kuta

On Wednesday we moved to Nusa Dua and stayed in a hotel on the beach. The kids took surfing lessons on Kuta Beach on Thursday. Westen and Anika had already taken a surf lesson in Australia, but Aidan and Brenna were total novices. I was amazed at how quickly all 4 kids picked it up. They were hanging 10 in no time! I have so many pix, it's hard to choose. I'll put a few here and then put a surf slide show.

Aidan catching a wave:

Brenna:

More Surfing Pix:



SAS Reunion

Another highlight of the trip was meeting up with friends from Shanghai. We lived across the hall from Amy, Scott and Blake for 4 years. Well, we only lived across from Blake for about a year and a half, but he was with us in spirit for the full 4 years!!! We worked with Cody & Lynsey for 4 years and only lived a couple of buildings away. They have cute little Ben, who's almost 2. We met up with them 3 times while we were in Nusa Dua and had a great time being together.

Here's the gang:

The 9th floor kids, together again:

Surprise SAS Reunion: It's a Small World After All!
The Williams-Weiss gang met up with the Hossack-Howitt gang on our last night in Bali. We met at Uno, a western Italian restaurant in Nusa Dua. We were sitting at a big, long table, when lo and behold, we see former SAS students that moved to Singapore a year ago January! What a crazily small world. Their son, Michael was friends with Aidan and Westen.

Here's a picture of all 3 of them. (L-R Aidan, Westen, Michael) Apparently they all go to the same barber!

Random Bali pix - coffee plantation, pool time, friends, etc.:


Here are pix from a trip to some temples:

Cambodia - Day 2

On the second day we went to the temples. So incredible. They're HUGE and old (built between the 8th and 13th century). How did they build such amazing temples without modern machinery? There were so many intricate carvings and big bas-reliefs. Just an awe inspiring place. Wow.

Below are loads of pix. The wats at Siem Reap are a photographer's dream. I just have a Canon Elph point and shoot. I wish I had a digital SLR with major lenses.

In the afternoon we went Quad riding - very fun! Another fun way to see "real" Siem Reap. We stopped at a rice paddy and learned how to harvest rice. It's harder than it looks! Can't imagine doing that all day in the super hot Cambodian sun. The kid that showed us how to do it was 14 years old. We had 3 kids with us - 11, 13 and barely 15. It makes you think. (Ya know, of using your kids for labor. I could be making some money off these slackers.) There are some Night Market pix at the end, including crispy cricket snacks!

Cambodia - WOW!

I've wanted to go to Angkor Wat since I moved to Asia over 4 years ago. I finally got to go this week and - WOW! - that's all I can say is WOW! Amazing temple ruins and a great town. If you ever get a chance GO to Siem Reap, Cambodia. (I'm going to break this vacation into several posts because it'll be too long and I don't have time to finish it right now.)

On the first day, we went on a long horseback ride. I'm afraid of horses, so I volunteered to ride a horse that barely liked to move. Not a good choice because he kept stopping to eat and generally wouldn't move. I had to keep pulling up his head - not easy! - and kicking him to get him to move - not easy! It would have been easier for me to give the horse a horseback ride! Aidan and I switched horses and I got one that just followed the horse in front of him - easy! I road Rinaldo the rest of the way. My latin lover horse was a good ride, but to be perfectly honest, I don't really enjoy horseback riding. I always think I will, but I don't. I grew up in Jersey, what do you expect? It was a great way to see the back country of Siem Reap. Kids kept running out to the road yelling, "Hello! Hello!"


We celebrated Aidan's 15th birthday in Siem Reap that day (Dec. 27th). We ate at Viva Mexican, which was EXCELLENT, went to the night market and then had birthday ice-cream at The Blue Pumpkin. Hard to believe my cuddly little baby is now a hairy 15 year old! 

Our friends from Shanghai, Jeff and Faye, walked by while we were eating dinner! Such a small world! It was great to see them again.  :o)

Our Trip to Hoi An, Vietnam

Yesterday we returned from the quaint town of Hoi An in central Vietnam. The old town is a World Heritage Site with streets of cafes and shops full of artwork and handicrafts. And tailors. Lots and lots of tailors! We definitely supported the local economy and bought our share of lacquerware, a quilted wall hanging, a t-shirt, refrigerator magnets and even a painting.

The cafes were delicious and cheap and the town just had a cool feel to it. Our favorite restaurant was Good Morning, Vietnam. They had excellent Italian food. Vietnamese food is delicious, but we can get it anytime we want. Getting good Italian food is not easy for us, so we ate there 3 times! Bring on the pasta, pizza and risotto!

We didn't need to have any clothes made, but the kids discovered that they could get shoes made. We're not talking patent leathers, we're talking whatever shoe is in fashion right now. Aidan was super excited about it all and had a tough time deciding what to have made. He finally chose a wicked pair of black and gray high-tops. Brenna designed a funky pair of slip-ons (like Vans) that are purple and green with peace signs embroidered on them! Aidan got his shoes less than 24 hours later, but they messed up Brenna's peace signs and actually made Mercedes-Benz signs instead! Waaah! They're going to deliver the shoes to Saigon within the next couple of days. We plan on returning to Hoi An during our winter break. I'm sure the kids will have a bunch of pictures of shoes to have made. The tailors also make jeans and whatever else you want, so I have a feeling that we'll hit a couple tailor shops as well!

When we first arrived, it downpoured for about 36 hours straight! We would wait for it to slow down and then run to the next shop. The water in the street was to our ankles at times. It was amazing how much water could fall from the sky! We still were able to walk around, but it wasn't very pleasant. We were much relieved when the weather changed on Monday and we hit the beach. (I didn't take too many pictures in the rain, but check out the one on the right.) The beach was nice, but the undertow was very strong. It was still a great day.

On Tuesday we booked a tour to My Son ruins with Hoi An Motorbike Adventures. Very fun! Mike drove a Russian Minsk motorbike with Aidan on the back and I drove a scooter with Brenna on the back. We drove down country roads and sometimes just paths, through villages and rice paddies. It was a fantastic way to see "real Vietnam". Waving kids ran to the side of the road, yelling, "Hello! Hello!" I'm sure they don't get many tourists back in those areas! The ruins were interesting and our ultimate destination, but the real thrill of the day was seeing another side of Vietnam.

On Wednesday we scootered and walked around the old town, played pool and ate at Good Morning Vietnam one last time. It was a fun trip, but it's always nice to get home, too.