Adventures in Bali: Part I

We decided to do our holiday traveling early this year, and found ourselves in amazing Bali for a week. It is a place full of culture, and the people are incredibly friendly. We were met at the airport in Denpasar by Catut, the driver from the hotel we were staying at, and he gave us an excellent Bali foundation on our three hour drive east to Amed. The terrain is mountainous, and covered by lush vegetation. The eastern part of Bali is known for growing peanuts and rice, and the rice paddies are beautiful.

Catut told us a bit about his family, that they are farmers, and some of what they grow are mango and potatoes. We commented that mangoes are a favorite of ours, and Catut drove us to his house to get some on the way to the hotel! He invited us in, we met his family, and held his baby son Gede, while his older son Wayan ran around showing us the pigs and chickens that also live with them. We had tea and mango, and it was such a unique moment to share with him and his family. They were so hospitable, and the mangos wer delicious also!

We got to hotel Uyah, and made our way to our room, or bungalow, as they called it. We had a great view of the ocean from our door, and could hear the sound of the waves against the beach. Wow! The hotel makes its own salt, and they had troughs set up that they pour ocean water into. As the water evaporates, the salt is left in the bottom and can be collected. There are people

working late into the night and early in the morning to maintain the troughs when the sun isn't it's hottest. A lot of the kids around Amed sell the sea salt to visitors in the hotel or along the road. Often you can find it in well decorated boxes.

A few other trivial tidbits about Bali from Catut: They grow coffee in the north, fruit in the west, and the center is known for culture. We also learned a bit about the school system, as we were stuck behind about 30 motor bikes one day, and they were all school kids driving home after classes. School starts at age 6 and finishes at age 15 unless you continue at the higher level. Teachers pay a sum of money in order to become teachers and then make quite a nice living. So, in that regard, Bali is ahead of us priority wise.

And finally, I think this guy should visit the Iowa State Fair next year. This farmer brought his pig over to "make babies" with the pigs living across the road from our hotel. In all fairness, I don't think he will be alive for the fair next year if he is successful at his mission today, as we saw his brother being carried by two men hanging upside down from a thick tree branch a few days before.

To be continued in Part II .....

Thanks and Gratitude

Stereotypically, Thanksgiving is the day to eat, entertain, perhaps watch a little football, and celebrate having the day off (if this is applicable). Since we have spent the last five Thanksgiving days abroad, we aren't necessarily concerned with the actual day of Thanks, but rather the concept; get together with your family, whoever that may be at the time, and one whichever day works in the schedule, and simply enjoy the company. In Ireland, we merged our celebration with the Canadian one and invited our dear friends, though most who attended were neither American or Canadian, to eat pumpkin pie and turkey. And one of them, without fail, asks the question "what is Thanksgiving celebrating?". Good question.

So, the answer usually starts off with the celebration of the last harvest before winter, pilgrims, etc... But we never really answer the question, I think.

We did no official celebrating year. Not even pie!!  Instead, I spent the actual day of Thanksgiving, feeling grateful I studied for my yoga teacher training exams as I furiously wrote for two hours plus.  However, we were instructed to take a moment to write down things we are grateful for during our morning class, and my little square of paper was filled with names. Family and friends. So, to answer the question that many of you have asked: Thanksgiving to me, is a day to celebrate gratitude for family and friends. Otherwise, why would we continue to prepare food for hours and hours, then entertain, then clean up for hours (days) afterwards?!

Here's to you all, and hoping you've had an exceptional thirty days of gratitude and thanks, and maybe you ate an extra slice of pie for me.
Sending lots of love!

Gardens by the Bay

Beautiful. Hot. Sticky. We walked around the gardens by the bay for a few hours over the weekend. It was quite the place to be. These gardens are located in central south Singapore, in the Marina Bay area. These gardens were part of a city plan to make Singapore the "city in a garden".  The various gardens show the importance of plants to culture, economy, and biodiversity in Singapore and surrounding nations.

The highlight of the gardens for me was the grove of Supertrees; tree-like structures that range in height from 68-120 feet. These supertrees perform many essential functions for the gardens including planting and shading, and are equipped with environmental technology to harness soloar energy, which is used in many ways throughout the garden. The Supertrees have a walkway connecting them, and you get the most beautiful views while up there. Apparently they have a light show in the grove at night, which we will definitely have to go back for at some point. 

The landscaping is fantastic, and the presence of water everywhere makes these gardens so calming, even with all the crowds of people around. The zig-zagging rippling water on stairs is one of my favorite things; I think it's the sound of the bubbling water is what draws me in.

 There are beautiful trees with the most fantastic trunks, and with the supertrees in the background, it really makes for a nice pairing of old and new. All in all it was a day well spent with excellent company- our first visitor since moving over here! Thanks for coming with us, Sue. 

This cute smiling face will put anyone in a good mood, and he's just so photogenic. We got to see him on our way down the zig-zag waterway. Love this Buddha.

Shanthi 

MId Autumn Festival

October is here and things have been quite busy. I've decided to take a yoga teacher training course next month, so the books have been out as well as the yoga mat. We also said good bye to Max, who is now back at home with his family. After doing our Doggy Day Care for a few weeks, we're happy to have the ability to come and go when we please, though we do miss Max quite a lot! 

The past few weekends, we've enjoyed the Mid-Autumn festival here in Singapore. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a huge Chinese celebration, which takes place on the fifteenth day of the eighth Chinese lunar month (October 3 this year). We've been enjoying many of the festivities through most of September and this first week of October. There are lanterns up and down the river, at the Chinese gardens, and China town. Many of the lantern displays tell children's stories, fables, or are depictions of the animals representing the Chinese zodiac. 

Another perk of the Mid-Autumn festival are the moon cakes. We were lucky enough to try two kinds this year: red bean as well as pineapple. Both are traditional flavors, though they have recently been branching out to make many different varieties including mango, chocolate, and durian. I think the red bean cake won for me, but both were extremely sweet and delicious. Not sure the pictures do them justice, but you can get an idea.

The Festival shut down as of yesterday, and we are definitely excited for next year. Loving all the beautiful ways the city can be transformed, and the mixture of old and new!

Autumn

As you might imagine, Autumn in Singapore doesn't really exist. The thing I miss most about living out of the midwest are the distinct seasonal changes. We had a couple changes is Austin, maybe two, and possibly threeish in Ireland. We're down to one over here, but we can pretend. We've been going for walks at night, and the crunching of leaves makes it semi believable that it is the middle of September. Except for the little detail that the air conditioning repair men were here today, you might not notice that it's still summer.
We are enjoying the accessibility the city's public transportation provides us. We've been taking the MRT (train) around, and it's always amazing to pop out in the underground world the city has. It's fascinating how many underground layers there are. They unquestionably know how to utilize space over here, both below and above ground.

We went to the Esplanade Concert Hall the other night, and it is a beautiful space inside with great acoustics. The outside is unmistakably modeled after the durian. Speaking of the durian, we haven't eaten any of that since the first time, however we have had some tasty food. My dish to rave about this week is nasi goreng. Traditionally, an Indonesian fried rice, the version we get is made with red curry, vegetables, and chilli peppers. It is served with cucumber, and a dollop of ketchup (I think that is just this particular guy). You also get a whole fried chicken with it; it's small though! We had some lime juice to wash it down. Delicious. I love the color of the plates against the food!

Until next time, happy Autumn. Enjoy the leaves for me!
Namaste,
Katie

Two weeks in

Singapore lies approximately one degree north latitude. Basically, each day is the same length and temperature all year round. I can see the ocean on two sides of the island from here. We're fairly south in the city, so only the northern and western boarders that are out if sight. The city is full of construction projects, and this goes late into the night, and continues every day except Sunday. I am quickly finding the humidity to be unlike any I've experienced to this point. The air is usually quite thick, and often you can see the haze. However, on a clear day, the skyline is quite beautiful.
The food so far has been amazing. We've found Japanese curry to be especially delicious. My favorite so far, though, has to be roti prata. This is a delicious pancake-like food, that you dip in a chicken curry of sauce. You can also get egg or cheese prata, prata with bananas, and I'm sure many other varieties. I could live on them. We've also had our taste of the durian fruit, whose pungent creaminess is not for those with a sharp olfactory system. 

We're in the process of moving to our new apartment, so hopefully the next update will come from home sweet home.
Sampai berjumpa lagi!
See you soon!