Thursday, July 17, 2014

Go Have an Adventure!

Well, we're home. Well, not home. We're back in Chilliwack. And EXHAUSTED.
I just thought that before I get back to being busy with family and friends that I'd do a quick last thought of the trip.

Here are the positive things that came out of this trip for me, for Joey, for Stuart, and for our family.

Well, actually, I don't want to get too personal or too touchy-feely, so I'll just say a few cool things.

Firstly - and most importantly - this trip was great for our family.  It made us grow so much closer than we already were.  We ate all of our meals together, Stuart and I changed diapers together, put Joey to sleep together, and spent time in the morning and afternoons walking around exploring together and experiencing things for the first time together.  I do believe that's the new record for the amount of times together has been used in a single sentence.  And guess what? We loved every minute of it.  Stuart and Joey bonded so much on this trip.  Seeing the two of them playing, reading, and daddy explaining things to Joey made me fall more in love with Stuart.. and more in love with Joey!

Next up is how much I loved this trip.  My favorite part about going on a trip is exploring by myself. Getting exhausted. Walking in the heat. Running in the hills.  Being pushed physically and observing the things going on around me.  I am fortunate enough to have an awesome husband who was more than happy to hold down the fort on a daily basis while I got to go out and walk and hike and run on my own.  It gave me a lot of time to just be Vanessa.   Not to be a doting wife or mother. Just to feel independent for long enough to recharge, go back to my favorite 2 guys, and realize how lucky I am to have the role of wife and mother.

Seeing people in Bali loving Joey and being so sweet to him just reinforced to me how special and wonderful babies are. So new. So innocent.  So loving.  You have to love and be in awe of a baby.  This love knows no cultural or racial limits.  Them loving Joey and Joey loving all of them filled my heart.

Lastly, the challenge of it all.  The trip itself was actually surprisingly easy and wonderful.  The challenges were in our long journeys to Bali with long layovers in Kuala Lumpur and Narita, the journey of navigating our way to and through Tokyo after very little sleep (this was on the way home and I didn't blog about it), and the epic (and I say epic to mean long... not epic the way people say it these days to mean 'awesome') journey from Bali back home to Vancouver: two overnight flights and a day long layover... with almost no sleep in 48 hours while having to take care of a very distraught baby boy. And Joey wasn't too happy either. Ha. Ha.

These challenges would've been tough and exhausting enough without adding Joey to the mix, and with him they proved to be a stretching time in my and Stuart's relationship that involved plenty of laughter, anger, apologies, encouragement, discouragement, and creative problem solving and decision making. Oh, and major team work.  Through these experiences we learned a lot about how we take care of Joey in times of frustration and how important encouraging words and unconditional love and sacrifice are in times when every inch of you wants to scream or turn away in your seat and selfishly bury your head in a book or a pillow while your spouse struggles with a screaming, overtired child.

If you've never gone traveling with your spouse, I highly encourage it if for nothing else than to grow closer with each other.  Put yourself in an uncomfortable situation together and deal with things head on as a team.  You will make lasting memories and your bond will only strengthen.

Go have an adventure!

xoxo



Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Ethical Dilemma

Stuart and I ran out of IDR. I thought we'd had enough to last us until the last minute of our trip, but didn't account for the shopping that I did.
Joey is now sleeping after a nice relaxing morning of early rising, going for a walk, and having fluffy pancakes with daddy at our FAVORITE bakery, Kakiang Bakery and Cafe.
I went out of the hotel room with 20 USD, hoping to exchange it and do a little last minute shopping. There are plenty of things I'd love to buy, but I have to remember that we have lots of things already, and accumulating 'things' is not exactly something we want to start making a habit of. Especially since, back home in California, we have no real place to put anything new.
I walked down the steep hill toward monkey forest to a small money changing shop. 11,500 IDR/1 USD. A pretty decent exchange rate.  I walked into the shop which was full of small wooden jewlery items and some carvings.  A large, short, older lady wearing baggy clothes and messy hair walked out from behind the small room past the counter in the back of the store.
"Yes?" she asked quietly.
"Money exchange, please." I answered, showing her my 20 dollar bill.
She punched numbers into the calculator and began handing me 100, 000 IDR bills. Five of them.  And then 75, 000 more.
I walked out of the store not really sure if I had really seen what I'd seen.  When I entered my favorite furniture and decor store after that, I saw large, beautiful items costing around 400, 000 IDR.  "Wait a second..." I thought.  I then realized that to her calculation, she had actually given me 50 USD worth of money instead of 20.
My mind started to race.  Now I could buy anything I wanted! Maybe I should exchange MORE money because her calculations were off. But, wait, she probably really needs that money.  That 30 USD worth means practically nothing to me, where as for her it could be a month wages.  But, it was her mistake! Why should I care? But, what if she realizes her mistake? Isn't she bound to? What if it's not her shop (which it likely isn't) and she gets punished for not giving me back the right amount? But... but... now I can buy anything I want from the home decor store and it will be like it was free! ... but....
I decided to go back to the hotel room and tell Stuart of my good fortune and have him help me calculate how much the woman should have actually given me so that I could go back and talk to her.
"Well, is your integrity worth a few hundred thousand Indonesian dollars?" Stuart asked me. I knew it wasn't.
I went back to the money changer, who was once again huddled in a small, dark back room by herself in the shop full of wooden jewlery.  She winced as she got up from her plastic chair.
"Yes?" she asked in a quiet voice.
"You gave me too much money." I said.
She didn't quite understand at first.
"You want exchange more money?" she asked.
"No, no. I gave you 20 dollars. You gave me too much." I said and began handing her back hundreds of thousands of IDR.
Her face dropped and her hands were quickly on top of her head.
"Oh, no!" she said.
"It's okay!" I responded. "Here."
I took out the calculator and helped her calculate what I was actually due.
She took 300, 000 IDR and said it was okay if I kept the other extra.  I handed back to her the amount she was rightfully due and told her I didn't need the extra.
"Thank-you. Oh, thank-you." She replied.
Then she wrapped her arms tightly around me with tears in her eyes.
Such a small thing for me was such a big deal for her.

Moral of the story: do the right thing even when you can easily get away with doing the wrong thing.

Monday, July 14, 2014

Hangin out

Tonight we went out for dinner with a European couple (Marcel and Heike) and their 11 month old baby, Tom.  Tom is actually only three days younger than Joey and looks a lot like him! Well, maybe not that much like him, but he is likewise afflicted with baby baldness

Here is a blurry picture of the two of them playing


Can you tell who's who?

Anyway - how we met the three of them was earlier at an internet cafe when we were drinking our cocoa banana drink (banana, soy milk, coconut milk, and a hint of cocoa... so...gooood...) They came in with Tom on their back in a hiking backpack for babies and we quickly struck up a conversation that ended with them inviting us to dine with them.

When six o'clock rolled around pretty much the last thing we wanted to do was go out with these strangers. It seemed a lot easier to just go out and eat when we were hungry and put Joey to bed at 7:30 as we did every night previous.  However, we had made a commitment and we didn't want to go back on it... especially since they were to be meeting us at our hotel.

We were a bit nervous that they were going to take us to some expensive restaurant that we didn't want to spend a bunch of money on and decided that we'd just suck it up and go wherever they recommended.   It turned out that they took us to exactly our favorite restaurant when we were staying at Tegal Sari :Warung Semesta - a great vegetarian, organic restaurant that was also, as luck would have it, cheap.  

The two and a half hours that followed were of course spent talking about our travels and theirs, and about our two little boys and what life is like with them.

It was a nice evening.

Here is Heike, Tom, Joey, and me after dinner:

A nice end to a lovely day full of walking, eating, and shopping around Ubud.
Today I actually bought a few things to bring home.

I met a woman in a wooden jewelry shop, sitting in the back corner crocheting a beautiful pattern. When I asked her what she was working on, she held it up.  It was a shirt! She told me she had been working on it for the past ten days.  We talked for a while and I found out that she had recently married and was hoping to be pregnant soon .We talked about marriage and babies and our husbands.  I tried on the shirt she was almost finished making and bought it for around 17 USD.  I'll pay that for ten days of work. 

Stuart and I bought some nice salad tongs, also. Not much else, though. I bought a wooden ring and some wooden earrings.  I almost got Joey some overalls with lizards on them and another pair with monkeys eating bananas, but maybe I'll buy them tomorrow. My bartering skills weren't great today.

This afternoon a monkey came onto our porch and we got some awesome footage of us standing behind a giant glass window in our hotel room. Joey pressed his hand against the glass and the monkey pressed his hand to the glass where Joeys hand was! It was sooo precious.

---

Here are some pictures from the last two days. They're not in any particular order


The three of us at one of our favorite restaurants enjoying some Gado-Gado. - Yes, those are real flowers in my hair! I get to put beautiful flowers in my hair every day here. They're all over the sidewalk!


Daddy and Joey after a long walk through town after visiting the Champuan Hotel and walking through its award winning gardens in the middle of the afternoon.


Mommy and Joey reunited after my hour-long Balinese massage.


Little Jungle baby dries off after an afternoon swim.


The three of us enjoying our rice terrace view at a nearby restaurant at lunch time on a warm day.


In front of a temple


This tree has a crochet cover around it and I thought it looked pretty.


Daddy takes a picture of mommy and Joey at our favorite restaurant after lunch today.


Peaking over a booth at a nice lady playing 'peek-a-boo'.



Good night!

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Hello, Massage?

Hello, Massage

Stuart and I have been talking about getting massages for … well, since we got here.  We decided not to get them in Kuta because we felt that knowledgeable 'healing' hands would more likely be found in Ubud.  Every day we have talked about the idea and every day we have put it off.  An hour away from Joey after being with him pretty much 24/7 sounded  bit tricky and I doubted I'd be able to fully 'relax' what with all the monkeys potentially dragging him and daddy away. Just kidding. Mostly.
Yesterday, I decided it was finally time to bite the bullet.  It was the perfect opportunity: our first rainy afternoon. 
I trudged through the pothole-y sidewalks down to '3Pointe Spa'.  I had grabbed a handful of brochures a few nights before from girls sitting on the sidewalk so that I could do my tripadvisor research before deciding on a place to go. 
I'm sure that there are beautiful, world class spas elsewhere, but I was curious to see what this 60, 000 IDR (less than $6) 1 hour 'Balinese Massage' was all about.
3Pointe had got a 4.5 on tripadvisor, which sounded good to me.
"Hello, Massage?" A girl yelled to me as I almost passed right by. 
"Oh! Actually yes, Balinese massage please." I said to her as she raised her arm up, pointing her hand down a gravel path.
I walked in the warm rain to a small room with three beds and curtains separating them. 
"Please take off all clothes except underwear." She said, quickly closing the curtain.
Never before have I felt so vulnerable. Actually, that's a lie…. having my pap test while nursing Joey probably takes the cake, but I digress…
As I stripped down to my skivvys, thankful that I chose not to wear… a certain type of underwear…. this afternoon, I spotted a rolled up sarong on my massage table. 
Was I supposed to drape it over myself? Was it for me? Was it left here? So many questions.
I decided to leave it where it was as I put my clothes under the table and prayed that my body wouldn't think it was time to feed Joey while I was there and squirt my massure with cream. 
Maybe this was a mistake.
I layed down on my stomach and rested my face in the face hole which had three face towels wrapped around it that I believe at one time may have been white. As long as my mouth didn't touch them I felt I would be ok to just grin and bear it.

The same girl said "Ready?" a couple of minutes later and I replied yes.
I think I heard her laugh when she entered the room… but, I could have been imagining it. 
I soon felt the sarong draped over me.
And then someone on the massage table with me.  Before I spazzed out, I breathed and thought 'this is probably just part of the massage'… and it was.  She dug into some pressure points with her palms and it felt so good.
The next hour was full of reflexology and rubbing with essential oils. It. was. awesome. And also a little weird because about a quarter of the way through, I heard a mans voice and realized that I was no longer the only person in the room getting a massage.  It felt extra weird knowing there was a man, practically naked, not 5 feet away from me, lying down… and divided only by a thin curtain.
Also, she massaged too much of my butt for my liking.

Other than the awkward feeling of those things, WAIT actually there was one more awkward thing.
She flipped me onto my back and took the sarong off of me to my waist.  I don’t know if that's normal when you're getting a massage… but I felt VERY exposed.  But the massage on my shoulders, sides, and arms from this position was AMAZING.

She had a blindfold cloth over my eyes for this part.  It was just a folded up wash cloth. Again, I'm assuming that at one point in its life it had been white.

Suddenly, I felt a tap on my shoulder. 

"Excuse me?" She said, as I removed my blind fold. "Massage over."

She gave me some privacy as I hurriedly put on my clothes in case the man behind the next curtain could somehow see me.

She was very sweet as she led me back out into the pouring rain.

 "It was okay?" she asked in a quiet voice. 

I told her it was wonderful. A very pregnant lady then appeared and took my money.

I walked back down the pot hole-y gravel path back home and thought,

'that was definitely worth at least six dollars.'

Friday, July 11, 2014

Eat. Pray. Lose Perspective.

This morning I met Elizabeth Gilbert.
Not actually.

As I was sitting and drinking my morning coffee with Joey eating a crumbly bun beside me, I saw a woman sitting in the other corner of the couch I was on, playing on her phone.
She asked me how old Joey was after Joey made it very clear, by yelling at her, that he was desperate for her attention.  My boy is such a social guy!!
We struck up a conversation and I found out that she was from LA.
Recently laid off from her job.
Recently divorced with a recently sold house.
Came to Ubud to soul search and figure out 'what's next'.
Sound familiar?

As I listened to her talk about her life back home and how coming here was a peaceful retreat, I found myself agreeing with her.  Of course a vacation is a peaceful retreat. You can have a peaceful retreat anywhere. Granted - Ubud is an awesome place to have it.  With the jungle comes a symphony of sounds, colours, and animals. There are beautiful things to buy, healthy, cheap food to eat, raw juices and brightly coloured fruit.  Not to mention the weather, which remains a bearable temperature all day with just the right amount of breeze.

But, as I listened to her, I realized she was starting to get delusional in her 'retreat', which I'm positive happens to many westerners visiting Ubud or other places in SE Asia.
"I think about my life in LA and I think why? I'm paying thousands for my apartment and for what? I pay 20 dollars for a meal at a restaurant and I think 'what for?' Here I can spend $5 and eat all I want.  I can stay here for $30 a night. It's so peaceful here. What are we doing wrong in LA?"

It kind of made me cringe hearing her think like that.

First off, you're on a vacation. You're not living here.  If you were living here, you'd be working. Just the same as you'd do back home. You would probably feel the same way here as you do there while you're working. This sucks. I'd rather be doing ____.  Except for, if you were working here, you'd probably get cranky because where you're working probably won't have AC.

Secondly, yes. It's cheap. It's amazing. Coming from one of the wealthiest countries in the world, the sky really is the limit here in Ubud.  But, you're forgetting something.  The majority of local people here in Bali are dirt poor, making next to no money. Why do you think things cost so little? Because most people here are living in poverty.

Do the locals look relaxed? Like they're wandering around in a zen trance? Did they recently get a hot stone massage and a flower petal bath? No.

Here's what the locals are doing:
Crouching on the sidewalks in the blazing sun, wearing dirty clothes and practically begging you to take a taxi ride. Or get a massage.  Or come into their store.  Or cooking your cheap meals over flaming, steaming stove tops in an unairconditioned kitchen. Some of them are old ladies. Some of them are pregnant girls.  Some of them are very young.  Their children are running around the restaurant or in the kitchen with them while you sit at a table and get the food presented to you and marvel about how cheap everything is.

Of course Ubud is great for you. and me. and people that aren't locals. It's getting better for people that are locals, too, with all the tourism.  But don't forget why it's cheap and why you feel so peaceful.

You're not working.
You're not in poverty.

The end.

Dance Show

When traveling to Bali with a baby - may I suggest the possibility of sitting out the ever popular Balinese dance show in Ubud.
There are many dance shows here, performed by men and women in elaborate costumes and an orchestra playing some instrument I don't know, but it looks really beautiful.  They tell different stories about nature, kings, and good and evil.
What they don't tell you is that you'll be watching the performance in the most mosquito-y place ever and that the performance will be never ending.
After watching a dragon dance in a doorway for about ten minutes before even entering, we knew we were in for a slow show. Outside .Past Joey's bedtime.
It definitely had its entertaining moments: the girls in beautiful costumes, the man dressed as a monkey, but alas, Joey was not having it and was beginning to get overtired. We tried to avoid this by catching a six o'clock show. But, like I said, the shows never end.  I think we likely would have been there for a good 2.5/3 hours had we stayed for the whole thing, but we had a bit of a hike to get home and it was already past seven and dark outside, so it was time to call 'er quits.

We did our little hike back home, some of it in the (almost) pitch black, hoping we wouldn't run into any monkeys. Success! We were home, and VERY tired, before eight o'clock and plunked Joey down into a bathtub for a quick rinse, then into bed.

The end. Here's Joey and I before the dance show:




Monkey Business

Guys, I'm dead tired. That's why there was no post yesterday. I fell asleep before I could write it!

Yesterday we spent the morning hanging out before our big move to Brata Inn (A small hotel in the town center).

I tried to scope it out before we left Tegal Sari (our amazing place), to find out what time we could check in.  The streets here are bustling all the time and the sidewalks are sketchy at best.  Not to mention, Ubud itself is full of giant hills.

I searched, to no avail, for our new place.  Most of the guesthouses, and there are many, are down alleys just off of Monkey Forest Road.  Yes, there is a monkey forest. And yes, the name for it is fitting.  There are hundreds of monkeys going mental in there, jumping on tourists that are holding their bananas bought by Balinese women just outside of the main entrance.

Monkeys scare me.  I like them from far away. Or behind a cage. But not right up in my grill in the wild. That's a little different. Also, they're so sneaky!

Monkeying around:



Anyway - I found our new place after my second time going out and looking for it and before we knew it, it was check in time.

We got a driver from Tegal Sari to help us with our luggage and he attempted to drop us off there.  it was impossible for him to do it on the first go because Brata Inn is on a steep and giant hill on a one way, one lane street with no parking.   Since the traffic in Ubud is so horrific on the main streets during the day, it took us literally about half an hour to get back to the entrance (about a 1.5km drive).

Joey did well on the drive, and we had AC in the hot part of the day, so we didn't really mind at all.

Our new Inn looked good to us upon arrival, and even has a large balcony with no hazards for Joey and the perfect size ledge that he can stand up but not fall off.  I thought it would be a good place for us to hang out in the mornings.

Right? WRONG.

First thing this morning, Joey and I went out on the patio and looked at the tin roofs around us and all the telephone wires dangling down when I realized something.... we were smack dab in the middle of a monkey morning paradise! They were everywhere.  When I least suspected it (our balcony has a large blind spot) a giant monkey leaped onto our balcony ledge and was staring right at us! I SCREAMED and ran inside with Joey.  hahaha oh my goodness.  It was crazy/hysterical.

I'm getting ahead of myself though.

After we got situated and had lunch, Joey, Stuart, and I went for a swim.  Our place is new and small and doesn't have a swimming pool, but they share a swimming pool with a hotel that shares a little garden with ours.

It was a nice time and Joey met a baby that was 11 months old, too!

Here's a picture of Joey and mama after the swim:



And Joey and dada just chillin:


I don't know if I mentioned that while we're traveling Joey is sleeping in the bathroom, but he is... and I recommend it to anyone traveling with a small child.  It allows for the room to be dark and allows mom and dad from going nuts tip toeing around and trying not to make a peep.  The only downside is that if you have to go to the bathroom after baby goes to sleep you're pretty much screwed.  It was fine at the last place because the reception area had a 'western' bathroom.  No such luck here.  It's do your business and hose off your butt (likely soaking your entire outfit if you're anything like me...)  Alas, it's still better than the alternative of Joey sleeping in our room and us getting no free time.




Last night the fam went out to Tropical View Restaurant for some famous Ubud Crispy Duck.  It was delish!  Here's a silly picture of mommy feeding a puff to her baby bird.  Oh, at the Tropical View restaurant we got to sit on some  bamboo floor on pillows. It was great for Joey to crawl around and fun for us!


The three of us at the restaurant




 Today we hung out and ate at some internet cafe with AC (nowhere really has AC so it was awesome).  My food of choice these days is Gado Gado .. without the tofu and tempe because I think that's grosss. It's basically just boiled vegetables with peanut sauce and an egg. It's soooo good.
The dude running the internet cafe/restaurant was awesome and held Joey while Stuart and I scarfed down lunch.
The rest of the afternoon was spent attempting to shop with no luck because it's impossible to try on clothes with a baby attached to you... I dont think I'll get a chance to do shopping here, really...
Joey didn't have a nap this afternoon. We tried, but I think he was too overtired by the time we finally plunked him down. We need to be back at the hotel around 2:30 from now on. Lesson learned.

Tonight we walked and walked and walked all the way to a Balinese Dance Show!



At $7.25/person, this is the most expensive thing we've done on our trip.  It was fun! But wayyyy too long for Joey.  We stayed for the first hour and then took off. Maybe I'll write more about the show later, but right now I'm way too tired to write anything properly.

Blah Blah Blah, this blog is over for now.

Good night!

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Plain and Simple

The last two days have been super relaxed around here in Ubud.
Mornings are spent like this:
Mommy and Joey go to a coffee shop after Joey has 'breakfast' out on the balcony and have some playtime while mama enjoys an Americano.  Playtime at my fave coffee shop usually lasts about an hour and then we head back to the place and wake up Stuart, play in the room for a while, and then go grab some pancakes.

After breakfast is nap time. Morning naps are usually pretty short and after nap, the three of us will often venture out for a little walk and find somewhere for lunch and wandering around.

Yesterday afternoon we had super thin crust pizza at Mama Mia and Joey got taken care of by this guy:

and later in the afternoon we went to the grocery store and Joey got taken care of by these girls:


We searched for a place to stay for a long time yesterday, because our stay here at Tegal Sari is almost up and there are no available rooms for the next... long time.  I booked this place three mothns ago and even with booking it way back then (as I may have mentioned...) we still couldn't get the same room for the duration of our booking (5 nights).  It's a pretty popular place.

After looking at several rooms and finding out that some were either unavailable for our dates or over our budget, we decided to look online for a room and found something for tomorrow that seems good.... hopefully it is!

Last night, Joey went to bed early so we ate dinner in our room and had a nice relaxing evening.


The only real different activity we did today was go to the market.  It was insane.  SO many things being sold.  The outdoor market was a little les tight, but the indoor part of the market was crazy tight.  We didn't think of taking a picture of the indoor one because it was so crazy in there and we just wanted to get out. It would've been hard enough going in there just by yourself, let alone with a sweety attached to you and a diaper bag.  Thank goodness we didn't consider bringing a stroller!

Here is the only picture we took of the market:





We didn't buy anything.

Oh,  I forgot to mention that I went for a run yesterday. It was so stinkin hot and so hard to run with all of the people around and the motor bikes and tour buses zipping by, but I figured it out and ran back on the trail from a few days ago.  Today I ventured out a little further in a different direction until there were way fewer people so I turned around and came back the the hotel.

It's pretty hilly here.

Also, in my comparison of traveling with a baby in Kuta vs. Ubud, I failed to mention that the weather in Ubud is a definite plus.  It's significantly cooler here.  It does get quite warm in the afternoon, but not unbearable like Kuta.

Anyway - here are some here-and-there pictures from the last two days.  We don't take many pictures. We need to get better at that maybe.

Picture 1: Making new friends
Picture 2: At an Indian Restaurant
Picture 3: Waiting for a thousand years for our transportation... and apparently loving it
Picture 4: Playing 'peek-a-boo' with the girls in the kitchen








Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Pictures from two days ago

Here are some beautiful pictures from the other day. I know I was going to blog everyday but I've been having trouble making sure I do it! Today there will be an update on yesterday as well as some pictures.  For now, enjoy beautiful Ubud.











Monday, July 7, 2014

Trekking with Joey and Stuart

Wah! The internet is like molasses, so pictures will have to come tomorrow.

Whoever said that a baby can slow you down is a total.... truth teller.
This trip has definitely been far different with Joey with us.  Without him we may have hiked Mount Batur at sunrise, or gone to Lombok.  With him, we are taking a more relaxed approach and are loving it in a totally different way.

That said - we still did attempt a small 'trek' today. And it was a success.
We went to Campuan Ridge Trail, which is in Ubud (where we are), and begins just outside of the city center.  We had a driver with a nice car and air conditioning (all included in our awesome guesthouse), take us near where we needed to be.
There were not many people along the trail, which was a welcome surprise, as the city center is definitely a busy place with both tourists and locals alike.
I will mention that our place is not right in the city center.  It is about a five minute drive or a 20ish minute walk and I wouldn't have it any other way.  We are just outside of the hubub and right smack dab in front of a beautiful rice terrace straight out of a post card.
We actually haven't spent much time in the downtown area itself because there are a lot of great things right around us including a kick butt grocery store where I got the following items for the equivalent of eleven dollars:
-8 thick slices of red watermelon
-8 thick slices of yellow watermelon
-3 oranges
-3 bananas
-baby wipes
-tooth paste
-2 sleeves of baby crackers
-a stuffed soccer ball for Joey
-water
-2 packages of coffee

Can you imagine all that for eleven dollars?!?!

Anyway - we began our trek in the late morning, which is likely why there weren't many people along the ridge.  It's a bit tricky to find because the trail head is in a pretty random spot in front of a hotel that's off the main road.  With a little research before heading out, I knew exactly what we were looking for and we found it right away.

It was a bit of a hike, but mostly just ups and downs along a nice path with lush, dense jungle on either side, eventually entering a town.  After that the landscape breaks into beautiful bright green rice paddies and has a few places to rest.

We stopped at a small cafe that has small huts with thatched roofs looking out onto the rice paddies.  It's kind of magical. Kind of something you never thought you would be able to do, but have seen in national geographic or something.  I wish I would have taken a picture of them, but there's only a picture of us inside. Rats.  Maybe we'll have to go back.

As we sipped our amazing watermelon juice with a flower decorating the rim (for just one dollar) and looked out onto the rice paddies, we wished we could stay there for hours.  Joey didn't quite feel the same way. And he was right. We needed to take advantage of the short stint of clouds overhead and find our way back before it got too hot.

Butterflies flew as we left and walked along the path all around us.  Totally different kinds than we'd ever seen.  Some were purple and black, others were a rusty orange and black.
We saw some small lizards, geckos and one absolutely giant spider on the walk back.

The entirety of the trek would have been 8.5 km of gentle hills.  Our version was probably just a few km's because it was beginning to get quite hot and I was carrying Joey on my front and he's getting super heavy.

We decided that we're going to come back and do it again because it was such a fun (and beautiful!) experience.  But, this time we won't bring all of Joeys stuff (no need!) and we'll try to get an earlier jump on things. (Probably aim to begin at 8:30 instead of 10:00) so it doesn't get too hot by the time we return.

We wandered through the town once we got back, looking for somewhere cheap and good to eat.  It's easy to find good places to eat in the city center.  It's mega touristy and there are (apparently) some well known chefs working here.  There are also plenty of organic eateries because Ubud is supposed to have this 'cleansing' aura about it.  Lots of people wandering around trying to find themselves.  All we were trying to find was some cheap fried stuff. Am I right?!

We found a place off of the main road that made some AWESOME Gado-Gado for me (a vegetarian dish with plenty of green veggies and peanut sauce), and some AWESOME fried pork with greens and rice for Stuart.

A lady at the small restaurant hung out with Joey.  She actually asked if she could take him to her house which was apparently attached to the restaurant.  I told her that it was totally ok if she played with him, but I needed to see him at all times.  She was really nice, but I can't take my chances.  She played with him in a corner of the restaurant with her two grand children (ages 10 and 3).  The 3 year old kept getting super jealous that the grandma was giving Joey her toys to look at and she kept crying, so eventually the three of them left!

After lunch, we hopped back into our nice ride and ended up in the vehicle with an Indian woman from (can you imagine) ABBOTSFORD! It was nice to have a connection there and we found out that her and her family have been to Bali six times.  They recommended a place for us to stay when our time is up here.  The place we're at needs to be booked months in advance. I booked our stay three months ago and we STILL had to switch rooms half way through and then go BACK to the same room because there were no sequencial stays of five nights available.

We've decided to stay in Ubud a little longer than planned . At the pace we're going, we are doing about one activity per day for a few hours (aside from restaurants and basic lounging around in our room and at the pool).
We still have lots of things to see and do here.  More trails. Markets. Balinese traditional dance show. More food to try.

The rest of the day was nice. Restful and full of playtime.  Joey went to bed around 7:30 and Stuart and I ordered some vegetables, rice, and chicken/beef to our hotel room and ate on cushions on the floor.

Sunday, July 6, 2014

Traveling with a Baby - Kuta vs. Ubud

There are definitely pros and cons to backpacking with a baby in each location.  I say backpacking because, for all intents and purposes, that's what we're doing.  Granted, we are staying in the nicer 'backpacker' joints because we've got a little angel in tow.  If we were to be doing the trip resort style, the results of the 'Ubud vs. Kuta' would obviously be very different.

Backpacking in Kuta with a budget of 70 dollars a day (This includes lodging and all food/beverage for two people):

Small room with AC, small bathroom, decent selection of places to buy food

The people:
LOVE Joey. Wow. We couldn't walk two feet without someone pinching his cheeks or smiling at him.  They even wanted to hold him. All the time.  It was so much fun.
(a con to this is that ... and I don't know if they're related ... Joey is STILL battling a wicked cold and has snot running down his nose like a faucet)

The dogs:
Not too many and most of them are baking in the heat and don't care about you.

The area:
no real peace and quiet, unless of course, you're on the beach. And the beach stretches forever.  Sooo, that's pretty great.  Joey loved the beach, too.
Outside of the beach, you're pretty much getting bombarded at every turn by someone wanting to sell you something.

Backpacking in Ubud with a budget of 70 dollars a day (inc. lodging and all food/beverages for 2 people)

Massive room. Massive balcony with a beautiful view. Large bathroom. Decent selection of food places. Or hey! Get your food delivered right to your balcony at no extra charge.

The people:
So many less people here! But, what people we have met have been lovely and enjoy playing with Joey.

The dogs:
A little more territorial than in Kuta.  I'm a little nervous to walk by them.

The area:
Peace and quiet abound.  The only sounds you hear once you're off the main road are a symphony of nature. Beautiful.

FOR ME:
I enjoy busy, chaos, and plenty of social interactions, both good and bad.  Kuta was awesome for going out with Joey and spending hours hanging out with the locals while they gooed and gaaed over him.
It was a HUGE challenge having Joey in our hotel room out there because it was so small and there was nowhere for him to play.  That was definitely a negative.

Our place in Ubud is perfect for us all to just hang out and chill in without needing to redirect Joey every five seconds and with the beautiful view and room service, it's hard to want to leave our room especially for Stuart! I go stir crazy sometimes.

I like both places, and thus far, the offer completely different experiences.  If you like chaos and the beach, go to Kuta. If you like peace and tranquility, come to Ubud.
They are both beautiful in completely different ways.

Picture Time!

The last blog post was sorely lacking in photos, so this entry is mostly dedicated to pictures.

Picture 1: Joey getting held by the waiters at 'The Balcony' restaurant. As you can see, with his arm on the waiters shoulder, he is feeling quite at home.


Our typical meal here in Bali.  Nasi Goreng and Mie Goreng. Mine with an iced coffee, and Stuart's with a mango juice.  Our fave!



                                 Mommy and Joey on the beach doing Joey's new favorite activity:
                                        looking up at the moon in amazement saying 'Moo! Moo!'


Coupla Sillies heading out to the beach


This picture was taken right after a frustrating crisis that involved me ripping my shirt off and nursing in the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. (Public washrooms are hard to find... and I was wearing a high necked t-shirt. My bad...) also, no one batted an eye or even noticed.


A tired puppy.


And now just a few pictures from our first official day in Ubud (today)

Excited to be here finally!


Teething, Bali Style


I was terrified to sit with the wild monkeys at 'Monkey Forest', so I grabbed this girl and linked arms with her to sit beside me. Strength in numbers! 


Some of our new friends (No, this is not a zoo. This is in the wild)


What a beautiful Jungle Ubud has! Insanely awesome!



They say pictures are worth a thousand words. And tonight I have no words except that I love this place more and more all the time.  You should see our hotel. It's actually not a hotel... it's like we have our own gigantic private space.  I would call it a suite, but there's no kitchen.  It's the size of a suite, though.  You can get everything here.  Anything you want, just ring the front desk and they'll deliver it to your gigantic balcony overlooking rice paddies.  
In the morning there are tons of different exotic birds chirping and in the evening there are so many different kinds of bugs making evening noises.  It's so awesome.  There are two gecko's living outside of our room, and the ants here are the size of a dime (huge!).  The monkeys in the monkey forest are crazy and climb on people. It's so beautiful here. I can't even. Oh, and the food is great, too.
More about all of this in later posts. Good night!
If anyone's reading this blog, 'honk' in the comments section if you'd like. :)

Saturday, July 5, 2014

The last few days -

So... we've been busy. Joey hasn't been napping much. That must be why I haven't been doing this. And also he's been going to bed really late. (and by 'really late' I mean like 8:30)

Anyway - where to begin?

We'll go back...

July 3rd, 2014

Otherwise known as: the day Stuart learned to surf.

Kuta beach is known for its awesome waves and apparently pro surfers from all over the world come to Bali for exactly that.  Lots of people that come to Bali and hang out in beach towns like Kuta are bound to end up in at least one surf lesson.

There are surf lesson advertisements all over Kuta ranging from 25-50 USD.  Stuart found a local surfer who was willing to teach him for 50, 000 IRD (about 4.75 USD).  All he had to do was rent a board.  So it cost him a total of 10, 000 for lessons and a board for the day.

That, of course, left me and Joey to hang out for the day.

The morning was lovely as always with playtime and feeding out on the patio and a quick walk for coffee, followed by a long walk on the beach with little toes in the sand and little hands gripping my index fingers tightly.  Perfect mornings.

Stuart and I tried out a new place for breakfast and had such good banana pancakes, fresh pineapple juice, and coffee.  The coffee in Bali is not at all like the coffee at home.  I don't really know how to describe it.  It's very thick and dark, but not necessarily super strong.  And sometimes there's sludgy stuff at the bottom.  Not exactly what I'm used to. But hey, it's coffee!

The waiters at the restaurant loved Joey.  They held him and played with him while we enjoyed our drinks and when the restaurant wasn't super busy.

After breakfast I put Joey down for a nap in the room and did a blog about Jimbaran Bay.  Then, Joey and I decided to shop a little (didn't buy anything) and see how daddy was doing out in the water.

We had a long play time while Stuart finished surfing (I never knew how attractive surfers were until I saw the studliest one of all. Meow!) He got up on the board a couple of times. It was so fun to watch him try something new and enjoy it like that.  It made me happy to see him be adventurous and it made me extra happy to play with a happy baby in paradise. It was such a nice day.

Later on, we went back to the room and hung out for a little while and ate nasi goering take out from our favorite warung.  Joey went down for an afternoon nap leaving Stuart and I with some much appreciated r and r time to just chill and watch TV.

The late afternoon/early evening were spent once again on the beach with some friends we had made... actually, Joey had made, a few nights before.  A group of local guys hanging around on plastic chairs on the beach playing music.  They are there every night and love to play with Joey.  We had a nice evening of them holding him, playing peek-a-boo, making him laugh, and watching the dogs and puppies play.

We tried to go for a little walk to get Joey to sleep so we could eat out somewhere.  That dinner was the most frustrating night ever.  Joey wouldn't go to sleep... actually, he did... but the minute we stopped moving the stroller he would burst out in hysterics. Poor guy.  We had already ordered our meal to share at a nice restaurant, so we decided to try to stay and eat it in shifts while the other person walked down the noisy main street trying to get Joey to go back to sleep.

As always, the minute we would try to come sit back down, he would be crying again.

Anyway - it went on and on like that and was a very exhausting evening.


July 4, 2014

In the morning, Joey and I went out exploring and discovered a whole area of Kuta that we had not come across before. The rich people area.

A couple of days before, I was hanging out in the most boiling hot warung, waiting for my nasi goering, when an expat from Australia started chatting with me.  He thought that I was a fellow expat, and when I told him that I was just on holidays he said, "Straight to the ghetto, hey?" hahaha I knew we weren't in the ritzy area.  (the ritzy area is about 2 km away).
The difference, really, between the ritzy area and the so called 'ghetto' is nicer sidewalks, more expensive indonesian food of the same quality, more expensive hotels (and fancier), and 'western' restaurants, such as Starbucks, Tony Romas, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, and the vendors selling crummy t-shirts/sun glasses are exactly identical... except for in the ritzy area, they try to sell you things for a heck of a lot more than in the 'ghetto'.

Anyway - seeing some of the nicer shops was nice, and I really wanted to go back there.  I realized after some time that Joey and I had been gone exploring for almost two hours and I was working up quite a sweat so we decided to head back to the hotel and go out with Stuart for some breakfast at our new favorite breakfast place.
'The Balcony' set menu of fresh juice, coffee, and banana pancakes with real maple syrup was just 30, 000 IDR (about 2.80 USD).

I told Stuart about how nice it was down there and how we should do some more exploring/shopping and so we all went back after breakfast and walked around for a couple more hours while Joey napped in the stroller.  When he woke up, he was still happy and we had a nice time back in the room until it was time for another nap. He did so well napping yesterday!

I went for a nice long run after Stuart and I ate some lunch. It was soooo stinkin hot I thought I was going to die.

When I got back, Joey was awake and we all went down to the beach to walk, look at the moon (Joeys favorite thing on earth) and say goodbye to our friends.  It was such a beautiful night all together and Joey was in such a good mood, which of course made Stuart and I in such a good mood.

After that, since it was our last night in Kuta, we really wanted to go to a nice restaurant for dinner.  We thought we'd try our strategy of taking Joey in the stroller for a long walk to get him to sleep, then sit down at a restaurant and enjoy a meal.

What happened in the following two hours was not at all what we had planned.

After frusratingly trying to maneuver Joey through a myriad of motor bikes, buses and taxis on busy streets and having him scream, cry, nurse, eat, poop, and get a diaper change all on the sidewalk, it was time to call it quits.  We were both dead tired, starving, and more than exhausted.  I felt like my leg muscles were ceasing up!

Joey went down in a blaze of glory while Stuart and I sat in a dark room wondering what to do next.

Stuart finally went out and foraged for food.  I ended up with our 'ghetto warung' food, and Stuart got himself some carbonara from a real restaurant.  It was a frustrating and exhausting evening, but when we looked back on it at the end of the night, maybe from delerium, it all seemed kind of funny.


June 5th, 2014 (aka today. aka a really long and fun and hard day)


Today we said farewell to our beloved, chaotic, frantic Kuta.

The morning was spent saying goodbye to friends we made along the way (locals that loved Joey), packing (actually, Stuart did the packing while Joey and I went for a long walk), and having a heck of a time on a van ride to Ubud.

Picture, if you will, a man with a gigantic hiking backpack full, a pack n play crib, a stroller, a smaller backpack that weighs roughly the size of a sumo wrestler, and a woman with a gigantic rolling bag, a baby strapped to the front of her, a gigantic hiking backpack, and a smaller backpack dangling from her arm.

Now picture them on the worlds craziest street unable to use a sidewalk trying to hail a taxi cab.

That was us this afternoon.

Somehow we made it to the tour company where we would receive a ride to Ubud in a non air conditioned van with 13 strangers.

We could have gotten our own driver for 300, 000 IDR, but instead we got this for 100, 000 IDR.  We figured we'd save the money.  Besides, doing things this way gave Joey some entertainment (the people sitting behind us), and gave the people sitting behind us some entertainment (a peep show). Oy.

It was a little hard because obviously Joey was without a seat belt, let alone a car seat which meant that I was without my sanity.

Somehow we made it.  I think all of the antics and the trying to maintain calm and distractions for Joey made the 1.5 hour journey feel like it was just a hop, skip, and a jump.

Luckily, the bus landed up going right across the street from our pre-booked accommodations, so it was easy breezy from there.

Everyone was so polite at our hotel entrance and even took all of our luggage for us! It was a nice treat! They brought us some iced tea and let us rest while they took everything to our room for us.

Our room is AMAZING here! It's totally huge.  Like maybe 2.5 times the size of our place in Kuta with plenty of space for Joey to crawl around, which is a huge bonus. It has a big balcony, free room service, and looks out onto the rice paddies.  We can get breakfast in bed for about 2 dollars us and there is a spa on site that costs 9 dollars for an hour massage! What a dream!

After hanging out in our room for quite a while getting organized and playing, we ventured out for dinner.  Joey conked out the minute he got in the stroller because of his lack of nap in the afternoon (from the long van ride).

We ate cashew chicken at a restaurant and had some cake at a bakery across the street while Joey woke up and I held him and showed him paintings, lights, and wind chimes.

After a family evening walk, we came back to the room and showered and got Joey all ready for bed.

He's sleeping now and here we are!

Will try to update again tomorrow.

I can't post pictures because the internet is too slow here. sorryyyy.


Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Jimbaran Bay

After the most tiring day with zilcho naps, Joey had a very restful night with twelve hours of sleep.  However, since he went to sleep at 6pm, he also woke up at 6am which made for an early morning with mama.

We played down in the hotel lobby for a little while, splashing in the pool, talking to the workers and the security guards.  When the sun came out, I strapped Joey in the bjorn and we went for a little morning walk on the main road, found some coffee, and headed for the beach.

Our hotel is not right on the beach.  It's about a ten minute walk.

Let me describe, as best I can, the road we walk down to get to the beach.

As I turn out of our hotel there are many 'warungs' on the left side of the street.  The street looks like an alley way.  Some spots have really skinny side walks with giant holes in them, other spots you are just walking in the alley.  The road is only a little wider than a compact car, and cars drive down the street all the time.  How do you walk when a car is coming? you ask.  We just duck into one of the many stores selling junky clothes, sarongs, and sunglasses.  These shops can be found pretty much every two shops.  The roads where we are look something like this: sarongs and sunglass shop - massage parlor - sarong and sunglasses -warung - surf shop (rental/repair/lessons) - indomart (where we buy our icecream) - sarong and sunglass shop- warung, etc. etc. etc.  They're all basically the same stuff.  No price tags and plenty of bartering.  We haven't bought anything here.  I think our bartering for junky stuff days may be over.

Actually, I shouldn't say that.  Stuart needed some swimming shorts because he forgot his at home and ended up buying a pair from one of these shops for 50, 000 IDR (about 4.50 USD) and they're actually great and quick drying.  I also bought something from one of the shops.  A beautiful orange and black sarong for 30, 000 IDR (About 2.75 USD) and it has been really useful to us in the evenings.  I tie the top part to the stroller and drape it over Joey and tie it to where the bottom wheel is and it keeps it nice and dark for him to sleep while Stuart and I have dinner (this has worked a few times, not every time) and I'm assuming that it also keeps the mosquitos away because Joey has had no bites yet.  I put repellent on him in the evenings as well. So far, so good.

Anyway - our morning at the beach was beautiful.  It's really breezy along the water, so I took Joey out of the Bjorn and carried him while he looked out at the water.  He loves the ocean here.  How could you not? The waves are amazing, the sounds are peaceful, and the breeze is relaxing.

Another thing Joey has come to love on the beach is all of the stray dogs.  They are everywhere and seem to be harmless.  He loves looking at them and reaching out for them (though I don't dare let him get close!!) They gross me out because they're so maingy, and apparently Bali has a big problem with rabies.  Yikes. Better safe than really really sorry.  (remember that episode of the office where they do a 5km rabies awareness run?)

Anyway - we got back to the hotel and had breakfast with Stuart after a couple of hours of wandering around, looking at dogs, and talking to people.
I really have to start taking a camera out when Joey and I go for our early morning walks because it's the only time of day when Kuta is quiet and peaceful and there are not many people out at the ocean.

Breakfast was nice, and we bid farewell to Anette and Kevin (our Australian friends) who were heading to the central mountains.

We toyed with the idea of going somewhere like that, but frankly, with a baby, one can not be too adventurous.  I think it's adventure enough to come to Bali with Joey and try out our routine here.

We headed down to the beach and Joey fell asleep on the way.  Stuart and I sat and talked, watching the surfers and some surfers in lessons.  Joeys nap was once again short lived and we attempted to walk down the beach with him to Seminyak, but his crying was incessant so we thought it would be best to try to nap him in the room.

We got back to the room and put him down for a nap. I went out shopping for a little bit and brought back lunch for Stuart and I. When I got back to the room, Joey was still crying, so we took him out and had our lunch on the balcony while Joey entertained himself.

We spent some nice time as a family after lunch out at the pool swimming, splashing, and looking up at the kites flying high in the blue sky.



We thought that for sure all of the playing and the (at least) an hour of swimming would tucker little Joey out, but he was in pain and holding him was a good distraction.  As soon as we put him down, once again, after seeing him yawning and rubbing his eyes, he cried and was so heartbroken.  I picked him up and comforted him, gave him some tylonal, and put him down again because he seemed desperate for a nap but just couldn't fall asleep.

Half an hour later he finally wore himself out... for 25 minutes.  When he woke up we all played for a while in the room because it was too hot to go outside.

I had looked up a fun place for us to spend the evening and figured that if all went according to plan, that Joey would sleep in the stroller while Stuart and I enjoyed a romantic evening.

Things seldom go according to plan.... however, to our surprise and delight, it actually did! (for the most part).

We hailed a bluebird taxi and soon were on our way to Jimbaran Bay.  This is the place to get fresh caught seafood and eat it by candle light out on the sand while listening to the tide coming in. 25 degrees and breezy. Garlic and prawns.  Fresh snapper.  Pineapple juice. Sweet soy sauce and rice.

The taxi ride was going well.... for a few minutes.  Then, I heard a loud and thundering boom. Also, I felt it on my lap.  And then I heard it again.  And then I smelled it.  Here are pictures from the sequence of events.
Picture 1: Happy in the taxi
Picture 2: Realizing that he had completely pooped through his sleeper and all down his leg
Picture 3: Wiping him down
Picture 4: Happy we found a different outfit in the bag and all cuddled up





After a very interesting taxi ride to Jimbaran Bay we walked around for a long time waiting for Joey to fall asleep.  Finally, after about 1/2 an hour in the stroller walking, he conked out and Stuart and I carried the stroller out onto the sand and enjoyed a fun and delicious meal.






                                          All in all, another wonderfully exhausting day in Bali!