Bali - Volcano, Rice Paddies and Craft Villages

We took a couple of trips to see some of Bali's stunning natural atttractions, including a trip up Mount Batur for its views of the sacred volcano, Mount Agung.  Along the way - and on most of our drives - we saw lots and lots of rice paddies, in various states of planting and harvest.  We also checked out some of Ubud's craft villages (the kids insisted on being photographed next to their favorite wood carvings), as well as a nearby botanic gardens, where Amelia and Soren led a scavenger hunt for various animals!  Throughout all of our travels, we had our trusty driver Dedy, who navigated the crazy Bali roads (scooters shooting in every direction, often with whole families aboard), while giving us lots of details about life in Bali.  He even managed to keep his spirits - and our spirits - up when we got stuck in a traffic jam and moved only 4 kilometers in 4 hours - happily we found salvation - and lots of candy - at a mini-mart 3 hours into the drive!

 

  

Bali - Dance

One of the coolest experiences we had in Bali was attending some Balinese dance performances.  First, we went to a morning Barong dance, which included a gamelan orchestra and lots of elaborate costumes.  The kids loved the performance and Soren even got up on the stage afterwards to check out the gamelan instruments and costumes.  The next night, we went to a Kekac fire dance, which had some impressive repetitive chanting and a few costumes, but the undisputed highlight was the horse-dancer who repeatedly stomped barefoot through a pile of burning coconut husks.  Definitely not something we're planning on trying at home!

Bali - Happy New Year

We celebrated New Year's Eve at the villa with a traditional Balinese feast of babi guling (suckling pig) and smoked chicken, while fireworks shot off in every direction.  Then we spent the last few hours of 2012 drinking Bintang beer and watching a series of Indonesian and K-Pop singers on a televised Indonesian New Year's show.  Definitely a unique way to ring in the new year, though it was a bit strange to sit down for lunch on New Year's Day and realize it was still 2012 back in Seattle!

Bali - Temples

We visited a number of temples during the various day trips we took to different parts of Bali.  We made a special trip to purchase sarongs on our first full day in Bali (a very interesting negotiating experience); Amelia picked hers out carefully and enjoyed wearing it, while Soren was a bit more skeptical.  Our favorite temple was certainly the holy springs at Pura Tirtha Empul, where Amelia and Soren were fascinated by the worshippers wading into deep pools to drink the holy waters, and the worshippers were equally fascinated by the kids (Soren ended up posing with many of them for photographs).  We also braved Ulu Watu and its famed monkeys, who unfortunately proved as aggressive and unfriendly as we had heard (one of them ended up stealing Uncle Rob's glasses and scratching his face, which put an end to our temple visits)!

 

  

 

Bali - Villa Santai

From Singapore, we headed to Ubud, Bali, where we spent a week at the beautiful Villa Santai.  The villa is located on a river valley on the outskirts of Ubud, with jungle on both sides and monkeys in the nearby trees.  We spent a lot of time enjoying the villa (the staff made it easy, including preparing tasty breakfasts and Balinese meals) and particularly enjoyed the swimming pool.  The kids had lots of swim teachers, including Auntie Zoe and Uncle Rob (who joined us for this leg of the trip from their honeymoon in the Philippines).  Amelia swam all around the pool with her new floaties, while Soren insisted that we keep swimming him over to visit the statute of Ganesha at the side of the pool.

 

 

Singapore - Orchard Road and the Raffles Hotel

On our last day in Singapore, we participated in a couple of the city's best known activities:  shopping at Orchard Road and stopping by the Long Bar of the Raffles Hotel.  Amelia and Soren dressed up in the new Thai outfits Goggy had brought them from Bangkok and led the way.  After walking all the way along Orchard Road to the Raffles (and picking up some new outfits along the way), the kids enjoyed a $14 Shirley Temple while the adults tried out the Long Bar's variety of Singapore Slings.  We then took one more ride on the MTR so that Soren could say goodbye to his favorite Singapore resident (he particularly liked her outfit)!

Singapore - Zoo/Night Safari

Another highlight of our visit to Singapore was the Singapore Zoo and the nearby Night Safari, which absolutely lived up to their fame.  Amelia and Soren loved seeing all of their favorite animals, many of them at much closer proximity that they allow back at the zoo in Seattle - particularly a mother chimpanzee and her two babies, who were having a meal while hanging right over our heads!  The kids quickly got their bearings at the zoo, serving as our tour guides and posing for pictures all over the zoo.  The Night Safari was definitely a trippier scene, though it was pretty cool to take the tram around and see the animals out at night!