Long time, no post

Quite a lot has happened since I last wrote.

Chase started a new school.  She had some growing (shrinking) pains at first but seems to have settled in nicely.  She tells me she has a lot of friends, but for some reason I always hear about the kids that aren't nice.  She is swimming once-a-week there, and taking Mandarin.  She takes a taxi to and from school with two other girls, it still makes me very uncomfortable, but the other option is to be in the car for 3 hours every day.

Madoc is at her same little school, which is lovely and fun and supportive.  We have decided to hold her back a year, because she was born in December, which makes her the absolute youngest in the class.  And as she is also the youngest at home, if we don't hold her back she will never have a chance to lead, whereas if we do, she will be the oldest, know the most and have a chance to help, guide and lead younger children.  She will also get more out the curriculum.

Hubs is still happy at work.  We have our fingers crossed for another relocation in the next 6-months.  The air pollution here is absolutely the worst part of living here and downright depressing after almost 3 years.

Funny little conversation between Madoc and Chase yesterday.

Chase - "Don't tell Madoc which garden I'm going to tomorrow.  Madoc, you guess."
Madoc - "um, Kadoori Farms?"
Chase - "no"
Madoc - "um, school Garden?"
Chase - "no"
Madoc - "um, kindergarten?"

Funny girls!

Jamu

The Balinese have a traditional herbal (medicinal) drink called Jamu.  It's supposed to slim the waist, make women more voluptuous, smell less, be good for your stomach, and basically cure every ailment.

So I asked the Bali Intercontinental for their recipe, which they gave me (thank you!).  But I was determined to get a real Jamu recipe off the Internet.  Not so easy.  Most involve plants and herbs that I can't get -- like Chinese Keys (which are supposed to be used for Chinese medicine) and Betel leaves -- the guys at the Chinese medicine shop even gave me a crazy look when I tried to explain what I needed.  I showed them pictures and they were still scratching their heads.

So I gave the Intercontinental recipe a go... following is a slightly modified version for family and friends (so that I don't get in trouble).  I haven't actually used the measurements exactly, so start with one cup of OJ and add in a little of each to give you a general idea of how it will taste and then give it a real go and adjust according to your personal taste.  It's glorious and makes you smile.  Best after a long meditation first thing in the morning.


Ingredients:
1 ltr Orange Juice
10 gr Cinnamon Powder
8 gr Clove Powder
5 ml/ 2 dessert spoon Lime Juice
10 ml/ 2-3 dessert spoon Honey
8 gr/ 8 pcs Mint Leaves
18 gr Fresh Ginger or Galganal
Pinch of Tumeric
Blend all of the above ingredients and then strain.
Ready to drink.

Bali

This was the first time our family traveled South of the equator.  We were expecting Bali to be hot.  Or humid.  But it was a breezy 87 degrees and absolutely gorgeous.  At one point we asked our driver if it ever got hot, and he said yes.  And we asked when.  And he said he couldn't remember.

We decided up front that this vacation would be different; that we would actually stay put and not run from one place to another.  I had heard the roads to Ubud were curvy and as Madoc gets car sick just driving to the airport on an interstate, the idea of puke in my lap, while on holiday, just didn't motivate me to travel the hour and a half there (despite the fact there was a burial ceremony where they were burning a giant paper cow).  No, the idea of this holiday was to actually relax.  And we did.  Completely.  In fact, I'm not sure we have ever been so relaxed in our whole lives.

This resort offered an absolutely perfect family get-away, but I must add that this resort is definitely for families that don't need or rely heavily on a kids club.  The club was small, had an open (shallow) swimming pool and an old jungle gym. And it was a ghost town.  We chose not to use it.  Why? Because all the kids were out on the beach, hanging out with their parents, running in the grass.  It was truly a family-style vacation.

The first morning, we were delighted to find the hotel left out giant bowls of fish food so the girls could feed the fish every morning.  

We stayed at the Bali Intercontinental and it was so gorgeous.  

The grounds were just beautiful with Balinese statues everywhere.

Chase ran through the gardens singing "this is the happiest day of my life."

Madoc said repeatedly "I love this country.  I really love this country."

We water-colored every day on the beach.

The girls would run to and from the frog water faucets to wash their feet when they came off the beach.

The hotel had a great beach.  It was quite long, and shallow for quite a ways, so the girls could easily look for shells and play in the ocean easily.  The waves grew larger in the afternoons and the adults spent a lot of time body surfing.

This guy cracked me up.

More painting....

Swimming at the pool.

What a fabulous shade cover...

We were outside every day.  All day long.  The air was fresh.  There were no bugs.  The girls could run through the grass barefoot without worry of snakes or dog dirt.  It was heavenly.

This little boy was super cute and his dad didn't seem to mind being his prop.

A very happy Chase.

A very happy mum with a very bummed Madoc who wanted to actually grow fins and stay in the ocean.  Pulling her out was always hard to do!

Okay, so we did get off the resort.  We took an afternoon and visited one of Bali's oldest temples, Uluwatu, which is perched on the edge of a cliff about 90 meters above the ocean.  It's just over Hubs' shoulder below.  I had heard temples were hard with kids due to all the stairs, but this one was easy.  And there were monkeys, which Hubs and I dislike because they are mean and steal things, but the girls were of course, fascinated by them.

My gorgeous girls ...

We did have to do some walking.  And for the first time it did seem a little hot.  But it was worth it.  Here we are perched on the edge of the cliff with no guardrail.  Eeek.

And here is one of the "friendly" monkeys. 

And here's another gang, of not-so-friendly monkeys.

Our guide taught Chase how to use his slingshot (to keep the monkeys away).

And then it was back to the hotel for more rest and relaxation.

Before a "Spirit of Bali" dinner.  Complete with a buffet of Balinese food and dancing.

The girls were given fans.  Hubs was given a Balinese head wrapper.

Mads liked the Balinese desserts...

The dancing started off innocently enough....

But then it got scary...

And scarier ...

And scarier... The rest was too scary so I had my hands over the girls' eyes.

I would not recommend this for young children.

Oh but wait.  At the very end the kids were invited up to dance.

And of course they loved it.

Chase ran back up after all the kids had left for one more photo.

But I have to say I was most impressed by this fruit carving.  The face is a watermelon. The rest is papaya, watermelon and pineapple.  How cool!

The next day was more of sun and sand.  For our last dinner we took the girls out to another restaurant.

Madoc ordered passion fruit sorbet for dessert.  Yummy.

And the sun set...

And the next day we did it all again, but had to pack up our things just after lunch and head back to Hong Kong.  But before we did, we built one last sandcastle.