Category: Bali

Deep Sea Fishing - Sanur, Bali

5/11/2013

Our last day in Bali the 3 older boys went deep sea fishing. The boys left about 6AM - when I ask Hubby about the company he was going out with and for details he had none. He told me he didn't get a receipt and all he knew was the guide was going to be waiting for them on the beach by our villa.

Call me a freak if you wish but there was no way I could let 3 of my boys just go off without know ANYTHING other than they were going out on a boat in a foreign country....I went down to the beach with them and took about 20 shots of the boat and their guide. You know, just in case. :o) All turned out well. They all came back safe and sound.
(Something you guys may not know about me - I always have a plan. I may not share it with anyone, but I have worked out worst case scenarios in my head. I also make sure my people know what to do in emergency situations. When I go out for a run alone I always write my phone number on my body somewhere - true story. If I didn't move so often I would tattoo it to the bottom of my foot! :)

Plus I got this awesome shot (from my phone!), so win, win!

It seems that Boy 2 was the star of the show today! He caught 8 fish!! Boy 1 caught 5 and Hubby only caught 3.

In this video you will witness him catching 2 fish at one time! :o)
(Boy 1 had a fish on his line too, but it seems he was ignored. Poor baby.)

He is just so stinkin' cute!

They take after their Mom - eating the eyeball of the Red Snapper!

Boy 2 ate the other eyeball and here he is about to eat the tongue.

Unfortunately our trip had to come to an end.
We had an amazing time on a dream vacation!
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sentosa Beach, Singapore & Sanur, Bali.
We are a blessed family!

Till next time:
Bali, Bali, Bali!!

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Taman Tirta Gangga & Another Place With Holy Water

5/11/2013

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Tirta Gangga is located on the East coast of Bail in the city of Amlapura. The Raja of Amlapura, Anak Agung Anglurah Ketut built the water palace in 1947 and used it for weekend retreats. It is built on a natural spring that is considered to be holy and sacred. It was built in 1948, but then in 1963 was almost completely destroyed when Mount Agung erupted.

So this is the 2nd place we went to that has holy water. I have no idea the name of it as we had been out all day and your driver just threw it in at the last minute. This place is believed to have healing powers in the water as well. This place was just as beautiful as the last, but I believe it was hotter than the first! We were in and out in no time as everyone was melting.

Bali, Bali, Bali!!

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The Beaches of Changgu, Bali & Tanah Lot & Pura Batu Balong

5/8/2013

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I think the black beaches of Changgu were my favorite of all the beaches we went to in Bali! I was a little sad that we only had a few hours in this area. Changgu is on the south side of Bail about 10 kilometers from Kuta. The kids had a great time playing in the surf!

And the black sand between the toes felt amazing.

After hanging out on the beach for a while we headed over near the town of Denpasar to check out the very popular rock formation and temple Tanah Lot. The Pura Tanah Lot (which literally translates to Tanah Lot temple) dates back to the 15th century.

Pura Batu Balong is another temple in the same area.
Sorry, I don't really know anything about it, other than it was beautiful! :o)

Bali, Bali, Bali!

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Tegallalang Rice Terraces in Ubud, Bali

5/6/2013

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The beauty of the Rice Terraces entranced me. I could have sat for hours just looking over the beautiful countryside, however the other 5 people I was with could only hold out for about 30 minutes. ;o)

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Monkey Forest - Ubud, Bali

5/5/2013

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Monkey Forest.
We had WAY TOO MUCH FUN here!

Monkey Forest is home to about 350 Long-tailed Macaque (also know as Crab-etaing Macaque) monkeys.

I was so glad we had a guide with us for this or else we would have never known to buy bananas and hold them over our head. This is what happens when you put a banana over your head at Monkey Forest:

How fun is that?!

Hubby was like the monkey whisperer.
They loved him.

Girl could not contain herself!

Great day with a bunch well behaved monkeys - all of them -even ours. :o)

Bali, Bali, Bali!

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Kopi Luwak Plantation - Ubud, Bali

5/2/2013

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WHERE DID YOU SAY THAT COFFEE CAME FROM?!
Sweet Mother of God -
I drank coffee that came out of an animals ass.

Don't believe me watch this clip - it explains it all - and you might just laugh until you cry!

Yes, I knew before I drank it.

Here is the Luwak.
He looks so sweet and innocent.
One would never know by just looking at him that he shits coffee beans.

Here are the beans in their various stages.

All looks pretty normal in the drying process:

Until you look closer at this one basket of coffee beans.
Coffee beans that have come out the backside of a Luwak.
They offered this up for us to touch.
We all declined.
Well, Hubby may have handled it.
I'm not sure.
My brain was still wrapping itself around what I was about to do.

After it is nicely dried they pick the beans from the poo.
BY HAND.
(Man I hope they wear gloves.)
Then the roasting starts.
The entire process is done old school - by hand over an open fire.

And this sweet little old lady grinds the beans.
(I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to get in a fight with her - even though she is small I'm sure she could take me down.)

This is a civet espresso machine, I think.
I want to buy one, however I cannot find one to buy online ANYWHERE.
If you come across one please let me know.
I'm kicking myself for not buying one while at this plantation.
I didn't want it because it was gold.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!?

Here comes our fresh cup of Kopi Luwak.

Cheers!

I'll admit, I was a bit nervous - you can read it in my eyes.

BUT HOLY MOTHER OF ALL THINGS GOOD.
This was the best damn 'cup of joe' I have every had!
100% smooth, no acidic taste at all.

Kopi Luwak, you have won me over.
Now if I could just win the lottery so I could afford to drink you every day....

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Sanur Beach & Night Market - Bali

5/2/2013

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Our first full day in Bali we were total beach bums!

We did nothing but hang out on the beach, collect shells, eat fruit and have crab races.

I found out later that they were running from a big wave.

A sweet boy talking a little stroll.

My favorite snack.
Mangosteens & a fruity drink!
This entire trip from Malaysia to Singapore to Bali we ate mangosteens EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.
We all LOVE this fruit!

After playing on the beach all day Hubby and I headed down to Sanur Night Market for a little shopping and some Balinese street food. I have to say Balinese street food was not looking like it was going to be my favorite Asian street food and I wasn't feeling my typical brave self so I didn't try too much. (It could have something to do with the bad belly I got in Cambodia a few months back...)

I'm not really sure what this sweet little dessert was. Hubby like it pretty well, I thought it was just too sweet and a little too chewy. It consists of red beans, coconut, bananas, some kind of sweet syrupiness and some other unidentifiable chewy edibles.

We didn't even go here:
That was all too brown for me.

While out shopping we happened upon this sweet young lady making and selling these offerings to the gods:

You can't walk more than 5 steps without almost stepping on one of these. They are everywhere. In front of stores, homes, all over the streets, and on statutes. I mean these little offerings were EVERYWHERE. When you are walking down the street you have to do a little dance not to step on them because I assume stepping on them is bad. I don't know that for a fact, but I don't want to step on one and any god angry with me.

Here is what I know about these offering, every morning Balinese women wake up and before they make breakfast for their family, they sweep up the outside of their homes and put out fresh gifts for the gods. The gifts are always in these little 3 inch baskets - all are made from palm leaves and woven by hand. All baskets are different, many include bits of food or candy, some have cigarettes and all have flowers. As I ask around and learn more about these offerings I found out they are not so much offering for the good gods - they are actually to keep the evil spirits out.

Hubby and I bought one of these (for mere pennies) to put in front of our villa. I don't know about you, but I didn't want the evil spirits entering our villa! :o) When in Bali, do at the Balinese do. :o)

Bali, Bali, Bali!!

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Bali, Bali, Bali!

4/29/2013

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For the title to come across correctly, you need to sing it.
Bali, Bali, Bali!
Boy 3 started singing this on the flight from Singapore to Bali and that little tune ended up being super funny between the two of us. We would sing it constantly. The others didn't think it was a fun and funny as we did.

Upon arrival to Bali I was a little surprised by the amount of TRAFFIC!
You can't really tell from this picture but as with all countries that we visited on this trip the steering wheel is on the right hand side and they drive on the left.
I am glad we did not rent a car!

When we got to our villa, (Bali Sanur Beach Villas) we were all happy campers!
Want a tour?
Of course you do!

Here we go...
The entrance:

The pool!
It wasn't long until everyone was in their swimsuits enjoying our own private pool!

The perfect place to read a book:

The master suite:

I LOVED this bathtub!
Super long and extra deep.
I also love the sandstone wall hanging.

The 3 little ones were excited to share a room.
Since it wasn't connected directly to us we caught them many nights staying up WAY too late watching TV and playing. For them it was perfect! And what great memories....
"Remember that time in Bali when we had our own room and we stayed up all night watching TV Mom & Dad didn't even know..."
(oh, we knew...)

I was happy they had their own bathroom. :o)
(and that there wasn't TOO MUCH fighting - don't get me wrong - there was some!)

Boy 1, was MORE than thrilled to have his own suite with his OWN private bathroom.

We had a full kitchen - which we really didn't use.
I mean this was my vacation too - no cooking for this momma.

And a sitting area.

I would have been happy to stay here MUCH LONGER than one week.

After we settled in and swam a bit we headed out for a little dinner.
And dinner was DELICIOUS!
We ate at Three Monkey's in Sanur - it turned out to be our favorite restaurant in Sanur even though it was a little more expensive than most restaurants in that area. (But way less than what we would pay in the states.)

We ended our evening with a stroll on the beach....

Bali, Bali, Bali!

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“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you
did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
― Maya Angelou

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Hi, I'm Trish, the writer, creator and photographer of this blog. I started this blog for 2 reasons, 1 - When I found out we were moving to Korea back in 2008 I was a little freaked out and started scouring the internet for information on Korea. At that time there wasn't much out there so I am doing my part in helping families across the world not be so freaked out when it comes time to move to Korea. The 2nd reason I started this blog was to help stay connected to family members back in the states. Today it is so much more that.
I hope you enjoy our journey.

Are you moving to Korea? Do you have questions, concerns? Are you freaking out? Freak out no further - click the button to ask a question. I'll do my best to answer open and honestly.

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Deep Sea Fishing - Sanur, Bali

Taman Tirta Gangga & Another Place With Holy Water

The Beaches of Changgu, Bali & Tanah Lot & Pura Batu Balong

Tegallalang Rice Terraces in Ubud, Bali

Monkey Forest - Ubud, Bali

Kopi Luwak Plantation - Ubud, Bali

Sanur Beach & Night Market - Bali

Bali, Bali, Bali!

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