June Holiday = PSLE Prep

I find it hard to believe that the June holiday has already started. Time seems to pass so fast this year. Marieann is attending the supplementary classes for P6 this entire week and attending study camp for next week. PSLE will be happening in 2 months and a week's time. :S

Packing

I finally started packing for our trip to Taipei, Taiwan today. We will be flying with Jetstar and I have a check-in luggage of 15kg. I have to make sure I don't exceed the weight limit. Thank goodness, we still have the hand-carry luggage of 10kg each person, meaning we have a total of 45kg! :) Well, we won't need all 45kg lol. The stuff that I need to bring over for my relatives in Taiwan weighs about 10kg and our stuff would probably take up another 20kg. Guess I can do lots of shopping in Taipei. :P

Start of June Break 2013

It is officially the first day of the June school holidays. The girls will be occupied for the first 2 weeks with 1.5 weeks being in Taipei, Taiwan. Have to think of how to keep them occupied in the last 2 weeks of June, other than doing their holiday homework.

Settled

The last detail of our June trip to Taipei, Taiwan has been settled by my mother who arrived in Taipei yesterday. Remember the three days/ two nights that we are supposedly to be staying at my aunt's place? Well, although my uncle-in-law is back at home resting after his operation and we are more than welcome to stay with them, we decided we shouldn't disturb his rest. 
My mother booked one of the three accommodations in Jiufen (九份) that I had shortlisted in the afternoon. :) That was really fast of her lol. Now I also realised who I take after in getting things done as quickly as possible once it has been decided. :P  

Plan B for Accommodation

There may be a minor change to our accommodation arrangement in Taipei this June. Originally, we are going to stay two nights at my eldest maternal aunt's place in Shen Ao, Keelung as it is much nearer to Jiufen (九份) and Shifen (十分), places that we want to visit. However, I just heard that my eldest maternal uncle-in-law just had a major op and he is now recuperating in Taipei as it is nearer to the hospital. It is unclear if they would return to Shen Ao when we are visiting in June. My mother can only find out more about the situation when she returns to Taipei the next weekend. Guess I better start searching for back up accommodations, most probably in Jiufen (九份). I actually don't mind staying in Jiufen for a night or two as we didn't get to explore Jiufen much when we were there in 2010. This time we want to explore it a little more thoroughly. :)

Bali: Afterthoughts

We have been back in Singapore for a day and we realised that we missed Bali lol.
I missed the laid-back lifestyle, the greenery (the natural kind, not the man-made kind in Singapore) and the inexpensive prices of food. :)
Both Marieann and Juliane mentioned that the rice terraces, the stray dogs and cats, and the crazy driving in Bali made the deepest impressions on them. Both of them would love to go back to Bali again and they want stay at Desamuda Village again lol.
Here are some photos of Desamuda Village that were not uploaded previously.

The villa that we stayed in, Villa 20

Room 20.1 is the bedroom downstairs and Room 20.2 is the bedroom upstairs in Villa 20

Swimming Pool II (the first villa in the background is our Villa 20)

Another one of the resident cats, a very shy orange tabby :) Didn't get to take photo of the other two shy cats, a grey tabby and a black and white cat. 

Bali Farewell

We are leaving Bali today. We are having mixed feelings. On one hand, we don't want to leave as we are enjoying our holiday. On the other hand, we will be glad to be home. 
We woke up around 8am, had breakfast by 9.15am and our luggage are packed by 9.30am. At the moment, we are relaxing at our villa before checking out at 10.30am. Our airport transfer will send us to the airport at 11am. Our flight is at 2.15pm and we should arrive back in Singapore by 4.55pm. 
I will update again tonight when I am back to Singapore.
Updated 11.27pm, 14 June 2012
Since the transport was ready, we left for the airport after I checked out from the hotel. We arrived at the airport at 11am. We were too early as the counters for our flight were still closed lol. :P Thankfully, after a 15 minutes wait, the counters were opened. By 12pm, we had cleared immigration and we were doing some shopping lol. Basically, I wanted to use up my Indonesian Rupiah! I bought Juliane a dress, some postcards and souvenirs, and something to eat and drink. No luck in trying to spend all the rupiah. Guess will keep them for the next trip to Bali lol. :P 
Our flight took off on time at 2.15pm. The flight was a little bumpy but we were alright with that, it's like a roller coaster ride lol :P  We landed in Singapore at 4.30pm, 25 minutes ahead of ETA. By 5.30pm, we were home. :)

After checking out at Desamuda Village reception lobby

 

Bali Shopping, Rest & Relax

Today is our 4th day in Bali. We took it easy and just went with the flow. We slept in and woke up around 8am which was still pretty early lol. We took our time to dress up and went for breakfast only at 9am. Surprisingly, there were hardly any hotel patrons at the restaurant. Maybe they had their breakfast much earlier. :P Today's breakfast selection was quite good and we had a leisurely-paced breakfast. :)
After breakfast, we ventured out to explore the shopping around Desamuda Village. We walked up north along Jalan Raya Seminyak and turned into Oberoi. We were out for about 1.5 hours and we couldn't take the heat. We kept ducking into the stores to get a break from the heat lol. :P We did buy something from two of those shops - a dress for myself and four natural stones bracelets for myself and my girls. As it was way too hot, we went back to our villa. 
Since it was nice and hot, I let the girls have a swim. They finally got to swim in the villa pool lol. I joined them for a bit to keep an eye on them. After 45 minutes, I had to force the girls out of the pool with threats. They loved the pool so much that they refused to leave it.

Since we had a full breakfast and didn't feel hungry., we decided to go out again much later, closer to 5pm for a late lunch/ early dinner and maybe some window shopping. Meanwhile, my mother and the girls are watching tv, and I am updating my blog. I think I should go lie in bed to read my James Rollins' Excavation. :)
I will update my blog later tonight. See you. :)
Updated 11.32pm, 13 June 2012
We went off for dinner just before 5.30pm. Decided to go for Western food lol. :P We went to Warung Italia on Jalan Kunti which was a 5 minutes walk away. The girls and I enjoyed the food immensely because it was NOT spicy lol. :P Juliane ordered a Carbonara (bacon) (IDR 35,000), Marieann a Carbonara Seafood (IDR 55,000) which was not common back home (see photo) and my mother and I shared a pizza with tomato, cheese, chicken and mushroom (IDR 60,000). The service was fast, the food was tasty and the price was value for money. In addition to the main courses, we had 3 iced lemon tea (IDR7,000 x 3) and a bowl of 3 scoops of Gelato: Apple, vanilla with choco chips, and coffee (IDR 30,000) to share and the total bill was only IDR 201,000 (approximately SGD$28)! :) 

Marieann's Carbonara Seafood came with a whole crab!

After dinner, as it was only 6.45pm, we decided to do some (window) shopping along Jalan Kunti and Jalan Raya Seminyak lol. Within the first 10 minutes, Marieann got a dress lol. For the rest of the hour, we tried looking for something for Juliane but there was nothing. :( We headed back and reached our villa just before 8pm. My mother and I did some packing. I think we should be alright and within the weight limit of 20kg for the check-in luggage, I hope lol. We will only know for sure tomorrow morning.
Our last night in Bali... will kind of miss it lol. :) 

Bali Nature & Shopping

We are still going strong for Day 3 of our Bali trip 2012. :) We woke up earlier than yesterday at 7am and were at the restaurant for our breakfast at 7.30am lol. The best breakfast dish is definitely the omelette. 

Us at the restaurant, having our breakfast

We set off for our day trip at 9am sharp. First stop was Krisna Oleh Oleh Bali. Shopping! Haha. :P My girls and I bought snacks and souvenirs for our friends and ourselves. We were mindful of our luggage space so we didn't overbuy although we were tempted to as the prices were really reasonable and cheap lol. 
After Krisna, we went off to Bedugul which was close to 1.5 hours drive away from Seminyak. Just before 12pm, we arrived at our second stop: Lake Beratan to see the Ulun Danu temple or better known as the Temple on the Lake. The temperature, like in Kintamani (Mt Batur, Lake Batur), was a lot cooler and walking around was really comfortable and no sweat, literally lol. :P 

We proceeded to the twin lakes - Lakes Buyan and Tamblingan. The view of the lakes and the green mountain was breathtaking. 

The bigger twin of the Twin Lakes - Lake Buyan

Us with Lake Buyan in the background

The smaller twin - Lake Tamblingan

Us with Lake Tamblingan in the background

It was 1.30pm when we got back down to Pacung area. We went to Labhagga for lunch. It was buffet lunch (IDR 80,000 for adult and 40,000 for child). Again, the variety not extensive but the food was warm and tastier than the other buffet place at Mt Batur. The view of the rice terraces from the restaurant was fantastic. I would recommend this place for lunch if around the Bedugul area. 

We started out from Pacung for our second last stop of the day - Tanah Lot Temple. We managed to get to Tanah Lot under an hour lol. It was 3.30pm and we decided that we would not stay for the sunset as it was like 2-3 hours' wait. We told our guide to come back for us at 5pm. Even though it was only 3.30pm and far from sunset, the place was crowded. We quickly got our photos and went for shade lol. We browsed in some of the oleh oleh shops at Tanah Lot, more for the air-con than to buy stuff haha. :P Thank goodness, our guide came earlier and we were off to Tanjung Benoa for dinner.

Tanah Lot Temple in the midst of the sea during high tide

The drive to Tanjung Benoa took about an hour and we were the second patrons to arrive at Bambu Bali I for dinner at 6pm. :) We ordered the Balinese Rijsttafel (IDR 450,000) for two - soup: clear chicken soup; mains: tuna salad; pork, chicken, seafood sate; shredded chicken with chilli and tomato; minced duck in banana leaf; pork in sweet soy sauce; chicken curry*; seafood curry*; grilled fish fillet; two vegetable dishes; two types of rice; dessert: Balinese kuehs (cakes); Glutinous Rice Flour Dumplings in Palm Sugar Sauce; Green Bean pudding; mixed fruits. The girls were ordered a Nasi Goreng (IDR90,000) to share which came with chicken sate. We were very stuffed by the end of our delicious dinner. :) The price is a little on the high side but it was worth it. :P

The table decoration, not including the crackers :)

Us at Bambu Bali I

The Balinese Rijsttafel - soup and main dishes

The Balinese Rijsttafel - desserts

Nasi Goreng with chicken sate

We finally arrived back at our villa just past 8.30pm. It was a long but exciting day for us. Tomorrow will be a break for us, free and easy. Probably doing some shopping lol. Maybe a spa treatment too haha. :P 

Bali Art & Nature

It is Day 2 of our 3-generation of women/girls' trip to Bali. The sky was overcast which made the day cooler for us but I was worried about rain/ thunderstorm. We were very lucky that it didn't rain at all despite the overcast sky throughout the day. 

We had our buffet breakfast at the restaurant at 8am and most tables were Westerners except for one - Japanese. We were the only other Asian table. Guess Desamuda Village is more popular with Westerers lol. The buffet spread was quite limited but the Egg station was good. At 9am, we set off for our day trip with our driver and guide, Susila. 

First stop was the Ubud Art Villages of batik weaving, gold and silver, and woodcarving. The processes of making batik, silver and woodcarving were explained at the respective villages. We didn't buy anything from the villages as we felt they were much too commercialised and expensive. 

My mother and the girls at the silversmith village

Our monkey found her monkey friend lol

Second stop was Ubud Royal Palace and Ubud Market. We took a quick look around the palace before crossing the road to the Ubud Market. My mother bought a few pieces of batik and the girls bought souvenirs for their classmates. It was such a chore bargaining. :S Both my mother and I were really bad at it and we thought our father should be here instead. He is the bargain king in the family lol. I didn't get anything and I felt so empty lol :P 

Ubud Royal Palace

Ubud Royal Palace

Ubud Market - stall selling wood carvings

Pretty wooden plates at Ubud Market

Art pieces at Ubud Market

Third stop was Mount Batur and Lake Batur. We had our buffet lunch (pretty late at 2pm) at Suling Bali, Mt Batur. The restaurant faced Mt Batur which was pretty cool and the climate was also much cooler on Mt Batur. The buffet spread was not extensive or fantastic but served its purpose in filling hungry stomachs.  However, as it was overcast, Mt Batur and Lake Batur were not very clear. :( 

Lake Batur

Mt Batur and Lake Batur 

Us with Lake Batur in the background

Fourth stop was Alam Bali, a coffee plantation. The girls were both excited and disgusted to know how coffee luwak was produced lol. We were given a sampler of the different teas and coffee to taste and we were enticed to buy a 500g pack of lemon tea by its delicious taste from the shop lol. 

The making of coffee luwak

The sampler (from left to right) - cocoa, coffee ginseng, ginger tea, lemon tea and bali coffee

Marieann and I outside the shop (see the big bag of lemon tea in my hand?! lol) 

Fifth stop was Tegallalang Rice Terrace. The girls were amazed to see and know how rice is grown. I am really glad that the girls are learning new knowledge on this Bali trip. :) 

Sixth stop was our crispy duck dinner at Laka Leke. I wanted to try this restaurant which had quite a high rating on Tripadvisor. We arrived at the restaurant at 5.30pm. As we only had lunch at 2+pm, we ordered just two dishes to share. We shared a Famous Crispy Duck (IDR 83,500), a Spaghetti A La Funghi (IDR 45,000) and a Tom Yum Kun (IDR 43,500). The duck was really delicious, I thought it was better than Dirty Duck's lol. We took a couple of photos at the lovely green rice terrace which were in the restaurant's backyard. :)  

At the entrance of Laka Leke

At 6.30pm, our drive and guide sent us back to Seminyak which was 1.5 hours journey from Ubud. We arrived back at Desamuda Village at 8pm. We had a long tiring day and were really glad to be home lol. Tomorrow is another day, full of fun for the girls I hope lol.