The girls have an extra long spring break this year, BUT Emersyn was off on her leadership adventure in the Kunming mountains. Emersyn arrived home on Friday evening to tell her tales. We enjoyed the excitement in her voice as she gave us details of her adventure. Saturday was for laundry and packing for Bali. We left cold, grey Shanghai on Saturday night for the sunshine of Bali.
TULAMBEN: Sunday, March 31 to Thursday, March 4
We arrived in Denparsar at 2:30am. We paid for our entry visas and gathered our luggage to find our driver waiting for us. When we walked out of the airport, it was much different than it was four years ago. There was a Starbucks waiting for Jim to get his much needed coffee. No sunshine as the sun was not up for the day. We had a two hour drive so we all climbed in the van and tried to get some sleep.
The first part of our trip is at a dive resort in the far North at Tulambed. The North is well known for their dive sites. The North is also well known for no beaches. The compromise was finding a resort that would keep Eleri and I entertained while Jim and Emersyn went off diving. Most dive resorts are just that – all about the dive.
We arrived at 7:30am at our hotel, Villa Markisa. Our room wasn’t ready, but we were given an area to drop our bags and change our clothes. After breakfast, the girls and I hit the pool while Jim went out on his first dive of the day.
It was also Easter morning…the Easter bunny had her work cut out to get candy delivered to the girls. But, the Easter bunny did not fail and delivered a bag a candy to each girl. The candy was “delivered to the office”. The girls were surprised and excited! The girls jumped out of the pool when I gave them their bags of candy. Their Easter candy even had Cadbury creme eggs, jelly beans, m&m’s and other Easter goodies. (The Easter Bunny had a little help America-Scott)
Our room was perfect – just off the pool with a covered porch. The girls sat on the porch to inspect what the Easter Bunny had delivered in the bag.
The room was large with one extra large bed and a small bed.
We had an even larger bathroom which was nice, of course. This statue was part of our bathroom decor. I liked him, but Eleri thought he was creepy looking.
The covered porch was the favorite place to read mid-day. I was able to read one book, but Emersyn managed to read two books in our time at the dive resort…in between dives and pool fun! She also had some homework to catch up on as she missed three days of school with the Yunnan Leadership trip.
Eleri had a new swim suite she purchased last summer in Nebraska she couldn’t wait to wear. Of course, she looked adorable it in!
Emersyn had an almost new “swimmer” from Australia she was styling at the pool.
The pool wasn’t large, but so very refreshing. Since this wasn’t a large resort, the pool was clear and not full of chlorine. It was a refreshing dip in the pool. I brought a few dive toys and a couple of tubes for the pool.
Meals were served at the open air hut. Breakfast was a choice of banana pancakes, eggs or noodles. Once the girls and I discovered the noodles, that was our morning choice. Jim had eggs, of course. Lunch was a choice of three dishes. We would choose our lunch choice at breakfast time and it would be served when we arrived for lunch. Dinner was a large buffet of very tasty foods for all the hungry divers.
These temples are always found on the property as a family temple offering. Offerings of flower and rice are a daily event.
Eleri and I had fun relaxing ocean side while our divers were out to sea.
Eleri’s fun purple and pink toes.
Jim went on 14 dives during our stay at the resort…morning, noon and night! Emersyn went on 8 dives – a little less intense then her father!!
Here are a few underwater shots from their dive adventures…
the sea life…
Our divers…
While Jim was busy diving, I was busy playing in the pool with Eleri. We had the pool to ourselves as most of the guests were out on dives. Emersyn would join us when she didn’t go out on a dive. We had fun taking photos with the underwater camera.
Emersyn underwater…
Eleri underwater…
Jim underwater…
Brenda diving for a stick…
Eleri and I went on a snorkel adventure while Jim and Emersyn went on a dive adventure. Eleri isn’t a big fan of snorkeling. She is always have problems with the mask and the equipment. We were spending more time trying to keep the water out of the mask then we were snorkeling. She gave up and we went back to the boat to wait for the divers to come up.
The owner of the resort had an idea for Eleri to tank dive in the pool. She had no problem with the breathing. Emersyn had fun pool tank diving with her.
Once Eleri was comfortable, Peter, one of the owners, took her to the sea. The most important safety aspect for Eleri is not going too deep. They stayed in the shallow area and he kept her above 3 meters. Eleri loved it. As soon as she is old enough, Eleri will be ready to join Jim and Emersyn in the sea. At 10 years old, she can get certified.
UBUD: Thursday, March 4 – Sunday, April 7
On Thursday morning, we packed our bags for the drive to Ubud. We took the long way to Ubud by stopping at the shopping towns along the way. Silver jewelry is a good price in Bali. We went to the same shop we found last time with the Humes. Prices have gone up in four years with the increase in silver prices. However, we still managed to find some good buys. Emersyn found many earnings to add to her collection. Most of the earnings were around $20, which is the price of earnings in the USA, but these earnings were better quality.
We were starving when we finally arrived at our hotel. We had eaten all our snacks and did not make time for lunch so an early dinner was needed. We have stayed at Alam Indah on all our trips to Ubud, however, they were full. Therefore, we stayed with a sister hotel, Kebun Indah. It is the oldest of the three hotels own by the Alam Group. We have always had the best service so we knew it would be fine. The only concern was we would have no air condition! Many of the rooms at Kebun Indah have been upgraded for air-condition. The biggest challenge is most rooms are built Balinese style – open air. Our room had an open-air gap around the roof. Our room, more our house, is very large for $90 a night. We have a large open-air covered porch where breakfast is served to us each morning.
We have two bedrooms off the covered porch – one large and one small. Each room has its own bathroom. Emersyn and I took the large room. It was also the room for luggage and changing as it was very large. The room had our bed, a small bed and a lounge bed.
We decided it was best everyone slept together under the beds with nets – especially Eleri. We determine the smaller room had a better net so she would sleep there. Eleri wanted Jim as her sleepmate.
Since we were across town, Jim thought we were near the restaurant we ate at last time with John and Mary – our dinner out without the kids. He went for a walk and found it. I was truly amazed as it was different from the outside than I remembered. You would think we would have remembered the name, The Dirty Duck Diner! It is a fun open air place with individual booths/huts to enjoy the food. The food was as good as I remembered from last time.
Friday morning we woke early, as the sun does sneak in. We started our day with a walk through the Monkey Forest.
Our girls four years ago in the Monkey Forest.
As we walked out of the Forest, Emersyn wanted to buy bananas to feed the monkeys.
Eleri really wasn’t too keen on the monkeys. She really didn’t like when one was on Jim’s shoulder. She was ready to go and more scared than she was four years ago.
We left the Monkey Forest to hit the main shopping Street, Monkey Forest Road. We wanted to eat lunch as Casa Luna, at the VERY end of the long road. We were trying to walk without going into too many shops, but there are so many good shops. We finally made it to lunch. It was a hot day so a cool drink was much needed when we finally reached the restaurant. Again, the food was amazing. Emersyn ordered a goat cheese pizza that was fantastic.
With full bellies, we were ready to shop…right after we hit the ice cream stand. The ice cream was homemade and delicious. Jim and Eleri lasted about an hour shopping. They decided to go back to the hotel for a swim. Emersyn and I did a high five as we were losing the “non-shoppers”. Emersyn and I enjoyed our afternoon of shopping together. We walked the Monkey Forest Road taking our sweet time. By the time we arrived back at our room, we were really missing some air-con after a full day of walking in the heat.
We had talked about going to see a local dance, but everyone was happy to pass. We enjoyed pizza and pasta at the pizza place down the street.
Saturday morning there was a big festival at the Monkey Forest which means many of the shops were closed for the morning or the day. We decided a morning swim would be a good way to celebrate the festival. The pool wasn’t large, but plenty of room for us since we had the pool to ourselves.
By the time we finished our fun in the pool, it was time to shopping. Ubud has great shopping and the morning festival was not in the schedule/plan. The girls found odds and ends to take home. We stopped for lunch along the way as Casa Luna was too far of a walk for this hungry crew. However, it would have been worth the walk as lunch was ok.
Photos from lunch…notice Eleri’s cute little purse on the table. The fans were purchased yesterday to help with the heat.
When we arrived at the end of Monkey Forest Road, we had arranged for a driver to take us shopping away from Monkey Forrest Road. It was a bust. Every shop we wanted to go was closed – gone. We had wanted to visit the shop we purchased our Buddha heads with the Humes, but gone. After our failed shop, Jim went back to the hotel for a massage. The girls and I continued our shopping adventure. We found the jewelry shop, Yin, that was a favorite of Emersyn – perfect earnings for her age. We stopped at the basket shop for me on our way home. At the shop, the tropical rains open up and poured buckets. I had promised Emersyn we would walk back to a shop to get a mask…so being a great Mom I walked back in the pouring rain without an umbrella. I left all our bags with the girls, grabbed my wallet to put in a plastic bag and stepped out into the buckets of rain. I left the girls in the basket shop – nice and dry. They took a few photos to pass the time.
The streets and sidewalks were a river…good thing I had my Keens shoe on to wade through the streets of Ubud. I was soaked when I arrived at the mask shop which is why the ladies gave me strange looks. Most people were waiting out the rain under cover, but we were running out of time. I purchased the mask and walked back to the girls in the rain. All day, there were men asking if we needed a ride…now, there wasn’t a taxi driver to be found. We waited for the rain to be less and the three of us began the trek home in the rain with our packages…no taxi in sight until we were almost home. By the time we arrived home, the rain had stopped. We dried off and went to a restaurant, Pundi Pundi, down the road…it smelled very good as we walked by it dripping wet with our packages on the way home. Another great choice.
NUSA DUA: Sunday, April 7 – Tuesday, April 9
Sunday we packed our bags and wanted to do “one last shop” along Monkey Forest Road. We had certain items we wanted to buy. We started early, but too early as some of the shops were not open. We walked up and down Monkey Forest Road to buy those “last” items. We had the same driver to take us to Nusa Dua.
We spent the afternoon shopping at the sports outlets – Roxy, Quick Silver, billabong and such. Jim has swim shorts from Billabong from four years ago – he needed some new ones. We found great deals for Jim so he stocked up on swim shorts. Emersyn was in need of a swimmer for the dive trip. Interesting looking for a suit for a young girl. Most of the swim suits these days are made for women aged 17-21 that show a lot of skin. We were able to find a couple in the young girl selection as she was able to buy the largest size – next year may be more of a challenge. Emersyn likes to wear boy short style for diving – this was hard to find in the midst of the very tiny bikinis.
We finished the day with a swim in the hotel pool and a light snack. We chose the Marriott for our stay in Nusa Dua. It is not on the beach, therefore, a reasonable rate. The room was a nice, basic hotel room…but it had air condition!! The hotel has a shuttle to the beach, but we have no plans to be at the beach here. After our swim, we walked to the small Mall of food and shops near our hotel for dinner.
Monday was a day of fun. We had planned the day at the Water Bom park. We went to the park four years ago with the Humes. We all had such a fun time at the park last time, we wanted to go back. Eleri was tall enough to go on the two big slides. She didn’t want to go on the Boomerang slide – it shoots you down and you Boomerang back. Emersyn and Jim had fun on the Boomerang slide. Eleri did like the Super Bowl slide. The slide looks like a big toilet and you get “flushed” down the final slide at the end.
After doing the these two slides, we went to the two new slides that were not here four years ago. Eleri did not weight enough for one of the slides so we went down the other one. It was a long tube slide – fun. Next we went to the other parts of the park to ride the slides. This water park is designed well as it is spread out and you don’t feel crowded by people. At the end of some slides, you can float down the lazy river.
When we took a break for lunch, the girls saw the jumping ropes and wanted to do it, of course. It was very reasonably price for 15 minutes. Eleri went first, but she wouldn’t try flipping. She had fun just bouncing high. She was annoyed with us that we were trying to get her to flip.
Emersyn tried flipping, but it was very funny watching her until she achieved it. She would come flying back down looking as if she was going to hit face first on the trampoline. I was laughing so hard it was impossible to take photos.
After our lunch, we went back to the two new slides. Jim and Emersyn wanted to try the drop zone one. You get in a tube, the door is closed and the floor drops away for you to drop down the slide. They only did this slide once as it takes too long to get through the line.
After a full day, we left the park around 4pm. We ran back to one outlet as Emersyn wanted a couple more Roxi t-shirts. Back to the hotel for showers before going to dinner. Jim had work to do so the girls and I went early to the Mall to get their hair braided. Of course, since it was the only place to get braids, the price was more. Emersyn also wanted to do the fish – she loves the fish. Two minutes after she put her feet in, the lights went out – no power.
By the time Jim came, we were waiting for the lights to come back on. Only a very few shops had power. We found one of the restaurants with power and grabbed a table before it filled up. The girls really wanted to get their hair braided. The power would come on for about 2 minutes and then off. Finally, the power came on. It takes time to braid Emersyn’s hair so we left the Mall much later than we planned…but, they looked adorable.
The girls four years ago with their braids. They have grown so much in four years!
We had a 7am flight on Tuesday. The hotel provided us with a breakfast to go at 5am – a very big breakfast of a blt sandwich and french fries.
Once we arrived in Shanghai, the girls found the small luggage cart that Eleri goes in…soon she won’t fit!
When we arrived home, the Easter Bunny had left more candy for the girls – they were surprised!
Another fun adventure as a family. We are so thankful for this time we spent together traveling and seeing Asia.