Wednesday 25 July 2012

Singapore - Harry Potter, Jurassic Park and Dr. Seuss

We arrived in Singapore late at night from Bali, and were picked up by Jackson, Chuck's friend from Dragonboating (1986 Singapore Team).  We stayed at Jackson and Linda's beautiful home and then spent the day with them and their daugther - Lin - touring the city while their son Justin was busy doing teenager things with this friends.


 We started the day with breakfast at a cafe - here is Kenna and Lin eating rice with fish with chili sauce wrapped in a banana leaf.  A bit too weird for Cole - he had peanut butter toast.












We then drove downtown - past the new casino - 3 towers of 60 floors of hotel rooms capped off with the casino - it looks like a cruise ship accidentally ran adrift!  The architecture in Singapore is really impressive and creative. 

The new Museum we visited is the shape of a lotus flower, surrounded by a pond full of lotus flowers - it was really quite stunning. The museum had the Harry Potter exhibit - it was great to see all the costumes and props - Kenna loved it!  Lin was thrilled as well as she is huge fan like Kenna.








































Lin, Kenna and Cole with their chocolate frogs and Bertie Botts Every-Flavored Beans (I got one that was rotten egg flavored - YUCK - some are even worse!)












After the Harry Potter Exhibit we toured the Gardens on the Bay - it was amazing, a mix between Jurassic Park and Dr. Seuss. 





















The gardens are made up of a lake and 2 large glass domes.  This dome housed a 7 storey waterfall which created a "cloud forest".  The walkway allowed you to wander around the man-made mountian where you could see orchids, ferns and other jungle plants growing out of the side of the mountain.  It was very impressive.



































These are the "monster trees" - which reminded me of Dr. Suess.  They are about 7 stories high each.














Jackson, Linda and Lin - our wonderful hosts. In the background is another glass dome, as large as several football fields.  This dome had plants from around the world that grow in "cool" climates.  The plants were from Canada, Italy, France, United States and some parts of Afrtica.




 

Cole's Question of the Day - # 5

 We found this at the Maritime museum in Sydney...what is it?
(8 pts 1st, 6 pts 2nd, 4 pts 3rd and 2 if you get it right)

Please also comment if you have any ideas to make our blog better-   10 pts will be awarded for the best idea!

Can't wait to see what you come up with   =)


The correct answer is a Fresnel lens from a lighthouse.


 
 

Tuesday 17 July 2012

The beach at Gilli Trawangan

We spent almost a week at the small island Gilli Trawangan.  It is  about a 1.5 hour boat ride from Bali, and only a 10 minute boat ride form Lombok.  It is surrounded by a reef and is only a few kilometres in length.  We spent our time swimming, checking out the tide pools and snorkeling.  Kenna and Chuck went on a snorkeling boat trip to several spots - they saw turtles, an octopus and tons of fish.  We saw lots of fish while snorkeling right off the shore. 

Cole, Kenna and Colleen walking down the shore.

The shallows have 100s of sea stars!
 Also lots of sea urchins. 











































Saturday 14 July 2012

Cole's question of the day #4

 Today's question is.....

What is Cole holding?(6pts 1st, 4pts 2nd, 2pts for 3rd, 1pt if you get it right)

Be specific!
No one is right yet - Hint: it was found on the dinner buffet table and you could find it in Kelowna...any other guesses?

 

***The right answer is quail egg!***  Thanks for everyones' guesses. 

 

Soccer balls...I mean footballs


For my 10th Birthday I asked my friends to bring a donation to my party, instead of a present,so I could buy some soccer balls for kids in Indonesia.  My dad found out through the Rotary Club in Kelowna about a Rotary Club in Indonesia.  We emailed Ade, a Rotary member from Ubud, and she arranged for us to give the balls to 2 different schools.  She chose schools that have a soccer field close by so the kids would be able to use the balls.

Here is a picture of me with the sports teacher and the principal.



When we visited the school it was a summer break but there were a few kids there - so we took a picture of them too!  You should have seen how big their eyes got when I pulled the balls out of the bag - 6 balls for this school.  



This is their classroom and the principal pretending to be a teacher.



This is the exterior of the school



This is their soccer field - nothing like the ones in Canada! The goal posts are made out of bamboo.  The building in the middle of the field is temporary - it is for the village cremation at the end of the month.
 
 

Tuesday 10 July 2012

Ubud......23 years later

We arrived in Ubud a few days ago after about a 1 hour drive from Sanur.  Chuck and I were amazed at the size - it was so much bigger than we remembered - more traffic, more shops, more hotels and more people on the streets trying to sell you stuff.  It is always hard to return to a place from the past - I'm sure Kelowna has changed tremendously in 23 years.  I decided to take the advice I gave to Chuck a few years ago when we went back to Thailand after 10 years...pretend we have never been here before...that way we can enjoy it all instead of trying to remember what it was like before and play the comparison game.  So once I just decided to enjoy it for what it now is Ubud is LOVELY.

Our hotel is beautiful - the Bali Spirit Hotel - on the side of a gorge.  We have a suite with a king size bed and huge bathroom with glassed in shower and tub on the main floor and the kids have 2 single beds in the loft - they are very happy they don't have to share.  Our bathroom has some sandstone (local) statues - we will get a smaller pair for our bathroom at home.



There are many, many fountains and sculptures on the grounds here as well as lots of stairs!   


Our first full day in Ubud we went on a walk through the rice fields and villages around Ubud.  It was a great experience - the rice fields were so picturesque...  We did an 8.5 km walk through the rice fields, small villages and down the road over the bridge and back to the hotel.  It took about 3 hours.  We stopped at a small restaurant for drinks - this was our view!


The next day we booked a day long bike trip through the back roads of Ubud and surrounding areas. It was really fun and educational.  We started out on a van ride up to the lookout point for the volcano Mt. Badur.  On the way we stopped at the coffee plantation - we saw coffee trees, cocoa trees, vanilla trees, cinnamon trees, ginger plants, snake fruit trees and jackfruit trees.  It was fun for all of us to see where our food comes from! We even saw the wild cat that climbs through the coffee trees eating the best coffee fruit - they digest the fruit around the bean and then the workers find the beans in the cat excrement and sell it to stupid tourists/westerns for a lot of money!!!!!

We got to try all different kinds of coffee - mocha coffee, balinese coffee (it has lots of sludge - kind of like campfire coffee), vanilla coffee, hot chocolate, lemongrass tea, spice tea and ginger tea. Even Chuck tried the coffee!

Cole really liked the mocha coffee and wanted to buy some to take back to the hotel - I said "no way does a 10 year old boy need caffeine" so we bought some yummy local dark chocolate. 
We then went up the hill further to the restaurant for breakfast overlooking the volcano Mt. Badur.  It erupted in 1918, 1928 and 1968.  The soil is very rich so lots of fruit is grown here.  It was a bit cloudy but still a great view of the volcano, the ridge around it and the lake.  Great place to relax and eat rice, noodles, and fried bananas with brown sugar syrup for breakfast. 



We then headed  back down the hill and got our bikes, after they were blessed with sprinkles of holy water.  The bikes were good, mountain bikes with 18 gears, and smaller ones for Cole and Kenna and we all got helmets.  We rode for about 2 1/2 hours on small paved paths beside the rice fields and then through quite a few small villages.  Each village has three temples - one for the family that started the village, one for the protector (to ensure the rains for the fields, keep the demons away) and one for the destroyer whose job is to release the spirit from the body when you die so the person can be reincarnated.  Since it is July we saw several villages preparing for the community mass cremation.  When you die a small ceremony is performed and the body is buried in the cemetery (at the destroyer temple).  When the family has saved enough money ($500 Canadian) they prepare for the cremation to release the spirit for reincarnation.  Depending on how many people are waiting for cremation and the ability to save money cremations only happen in the village every 5 - 10 years.  The whole village helps to prepare - it takes about a month to build the multi-layer pyre that the bodies will be burnt in and the wooden horses that will used to carry the bodies (inside the body of the horse) from the cemetery to the pyre.  The horses have wings and are painted with bright colors and intricate designs and the pyre is decorated with elephant heads and painted as well.

These ladies were helping to decorate the pyre.  The basket on the left probably holds a live chicken! I wonder how old grandma is?  She probably only has 3 teeth as I have noticed a lot of old timers here have very few teeth here.


We then had lunch at the family compound of the family who owns the biking company.  It is the tradition in Bali that the sons continue to live with the parents after they marry.  The wife is expected to move into the compound to help care for the parents - therefore each family really wants a son.  Now some families are more flexible - if they have 3 daughters one will stay behind and her husband will join that family. The compound is surrounded by a high wall and has statues at the doorway to protect the family - some are of demons, others are old people and even sometimes we have seen animals at the gate.  In the compound there is a temple, a small building for each family to sleep in, green space in the middle to play in, an open air building for ceremonies, a cooking building and a building for laundry/toilet.  The compound we visited has 15 people living in it - but some have 30 to 50 people in one compound! 

Monday 9 July 2012

Cole's Question of the day #3

Today's question is.......
What is Cole eating?(4pts. 1st, 2pts. 2nd and 1pt if you get it right) 

The correct answer is cinnamon bark.  It has been harvested off the trees on Mount Badur in Bali, Indonesia. Much bigger pieces than we ever see at home!

Thanks to everyone for your participation - it is really fun to check your answers.

New question coming soon - when we have a better wifi connection!

Friday 6 July 2012

LEADERBOARD - FINAL SCORE

Anna------------------------------55 pts
Erin--------------------------------55 pts  
Lin---------------------------------5 pts  
Christa.----------------------------13 pts
Michelle D-------------------------9 pt
Sherry-----------------------------8 pts
Linda------------------------------44pts
Michelle M.------------------------33 pts
Liam-------------------------------2 pts
Kyla-------------------------------17pt
Peter-------------------------------20pts
Sandra-----------------------------3pts
Bob--------------------------------2pts

Current leader:   
Erin/Anna 

Tie-breaking question will be posted!  Good luck

Cole's question of the day, #2

What is actually inside the "Absolut Vodka" bottles? ( 1st correct answer 5 pts, 2nd 3pts, 3rd 1 point)

The correct answer is gasoline - many small stalls around to provide gas for the millions of scooters/motorcycles in the small towns. 

Thursday 5 July 2012

Massage and Pedicures


Exchange rate is 10,000 rupiah to $1 Canadian.  Kenna got a mani/pedi and I got a massage on the beach!

At this price - we can do this every day!

Tuesday 3 July 2012

Hotel in Bali - even better in person



The first hotel for the trip was in Sanur Bali.  It is lovely with a huge family suite, walk in closet, bathroom overlooking a garden and a small pool.  I hope all the placs are this great!

 

Singapore Airport - Checking it out




When we arrived at Singapore Airport we checked the in-transit Hotel rates. Handy but pretty expensive - they charge for 6 hours and then more per hour after that. Kenna and Mom stayed in the hotel and Dad and I slept on the reclining chairs. After a few hours of sleep we explored the airport - it was amazing. We watched the Euro Cup on the big screen, had a foot massage, saw the huge koi fish, the butterfly farm and had breakfast at KFC. It was the coolest airport ever. We went and checked out Mom and Kenna's room - behind the curtain is a wall! Not even a window. Weird.
 
Here I am getting a free foot and calf massage - amazing!


















Here is mom - she liked it tool!



















Huge Koi fish!


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Cole's Question of the Day - #1

 What is the M & M eating?


Erin is correct - it is a Durian.  They are the size of a football - very expensive and taste/smell like sewage!!   I tried it years ago - and am trying to convince the kids to try it...no luck so far.  Colleen