Monday, 10 December 2012

Beautiful Bali, indeed...

I just came back from a week long holiday in Bali. Bali surely lives up to its reputation - mystical and magical. 'The land of gods' as they say it, Bali has more statues than people. Temples are everywhere. Our driver/tour guide told us it is compulsory to have one in every house, every kampong, every district. The locals are friendly, religious, very proud and protective of their Balinese tradition. They love tourists (tourism is the only major income). The land is a gardener's heaven. Everything and anything grows. Their papayas were like something from 'Honey I blew up the kids' movie. Stray dogs were everywhere but amazingly no droppings were at sight! (putting Paris or even my neighborhood to shame). I was told that the Balinese conduct 'gotong royong' every week in their kampongs. They hold annual competitions for 'most beautiful, cleanest, kampong'. Those traditional spirit which Malaysia has already lost.

We stayed in Jayakarta Club Bali in Legian - service apartment fronting the Legian Beach. Except for rowdy Aussie youngsters, the place was otherwise comfy and beautiful. We did some touristy things, spent 2 days in the hotel catching up with some sleep and movies and lazed around the pool and the beach.

Our memories of Bali...


Balinese garden at the hotel

Legian Beach

Aisya doing the 'mudskipper'






Agent 0007






Stunning sunset

The photographer only managed to get her feet photographed



Ubud rice field
Too bad it was raining and the paddy was already harvested.
Holy Water Temple

Hindus waiting for their holy dips

Lots and lots of beautiful alleys like this


Ubud Water Palace

Kiddos with their farmer hats


Lots of whatever this thing is...






Petrol for motorbikes

Kuta Beach


Acres acres of rice fields along the way


The must-see Tanah Lot - too touristy to our liking though..


Tanah Lot

Snorkeling in Nusa Dua. Aisya jumped out of the water just after 5 minutes (gave Imran a chance to score points and annoyed her for the rest of the day).


Pecatu Beach. Freaking beautiful - clear blue water,  white sandy beach.

Strong current though - wished I was a surfing babe.

The beach won't be a 'virgin' for long. The area is  being heavily developed by Suharto's children (we were told) for the rich and famous.

Garlands of emerald-coloured seaweed... 

Can't get enough of it.. 


Uluwatu


Our only family portrait





Watching the famous Kecak Dance at Uluwatu Temple


while witnessing the setting sun... 


then ended the day with supposedly romantic candle-light seafood dinner at Jimbaran beach (we followed the Lonely Planet). If only I could see what I was eating...


Fisherman Snorkeling village in Blue Lagoon





View from Blue Lagoon


Rice fields


More rice fields.. 



View from the top of some mountain - near Mount Agung



Delish lunch at Lebih Beach

After one week of seeing too many temples and eating too much instant noodles (acceptable food is hard to find), we are glad to be home. So long Bali, till we meet again....




     

Thursday, 15 November 2012

Tea anyone?




We had tea on our new porch today. I made marble cake and bubur pulut hitam. The kids loved the cake although I forgot to put baking powder in it. The bubur was my first ever attempt - it turned out good. I used my new Galaxy Note 2 for the above picture. All cushion covers above are homemade. The china are mixed some came from charity shop, some were our wedding gift from a hamper given to us. I bought the napkin during our holiday in Venice. And the tray was my mother's. It was old and battered - I actually spray painted 'Let's Bake' words on it, meant for a wall sign. The tea was bought when we had our holiday in Cameron Highland. It's been sitting in our cupboard waiting to be used.
All in all, nice food, nice day.. as the Brits would have said it.. it was LOVELY... Salam maal hijrah!

Thursday, 25 October 2012

Wish List - DSLR Camera

My old camera died on me last weekend. It was already giving so much problem and finally gave away when my son poke his finger onto the lens trying to force it to open. I checked with a shop today about the repair but I think saving it won't be worth the cost. So I looked around and that guy recommended this....


It is Olympus Pen  E-PL3. Well, I don't know much about photography jargon but what he showed me made me drool... He snapped a picture of my hubby - he looked good (but of course my husband said he is always handsome, yeah, yeah ... rolling eyes). The guy snapped my daughter jumping, everything was clear meaning that the speed was good. The only down side is that it is expensive. We just spent a fortune on our porch reno. And I need to purchase another lens to be able to do all the pretty things. I told the guy 'I'll sleep on it'.  

I always wanted a proper camera to take nicer pictures for the blog. My instinct tells me that I might get it - my birthday is on Sunday. That if my husband gets all the signals right... finger crescent!

Friday, 12 October 2012

Should I?

Inspirational home libraries... Should I or shouldn't I? 


  



Time to audit..
Love books? checked. Love reading? checked. Wall space for the shelves? checked. Rustic ladder? checked. Books? half checked. Time to pile some more books. I think I have already exceeded the income tax deduction for this year.  

Images:
Google Image

Wednesday, 10 October 2012

So Frenchy...


I wish my house is big enough... love the simplicity, the clean lines of the pool, the muscular tree trunk, the shaded sitting area, the window shutters, the deck chairs, the rustic yet neat atmosphere.. LOVE..

Image: http://greigedesign.blogspot.com

Tuesday, 9 October 2012

Beautiful Bali




Bought flight tickets today. It would have been a few hundreds cheaper if not because of broadband glitch last night. Never mind... at least the accommodation is 'free'.. We are coming soon...   

Pics from:
http://www.communitybackstage.com/communities/bali-community/
embassyofindonesia.org

Saturday, 29 September 2012

Paper Dolls - Making connections with my daughter



My daughter is quite upset whenever she loses her baby teeth. To coax her, I invented a reward program that she will get a present for every lost tooth. I feel that this way is better than the tooth fairy story which a little babyish and contradicts to our beliefs.

She lost a tooth last week. Due to my tight schedule, I had not been able to fulfill my promise (she had been bugging me ever since) until today. So We I was excited when I saw paper dolls in Subang Parade flea market. I can't believe they are still around. I told my daughter that I used to play with them a lot when I was little. That was really one of the few treats which my parents could afford for me. I told my daughter that my friends and I used to write a cross (x) behind the dolls' necks as we believed that they would come alive at night if otherwise. 'That's so silly', she said.

The paper was quite thin so after a while the necks would get flimsy and bent. I used to fix them with cellophane tape! The paper doll used to cost about 50 cents each, I think. Today it is sold for RM1 each, which is not bad. I bought 4 pieces for my daughter. That is a really cheap losing tooth present. Daughter and mother are happy. At home, while helping her cutting the dolls out of the paper, my husband said 'you bought that so that you could play, didn't you?'. Nostalgia... de javu...


Vintage paper doll.

I didn't know they have man dolls.

Sources:
Image 2: clinical with a dash of idealism
Image 3: black watch