Friday, November 23, 2007

A Day in Bali


We're exhausted after a long day touring the island of Bali. We started with an earlier than asked for "wake up call". It appears that the front desk person did not have complete understanding of the English language and we were awakened at 5:30. Rather than go back to sleep and miss our 9:00 arrangement with Yonson and kids we got out of bed. Yonson had a van rented and two friends who were our drivers. They took us through many villages with traditional houses, crafts, carvings, etc. We stopped by a rice field where we ate our packed lunch in the car. We went up Batur Mountain and had a buffet lunch (supper?) at 3:00. It really doesn't matter what time it is on this island - whatever works... We stopped at a monkey sanctuary and watched these funny creatures fight and steal Victor's toy out of his hand. I think he's still in shock. Just when Lorraine was falling asleep in the car we learnt that we were scheduled to stop by some friends of Yonson and MaryLynn (just a little out of the way...) Not only did we need to visit but out came the rice dishes, sauces, etc. and of course we were expected to be polite and eat lots. Well, we are back and figuring out a few technical things before going off to bed. Tomorrow we get up at 7:00 and prepare for our flight from DenPasser, Bali to Kupang, Timor. We'll keep you posted.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

We've Arrived!!

It's Thursday evening as I write this - at least Thursday on this side of the world. We arrived without delay - the first leg of our trip was only 12 hours instead of the 20 we had miscalculated. We slept for a good part of it so we got to Taipei quite quickly. From there we boarded another Air China plane and left for Bali. This leg was 4 hrs. & 40 minutes. Yonson met us at the airport and took us back to the hotel - where Becky jumped out of the bushes at us. When we opened the door to our room MaryLynn and the others jumped out of closets and bathroom. A nice surprise!! We swam for a while in the pool and then walked to the ocean - Kuta Beach. It was a very beautiful but busy beach - a real party place for tourists and locals. After watching the sun set we took two horse & buggies back to our hotel where we enjoyed dinner. We're very tired and off to bed. More updates later....

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Around the world....to Indonesia


Well, the day has arrived to say good-bye to everyone and begin our trip to visit my sister in Indonesia. I'm going with my older sister who flew in today from Ontario. After many emails and phonecalls over the past couple months it's actually happening. My feelings run from excitement to nervousness, to "almost" regret, and more... (oh the rights of a woman) The kids say I should be excited - they wish it was them going. I hope to email little updates along the way and if my family can figure out the blog thing you may just be kept somewhat up to date on our travels. Pray for safe travels and an enjoyable trip. See you Dec. 5.