I’m back to Bali again. It’s past the new year but I’m going back in time. On Tuesday, December 20, we ate breakfast at our neighborhood hangout, Cafe Moonlight, and headed out. This time a young man named Yoga (pronounced Yo-gur) drove us to Bedugul. It really isn’t that far but the traffic is as bad as Los Angeles at rush hour (all those crazy scooters clogging up the streets!) and so we spent a lot of time in the car today. I had three things on my wish list for today. One was to go to Taman Ayun Temple. Then I wanted to take the kids to an adventure park called Bali Treetop. Lastly, I wanted to see the…
Changing Our Style – Bali Part 2
Monday, December 19 is officially the start of the kids’ winter break. Everyone wanted to lay low today so we booked our driver for an excursion tomorrow and spent the day in Seminyak Square. Our villa is nicely located about a 15 minute walk to the lively “downtown” area. We are far enough away that it is very quiet, but close enough for a quick walk to eat and shop. We just discovered the concept of the “escape room” games while we were in KL but didn’t have enough time to try it while there. So when we discovered an escape room game in Seminyak we added it to our to-do list. The place we found is called Totem Room…
Holiday in Bali – Part 1
On Saturday, December 17 we got up early in the morning and made the trek to Kansai International Airport. John learned from our Thanksgiving trip to KL that he wasn’t going to take any advice from me on what time we should leave for the airport. He led the charge and we left an hour and a half earlier than before. We had already dropped the cats off at the pet hotel on Friday night so we didn’t have to worry about them. We flew Garuda Indonesia Airlines and landed at Bali Ngurah Rai International Airport, the most beautiful airport I’ve ever seen, in the evening. This was our first time flying on a nice Asian airline and I think…
Petronas Pewter & Hard Rock Caves
Our last full day in Malaysia is Saturday, November 26. After the long and exhausting day we had yesterday we all decided to sleep in. But then we kind of had to rush around for the rest of the day to fit in everything. I don’t think we got back to the apartment from our adventure at Inside Scoop until around 10:30pm. We all needed to pull the covers up over our eyes when the sun came up. This photo is sadly the only one I took of our 3-bedroom apartment at the Nomad Bangsar Serviced Residences. It was a good value for the rate and in a safe area. When we were all up and dressed we decided to…
In the Waterfall in the Jungle
Here we are, cooling off IN the waterfall! Our second day in Malaysia, Friday, November 25, was the best adventure ever. While searching through Trip Advisor for off-the-beaten-path activities, I found Open Sky Unlimited (openskyunlimited.com), the outfit that we hired to take us into the Malay jungle. Amos, our amazing guide, started this company when he realized that working in a bank was not for him. Now he and his buddy lead guests on challenging hikes in the jungle. But it’s not just a hike. He picked us up at our apartment lobby at 6am, drove us an hour to a small colonial town locally known as KKB (Kuala Kubu Baru), took us to a restaurant for an amazing…
Thanksgiving Malaysia-Style
It’s our Thanksgiving/Fall trimester break. Who knew we’d have several days off around Thanksgiving just like in America? We thought a lot about what to do/where to go. John really wanted to go to Hong Kong. He also wants to go to Seoul, South Korea. I started researching Hong Kong but I just couldn’t put together a travel plan that I wanted to move forward with. A very good friend of mine from my graduate school and television days is from Malaysia and I’d heard lots of stories about Kuala Lumpur and her family back there. I started to look into Malaysia and it looked like a great place to bring the kids. There are so many things to interest…
Kuromon Ichiba Market
Kuromon Ichiba Market is in downtown Osaka, off of the Namba station exit. We found out by trial and error that this is a daytime market, not a nighttime street affair. It is fascinating! The narrow alleys are crowded with stalls and people and the sights and colors are all vibrant shades that pop out. The smells wafting out from each stall let you know if something is being cooked for the crowd. Fresh, premium fish can be found here. Wagyu and Kobe beef are cut here in generous strips and grilled on the spot. Thick pieces of fatty sushi sit atop little pieces of rice. Huge crabs, whole or cut up, are on sale. Fresh fruit and vegetables are…
Fun photos
Fun times in Japan! This guy is the mascot of our city, Minoh. He is a yuzu, which is a citrus fruit that is very popular in Japan. There’s yuzu sauce and yuzu soda, alcoholic yuzu drinks and yuzu sweets… From the City of Minoh’s website: “The city’s mascot is a Samurai with a tender heart called “Takinomichi Yuzuru”. He goes everywhere in Japan to promote Yuzu and the Minoh city. If you can meet him, you are very lucky! Pat softly his eyebrows of the trademark and the happiness will come to you.” Oh shoot. Kaiyo didn’t know this and didn’t pat his eyebrows! This sweet treat is called taiyaki. It’s a detailed fish shaped snack usually filled with…
OC Connections & Japan Family Ties
TRICK-OR-TREAT. HAPPY HALLOWEEN. MISSING EVERYONE BACK HOME! Happy Halloween Eve! It’s Sunday night, October 30 in Japan. My kids are sincerely missing their American candy. In fact, when asked by grandma what he wanted for his birthday, Halyard told her he wanted American candy. Skittles and Mike-and-Ikes and Sweedish Fish… anything chewy that sticks in your teeth. The things at the forefront of my mind, and because it’s Halloween season I’m going to label them SPOOKY, are the constant Orange County references that I keep running into here in Japan. I’m not talking about broad reminders, like someone knows someone whose cousin lives in Yorba Linda. I’m talking about direct associations that have real relevance to me. This post is…
Cat Cafe – for Cat Lovers
Today, Sunday, October 23, Avalon said her dream came true. John and I took her and Kaiyo to find a Cat Cafe. What is a Cat Cafe anyway? It is a place where you can pay an outrageous amount of money by the hour just to sit in a place with a lot of cats wandering around and have a drink of coffee, tea, juice or cocoa. You can’t even have a fun cocktail or champagne while you pet the furry felines crawling all around. Actually at least half of them are sleeping soundly like lumps on logs. I now want to open my own Cat Cafe in my house and charge by the hour and guests can come over…