I should really think about writing my entries closer together
or at least in real time because I get so overwhelmed with all the information I
want to share. How on earth could I possibly cover the joy and excitement of
having my bestie, since I was three, travel all the way to Asia!!! This blog is
dedicated to the one and only Caroline Dell!! Life in Singapore has been going
well but I could not even have imagined what it’s like to travel and hang with one of
your best friends. I met Caroline at the HK airport, of course I was at the
wrong gate(it reminded me of when I told Sheila to meet me at a train track in
Rome, when we were studying abroad and I happened to give her the wrong track, destination
city and time…luckily she found me in a wine shop, shocking I know, and we were
on our way!) Directions are not my best talent so thank god for wifi everywhere
in Asia! Caroline and I decided that after a nice dinner it would be lovely to
head out for a night cap…or 14. As she said, her jet lag just kept making her
want to party so I had to be a good friend, right! In the morning we went for Dim Sum, which I am not sure is the best hangover breakfast and just when I thought I had a headache they handed out the menu.... Um, pardon me sir, which one of these means egg and cheese bagel?
Hong Kong is such a beautifully
city and we covered every square inch of it over the next few days, mildly
escaping another Typhoon, level 3. I am told level 3 is no biggie but if it
gets to 8, get lost! We were able to watch the Typhoon while drinking our afternoon tea at the Shangri La. Caroline and I used to have tea parties in her basement as kids and we would make each other laugh so hard we would end up simply spitting water all over the place, I know kinda gross but we were having fun! So she reminded me not to spit out my tea as I took my first sip...I kid you not as I took my first sip my brain was thinking faster than my mouth and I went to say the same thing to her and I may have dribbled a lil tea. Can't make that stuff up!
After a few days in HK we headed to Singapore, my very
first guest and we got to meet up with Jenny and her husband. For those of you
that don’t know, I met Caroline in preschool and Jenny in high school and when
we all finished up with college we moved into an apartment in Chicago. I would
have never dreamed we would all be in Asia together. We had a great time dining through the city. I have dubbed Jenny's husband Mr. Singapore, so he of course made sure Caroline hit all the top spots before leaving!
I have already rambled so much and I haven't' even gotten to Baaaaaaaaaaaaaali! My love, Bali!
Bali is so much different than I was imagining. I thought it
was going to be desolate beaches and small hotels. It’s the opposite, the town
is very lively, it’s about a 3 hour flight form parts of Australia so I was
calling it the Mexico of Australia. (I am sure Bali would love that) The
beaches, restaurants and night life were amaz! We took a day trip up to Ubud,
which is about a 2ish hour drive, it’s the Eat, Pray, Love part of Bali and that’s
where we rode the elephants. Jenny’s elephant driver and ours were cousins.
They taught us that Nowa is the name of every first born son in Indonesia and
they then have a name for the next 5 sons. I asked ‘what happens if you have a
6th son?’ The answer….you start over with Nowa!! Love it! Want to
know what our car drivers name was that took us to Ubud…Nowa! There are lots of
them floating around there.
While in Ubud we went to a famous spot for lunch, Naughty
Nuri’s. Nuri is a Balinese woman who married a western man, so she is
considered naughty. The have ribs and martini’s and it made for an interesting
lunch and an even more interesting post lunch shopping spree. I wish I had
video of Jenny hard core negotiating at the market, girl has developed some
skills living here for 5 years!
The main mode of transport in many of these countries is by scooter and I think we all enjoyed that they pull over and fill up with Petro out of an Absolut bottle? Whatever works for ya!
I am not sure I have had a proper vacation in the US in quite some time (I am making up for it by taking 1 per week here, my co-workers think I am insane) but have the pools changed? Every pool here is more blissful than the next. I am taking note for my future back yard.
Caroline showing me the beach in Bali
We took a low cost carrier to Bali, Air Asia and I have to
say it’s the first time I have ever LOL at the security portion of the flight.
My personal fav’s:
-if you don’t know how to work a seat belt you should
probably not be in public
-While there might be 100 ways to leave your lover, there
are only 4 ways out of this plane
Best.trip.ever!!
End Bits:
-As said it before and I failed I am bad at keeping end bits. I may just keep a list and send that out instead.
-I did think a good blog entry could be when I got locked in a bathroom in Bali, when I was there for work. At first I envisioned having to tell my boss I missed my meeting for being in the bathroom, then when I realized there was no way out I had a sheer panic attack and thought, do I have enough milligrams of a.n.y.t.h.i.n.g. in my purse to make me stop sweating and panicking?! Luckily the staff in the outdoor, 120 degrees bathroom only spoke Bahasa and tried to tell me to climb under the door...I mean I wish you could have seen this door. And how does one say, excuse me I am wearing a cream lace top, I am not crawling on the floor, in Bahasa?
-I went to a private island with just a hotel on it a few weeks ago, the hotel is called Batu Batu and it's simply heaven. Wish I could bottle that feeling up because I had to sit in customs for 2 hours on my way back to Singapore and it really took the ahhhh out of the trip! Poor me, I know!
I saw this road sign on the way back to Sing from Batu Batu and I think it's the best road sign I have ever seen...
-I am going to actually 'end bit' my entire trip home. There is nothing like campfires with the family, a killer Bachelorette party,( seriously Mo, that was so fun. How have I missed Steve-O's all these years), laughing with all your buds at Sheila's and having Asian fare with your coworkers when you are in town from Asia (it was my idea!)
Happy End of Summer! If it gets too cold you can always come see me!
