Welcome to BALI, INDONESIA - the first stop on our spring break R&R trip.

Last year at this time, we took a short jaunt to Guam, USA to relive my younger years and give the entire family a taste of my life (and have some fun in the sun while we were at it. This year, we chose Indonesia and Malaysia. Mostly we chose Indonesia and Malaysia happened to be a stop on the way so we took a couple days there and we're not sorry we did that.

Anyhoo...the choice was chosen because Barry's mom and stepdad are there for 3 months. Susie took a volunteer pastorship at an English speaking christian church in Bali. And so there is a most excellent excuse for going somewhere the kids had not yet been. Both Barry and I have actually been there before, but we were seriously feelin' the years as we talked about how long ago that had been. I think it had been 17 years for me and even more for Barry. Since I still actually think I'm 17, it was little confusing to think that I was there as an infant. Ok, I was 18. Don't even think about adding that! All that to say, a lot had changed in Bali since our last visit. Our second reason for visiting, was to hop up to the island of Sulawesi where my Aunt Barbara (mom's younger sister) and Uncle Timothy have lived for almost 25 years.

And so the story begins. We stayed at the hotel where the church was housing Susie and Jim - right on Kuta beach - nice. The christian church there owns the resort and helps to train locals in the hotel service industry. Bali is a very big tourist town, especially for Australians and Europeans. Their tourist industry has taken a big hit in the last year or two, though, because of the relatively recent bombings there. It seems that I like to go places that have terrorist attacks - NYC, Manila, Bangkok (did I mention I was in Bangkok when several bombs exploded in the city? That was fun.) and now Bali.

All that aside, our first day was rather relaxing: mall to check out the handicrafts available in Indonesia, Starbucks for some true Indonesian adventure (did you know they do RASPBERRIES and cream fraps there with chocolate chips blended in?! to die for!), and Hard Rock Cafe for lunch to get a necessary Hard Rock Bali T-shirt or two. The afternoon was spent relaxing on the beach. Susie was home relaxing because she was down with typhoid! Thankfully not a horrible case of it - just flu-like symptoms and very low energy.

The next day we headed for an artists' area called Ubud. We were seeking adventures - particularly white water rafting, but we found out there is really no white water

So we headed for lunch at a beautiful resort set back above the river so you could see (and hear) the rafters go by. It really was a beautiul setting though, with rice fields and lush greenery below. The resort itself was very tropical open air balinese style architecture. The food was delicious and we enjoyed chatting with Susie, Jim and their assigned driver, Wyan. Not sure the spelling is correct, but we were told that every first born is named Wyan (or called Wyan - sounds like YN). There are also given names for second, third, etc. children.

The food was delish - sort of a blend between Indian and Thai food and slightly less spicy than both. Lots of curries and lots of peanut sauce. Definitely a far cry from Filipino food, though the fried noodles are almost identical to pansit which is a common food at parties in the Philippines. We had those for breakfast almost every morning.

Stevii tries on many sunglasses to avert the glare on that drizzly day. You can see some of the background scenery. Huts dotted the sides of the surrounding hills. Very pictureque.

Just pretty.

Princess Jaron in her Hard Rock Bali t-shirt...

Much of Bali is Hindu, so just about everywhere we went there were small offering plates made of palm leaves filled with flowers, leaves and snacks to appease the gods, maybe? They were pretty, but mostly a nuisance because they sat right in the middle of just about every doorway and all over the sidewalks (not to the side, mind you, but in the middle) and I was afraid I would trip on them and do a big cultural faux pas.

After lunch we hit the monkey temple area and then the market. Boy these monkeys were feisty! Not that I've ever seen a lazy monkey.

Okay, one exception...

Monkey business - monkey eating Rambutan. Mostly I just liked the coloring...

Monkey climbing Davis...

Monkey wants it!

I saw a lot of walls and house pillars in the Ubud area of Bali made out of these stones and I just thought it was so nice to look at. Had to have a pic to remember. And then felt the need to share it on my blog...
When we got back in the afternoon, we spent some time on the beach again. Barry and Jaron tried their hand (feet?) at surfing. Hopefully I'll be able to add some pictures of that shortly...stay tuned!

Palm Sunday - a visit to Susie's church.

A beautiful entrance decked out with palms...

The bowls at the sides of the doorway are filled with rose petals floating in water. Just one of my "famous" close ups...

Jaron standing outside the mall. Just a pretty scene.

Just a nice view of Jaron and Davis on the beach in Bali. This is actually right outside of the mall we visited that had Starbucks and Krispy Kreme. You walk out the back entrance, take in the beautiful blue view, descend the stairs, and there you are - paradise!

On our way to Makassar. We found this sign amusing, especially in light of its positioning - right above a steep set of stairs. This is at the Bali domestic airport headed out to the tar mat. We didn't see anyone trip though...that really might have added to the amusement (ours, at least).

MAKASSAR
Unjung Pandang, Island of Sulawesi, Indonesia

My aunt and uncle's house in Unjung Pandang.

Party in the yard! It's a welcome to Makassar party that my aunt arranged with the neighbor kids. First they did a special dance for us and then some lawn games and then some badminton. A good time was had by all and it helped to break the ice and possibly the language barrier a bit.

Barry's late attempt at becoming a boyscout.

Stevii, Jaron and the older neighbor girls. Most of them are in high school already. I think the one on the far left is actually a senior. Stevii is in 7th grade.

Making a fire to cook the (already cooked) chicken. It took a while but Barry finally got it going - just in time to eat the chicken without cooking it further. Go Barry! You da man!

A pretty sunset looking out from Aunt Barbara and Uncle Timothy's back yard.

Meet Balo. He's the baby sheep. His mother is also in the yard with him and his father is dead - committed suicide after being separated from his family because he was such a pest. We ate his father for dinner our last night in Makassar. All that said, Balo needs a haircut, so we were afforded the opportunity to attend to his special needs. My aunt and the gardener have to tie him between some bamboo poles to keep him relatively still during the whole ordeal.

We all pitched in for a special sheep shearing experience.

Even Stevii's curiousity was peaked and she gave it a whirl, despite earlier protests that she did not want to shear a sheep.

Could you at least try to look bad in one picture? I don't even have to try. It's just a natural gift for me. But no...

I should have become a stylist like I wanted to my freshman year of high school. That sheep looked HOT when I finished with him! haha

Sheeps wool detail...(for lack of a more interesting comment)

Davis and his new uncle. Behind them is my aunt's neighbor wearing her headscarf.

They offered us a full spread of food all set out on mats on the floor. There was fish and peanut chili sauce and rice and vegetables. It was all quite delicious. They really pulled out all the stops for us. What a great experience.

Typical Makassar house - this is the one we visited.

Davis and Jaron got to go on motorcycle rides. On the far right is Davis' new "uncle". They really enjoyed taking the kids around the village area. People kept asking where they got the white people.

The man who offered to marry my daughter. We're sitting on the porch of the house.