I'm ba-ack! Whew, about twenty hours on the plane from Singapore back to Minnesota. After getting home, I slept about twelve hours. But worth it. So, so worth it.
I'll explain with pictures.
My first stop was the artist home/tourist city of Ubud. Murni's House is a beautiful little compound consisting of many small buildings, a restaurant, and a spa. I stayed in the Suite, which was more like a Balinese apartment. Beautifully carved wood was everywhere, and she even stocks books in the room.
Lots of lovely Hindu stone carvings, too. Since I was staying at the hotel, I got a discount for my lomi lomi massage at the spa. (A wonderful Hawaiian technique, hard to find up here.) Tons of shops, and tons of drivers asking to take tourists places. My most useful Indonesian phrase here was, "Tidak, terima kasih." ("No thank you.") It startled a lot of people to hear me speak some Indonesian, and I was glad I'd taken the time.
One thing I really wanted to see was the Pura Taman Saraswati, dedicated to the Hindu goddess Saraswati. I went back here later that night for a live dance performance with live music. I loved the lotus ponds, the flowers, and the carvings.
The Ayung river. There are lots of rivers cutting through the jungle areas of Bali. I would have liked to walk around more here, but a tour group warned me it was dangerous. As I was wearing sandals, I just took pictures and went back up the steps.
Lovely Candi Dasa. As I'd heard, there really is no beach thanks to erosion. There was a staircase set in the seawall to get in the water. They were doing coral regrowing, and snorkeling was possible, but I didn't trust the riptide with my swimming skills. There was a sandy ramp for boats, where I waded a bit and picked up shells, sea glass, and something new, sea pottery.
I had to go see Tirta Gangga, the water gardens. More beautiful lotus ponds, flowers, fountains, all the good stuff.
Feeding the fish at the koi ponds of Tirta Gangga.
The stepping stones among the statues and koi pond of Tirta Gangga.
Had so much wonderful food in Bali. I really liked how palm leaves are used to make little dishes for condiments. I did learn it's a bad idea to have a pot of hot tea when it's so hot and humid. (Got a bit of heat exhaustion, and turned down my driver's offer to take me to his family's ceremony that night to go crash in bed.)
Oh, the Singapore aquarium.... one of the reasons I came here. This was from the Open Ocean tank, by far the largest I'd ever seen. I could have stood there all day, marveling at the gorgeous fish and many, many types of stingrays here.
Even found fellow punsters overseas.
Some of the orchids at the Singapore Botanical Garden. My favorite flower, and I have a tough time growing them. (My mom finally took pity on me and bought me some silk ones.) Singapore is famous for their orchids.
Part of the 'Steel Blooms' sculpture/garden display at Changi airport in Singapore. It's been voted the world's best for multiple years running, and it was certainly nice to wait in for my flight home.
Hope you enjoy the pictures!
