BALI!

A few weeks ago we packed our bags and headed to Bali for a fun, 4 day get away. It's really about time we went there because everyone I know in Singapore had already been and loved it. It's funny because while we were there I got to thinking that 7 years ago as Matt and I were discussing places to go on our honeymoon, I actually remember one of us mentioning Bali. It was quickly ruled out as 1) we thought it was way too far from the US (and it really is) and 2) it was totally out of our budget at the time. Back then I would have never guessed that we would eventually make it there and be only a 2.5 hour plane ride away!

When we first arrived in Singapore, I naively assumed that all of the surrounding countries would more or less be the same. I couldn't have been more wrong! In fact, each country we've been to has been uniquely different than the next, no matter how close together they are. Bali offered us totally new experiences!

We spent our first two nights in Ubud, then traveled to Tulamben (known for its dive sites and more specifically, the Liberty shipwreck) and then spent our final night and day in Sanur. This time around, I didn't have to do hardly any of the planning because we went there with the Castello family and Amanda was kind enough to work out all of the major details. She really planned a great trip and we had so much fun traveling together!

Let's move on to the more exciting part of the post...the pictures!

On our very first morning, we biked through Ubud which gave us a real feel for what local life was like...

I have never seen (or heard!) more roosters in my entire life. They were everywhere in Bali.

Roosters are the very reason I'm sure that I could never live on a farm. They sure are annoying at 4 a.m.!

So as our biking group continously checked out the roosters, a few of our guides thought it would be fun to let us watch some angry roosters fight. OK, my first thought was to walk away because even though I'm not crazy for roosters or anything, the last thing I wanted to watch was one of them kiling the other! However, we were assured that it wasn't a "real" rooster fight (apparently those involve blades and the loosing rooster dying within minutes) and these two would do nothing but peck at each other...which ended up being true, thankfully!

Well, even though they didn't kill each other, it sure looked like they wanted to...

Stone statues like this one are present all throughout Bali.

As our bike ride went on, we finally came to what I was most excited about seeing in Bali - the rice fields! To be honest, I was expecting to see fields of rice in Vietnam, but we never really did. I know they exist in Vietnam in areas outside of the places we traveled, but at least going to Bali allowed me to see the fields...and they looked just like I had imagined!

(...and for the few that may be wondering, that's me with an [almost] 5 months pregnant belly. I can't really hide it anymore!)

The people of Bali were so friendly! These folks happily waved and smiled at me as I snapped their picture!

A path along the rice fields. The day could not have been more beautiful than it was!

Never ending fields of rice!

The bike tour ended with a home cooked meal at the house of the man who owns Banyan Tree Bike Tours (I highly recommend them should you ever find yourself in Bali). I would have taken pictures of the meal, but I was far too busy inhaling all of the delicious food they gave us! :)

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing by the pool and goofing off at the resort...

The hotel grounds.

The next day we departed Ubud fairly early to make it to our next destination, Tulamben. As I mentioned above, Tulamben is mostly a dive town. Since diving and pregnancy don't mix, I decided to snorkel and Matt was super sweet and decided to do that with me rather than dive (which I'm sure he would have had even more fun doing). We still saw a ton of fish and even managed to snorkel over the shipwreck which was really cool! Unfortunately, I failed to take out my camera the entire time we were in Tulamben so I didn't get a single picture from our day and night there. Guess we'll have to go back some day!

After we left Tulamben, we headed to Sanur to spend our final night and day relaxing. We stayed at a beautiful resort and as soon as we arrived, Matt and decided we weren't going to do anything else the rest of the time except relax by the pool and beach! It was the perfect decision for us! :)

Lunch by the beach...is there really a better place to eat?

The water was extremely shallow which I guess provides a perfect opportunity for the locals to fish in waist-deep water.

Now I said we went to Bali with the Castellos, but I bet you were starting to think I made that up, huh? Well, here is the ONLY proof I have that we were there together - the kids playing in the sand and Matt and Jason chatting in the distance :)

And I'll leave you with one last picture from our fabulous trip...

...the best looking guy in Bali! :)

Cousins in Singapore

If you've been reading the blog for a little while then you know that back in April we traveled to Vietnam and met my dad's family for the very first time. The family members included my cousins, Hung and Ngan. They were both so sweet and we knew right away that we wanted to be sure and have another opportunity to get to know them better. So on our last day in Vietnam we asked them to please consider our offer to bring them over to Singapore for a weekend to see a new country and spend time with us. We're so glad they accepted! They visited us here a few weeks ago and we spent 3 fun-filled days getting to know more about them. It's so great to have "new" family members!

We took them all around Singapore showing them all of the usual hot spots, but I must say, the weekend seemed to be more about food than anything else! There were so many new things we wanted to introduce them to...local cuisine like chili crab and American cuisine like trips to McDonalds and Chilis :) They most certainly didn't go hungry while they were here. In fact, I'm pretty sure they returned to Vietnam a few pounds heavier ;) Hopefully, it was all worth the fun we had together.

Thanks for coming to see us in Singapore, Hung and Ngan! We hope we'll be able to spend time with you again...maybe next time in the US! :)

Our first lunch together...steamed pork dumplings!

Strolling along Orchard Road

Ngan and Matt on the river taxi

Hung and Matt enjoying some local chili crab

Marina Bay after dinner

Ngan, Matt, Hung and the Merlion :)

Breakfast at McDonald's. Ngan had never even heard of McDonald's before...which Matt thought was refreshing, haha!

Walking through Clarke Quay

On the cable car to Sentosa - their first time being on one!

Underwater World

Dinner at Chilis. They asked us to order for them so we chose ribs for Hung and a hamburger for Ngan. They liked the food (or at least we think they did), but they couldn't get over the American sized portions! There's a reason we're so much bigger than them... ;)

At the Marina Bay Sands Casino

View from the sky bridge at the MBS hotel

Up in the sky garden

Me and my love :)

The end to a very fun weekend!

Back in VA...

After we left TX we had 3 more days in VA before we had to head back to Singapore. We didn't make any big plans this time, instead we just spent quality time with family and friends. I can't think of a single thing that would have been better than that!

First, we stopped by our good friends Jeff and Katie's house to visit their new bundle of joy...

Baby Jacob!

A sweet, new family of 3 :)

A little parenting practice for us. Let's just say it's a good thing we have a few more months to prepare...baby J is clearly on the verge of tears!

Then it was off to Mom's house for some fun sibling time and of course, delicious homemade meals from Mom. Her cooking never fails us!

Trampoline time! No one would let me jump...something about trampolines and pregnancy not mixing ;)

A little evening bike ride. Seriously, is she not the cutest little 8 year old you've ever seen?!

A bit of brother in law bonding over basketball

Our last day, just before leaving for the airport to head back to Singapore. Us with Dad.

I can't say enough good things about our trip home to the states. Even though we were there for 3.5 weeks, it truly felt like we were there for 3.5 days because the time went by so quickly and we had SO much fun! As much as we've enjoyed our time in Singapore and all of the opportunities we've had through it, it goes without saying that we're always missing our families and friends back home and look forward to coming back soon!

The sweetest niece in the world

On our last day in the TX we hung out with Matt's parents and, as the title suggests, the sweetest, little niece in the world. Not a whole lot to say in this post...just a whole lot of cuteness to look at! :)

Modeling the outfit I sent her from India and showing off her best Bollywood moves :)

The ribbon is all Uncle Matt's doing...

It's about time...

The title of this post refers to two things:

1) It's about time...that I start blogging again since I've taken several weeks off. (I blame it on multiple visitors, a trip to Bali, and pure laziness...which I am further blaming on pregnancy).

2) It's about time...these two boys are featured on the blog.

In fact, having blogged for over a year now, I'm not sure how these 2 have never been mentioned. I mean, sure, they aren't living with us here in Singapore, but they are family.

So now I proudly present to you our little boys dressed in dog costumes (as Matt refers to them)...

Rocket Gipson

and...

Coal Gipson

(this one isn't the brightest crayon in the box, but man is he sweet!)

Thanks to my sweet in-laws who are kindly taking care of Rocket and Coal while we live in Singapore, we haven't had to worry about them for one single second because we know they're being well cared for. Still, in a few short months we'll be back and reunited with our furry, little friends...just in time to prepare them for a new little brother...only this one won't have fur and should look a whole lot more like us ;)