Like Malaysia, Bali embraces a lot of celebrations (read: public holidays). But instead of getting a week long school hols & 2 off day at work, we only get 1 for Chinese New Year. There’s not really much going on here except for the mandarins, lion dancing and fireworks. Even our Chinese friend (err..we only have 1 here) didn’t celebrate it so it’s just a long weekend for us.
So what did we do?
I started by sending Ayisha to Peekaboo with a babysitter – her teacher from school so that Michael and I could celebrate our belated anniversary.
What were Michael & I up to?
We went B.O.W.L.I.N.G!!!
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| I know it's blur but I wanted to remember that I won by 1 point :p |
Way back when it’s just us, we went bowling all the time. Michael & I, we’re not very sporty. You know how you hear of couples that run together, go to gym together, cycling together etc.? We’re not them. We can play sports, never particularly good at anything (me that is) but our definition of tennis is Michael hitting he ball to my direction while I remain static in one position and just move my arms. Fun!
So bowling is one ‘sport’ that we both truly enjoy with each other & it can get very competitive too. So that day was a lot of fun! I could’ve played more than 2 games but I didn’t want to overdo it, what with my clumsy-when-pregnant self. Plus, Ayisha’s only away for 3 hours and we wanted to do lunch. So we did and tho we thoroughly enjoyed our quiet time together, we can’t help talking & thinking of Squeaky lah. We’re so used to having her around all the time, it’s a bit weird.
We’ve never left her with a babysitter before so I thought sending her to Peekaboo would be fun for her, even without mummy & daddy. I was wrong. Her teacher said she didn’t play anything for the whole 3 hours. Just clinging and asking for us. Poor Ha, she couldn’t wait to get out of Peekaboo when she saw us. ☹
I don’t know if it’s got anything to do with us leaving her but the rest of the weekend, she was extremely well behaved!!
We then went to Ubud. I booked Michael in for a pampering session at Alam Wangi Spa. He said it was a pretty weird experience for him. I didn’t know where the place was so a dude on motorbike picked him up (motorbikes in Bali = scary) and they went through some back alley into the Monkey Forest (monkeys = double scary for me). But once he was there, the same dude gave him one of the best 90 min massages he’s ever had. After that he was served with drinks and cake by the pool, totally relaxing. He even felt good long after the massage. So…Phew!
Our anniversary ended with a nice dinner at Kafe Batan Waru. The food and the service at this restaurant are excellent. It was packed but the service was still prompt. Their menu boasted the best gelato & sorbet in Bali, so it would be silly not to try!
We ordered the chocolate gelato & mango sorbet and OH MY GOD!!!! They are truly, THE best I’ve ever tasted and we’ve tasted a LOT. Mango sorbet is Michael’s favorite and chocolate is Ayisha’s (and mummy's!) so every ice cream stop that we do, it’s almost always chocolate & mango.
The texture’s just so different from the rest, extra smooth & soft & creamy, doing just wonders in your mouth. The mango flavour is very subtle and yet extremely satisfying and the chocolate one is just so choc-a-bloc full of choc flavour. I can eat scoops & scoops of it, everyday. So if you’re ever in Ubud, go to this Café even just to order a scoop of gelato or sorbet.
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| "I'm in heaven.." |
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| Happy Anniversary babe! |
Another reason that we’re in Ubud was to meet up with our friends. Michael’s friend was staying there for her holidays and my friend was also doing a daytrip to Ubud that same time and due to time constraint, we decided to bring everyone together to our favorite restaurant – Sari Organic.
It was a very short get-together but it’s so good to see Odie again. She’s still the same as I last saw her. How I wish she’d stay longer so we could catch up more! Michael’s friend, Yin, I don’t really know but she's lots of fun, I wish we could spend more time together too. The short time that we’re all together, we got along so very well so it felt so rushed and sudden when we had to say goodbyes. We hope they like Sari Organic tho ☺
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| Odie & Yin with their respective partners..n food! |
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| the walk is always nice |
The next day, we decided to take Ayisha to Peekaboo again. This time, mum & dad stayed. She was not sure in the beginning, clinging to Michael with no smiles. But when we’re all in the play area, she was off to her usual cheery self. More exciting for her, not long after we arrived, guess who showed up????
Her best friend Freyjah!!!
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| that's her! |
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| and her equally cute sister, Freylah |
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| daddy having too much fun |
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| busy busy!! |
So eventhough it was a day off school, she still got to play with her best friend. She was there with her little sister and her mum & dad. So we had a good time catching up with her parents too. It was such a wonderful surprise, as it wasn’t planned at all. This time, Ayisha didn’t want to leave. :)
