Hurry!

Hurry!  Just a few more hours before the contest is over, so if you have any suggestions, post!  They have been GREAT so far, and as I said, all will be written about.  Don't be shy!

xoxoxo

Pam

Please send the 'good stuff'...

Please send your good healing thoughts, prayers, energy, and most of all, love to Debbie and her family.  Her mom is in the hospital and going through a rough time.  She needs all the good ju-ju you can muster up.

Deb, If I knew how to embroider, I'd neatly stitch "keep it in the fist" on a pillow, and stuff it full of love, laughs, and chocolate, so you could kinda have one of my pillows to lay on.  Sending big hugs and all the 'good stuff' I can.

xoxoxoxo

Requests and Dedications

Okay, let's hear from you out there!  What do you want to see on this blog?  Just for fun, I'll take requests and dedications for subjects you would like to read about on this blog.  Simply leave me a comment in the comment section (it's easy, give it a try!) and I will pick the most creative idea, and send you a prize from Singapore!  C'mon, it'll be fun!  Contest starts Today, Saturday January 19th, and closes Saturday the 26th.  All requests will be answered and written about, but I'm looking for creativity, for the very exclusive, very loverly,  top drawer  prize.

xoxooxo

Pam

p.s.  How to leave a comment:

To leave a comment on any post, click on the comments link, where it will say 1 comment, 0 comments, etc. Once you click on that, a box pops up. Type your message, be sure to include your name! Then if you do not have a blogger account, click to send it as anonymous. Then click login and publish. You really won't have to login and your message will be posted. 

Happy Friday!

Not much is happening these days, as Larry and I both get into a routine, and are getting used to him being on afternoons.  The big excitement around here lately is the upcoming Chinese New Year. It's the year the year of the rat, and Singapore is very busy decorating and getting into a festive mood.  Larry and I are going to Chinatown this weekend, to see the preparations, and scope out a good spot for the actual festivities in a few weeks.  

Larry is also planning a trip home in the next few weeks, for work, so we're getting him ready for that as well.  

Larry's big excitement is that I made him 'Pickle Pops'.  Please, no comments on how we need hobbies or a pet...we know we are weird, we embrace it.  Being so far from home, we tend to do what my Auntie Frannie says: "make your own fun".  It's the little things in life that makes us happy anyway. Larry LOVES pickles, as I have mentioned before on this blog, so with the leftover pickle juice from his most favorite brand from Texas; Bestmaid I made him pickle popsicles.  And...he actually eats them.

Here's proof:

I'm thinking about submitting my secret recipe for these babies to Martha Stewart's magazine.

MY big excitement is I am up to 45 minutes on the elliptical machine, and vaguely, almost, kinda, sorta, don't hate it as much anymore.  AND it is mandarin orange season here in Asia....a little mouthful of sunshine. I've pretty much been eating them till I barf.   They are tiny, easy to peel, with no seeds, with an intense sweetness and orange flavor. YUM.  And if that wasn't enough, it's also Australian mango season, which is also very exciting for this fruit lover!  They are a little sweeter, and not as perfumey (is that a word?) as the normal, asian mangoes that are usually in the wet markets.

As many of you know my very favorite holiday is VALENTINES DAY!! I found a neat little bake shop, and they are doing a work shop on valentine cookie decorating, and I signed up. Hopefully it's not just me and ten 12 year olds, because I'm hoping to meet some friends! 

I'm pretty excited, and I have two words for you: EDIBLE GLITTER.  I can barely contain myself. Good thing Lar will be out of town, because he might injure his eyes, what with all the rolling they'd be doing.

miss you!

xoxoxoxoxoxo!

Oh, and check out my best friend's blog, she has a VERY exciting weekend planned!

http://www.rentbnlandmash.blogspot.com/

Here are a few pictures of the little darlins!

And yes Mom,  I admit my countertop was not perfectly spotless....I cleaned it up right after. With bleach.

Bali, Baby! Part Three!

So, on our last full day in Bali, we had arranged for a driver to take us to a few places we wanted to see, and to do some shopping.  Definitely the way to go.  He came recommended to us from Kevin, the loud shirt wearing Boeing guy.  He was a really, nice guy, and a devout Hindu.  He was full of knowledge, and knew some great places to take us.  We found out later he gets kick backs, but hey, that's what makes the world go round.  We started off at a Balinese dance performance, and it was really fun.  We arrived a little late, but we got the gist of the story, and loved taking lots of pictures.  Larry took some great ones!  After that, we went to a silver company, and watched jewlery being made, the tour guides take you right into the factory, and like everything else on the Bali trip, it was an eye opener.  Working conditions weren't great, but the skill and attention to detail were very interesting.  Larry and I turned out to be a big interest for them!  I guess not too many ahem "big boned" people come through.  They were polite though, just curious.  After the tour, you are conveniently dumped into the showroom, and Larry bought me some very cool bling!  

Next on our list was the wood carving markets.  We had a specific piece in mind, we wanted to bring home a carved wooden screen ( room separator) for the living room.  We never did find one, but we did buy a beautiful carved wooden elephant that will always remind us of our elephant safari on Christmas day.  Our guide took us to a painting place, and I think that's where we got wise to what he was doing, taking us to places he would get a commission from, if we bought anything.  We realized we had to be more specific, and we told him what we wanted to do for the rest of the day.  He called us " dear friends", and used the greeting before, during and after answering our questions.  It took some getting used to, but after a while, it was normal, and I think I started doing it too!  ha!

Next up was the Sacred Monkey Temple.  If you ever get to bali, you gotta see it!  it's a sanctuary for monkey, and a sacred holy place.  Truly amazing.  Larry had to wear a sarong to go into the temple, and my legs had to be covered as well.  The monkey were the coolest!  They come right up to you, and one even untied my shoe!  People are in the sanctuary, selling bananas and food for them, so they are very tame.  I had the best time watching them, and their funny expressions. I have an imitation of a female looking for a date, lemme know if you want to see it!

Bali has so many temples, and the people are very religious, spiritual, and a little superstitious,  Our driver had a strong belief of karma, and with a new baby on the way was very clear about only putting the good stuff out there. It was truly fascinating, and they believe gods are every where, in many forms.  They wear black and white checked fabric to symbolize the ying and yang, good and evil. Rice is very important to them, and it is regarded very highly.  Our driver had rice pressed into the middle of his forehead, as part of his daily prayer ritual.  They make daily offerings to the gods, in the form of little boxes made from palm leaves, with flowers, rice, incense and sweets in them. I thought they were really beautiful.  They were everywhere!  

You could walk down the street, and see them on sidewalks, in the streets, at traffic lights, it was amazing.  And with the crazy driving, every little bit helps, I guess.

After the Monkey Temple, we went to Ubud, for lunch, again, it was a place our driver knew someone, but it was fine, we had an awesome lunch, with a spectacular view of a rice paddy.  It was cool and breezy, the food was great, and our driver joined us, and kept up the tour, filling us in on more fun facts about Bali.

After lunch, we went through Ubud, which is an artist community, and had fun looking at all the stuff for sale on the streets.  We drove through, on our way to the tiered rice paddies.  It was simply breath taking!  Larry got some really good shots.  You have to see it to believe it, but they have made rice paddies, in the side of hills.  So cool!  Our driver warned us before we got out of the car that we would be surrounded by people trying to sell things, and he wasn't wrong.  The minute our feet touched the ground, they were everywhere.  It was very hard for me, especially the little kids begging you to buy things.  Ugh. If I had had money in my pocket, it would have vanished very quickly.  They were very persistent though, and followed us the whole time.  Speaking of money, the currency is the Rupi, and the exchange rate is US $1=9133rp.  So, we would go and get money from an atm, and thinking we had a lot, say 20,000.rp, when really is was just a small amount.  It was pretty funny...even funnier when I tried to do the exchange in my head.

Next up was more shopping, which at this point Larry was done.  Being a good sport though, he walked around while I picked up a few things.  We then headed back to Kuta, in hopes of seeing a sunset.  We had pretty good weather that day, and were hopeful we'd see what Kuta is so famous for.  We were stuck in traffic though, so by the time we got t the beach it was exactly sunset time, and the clouds rolled in.  We enjoyed the beach though, and both stuck our big toes in the Indian ocean.  After that, we went back to the hotel, cleaned up, and went for dinner.  Kuta, as I said before, was very touristy, and seemed a little unsafe at night.  So we ventured a few blocks from the hotel, within our comfort level.  We had a great night, and larry was in a goofy mood (see pics).  We headed back to the hotel, after dinner, and a recognizance mission to find cheap purses.  We packed up, and got ready to leave in the morning.  Overall, despite the not so great weather, we had a really fun trip, and a Christmas to remember.  I hope to go back someday, it truly was a magical place, and I hope to be able to explore it more someday.

miss you all!  write or call if you want!

xoxoxo!

Bali, Baby! Part Two!

What?!?!  Posting two days in a row??  Yes!  it's true, and I'm quite proud of myself.  So there.  

So, on Wednesday, we woke up very early ( 6:30) to be ready for our pickup to go to the Bali Hai beach cruise.  They take you, by boat to a beach club, and let you hang out, scuba, parasail, ride banana boats, swim, play volley ball, and in general, just enjoy a day at the beach. Unfortunately,  it rained.  A lot.  But the tour wasn't canceled, so we decided to make the best of it, and go anyway.  We happily loaded up on the boat, which was very nice.  We sipped coffee, and had pastries as we waited to pull away from the dock.  The mood was light, everyone was excited, and had the vacation vibe going on.  They had a dive company on the boat that takes you scuba diving, and Larry and I decided to do it.  Larry has his scuba license, but I don't.  I was still able to go, I just had to have a guide with me the whole time ( fine by me!).    About 15 minutes into the ride, I was looking out the window, at the rolling sea, the rainy sky, and Larry asked me a question about the dive, then how I was doing with the boat ride ( my motion sickness is already legendary, in our short time together...remember the plane trip from hell to Vegas?)  I calmly ( at least in my head it was calm) said I think I needed a motion sickness bag.  Quick as a flash, he was gone, and came back with a stack of them, and a worried smile.  I wasted no time using one, then two, then three.  By the fourth, it was just dry heaves, but my gallant husband calmly rubbed my back, wiped the cold sweat from my neck and brow, and tried really hard not to laugh.  I dimly remember asking when this torture would end, a sea-sick version of the childhood whine " are we there yet?"  And for the record, I wasn't the only one that got sick, and there were a few tense moments when the boat was very far to the left, and people screamed.  I don't remember getting off the boat, and onto the dive platform, but once I was on it, I felt a little better.  Larry kept asking me with a worried smile if I was gonna make it, and the dive team looked at me warily, but sweetly.  Not one to miss this kinda fun, I sucked it up, and sucked it in to get into my wet suit.  I sorta remember the dive guides instructions for the hand signals, how to clear my mask, and get my ears to pressurize.  Larry is an old hand at it, and I could feel his excitement.  I love watching him do things that he likes, the little kid joy ekes out, even when he's trying to be cool (sorry babes, it's true).  My dive buddy kept a steady and firm grip on my arm as I walked to get into the water, I guess I was listing to the right pretty strongly.  We hopped in, got our masks on, ran through more instructions, and a few checks to make sure we had the hand signals down, then we were off.

Ok, seriously,   SCUBA DIVING IS THE COOLEST THING, EVER!!!!!

As a kid, we always watched Jacques Cousteau specials on pbs, and my mom immersed (ha, get it?) us in all things underwater.  She loved it, so we watched stuff about it, read books, went to cool aquariums, etc.  It was a big part of my childhood.  Whales were my Mom's favorite, and to this day I can still rattle of facts and figures about them.  Anyway, I have always wanted to Scuba.  I went snorkeling once, while on  cruise in the bahamas, and I was literally the last one on the boat, with the boat captain impatiently tapping his foot.  I pretty much had to be dragged back on, kicking and screaming.  So to finally be able to do this, something I have always wanted was just the best Christmas gift I could have gotten.  Sometimes, my husband is pretty nifty.  I like him. 

So, we went all around, checking out coral, and fish, and just generally getting a feel for it.  We went down about 20 meters (I think) which is all I could do without my license.  The water on the surface was still super choppy and rough, but once we got down, it was calm, and beautiful.  The fish were all very active, and sooo fun to watch.  We brought the underwater camera, and after taking a few shots, I handed it over to the Snapper.  I think he was in his own little nirvana.  He took lots of great shots, and the dive team shot a dvd for us.  I won't make you suffer through watching it, but if anyone is interested, let us know!  The dive was about 30 mins, and I could have gone longer, it was such a blast!  I had a little more trouble on the assent, and for some reason swallowed a little water.  I couldn't remember the hand signal for 'trouble' so I just shot to the top, and threw up some more.  Lovely.  Thankfully, I was close enough to the surface that I didn't damage my ears ( what? huh?) and once again, the wonderful dive team handled me with kindness, got my orca butt out of the water, and over to a chair.  I vaguely remember them taking off my fins and wet suit, and giving me tea.  Nice guys, for sure.  Larry didn't know what had happened to me, so he was worried until he came over and checked me out for himself.  We both laughed later, thinking about the tiny balinese men, trying to get our large, american bodies out of the water.  Next time you see us, ask for the impression of them, we have it perfected, and it's a hoot.  Or at least we think so.

After the dive, we were taken by smaller boat to the beach club.  By this time it was a nice, steady rain.  They had a nice buffet lunch of grilled fish, more noodle type stuff, salads, fruit, bread and rice.  After fighting our way into a table of  ill mannered and crabby tourists from China, Larry went to get himself some lunch.  I stayed back to save our spots from being taken by before mentioned table mates.  Larry came back with a nice lunch, and a coke for me, to settle my still upset stomach.  Feeling so much better, I went and got a small amount of plain rice, a little bread, and a banana ( the BRAT diet, for all you moms out there).  As we sat, and ate our lunch, looking at the now torrential rain storm, we were both really glad we had gone diving.  It was the hi-light of the day, in an otherwise bummer of a beach day.  That, and watching in amazement as the table mates let their little boy pee into a bottle.  Fantastic.  The weather was so bad, and all the activities had to be cancelled, so the boat captain came around and said that he was going back early.  We all loaded back on the boat, and prepared for the hour long ride back.  I had upped my dramamine dosage, and hoped for the best.  I wasn't taking chances though, and grabbed about 20 motion sickness bags.  Good thing, about 10  ins into the ride, I was at it again.  Thankfully I hadn't eaten much, and the dramamine knocked me out.  I was cold, wet, and zoned out, so Larry had to spend the hour with his hand on my back, watching his ipod.

We got back to hotel, showered, warmed up, and passed out (me).  We ended up going to dinner, because I woke up starving, and ready party (ok, not really).  It was an early night, with me promising Larry I wouldn't be such a wimp tomorrow.

And the story continues....tomorrow....maybe.

Bali, Baby! Part 0ne

Happy New year everyone!  Hope you all had a great time, and Larry and I wish you all good things for 2008.

We had a great time in Bali.  The weather wasn't perfect, but who cares!  We were in Bali, Baby!!  We Left on Dec. 24,  me over packing, as usual.  We flew Singapore airlines, which if you ever get the chance, I highly recommend....man do they take good care of you!  We arrived in Bali around 11pm, and pretty much just crashed.  We stayed at the Hard rock, right on Kuta beach.  It was a pretty nice place, but we think if we ever go back, we'll stay somewhere less touristy.  Kuta was very busy, and dirty, just waaay too many people.  Once we got out of the Kuta area though, the true beauty of Bali shines.

We woke up on Christmas morning and went to the elephant sanctuary.  It was about a hour and a half drive.  It was one of my favorite things...I had to keep telling myself, no, you are not in a movie, this is real. You know how you always see t.v. shows or movies, and you think, do people really live like that?  Well, that's how I felt.  It was a long, long way from my city, and suburban upbringing.  It was amazing, beautiful, sad, and eye-opening.  Once we got out of the city, there were cows and chickens walking everywhere, tons and tons of stray dogs.  The main mode of transportation was the motor scooter, and entire families would squash onto one. Children also drove them.  The driving age is 17, we were later told, but it seems like they don't follow that rule.  I saw one guy, riding on the back of one, holding a t.v.  Larry saw one carrying a big mirror....just crazy!  I had to close my eyes a few times, the driving is insane!  Small stores along the streets sell bottles of petrol, but there were larger gas stations.  We were incredibly lucky, and saw a Balinese funeral procession.  All the men were in sarongs, and they carried the body to a neighborhood temple.  Before we realized what it was, Larry got a few pictures, but then he stopped shooting when he realized what it was. It was beautiful, in a way only that kind of thing can be.  The people didn't seem overly sad, and it almost reminded me of the New Orleans tradition, where is is more of a celebration. 

We arrived at the elephant park, and since it was Christmas, and raining, it wasn't crowded at all.  I was so excited!  The park is owned by a couple from Australia, that save Sumatra elephants from the deforestation of the rain forest.  It was a beautiful place!  So worth going to see.  The elephants seem well loved and cared for, and they have really put a lot of time and money into making a beautiful place.  We got to ride the elephants with a trainer for about 35 minutes, through the forest.  I'm having a hard time putting into words what I felt.  It was so unreal to be on the back of such a huge, sweet animal.  Like I am prone to say a LOT this past year, who's life is this??  I was spending my Christmas on the back of an elephant, in the rain forest.  So cool.  My cup definitely runneth over.  My elephant was very laid back and sweet, and her trainer felt compelled to point out all the huge spiders we saw as we cruised around.  I finally told him it was ok, I didn't need to see spiders the size of a small dog.  He just grinned.  We did see lots of wild chickens, and I'm sure there were snakes, but I didn't see any.  Larry's elephant was in the lead, and she was a bit more sassy.  She kept trying to eat branches and stuff, and would trumpet when he trainer told her no.  She also got scared a few times, when she saw the wild chickens, or birds in her path.  It is true...elephants do not like small animals. We had to stop a few times so they could have potty breaks.  I can now say I have seen an elephant poop.  Pretty darn amazing, if a tad unseemly.  We ended the ride with the elephants taking a swim, us on their backs.  We then got to feed them, which was sooooo neat!  My elephant was a sweetie, but she was very tricky with her trunk, and got lots more than Larry's elephant ( he was taking pictures, of course).  It was so cool to be close to them, and be able to look into their eyes.  They smile too, and it just melts you.  If I could take one home...sigh.

Then we had a nice lunch that they provide, and it was the usual stuff we have in Singapore.  Noodles, rice, curries, fresh salads and fruits. After lunch, it started to rain pretty hard, but they elephants still did a little 'show'.  Didn't like that part as much, I'd rather see them doing their normal, natural stuff.  The ones that weren't in the show were out in the rain though, and they all seemed content to play around and eat.  

It was a really good day, and after our long ride back, we crashed for a bit, then went down to the hotel christmas buffet.  It was pretty yummy, not the home cooking I'm used to, but, hey, we did everything different this year!

More tomorrow, promise!