Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Breathtaking Bali!



We just got back from a trip to Bali, Indonesia - a short 2.5 hour flight from Singapore. We wanted to stay away from major tourist areas, especially the ones filled with Aussie travelers, so we headed to the "Art Centre" of Bali called Ubud. Ubud Village is located on the hillside of Pengosekean Ubud and we stayed at the very lovely Ubud Village Resort & Spa.

Darin and I both agree that our room at this resort was by far the most spectacular, most spacious AND best value for money at any resort we've stayed in the world. Each room has a private plunge pool (left), two outdoor lounge gazebos, and outdoor shower and outdoor bath tub and is surrounded by lush foliage with a splendid view of rice paddies. We stayed in Villa Banjar Kanging #222 on the edge of the resort and it felt like we had the entire resort to ourselves.

The rest of the resort is very nice too - there is one restaurant that serves good food, a coffee shop that offers complimentary high tea in the afternoon and we indulged in a 3.5 hour spa treatment session (in our villa) including a facial, massage, body scrub and flower petal bath for only US$50 each! Pure bliss!

In Ubud we went to the Sacred Monkey Forest. This was what Darin has been waiting for for a long time - to see and feed monkeys. And there were thousands of them everywhere - they aren't scared of people at all but come right up to you and take bananas (that we bought at the entrance for $1) right out of your hand.


One day, we hired a local guide called Nengah Polos to drive us around and show us some sights. He took us to an art village just outside of Ubud where we bought 3 paintings. Then we went to a very spectacular temple called Gunung Kawi set amidst rice terraces, and we also saw a huge volcano that is still active.

Bali must be one of the cheapest destination for Americans - everything was incredibly affordable and we will definitely go back there soon!

Friday, October 20, 2006

Welcome to our new Online Journal!!

Farewell to the old journal where popups and unwanted ads abound! Welcome to the new and improved version that is easier to use, and less cluttered.

I am working on transioning all the content from the old blog into this one, including the pictures.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Repeatedly approached by Indian men - Posted by Maggie

Ok, the first time it happened, I was caught off guard a little. I was walking along in Plaza Singapura - 'n huge shopping mall not far from where we live when a friendly looking indian man approached me and started talking to me. I was a bit weary of him and tried to get away but didn't want to be rude, so I listened to him. I thought he was probably going to try and sell me something but instead he said (or this is what I heard) "grid on forehid means you heff goo luck and bring goo karma". I said "excuse me?" and he said again "grid line on forehid mean you heff goo karma". I smiled and thanked him, trying to be polite and he continued with a monologue of what the lines on my forehead meant, sort of like an impromptu palm reading (instead he was apparently reading my forehead!). I didn't listen to everything he said because I could hardly understand his thick accent and politely tried to get away from him as quickly as possible. When I got home I told Darin about it and we both laughed.
The second time it happened was right in front of our townhouse. Another random Indian man approached me and pointed at my forehead exclaiming loudly "you are lucky lady, the line on forehead means good luck to you". This time I was speechless. Two men randomly approaching me in Singapore saying the same thing? Darin and I thought that perhaps *they* had let loose some indian guys in Singapore and gave them instructions to approach random western woman and talk about their foreheads. The odd thing was they really did not want anything in return, they weren't trying to sell me anything and they were really friendly.
I had forgotten about all of this until yesterday. I was walking around downtown in the business district carrying my cousin's teddy bear to take pictures of it with Singapore sights. (To make a long story short, my cousin has a school project where they send their teddy bears all over the world, and the 'hosts' have to take pictures of the teddy bear in foreign locales so that the kids back home can learn about different countries and cultures etc). I set up Bob the bear in front of a famous sculpture by Salvador Dali and felt rather stupid, standing amongst people in suits and high heels holding a teddy bear (me, not the men and women in suits). When suddenly I heard a loud voice behind me saying "You are very lucky woman!". I turned around and there was another indian man walking toward me saying "your forehead means you are very very lucky woman" all the while pointing to my head. I thought it was rather rude, and I immediately avoided eye contact with him, threw Bob into my purse and tried as quickly as possible to disappear into the faceless mass of the business lunch-going throng of people. I did not look back.
One time is really odd, two times is definitely weird, but three times is really freaking me out. I am wearing a hat from now on!

Friday, October 13, 2006

Darin & Maggie Visit the Cinema - Posted by Darin

Maggie's parents told us that "Little Miss Sunshine" is a must-see, so last night we met at the Plaza Singapura shopping center to our first movie here. Theaters in Singapore have assigned seating, so after we purchased our tickets, we were free to relax until the electronic sign-board indicated that the theater was ready for seating.
We wandered into the arcade see what it was all about and found it to have a distinctly different feel from American arcades. For one thing, the patrons were mostly in their 20s. Few teenagers were seen, and competitive fighting games far outnumbered the racing games that tend to dominate American arcades. Three games in particular caught my eye:
1. Photo Y2K. Two young men played this game on a large touchscreen. Two seemingly identical photos are shown side-by-side, and you must identify the diferences in the picture by touching them. I was shocked that two young men paid money to play this game.
2. Master Drummer - This game is similar to Dance Dance Revolution. A large screen displays six tracks of drum scores. The player sits in front of six drums and must play the exact arrangement for the song which is playing. For each drum beat on each of the six tracks, there is immediate feedback as to the accuracy of the player's rythm. The player's friend looked on as if anxious to take his turn.
3. Master Guitar - Yep, this game is almost identical to Master Drummer, except you play a guitar along with a soundtrack and get rated on the accuracy of your notes and rythm. An adoring girlfriend accompanied the man on this game. The man appeared to be in his early 30s, and was taking the game quite seriously. He was extremely accurate according to the display, and held himself with the confidence of a seasoned professional, playing yet another gig in another city on a long tour.
There were few patrons inside our theater. Partly because Little Miss Sunshine is not a new release; partly because it's not a horror film (The Sinking of Tokyo is big now); and partly because it's an English language film. When my colleague at work, Zhang Hua, asked about my weekend plans, she seemed excited when I told her we would see a movie. When I told her the name of the movie, her excitement waned and she said: "Oh, an English movie". Her favorite movies are those where it starts with about six main characters, and "each gets killed one by one".
The movie was great. There are some great actors and I recognized some of the scenery as being filmed in the desert of Southern California where I grew up. The family in the movie drives an old VW Van that winds up having two mechanical problems: a burned out clutch, and a horn that honks at random times. They have to travel from Arizona to California without a clutch, which means getting a rolling start and easing the van into 3rd gear.
This might have seemed a bit contrived to most of the movie patrons, but I distinctly remember our VW van having the same issues when I was growing up. The horn would honk randomly when the key was turned either on or off. Once, my dad was in his Los Angeles Deputy Marshal uniform and needed to serve a summons to a bar owner. The bar was on Dad's way home from work, so he drove our VW Van to the bar. As he parked the van, an old bar fly was walking from her car to the bar entrance. The VW horn honked just as she passed in front of the van, and the lady looked to see who was honking. When she saw the uniform, she perked up and gave Dad a very friendly smile. He was horrified by the episide and vowed never to work from his personal vehicle again.
Another time, Mom was driving the van when the clutch cable broke. She was so flustered that when she got a ride home, she told Dad that the brakes were out. Dad and I arrived at the van to find it with working brakes, but no clutch. Dad said we could push start it in first gear and I could drive it home in first. It was easy to start, but first gear was very slow, so I pushed my luck and attempted a shift to second (with no clutch). There was no grinding at all, and the shift went without a hitch. Believe it or not, I worked all the way up to 4th and back down to 1st by the time I reached the house. Those Germans know how to build a transmission. It was perfectly synchronized, as long as you kept the RPMs at the right level.
Anyway, we had planned to eat at our favorite Thai restaurant after the movie, but there was a long queue, so we went to the outdoor Vietnamese place. Our appetizer was shrimp ball on the end of the stick of sugar cane and some dipping sauce. It was fantastic. I ordered the chilli and lemongrass chicken for my main course, and found myself faced with chicken parts that I could not identify. They were all knurled and twisty bits of chicken, alternately chewy or melt-in-your-mouth fatty, with splinters of bone throughout. Meals like this one have forced me to eat largely vegetarian food during our stay here.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Weekend in Bintan, Indonisia - Posted by Maggie

This past weekend we went to an island called Bintan, Indonesia. Resting in the warm waters of the South China Sea, Bintan is just 55 minute ferry ride from Singapore. The ferry ride itself was a bit choppy at first. The ferry bobbed up and down so much that I thought there would definitely be some motion sickness action happening. Luckily I didn't see anyone grab for their barf bags, conveniently located in the seat back pocket in front of you.
After arriving at Bintan, we were greeted by a friendly staff member of
Angsana Resort who escorted us to our air conditioned bus for the transfer to the resort. Then we were whisked off on a short 10-minute ride to the resort, remotely tucked away on the north east corner of the island, and lovely situated right next to the renowned Banyan Tree Resort (we could use all of Banyan Tree's facilities, including restaurants, spa and swimming pools, which was very nice considering that nightly rates there range from US$500-US$700!)
Angsana Resort was pretty nice, but a bit run down for international standards. Spotlessly clean, the rooms are neat and comfortable and very scpacious - we had a 1 bedroom suite with kitchenette overlooking the pool and beach. It also had a balcony that ran the length of the living room and the bedroom with access to it from both. Yet the furniture was a bit scuffed, the drapes a bit frayed and the walls definitely needs a lick of new paint.
The resort is situated in a lush rain forest and the sparkling olympic sized pool with water features definitely made up for everything else. The beach was also very nice with white powdery sand, but unfortuantely, we were there the weekend when the haziness was really ad, due to the fires in Jakarta. We were warned about sand flies on the beach, but luckily the resort offers bug repellant as you walk out onto the beach.

The staff is very very nice - sometimes to the point of making you uncomfortable because they are so apologetic about everything. At the spa, Darin's masseuse started EVERY sentence with "...excuse me sir...". Even if she said two sentences in a row. "excuse me sir, you may sit here, excuse me sir I now wash feet, excuse me sir and then we begin massah". It got a bit annoying.
At this spa, we didn't get any paper panties. No sirreee, they gave us instructions to "take every thing off". During the massage, when they yank open the sheet to reveal your leg, at times I felt a bit, um, exposed due to the lack of the paper panties. It was pretty weird. But the massage was good, though, I almost feel asleep, until the masseuse asked me to turn around. (They also stare at you while you turn around, unline in the US when they turn around while discreetly holding up the sheet).
Ok, I have never had anyone at a spa massage my belly. Much less my chest. But yep, that was part of the massage. It was a bit awkward, but the masseuse was luckily very professional (didn't linger) and obviously does that every day. Weird, how they have no inhibitions in the spa, but topless tanning is prohibited!
Basically, we just relaxed the entire weekend. We would go to breakfast and then immediately after head to the pool to read. At lunch time we'd order a few cocktails and lunch, and in the afternoon we'd nap, go for a walk and read (not all at the same time) till dinner time. It was fabulous!
The Banyan Tree Report next door is very swish compared to Angsana. All the villas are private and tucked away on the lush tropical hills, guaranteeing complete privacy. Their two pools had breath taking views and the last day, Darin and I spent the afternoon lounging on a treetop platform with nobody else around.
Treetop lounging on a double chaise. I know, we have it real rough out here!
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View more pictures of Angsana and Banyan Tree (Photoworks will open in new window)

Monday, October 02, 2006

Darin Gets a Haircut - Posted by Darin

My first haircut in Singapore was a couple months ago at the IMM Mall near the Dell office. There's a place called $10 for 10 minutes. Nobody in the store is allowed to handle money. You buy a haircut token at a vending machine just inside the door (it only takes $10 bills) and sit on the lowest numbered chair that's open. As the person in chair #1 is taken to get a haircut, everyone shifts over to the next lower numbered chair. I left the establishment with a $10 haircut that made me look like a neo-Nazi. My friend Wallace would have been afraid of me.My second haircut was last weekend at a shopping center near our apartment. It looks like a "normal" hair salon you'd find anywhere. It is run by Japanese women and the receptionist spoke little English and appeared to be frightened of me. Luckily, the stylist spoke English well enough to understand my instructions: "Number 3 on the sides and scissors on top". She walked over to a closet and retrieved a small cookie sheet from the top shelf. This sheet contained "the clippers". Apparently there is only one set that is shared by all four cutting stations. And nobody is responsible for cleaning "the clippers". I had always imagined Japanese people to be obssessed with cleanliness, but the amount of hair clippings on the old steel tray and stuck all over the cutters and to the power cord forced me to reconsider this stereotype. Should I have demanded that she at least perform a cursory "wipe" or blow off the majority of the clippings from the device before pressing it against my head? I didn't.The scissors were equally covered in little black hairs (straight hairs, thank God). The good news is I looked like a million bucks afterward. Was it worth it? How much is a good haircut worth to you??

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Will the real "Derek" please stand up - Posted by Maggie

This past weekend Darin and I decided to go see a live stand up comedy show at Clarke Quay's premier comedy club called "The 1 Nite Stand". There was a show on with 3 UK comedians, so we knew without a doubt it would be good. I checked the website to make sure the show started at 8pm and verified that there was a full service restaurant. Since Darin usually works till 7pm, there wouldn't be any time for us to grab dinner before the show.
We got to the comedy club at 7:15pm and it was already rather full. Usually in a club like this (that seats around 50-60 - pretty small) in America, the seats would fill up from front to back, so if you came late, you'd have to find a seat waaaaaaay in the back by the kitchen door. Not here, the place filled up from the back to the front, so Darin and I stolled in and took seats right in front to the microphone, not believing our luck. The act would literally be 3 feet away from our table. Big mistake.
But let me tell you about the food situation. By this time I was starving and asked the dazed looking running waitress (who'd been ignoring us for 15 minutes) for a menu. She hastily replied that there was no menu, and that all they served was the list of appetizers ('bar food") on the little list on our table. Things like chicken wings, pizza and potato skins . Huh? No real food? The website said....full menu? I asked her again and she explained that there was no cutlery allowed in the show area (my imagination went wild with thoughts of angry audience members and their fork weapons). You could eat outisde, but then you'd lose your table. Oh, and last orders are in 5 minutes. Huh?? No drinks served during the performance, not even at the bar? Yep, she said. We ordered immediately.
So, I ordered the "vegetable pie" (the only vegetarian dish on the menu) dreaming of a tasty home made pie filled with delicious and healthy steaming veggies in a crispy light and flaky crust, and Darin ordered some samosas and spring rolls. My veggie pie came - it should have been called "soggy pie", it was that gross - like they flung the thing into the microwave and pressed defrost instead of cook in their haste to serve the last rounds. Darin said his food was ok, but I saw him chewing on his samosa for a very long time.
As soon as the show started I had a feeling that there must be a good reason why nobody else wanted our prime seats. My suspicions realized when the first comedian put his glass of water on our table and started asking Darin questions. He asked his name, where he was from etc, and then exclaimed "Derek, the Texan"! Ohboy, hilarity ensued, American and Texas jokes were flying around and poor Bush definitely got wacked. But the whole time the guy kept calling Darin "Derek". It was almost as bad as my mum calling Darin Bryan on our entire first vacation together!
It was hilarious, we had a really fun time. 3 different british comedians were part of the show - each introduced by the same MC funny guy who started giving Darin a hard time, and each next act kept picking on poor Darin. But he was great, and a good sport about it, and even answered a tricky political question very cleverly. During the last act they asked him what his name was again and he was fed-up with being called Derek, so he said "My name is Sam Houston". Nobody got the joke. Except maybe for Derek.