Day trip – Ubud, Jatiluwih & Batukau

28 Feb 2011 1 Comment

by Little Sumo Girl in Bali, Fun Facts, Fun Spots, Travel Tags: , ,

Finally, after an entire month in Bali it was time for a ‘Vacation’, some actual site-seeing beyond the Legian Beach! We hopped into the van, and headed North…well, not so fast…

Just getting out of the villa seemed to take forever this morning. I was sitting on mom’s lap in the van waiting to get a move on, but everyone was still outside as if they were inspecting the van. Meanwhile, mom and I were already dying of heat inside. It turns out there was a staff meeting and morning prayer at the main entrance, so our driver decided to wait til the ritual was over before hitting the road…The security guard who opens the gate for us was taking part in the meeting, so we patiently waited.

When in Bali, you learn to take things easy and go with the flow. There simply is no reason to rush things. Their rituals and ceremonies are an important part of their everyday life and we have to learn to respect this. For me, it doesn’t change anything as I go wherever people bring me, but I can sometimes see for mom and dad, this is a bit difficult. They try to plan things (especially mom), and sometimes get frustrated when the plans change. They’ll learn! The rule of thumb in Bali, is never plan more that one main activity per day. If you have more than one activity, make sure that the others are of lower priority and can get flushed without causing you frustration…

We head out and about an hour later, we arrive at our first stop: Ubud. We weren’t originally planning to go there, but we were giving someone a ride. The first thing we see when we get to Ubud is the Sacred Monkey Forest (http://www.monkeyforestubud.com/). I’d love to go in and play with the monkeys, but we just drive by and see some monkeys relaxing in the shade on the side wall. This is enough monkey watching for mom…

Check out the baby monkey on the right who’s learning to climb, just like me 🙂

We get out for a short walk to see the many art shops. For people who like to shop, I think is cool spot to check out. Knowing mom, we’ll definitely be coming back and staying a couple of days to really see what the hype of Ubud is all about. The main purpose we stopped in Ubud is so the adults can get their dose of Starbucks for the day. Mom tries this green drink with a foamy cloud on top. It’s called a Green Tea Frappuccino which she seemed to enjoy, along with her raisin scone. One day, I swear, I’m going to taste their food. I’m working on my ‘Fast-Grab & Surprise-Bite’ Kung-fu move, but I still need to perfect my technique before attacking the Frappuccino!

Apparently, the stop at Starbucks was not so much so the adults could get a taste of American food. It just so happens that Starbucks is conveniently located at the Water Temple (Lotus Pond) so we can see the site, while they savour their American drinks. I still only get water…boring 😦 It’s true though, the view at the back of the Starbucks is quite lovely!

At the entrance of the temple, there is a sign advertising the Kacek-Kacek (Traditional Balinese dance) show that will take place tonight at 7:30pm. Be forwarned, that according to the sign, you may think that the show only takes place once a week…But fear not, when we went out back, we saw a slew of signs advertising the same show, one for every night of the week. So don’t worry, if you already have plans and you think you will miss the famous Kacek-Kacek, you’ll have the chance another night of the week.

Thank god we did not stay too long in Ubud, cuz the sidewalks almost got me killed. I was too nervous about falling into one of the ditches that I didn’t get a chance to take a picture…Just imagine some large stones that are off-kilter and look like they will collapse as soon as you step onto it. Then, there are metal railings that were all broken up, so one wrong step would lead you down into the sewage system (luckily not too stinky – from up here). Now I understand why the locals hardly ever use Strollers. They go for the safe and cozy Sarongs to carry us little people around. When you a see a family in colourful clothes and a bright-coloured stroller walking around town (usually a MacLaren), with Starbucks coffee in hand, you know that you have ‘TOURIST’ stamped in large print all over your forehead…

We hit the road again and head towards Jatiluwih to see the rice terraces. Our driver makes a quick stop to let us visit the Mengwi Temple. It may have been a common tourist spot, but I think it’s cuz he needed a break from driving. You need to have good driving skills, or just be crazy enough, to go behind the wheel in Bali. You have to be extremely alert at all times and be aware of the motorbikes (in front of you and coming towards you!), pedestrians, chicken, cows, other trucks/vans and of course, the numerous pot holes. Only 30-minutes, but our driver seemed exhausted – despite the Starbucks boost he got in Ubud 🙂

Here are a few shots of our driver passing a truck carrying coconuts, and then passing the bamboo truck…Sometimes, I wish I had my car seat like back home!

Throughout the drive, there are beautiful rice fields surrounding us. This is the true Bali feeling that you expect to see when you come here, not the hectic city-vibe you get in Kuta/Legian/Seminyak.

The Jatiluwih Rice Field Terraces are beautiful. There’s a reason why this landscape was nominated to be part of the World Heritage List (http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5100). We stop and take a walk in the rice fields. Mom has flimsy flip-flops on, so we don’t venture out too far. She’s scared that I’ll go rolling down the rice terraces, and possibly into some cow poop. We grab a quick bite to eat at Cafe Jatiluwih (Pecel Lele – Fried Catfish) while soaking in the view.

Had we known, we could’ve continued driving another 10-15 minutes to eat at the restaurant at the top of this hill – but no idea if the food is good/pricey, etc.

While in Jatiluwih, our driver asks several people for directions to Batukau Temple. The first person gives him the directions and says it’s approximately a 30-minute drive from Jatiluwih. The next person estimates 40 minutes, so if we consider Bali-time, it should take us about 45-minutes to an hour to get there. Well, we arrive only 40 minutes later…

As with most temples, there are customs of respect that you must follow. There are usually signs at the entrance listing the ‘rules’ to be followed for each temple. In this case, the sign is even more ‘strict’ than the one at Mengwi temple. Given rule #3, I obviously could not go in since I still have all my baby teeth. Luckily I still got the inside scoop anyways from my cool parents 🙂 It turned out to be slightly disappointing. If you’re in Jatiluwih and have an extra 1h30 (and you meet all the conditions to enter), you might consider going to this temple, but if you’re in a rush, it is not a Must-See…

Everyone slept on the ride home, but we all got woken up about 1-hour later when the road essentially became an obstacle course for our driver. Pot-holes after pot-holes on a very narrow two-way street caused us to have a very sinuous and bumpy 2 kilometers. Luckily, I’m still small so I didn’t have to worry about my head getting banged on the ceiling of the van.

Now, I can say that I’m starting to get a true sense of how beautiful Bali is…

Resto Review – Poco Loco

28 Feb 2011 Leave a comment

by Little Sumo Girl in Bali, Restos & Food, Travel Tags:

February 19th – We decided to go for a nice evening walk and head out to find a restaurant in Seminyak/Legian area, ideally something other than Indonesian food.  We’ve been in Bali for only a month, and already my parents have had their fair share of Nasi Goreng (Indonesian Fried Rice), or ‘Nasi Boring’, as they have to come call it 🙂

Despite not having taken my afternoon nap, I’m always happy to go exploring the town. Within approximately 10 minutes, we found Poco Loco, which is actually easy to miss, as the restaurant is set beyond a parking area and ‘garden’. So, it just seems like there is a vacant piece of land between the crowded buildings on Padma Utara, but when you look up, you see that there is actually an establishment there. I’m used to it anyhow, cuz from my stroller I miss about 80% of the things that do not appear directly in front of me….

At first glance, Poco Loco almost looks like a small amusement park with its multi-coloured ‘flags’ and vibrant furniture. Dad checked the menu and it seemed appealing to him – he really likes Mexican food 🙂 The restaurant opens at 6pm and it was a few minutes to six. We decided to continue our walk to see if we could find anything else around, otherwise we had our ‘backup plan’. It’s a bit un-cool to be the first customers at a restaurant, and besides the staff looked like they were still setting up.

After having seen the menus of other restos close by, which weren’t too inspiring, we decided to stick with our first choice and headed back to Poco Loco. Aahh, there were other customers now, so we were able to maintain our ‘cool-factor’ too, phew! As you can imagine, there were also kids at the other table – Who really has supper at 6pm besides families with young children??

The restaurant is actually huge and has at least 2 floors, and maybe even 3. I couldn’t really tell from where we were sitting. I think it would be a fun place to be at for a celebration, bday party or to watch a World Cup game, or an NHL hockey game if we were back home. We had our choice of table and the staff was nice and friendly. I didn’t see their high chairs, cuz I had brought my own chair this time…Mom and Dad started out with a large bottle of Bintang (beer) while going through the menu, and meanwhile I was chatting it up with the other kids (who seemed a little shy or perhaps I was just too loud for them?)…Finally, I gave up trying to make small talk with the other kids and poured my soul out to the Bartender instead, who was a much better listener when he wasn’t busy mixing daiquiris for the other table!

Dad took the BBQ ribs from the Specials of the day and mom took the vegetarian burrito. The veggie burrito and the beans from mom’s plate were quite yummy for my taste 🙂 The only thing I had to be careful for, were the chopped chili peppers that were sprinkled on top, which looked like tomatoes at first. Thank god, mom realized the difference before my tongue was on fire! The ribs looked tender but were not the ‘Fall-off-the-bones’ type ribs that dad really enjoys…Overall, mom and dad seemed to enjoy their meals as well, although it may not have been their best Mexican meal ever. But hey, it’s nice to have a change for your tastebuds sometimes… Trust me, I know! I eat almost the same things everyday, so this was a welcome change for me as well – Ole!!

Food: ***
Deco/setting: **1/2
Service: ***
(out of 5 stars)

Poco Loco
Jl. Padma Utara, Legian.
(0361) 756.079

Morning Routine

27 Feb 2011 Leave a comment

by Little Sumo Girl in Bali, Cool Stuff

As do most people, I have a morning routine. No, it doesn’t involve alarm clocks, or any stress. I’m not rushing to anyplace to do anything in particular…I finish my dreams and wake up gently from my sleep, usually to the sounds of my parents’ heavy breathing, the ceiling fan spinning, and occasionally the dripping water….It’s been raining heavily here in Bali, and it is not uncommon to have water dripping from the ceiling…trust me, it sounds horrible, but it’s just one of those things you start getting used to…

I chill out in my bed with my buddy Kaloo, and we chat a bit. I mostly do the talking…actually I do ALL the talking. She’s truly a great listener! It’s a great time for me to do my vocal chord practices. It’s not like I’m following any professional training program, but I just like to test my capabilities and experiment with different sounds. The morning is perfect for that cuz I really have time for myself, no one to bother me to eat, take a bath, smile and be all cute, and no one to tell me ‘No’! It’s nice and quiet – a perfect moment for me to focus on myself, with Kaloo by my side of course. She really understands me…

Sometimes, I think I start getting too excited with my stories or with my vocal chord experiments that I unconsciously pick up the volume. With all the practice I’ve been doing, my pipes have become quite powerful à la Céline Dion…Usually mom comes to see me soon after this…

Coffee looks so good in my parents’ cups in the morning, but I think the caffeine would just get me too hyper – so I stick to yummy milk. After my morning dose of milk, it’s time to hangout with my folks for a bit. I love this part of the day!! Yeah, I like spending time with my parents, but that’s not really the fun part for me. It’s the fact that we’re hanging out on their bed. They have the coolest headboard, which allows me to do my morning exercise of standing up, falling down, standing up, falling down…After about 20 reps of that, I do the ‘jumping-in-one-spot-as-fast-as-you-can’ exercise for about 20 secs. I do approx 3-5 series of reps, and trust me, the heart is pumping after that!

You know how they have TVs at the gym so people can watch their favourite shows while working out on the treadmill, elliptical trainer or stair master?…Well, I have my Cat Poster and this really gets me pumped! There are so many varieties and I simply don’t get tired of seeing them every morning! I hear some ‘Meowing’ sounds, but I’m pretty sure it’s not the cats from the poster who are making them…

Mom hated this poster at first and wanted to get rid of it, but seeing how much I liked it, she decided to keep it up for me 😉 It’s a good thing that we had the poster, cuz without it, I would have freaked out when we had our first cat visit. Now that I’m aware that such animals exist, I know not to be afraid of them and not scream when I see one. We’ve actually had a few cats visit us at home. They’re really not scared of people. We’ve been told that having a cat can be very practical here in Bali. If you don’t want weird creatures coming into your house, such as mice/rats/snakes/etc, then it is a good idea to befriend a cat…

While I’m doing my morning workout, dad is normally still passed out but it’s great cuz I can do my climb-over-mushy-body exercises over him without any problems. Somehow, he always seems to wake up on time to save me from a dreadful slip-off-the-side-of-the-bed fall. Phew!

After some quality family time, we’re off to start our day. I love my morning routine and hope that everyone can get a great jump-start of love, energy or whatever Mojo you need to get your day off to a great start! Have a good one!

 

Resto Review – Mang EngKing

27 Feb 2011 Leave a comment

by Little Sumo Girl in Bali, Restos & Food, Travel Tags:

On February 12th, a couple of friends came to Bali for a visit. Since they were doing an express visit, we met up for dinner…way past my bedtime, but who’s complaining…Any chance I get to stay up late is good for me!

After a taxi drive through the busy streets of Legian and Oberoi on a Saturday night, we got out in the hopes of finding a cool resto on foot. Well, I wasn’t actually doing any walking as I was nicely snuggled in mom’s arms 🙂 But, after five minutes through the chaos, we hailed another taxi and headed to a restaurant, of which no one knew the name, and had a vague idea of where it was situated. All my parents knew was that the structure was made of bamboo and that they served Indonesian food…Hmmmm….That should be easy enough to find, there are hardly no bamboos here in Bali, only a few Indonesian restaurants!! (Boy, when I grow up I hope I’m not going to be as naïve as my parents). We finally made it to the restaurant, but it wasn’t without some ‘communication’ challenges with the new taxi driver…

When we first entered Mang EngKing, we still weren’t sure to be at the right place. But as we arrived at the main reception counter, we knew we had found it! Finally, cuz I was starting to get hungry!

We ask the hostess for a table. Since we don’t have a reservation and there are no tables left, she informs us that we will be on the waiting list – approximately a 30-minute wait! I’m going to die…I’m starving. My parents better have some backup stash to feed me with! We ask if there’s a bar where my parents and friends can have a drink while we wait, and while they start feeding me! The hostess leaves us there without an answer. We assume it’s because she did not understand us. It’s alright cuz it gives us a chance to take a good look at the setting. The restaurant is essentially outdoors, as if floating on a little pond, with bamboo huts and private tables all around the pond. The setting was quite impressive…

A few minutes later, a waitress comes to see us. First, she asks if we speak English – my parents and friends all answer yes. She nods her head, and starts speaking Bahasa Indonesia at an incredible speed. Huh? did we misunderstand something? Anyhow, it doesn’t really matter as she shows us to our table…YES – Food! It’s funny cuz we were supposed to be on the waiting list, but we got a table within less than 5 minutes. Perhaps, they were trying to say there were no more Private tables/huts…Aaahh! This is what happens when you have language barriers. Luckily I don’t have to worry about this too much, cuz my parents know my routine and I make it pretty clear my ‘Likes’ and ‘Dislikes’!

The adults order 3 coconut drinks and one large Bintang. The waiter comes back to tell us there are no more coconuts. They look at the menu and start ordering different drinks, but when they ask if there is Coconut on Ice. “Yes, there is… No problem”, the waiter replies! …ah so there are still coconut drinks, just no Whole coconuts…Boy, did I mention there were communication challenges tonight? Apparently, the coconut drinks on ice were sweeter than expected, so they most likely added syrup. Not like I really could say, since I still only drink milk and water…boring!

I was dying to go crawling on the floor, but mom did not let me for fear that I would fall into the pond. And besides, while waiting for our drinks, we noticed a little movement on the floor. It was a little mouse. Another reason why mom would never let me go on the floor. She would freak out from the germs, and she’s afraid of mice/rats and every kind of rodent for that mother. I think she had her feet in the air for the next 5 minutes.

They order a menu packet for 4, which is very reasonably priced – less than 400K Rp. The food comes quite quickly and consists of:

  • Giant prawns on sticks (sweet sauce) – tasty, but a bit of a hastle to eat since you have to remove the shells yourself.
  • Stir-fried prawns with veggies that looked like Okra, but when you looked closer you notice that it is in fact green chilly slices – Heats up the mouth pretty quickly.
  • Vegetable plate with peanut sauce – Tasted good, but came with shrimp chips on top, which were not fresh and all soft
  • Grilled carpe with a little sweet taste – yummy!
  • Another whole grilled fish – which was quite tender!
  • Sambal and a green sauce – which were not necessary since the dishes were all quite spicy enough for our taste
  • Steamed rice
    Note: I did not end up actually tasting the food, as my parents gave me my backup dinner, which turned out to be for the best, as I never would have survived the ‘heat’ in my mouth. The food critique comes from the adults…

Overall, everyone enjoyed the meal and the setting. The staff was very friendly and the service fine, considering the minor communication issues. It was a pleasant evening in good company, which finished with a Large Bintang (beer) that was ordered at ‘The last Call’ at 10pm. Guess they don’t stay open too late, even on Saturdays…

The resto was starting to close around 10:30pm. They brought us the bill and our friend offered to pay, but mom told the waiter No, and he listened to her. It must be because she looks Indonesian now…Or she must’ve figured out how to breakthrough the language barrier, without even speaking!

Food: ***1/2
Deco/setting: ****
Service: ***
(out of 5 stars)

Here is the website, so you can see some photos and the menu. Unfortunately, they don’t have an English version, only Indonesian.

http://mangengkingbali.com/

Red flag

20 Feb 2011 Leave a comment

by Little Sumo Girl in Bali

So I’ve been heading out to the beach more regularly lately and I’m starting to understand how those flags work. I’m not talking about country flags to say when the Indonesians, Germans, Aussies, etc. can swim…

I figured it out! The best time to go swimming has got to be when they put up those red flags, with a circle and a bar across it. I noticed that whenever those flags are up at Seminyak Beach, all the surfers are in the water. It must mean that it’s the best time to go in for a swim….through the big waves…

First Party in Bali

20 Feb 2011 Leave a comment

by Little Sumo Girl in Bali, Fun Facts

So it’s been a month since I’ve been in Bali, and I went to my first Party yesterday. It was about time! I was used to being invited to house parties at home and having a good time…I was starting to wonder why I wasn’t able to make new friends here… Gotta get with the happening crowd!

Well, it was a bit different from the parties back home. Normally, we would just go to someone’s home and chill out for a bit, but bedtime was pretty soon after we arrived so I would miss most of the action.  The house party I went to yesterday, first of all, had a pool….an infinity pool!! So, for sure it was going to be awesome!

The house had a huge living room which opened out into the garden and the pool. It’s really great to be in summer weather!! There were large ceramic floors (which were not too slippery) – great for crawling around. Amazing coffee and end tables made of wood for me to crawl under…The furniture was not all symmetric so I would sometimes bang my head on the tables, or mostly under the tables, since I like crawling underneath stuff. Every time I’d bang my head, I would always hear people clapping their hands and say “ooolllaaayyyy” (or was it “Hurray”, I can’t really tell with the accent around here)? It’s sorta like in the cartoons when a character would see birds tweeting over their head whenever they bump their head or something heavy would fall on them…

It’s really bizarre cuz it happened Every time I’d bump into something, or would lose my balance and tip over…Are they saying ‘Hurray” to encourage me to continue? cuz I could get pretty ‘bang’ed-up if I keep doing such stunts purely for their entertainment….hmmm?

After a short nap to regain some energy, it was time to hop into the pool. The pool party had already started without me, but the fun had not truly begun yet! I got to meet a whole bunch of new people in the pool, and got to spend some one-on-one time with each one. The water was quite clean – I always like to drink the water when I’m in a pool – It allows me to determine the level of cleanliness, the approx amount of chlorine in the water, it helps quench my thirst, and mostly because my mom tells me I can not do it, so I have to prove her wrong!

I did a few head dips to show the crowd how cool I am, did some chin-ups hanging from the side of the pool (ok, I admit I had some assistance pulling up, but was hanging all by myself!) and a few dive-ins from the side of the pool – My Favourite!…”1-2-3-Jump”, and Splash! in the pool I go 🙂

After a light dinner and milk, it was nice falling a sleep in the air-conditioned room to the sounds of lounge music. I could tell that the ‘big people’ were still partying it up, but I was glad to be resting after a fun party like that.

The only downside was the taxi ride home at midnight…At least, I didn’t need to get all bundled up in a my winter gear and get strapped in my car seat, like we do at home. Luckily it wasn’t too long a ride and I was able to lay in mom’s arms til we got home….to get some more Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz’s!

Resto Review – Corner 66

13 Feb 2011 Leave a comment

by Little Sumo Girl in Bali, Restos & Food, Travel Tags:

Sunday, February 6th started out as a regular relaxing family day with a stroll at the beach…For some reason, I was feeling a bit moody that day. No explanation, just one of those days.

Lunch time was quite ‘painful’. I think mom and dad found me quite testy and I was dreading afternoon nap time. So, I made it clear that I did not want to sleep. The plan worked and we went to the pool instead…Yes! I managed to postpone nap time and as a result, dinner time was later than usual. Mom & dad seemed exhausted, I don’t get why cuz we pretty much chilled all day…

Rather than having dinner at home, we (They) decided to go out. We headed to Corner 66 which is just a 5 minute walk from home.

We were greeted by a friendly staff, and as usual, they were smiling alot with me. They offered me the high-chair, but when dad saw that there were no straps on it, he said ‘No Thanks’. They didn’t seem to understand cuz they brought it over anyways. Dad went ahead and strapped on my own chair with all the security straps…Obviously, he doesn’t trust me to sit still through dinner….hmmmm….

We had to wait a bit for my veggie plate, but at least there was some entertainment… The shiny multi-colored lights that hung from the pillar were fun to look at for a while. They reminded me a bit of the decorative balls on Grandma’s Xmas tree, except they weren’t half as nice as Grandma’s tree. Her tree has flashing lights 🙂 There was also a candle on the table, that mom quickly hid from me 😦  Then, there was the plasticized Wheatgrass brochure on a wood stand that could be split into 2 for double the entertainment. The cocktail menu was also plasticized so I could drool all over that too.

The restaurant, as the name states, is located at the corner of ‘Double 6’ and ‘Werkudara’ streets. It’s sad to say, but daddy only figured this out tonight…But I can’t really blame him – old folks are a bit slow sometimes…Since it’s an open air restaurant, we get to see all the passers-by, the motorbikes and cars…This is always fun for me…Plus there were flat screen TVs for the sports fans.

The food arrived within a reasonable delay. I didn’t really notice the time since I was keeping busy. My veggie plate consisted of grilled vegetables (carrots, peppers, eggplants, zucchinis) on a bed of lettuce, dressing on the side, with a slice of baguette (soft and tender). Some of the veggies were a bit hard for my taste, but I only have 4 teeth! The main problem with the dish was that it was too salty! I ate it anyways, but was glad to have a piece of bread every few bites to get rid of the salty taste. Not the best veggie plate I’d had here so far. (In my opinion, the one across the street at Marzano’s was far better for about the same price ~ 25000Rp)

Mom was slightly disappointed with her Tempe Burger. She was expecting a big piece of grilled Tempe, but instead she had Tempe Manis between two buns with lettuce and tomato. Tempe Manis is a popular dish with a sweet flavour, but the small slices of tempe make it really messy to eat in a burger. Dad’s pork snitzel was standard, but nothing too extraordinary. Both dishes were served with fresh fries and ketchup on the side.

Overall, the food was alright and the location was convenient for us, but I wouldn’t purposely go out of my way to come. If you’re in the area and wanna have some simple food at reasonable prices with a nice airy feeling, then you can consider coming around the Corner….

Food: **
Deco/setting: ***
Service: ***

For more info, check out:
http://www.guidegecko.com/bali/legian-barbeque-restaurants/66-corner-restaurant-cafe/p,608175063

Will I have a little brother?

13 Feb 2011 Leave a comment

by Little Sumo Girl in Bali, Fun Facts

When I went Jalan-Jalan (going out for a walk) this morning, I was told that Indonesians have a way of determining if you’re to have a little brother or sister. Whether the statement is true or not, we’ll never really know…

Apparently, it’s all in the thighs!! I’m a bit shy to show you my chubby thighs, but you already know that I’m a sumo girl so there’s no shame in showing you my flab. Indonesians believe that the number of folds on a baby’s thighs can determine the sexe of his next sibling.

If there is only one fold in the thigh, that means you will have a little brother – such is this the case for me as you can see from this pic. If there are two or more folds in the thigh, then you’ll get a little sister to pick on….

Who knows if this is true, but fun to know….

So what do you think? Fact or myth?…

Galeria Matahari – WooHoo! Finally some shopping

13 Feb 2011 Leave a comment

by Little Sumo Girl in Bali, Fashion, Fun Spots, Travel Tags:

February 9th – Finally, time to go shopping! I am a girl afterall, so it was time for me to check out the fashion seen here in Bali. It was also becoming a necessity as my clothes are starting to get a little snug. I’m growing pretty much in every which way. Although I thought that the tight-fitting, belly-bearing Britney Spears looks was still in, Mom, and especially Dad, do not approve of my sexy look!

So, off to Galeria Matahari we went for some shopping. The timing was perfect, cuz I got to skip morning nap-time…hee hee 🙂 Mom was fooling herself when she thought that I would actually fall asleep in my stroller at the mall!

It took us a while to find a ‘Blue Bird’ taxi. Gotta swear by this taxi group, cuz they have a fixed rate that they advertise. Look out for the Blue Bird logo when hailing a cab. Beware there are other taxi groups out there that have blue birds as their logos, but they’re not the ‘real’ ones. The legit Blue Bird vehicles are generally blue as well…

The taxi ride was fun, but we quickly got stuck in traffic. There are motorbikes everywhere, and they ride without fear. They just zig zag between the cars, as they please…even when there’s only a few centimeters between their toes and the car beside them. Crazy!

When we arrived, I saw a whole row of my favourite Chinese Lanterns…We have one at home, but there were hundreds of them here – Wow! Probably to celebrate Chinese New Year which just passed on Feb 3rd.

The Bali Galeria Shopping Mall is quite big, and looks quite luxurious from the outside. There are many brand name shops, a duty free shop, a Planet Holywood and the Matahari department store, which was our first stop.

Mom searched through a whole slew of girly clothes and found some cute outfits – Nothing too fancy. I needed long-sleeves and long pants for bedtime cuz it gets kinda cool with the A/C. Then, mom fell on the ‘Frog Pants’!! They’re like weird ‘Diaper Shorts’ which, translated literally from Bahasa are ‘Frog Pants’. Mom was rolling on the floor of laughter when she saw these, but apparently they’re quite common here. Thank god, mom has better fashion sense than to buy me a pair of these…Phew! I’m sure if Baby-Vogue magazine existed, this would definitely not make the hot trends list…but what do I really know about fashion anyways! Besides, my sumo-thighs would never fit into these!

To top off my look, we picked up a few barrettes and elastics for my ever-growing hair (red and pink, of course!)

The cashier thought mom was Indonesian and spoke to her in Bahasa. Looks like we’re settling in quite well, since more and more people think we’re Indo.

We didn’t get the chance to go through even half the mall and it was already time to leave. It was almost lunch time so we had to head back home. We were lucky to spend that hot muggy morning at the air-conditioned mall, cuz we later learned that there was no electricity at home (seems to be a problem we face about once or twice a week around here).

The escalators have no steps. Whoever is holding my stroller better have a good grasp, otherwise I’ll go rolling down…

Looks like I’ll have to come back to the Bali Galeria mall to check out the other cool stores and see what the latest trends in Bali are…I have a feeling it won’t be too long. One of my new outfits is already too snug and it’s the first time I’m wearing it. Mom seems to be under-estimating the speed at which I’m growing, or perhaps she’s looking for an excuse to come back to the mall 🙂

For more info on Bali Galeria Shopping World, check out their website:

http://baliwww.com/bsg/bali_galeria.htm

Look Everybody, No Hands!

08 Feb 2011 1 Comment

by Little Sumo Girl in Uncategorized

Ok, so it was not like I was riding my bike and I let go of the handle bars…But I finally did it! I stood on my own two feet without holding on to anything…for 3 whole seconds. This was no easy feat, considering I was standing on an unstable sofa rather than on solid ground…

One big step towards complete freedom…Seminyak beach, here I come!

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