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/