13 Year Anniversary
Just look at us crazy kids. So many years ago... I think this was the first or second year we were married. A lifetime ago really. We passed our 13th wedding anniversary in September and talked about taking a trip, but life is so busy, as you know. We did finally manage it and what a trip it was!
One of the best things about living Singapore is the ease of amazing travel destinations. It might be the only reason I have made it living here this long. We took a quick flight over to Bali, Indonesia and stayed 4 days in Ubud (famously known to Eat, Pray, Love movie goers).
It is pure heaven! I got a chance to go last year with my mom and instantly knew Patrick would love it. Once we were finally settled in our villa, we both mentioned how quiet it was. It was so peaceful! Ubud welcomed us with loving arms and we had such a fun, romantic and amazing time!
What I quickly realized is how much better we have gotten at traveling together. I think not having our kids with us really helped, of course. But we had very few indecisive moments, which is something that usually plagues our every waking hour! We were both relaxed and happy to explore when we were up and happy to mellow out when we were tired. We didn't have much of an agenda and there was no frustrations about anything. I felt like we were perfectly in sync. I didn't even get annoyed when I realized we BOTH forgot our camera! That is actually very annoying but we just went with it. We had our phones and that was good enough. There were just a few shots we couldn't get because of it, but honestly I'm glad because I got to enjoy things I wouldn't have if my face was in a camera the whole time. And I don't have thousands of pictures to edit.
First stop of day one was the Monkey Forest. Perfect for the middle of a hot day. The entire place is covered with tree shade. It was infinitely cooler inside the forest than out on the street. Our monkey friend on the left loved these statues, which I thought was funny.
These little monkeys came running up and grabbed this water bottle right out of Patrick's back pack. The forest is crawling with monkeys (of course) but there was plenty of fighting between them and we were getting a bit skittish when we had to pass one. You never knew when they were going to pounce on you. And they did! These crazy things screwed the bottle top off in a matter of seconds. They were very adept.
I'm ashamed to say that this is the best "selfie" we could get. It was mayhem trying to get in the scenery and our cute mugs. The thing I love about this pic is that it was a total accident!
The people in Bali are over 90% Hindu. And while I'm not one to judge anothers religion, this statue sums up why I would never be able to be Hindu myself. This statue is outside the door of the temple in the forest. It is flanked by an equally scary statue on the other side of the entrance. I think if you use this temple for anything other than prayer (see the hanging sign), then this is what happens to you. It spooks me every time I look at it.
Eating some local dishes. Nasi Campur... I think
Can you believe I met and fell in love with this man all those years ago? I was only 18 when I met him. Nineteen when I fell in love and now I'm... woah...
Something we tend to do when we go on these trips is talk about our past. The time we have had together, choices we've made and the amazing blessings we have received through no doing of our own. We feel saved. Very literally, saved.
We attribute it to our faithful and devoted parents who brought down blessings upon our heads by constant prayers and faithful service. We feel so blessed to have found each other and have the marriage that we do. It hasn't come easily, to say the least and still some times its not perfect, but we've come a long long long way (did I say long?). We're grateful we stuck it out all this time, even when we may have wanted to throw in the towel.
Being in Bali was a reminder to be grateful for all beautiful things in life, but also for the things that are hard because that is what makes you who you are.
We had some good time for reflection as individuals and also as a couple and parents. We set some "fluid" goals for our future. We tend to take a "wait and see" approach with a good amount of weighing and balancing out the options. We want this next year to be full with more time as a family and also more balance in work life for Patrick. He's worried he's going to have a heart attack before he's done with his job here! That would not be good.
Our second day was bike riding through rice fields and meeting people from local villages. We learned a bit about life as a Balinese and lets just say it was tempting to stay there forever!
Our bike guide was none other than Darma from GreenBike Tours. He's the same guy my mom and I used last time and he is amazing! (If you find yourself in Ubud and needing a guide, please contact him. You wont regret it!) He is so open and happy to answer any questions we had and really helped us understand daily life. He talked about his father who was a farmer who was stressed with each rice crop. He talked about his previous job and how it got too stressful so he needed to make a change. He said one of the things he has gleaned from western culture is that if things are too stressful, "get rid of it!" So he did. He has 2 kids and a wife to provide for and it was scary for him to give up his good paying job but it was just too stressful and he wasn't finding the life balance he needed. We were impressed by his courage and humbled by the fact that it doesn't matter if you are a tour guide in Bali or a set designer in Singapore, life can get stressful and you need to find a happy balance for the sake of your family and yourself.
Sometimes we tend to look at others lives and think how easy they have it in comparison to the hardships we are going through. I mean, who would think someone could be stressed in this environment! But, what we realized and would do good to remember is that stress is relative. No matter who you are or where you come from, we all have it in life. It's the one thing you can count on. The grass is never greener (ok... it IS greener in Bali, but still...) and you can't escape your problems. The true purpose of life is to find balance, peace and gratitude in the life you have been given.
This is the view from the restaurant by the monkey forest. We picked it randomly and when we came to the top of the stairs it opened up over this huge rice field. It was so cool and breezy and peaceful. We ate food while we watched the ducks eat frogs out of the harvested fields.
This is the view of our pool outside our villa. The last day we decided to stay and enjoy the grounds. We had done enough walking, shopping, eating and sightseeing. It was the most perfect way to end our trip. We were both so sad about having to go home!
We hung out in the pool chatting for about 2 hours in the noonday sun. We didn't even think about sunscreen and the time went by so fast that we soon found ourselves burned crisp! Patrick did have to do a bit of this: but it wasn't bad. He got in a lot of relaxing too.
The banana tree off our porch. The bananas are just losing their flowers and starting to take real shape. I think food in the tropics will always be fascinating to me. We stopped at a plantaion during our bike tour and saw cacao trees, papaya, jack fruit, cloves, bananas, cinnamon, lemongrass, lemak coffee (basically coffee beans pooped out by an animal.. then dried and roasted) It was indescribable. Eating cinnamon bark straight off the tree was our favorite.
Here's the little huts we ate lunch at our last day. The only thing that could have made it any more perfect would have been a nap in a hammock. But we had a plane to catch.
One of the only indecisive moments we had in the the entire trip was where to eat dinner the last night we were there. We walked the streets for a long time wondering where the perfect place for us might be. We weren't too hungry (since all we did all day was eat!) so we walked until we found just the right spot. There was a Balinese guy playing guitar outside this restaurant. We walked in and were 2 of only 4 people in the entire place. He was so friendly and we chatted a bit. When he took a break, I asked him if I could borrow his guitar to sing a little song to Patrick for his anniversary gift. Now it would have been so much more romantic had I actually written a song just for the occasion but it was a spur of the moment kind of thing, so he got the regular ol' songs he's been used to hearing for years. The guy let me play quite a few and we enjoyed listening to each other sing and play. He only played western songs so we knew all of them. He said he didn't want to play me a traditional Balinese song, which I was sad about. But it was nice and intimate and mellow. A perfect night together.
I think we spent most of our time there eating. It's the most full I have been since starting my new eating habits. I was stuffed the entire time. I would even wake up full! That never happens! Patrick loves nut mixes and sodas (as do I) so I thought I would let loose and live a little. (every few hours ; )
We think Bali is our new favorite place. Peaceful, Beautiful, and Memorable.
We {heart} you Bali!
Happy Anniversary to us!
Comments