Solo In Bali

I was back almost a month ago and was instantly sucked into the whirlpool of daily frenzy the moment I got home. The never-ending chores! Now that I finally have the chance to sit down and do my personal things (my son is at the in-law's), it is time to do some digital housekeeping - photo sorting. Not much, just a thousand of them (!).

I know how tedious photo organizing is. But, it is totally worth the effort - it will be a huge boulder off your shoulders. Imagine all your beautiful and meaningful photos nicely sorted in their categorical order and date (baby, travels, food, etc) and ready for your future pleasure viewing. If you do not know where to start, here are some tips.

Firstly, you should allocate one block of time to do this job. Next, browse through your photos, and delete the unflattering, blurry and duplicated ones. At the same time, decide how many categories you want them to be in. Example: Bali 2013; Baby 12-24 months; or Random Pics May 2012. Make a folder for each of them. Then, select all photos belonging to one category, let us say, Bali. 

Now, if the Bali photos are not nicely bundled together, preventing you from selecting them all at once using the shift button, you should try this trick which is really helpful: hold down the control button (Ctrl) and click on the desired photos. If there is a huge stack of desired photos you come across, just do the normal shift and select - all this while holding down the control button. After selection, right click to copy or cut your photos and paste them into your newly created folders. You may need some practice, and it will only get easier ;)

You can also use this trick to select the photos that is needed to be rotated (clockwise/anticlockwise) in order to be upright. Special thanks to hubby for teaching me this - it saved me so much hassle. Now, digital housekeeping seems to be such a breeze :)

Ok, I shall not stray any further. Now. To my Bali trip.

It will be really boring to read through my itinerary in chronological order, thus, I shall just highlight some worthy events coupled with photos.

I bade goodbye to hazy Singapore. And, of course, my dearest son and hubby. It felt as though someone is digging a hole in my heart at the thought of leaving them. How sentimental, ah? Then, an advert in the flight magazine distracted me:

This, this, THIS restaurant. Over the last decade, I have been meaning to go back and order its minestrone soup again. It was the best I ever had. So, a trip down there is compulsory. I am not sure whether I can find it though.

By the time I reached Bali and checked into the hotel, it was almost midnight. But hey, as my taxi whizzed through the Legian Street, it was still bustling full of traffic and people in their tank tops and slippers. The whole street is lined up with rows and rows of shops, restaurants, convenient stores, discos and bars pumping the loudest music and, combined with the continuous blaring of traffic horns, this is such a happening spot to be in.

For the first night, I was too excited to fall asleep - I cannot wait to make a rocketline towards the beach the very next day when the dawn breaks, just as I planned. And I did. What I did not know is that a huge surprise awaits me - as I approached the beach I was wholly awed by the sight I saw.

Between these majestic stone structures, I could see and hear the thunderous crashing waves beneath, I felt so tiny and it was as if nature took over me. What a sight to behold! Note: Can you spot the moon?

The Indian Ocean. At long last, I am here again. As I enter the beach area, I took a truly deep breath and exhaled completely. AH... FRESH AIR!

And, as expected, the beach touters closed in on me, asking to engage their services. I gave in to some. Bought a handmade bracelet, had my toenails painted, and got a henna tattoo.

And I ate. Really sat down and ate, at my own pace, bitten every mouthful, savoured every taste, with no burden and with nowhere and nothing to rush to. And yes, I am so lucky - I stumbled upon Kopi Pot. Found it, yay! Ordered minestrone soup immediately. The next day, went back to have another hearty meal. Heaven's oh... I ate so slowly and mindfully, it felt so good.

I thought someone should be missing me by now, so I face-timed my boys (one young, one elderly). I was so wrong. They were practically having a party - eating whatever and whenever they want, unlimited ipad playtime and TV, late, late nights... in short, I have two happy campers back home. Arghh...

And so, I continued my peace, and ate and walked about, and relaxed. This is one of my alfresco breakfasts at the hotel.

One thing I must shout out: I see rainbows everyday, either on the beach, or over the buildings! Even better, I saw a double rainbow once, from my hotel balcony. Note: Pardon my naïve reactions over a natural phenomenon, hee.. Anyway, my ipod camera didn't do the rainbows enough justice. Trust me, it was way more beautiful than what you see here :)

I believe there are many professional photos of the Bali streets online so I shall not post my mediocre ones here.

So. Did I sleep? Yes, but only on the third night. I slept uninterrupted for 12 hours! Yes, from 9pm till 9am. And yap, I body-surfed in that crashing waves like a crazy little teenage girl for as long as I desired - I sprained my ankle (which is still slightly swollen now after a month, but I don't care. Haha) and my whole body hurts from the over-exertion even one week after I returned home. Also, I could literally feel my muscles burning warmly for a good three days after that. And so, I emerged from the sea with a fitter bod, a bronze tan, and a swollen ankle. Good job, girl! This is the most delightful part of the whole trip!

What else did I do?

Finally, I get the time to learn how to manage my anger. Since I need to know when, I have gotten so ansty, sensitive and short-fused, and I flare up over the slightest things. I was especially guilty whenever I snapped at my puny son.

Armed with the iDharmaBook app in my ipod, I read Working With Anger, en route to Bali. This is not the first time I'd read this book, and as with many other books, each time I read it, I always digested its contents in a different way. And this time, it is really, really different. At last, I began to have a deep understanding of its contents, and surely, it was liberating - it feels great to have a taste of emotional freedom.

As with all parties that will eventually come to an end, it is time to head home. I donned on my flight pants and shoes and took a final look at the charming island before boarding the return flight. I am going home happier, a little more wiser, and fully recharged - ready for another round of daily grind!

My Kampong Childhood - The Village Life

Clockwise from top left: My cousins here to celebrate my brother's and my birthday. Me, Papa, and brother. My parent's wedding photo, classic! Mummy, Papa and me beside a paper money pagoda burner - Papa used to be part of a temple 'organization'. The place where the bubble-blowing uncle works - check out that vintage blue van! My aunties preparing food in the super-rustic kitchen. Also, check out the beautiful forested backdrop behind these pictures. It is indeed a blessing to live within such vast nature :) Ah... all that crisp, fresh, oxygen-filled forest air!

From birth till the age of nine, I had the privilege of staying in a kampong (village) in Singapore. My old wooden house topped with metal roof is situated amidst the Bukit Timah Hill, the highest hill in Singapore, no less!

Suddenly, a mental time travel transported me many years back to a scene in my kampong house nestled in the forested area. I was barely 5 then.

During the festive season, especially Chinese New Year, all the extended family members will turn up at our house to catch up on each others' lives over the endless supply of food churned out from the kitchen. I remember how grandma, who is the main cook herself, would give out culinary instructions to my aunties who were helping out in the kitchen, in authentic Hokkien. The rest of the adults will either play mahjong or just sit around and chat merrily.

And the kids? Oh yes, I was one of the kids! We had a whole lot of kampong fun, of course. HEE.

After the adults all sort of settled down and got too 'busy' for us, the whole gang of kids, (more than 10 of us) would run off and often first head towards the little stream, which is a few hundred metres from the front of our house, to catch fishes. On the way there, we'll have to pass by a chicken farm which stinks horribly! My two big dogs, one in orange and the other in black, and which I call both 'Kopi' (which means 'Coffee' in Hokkien), will always escort us. They'll sort of keep a lookout for us, tumble with us, and we have this weird practice of cajoling them to lick our wounds if we got hurt.

It was real fun in the nature.

Or we'll dig the earth and bury something, play with sand, throw stones, pick up sticks and branches, collect durian, papaya, and lime, climb trees to pluck out rambutans and jackfruit, chase the monkeys and squirrels, yelled and laughed about - all with nary a care in the world.

Once, there was this gigantic python twirled around and resting magnificently on a sturdy old tree, at a crossroads of the village tracks. I swear it could swallow me whole in minutes! For the entire time, it probably slithered only an inch, while the villagers gathered in a big circle and looked on. It was a frightening sight. I mean, snakes are scary enough, ya? And an enormous one at that will only amplify the fear factor! But still, I can't resist to stay and stare.

There was also this tall, balding uncle with sun-drenched skin and the kindest smile who worked near my place, fixing cars. He used to amuse us kids by blowing out tiny bubbles using his tongue. I can still recall that scene vividly where I'll look up at his stunt from a short height (hey, I'm only 5 okay?) gasping in awe.

So, this is kampong life... we were living for the moment, enjoying the present and not worrying about the future - the epitome of carpe diem!