Nusa Lembongan

Mid-October brought a very welcome event for us - fall break!  We were so excited to have a week off and get out of the city.  Unfortunately, Matt wasn't able to join us for the entire week so the kids and I left a few days early to do some exploring on Nusa Lembongan.  First we flew into Bali, just a quick 1.5 hour hop to the next island.  Happy faces, even on a 7am flight!

From the airport at Denpasar, we took a taxi over to Sanur and boarded our ferry to Nusa Lembongan.  Flip flops are recommended!

After a 30-minute ride, we were on the beautiful shores of Nusa Lembongan, a tiny island at only 8 square kilometers.  It's much more laid back than Bali and not nearly as built up.  We couldn't wait to start exploring!

Baggage claim looks a little different here...

It's a pretty rustic and unspoiled island, which is part of its charm.  The roads were tiny!

Our hotel (like most others) was a collection of bungalows around a pool with a small restaurant.

Our bungalow was very cute and basic, but I guess I should have sold it to the kids as an air-conditioned cabin.  Ben was very unimpressed with the sunlight streaming through all the cracks.

It was a clean and sweet little place for 3 days.

The real adventure was getting around!  Most people rent motorbikes or hire guided trucks because there are very few cars on the island.  The roads had no names and were completely unmarked.

I opted to go with a golf cart, which was awesome!  I was much more comfortable with it and we had our independence to explore.  Ben was naturally obsessed with finding places he could safely drive.

The first beach we found was dream beach and it was so pretty that we camped out for the rest of the afternoon.

Hello, beautiful ocean!  So happy to see you again.

 

I love how these boys will play on the beach for hours because it's absolutely my happy place.

 

When the sun started going down and we got a little chilly, we finally pulled ourselves out of the sand and checked out Devil's Tear.  Instead of a blowhole, the waves get caught up under the cliff and blow spiraling mist out.

 

Alex had his turn behind the wheel a few times as well, although he's not nearly as obsessed as Ben.

 

Not a pretty selfie, but proof that I was there, too!

  

Sunset beach sounded like a place we needed to check out and it didn't disappoint.

 

On our second day, we headed out on a snorkeling tour.

 

 

 The scenery alone was worth the trip!  We passed some gorgeous cliffs, bridges, and natural pools.

Stop #1:  Open water near Nusa Penida to look for Manta rays.  Unfortunately, we only saw one Manta at a distance and Ben and I got a little green from the ocean swell.  We were happy to move on.

 

 Stop #2: A protected cove off Nusa Cenigan.  Alex and I got in the water but poor seasick Ben opted to stay on the boat.  About 10 minutes later, he was offering free chum to the fish over the side of the boat.

Alex was excited to get in the water see some fish up close.  The kids had snorkeled briefly in Hawaii but got cold so fast that they didn't remember much about what they saw.  This was their first trip to really spend time in the water.

 

So many fish of every color!

 

 Boat hair!

Ben had to get some rest but I was so proud that he rallied and got in the water at our next stop.

 

Stop #3: Wall Bay, with some impressively big fish.  I never understood what the guide called them but they were fascinating to watch.

 
 I was also happy that Ben was able to join us and enjoy!

Stop #4: The shallow waters of Mangrove Bay.  The coral was fantastic and there were fish everywhere.  It was the perfect place for the kids to enjoy.

 As much as we enjoyed our snorkeling, it was nice to be back on dry land when we were done.

We did a little more exploring around the island.  It's mostly Hindu but has some Muslims and Christians as well.  The architecture was very Balinese.

 A gorgeous overlook of the main town with Bali in the background.  We couldn't see the peak of Mt. Agung, but at the time it was at Level 4 alert and an eruption was considered imminent.  We were hoping the entire trip that it didn't spoil our vacation, even though we were safely out of the evacuation zone.

Are those nachos??  Why, yes, we happened to find the one restaurant that served Mexican food and we ordered seconds.  And possibly thirds.

Back on Dream Beach for another fun afternoon.  The kids agreed it had the best sand and waves.  Some parts of the island had no waves and others had no sand or very rough coral sand.

On our last morning, we enjoyed breakfast at our hotel before a last trip to the beach.

Any vacation where we can wear swimsuits all day is a win in my book.

Mushroom beach, just down the road from us, was amazing.  The water was warm and calm and perfect for swimming.

Finally, it was time to head back to the ferry office and catch our ride back to Bali.  But not before we met this adorable dog.

The seas were a *bit* rougher on the way back and we ended up in the front row of a smaller boat.  Someone was not happy!  I admit I yelled out a few times when the boat dropped like a carnival ride and I was glad to be done when we arrived at Bali.

The ferry company dropped us off at our hotel where we checked in and anxiously awaited Matt's arrival so we could spend the rest of the week together.

Two Months

It's been over two months in Jakarta already!  In some ways it feels much longer but many days I'm reminded that I still have a lot to learn.  So far, the best advice I've been given is to really plan for one big thing each day, not a big to-do list.  Be happy if you accomplish that one goal.  Things are unpredictable, weather changes quickly, traffic can be unbelievable.  But then I see an awesome guy like this biking down our street and I'm reminded that Indonesia is amazing.

 

I love our neighborhood.  Pondok Indah has wide, tree-lined streets so it's easy to walk around.  There are many vendors who walk or bike their goods up and down the street each day, and every one has a different noise (tinkling glass, funny horn, wooden block) so you know if it's your favorite fried chicken cart, you better get out there and buy your lunch.  It's really convenient for all the workers who can't leave the house for lunch or a drink.  So far I've seen happy balloon guy several times, a guy with hamsters and goldfish, a man with brooms and buckets, and every kind of food and drink I can imagine.

I'm beginning to get my bearings when we're driving around and recognize many of the places we pass frequently.  One of our favorites is the monkey house.  No idea why they have two monkeys in their front yard but they're always fun to watch.  On this particular day, I was only going 2.1 miles from the house and we got stuck in a massive traffic jam.  After 45 minutes of crawling through the streets, I finally got out and walked once I recognized where we were, thanks to Monkey House.

The kids are thriving at school and beginning to show us the fruits of their labors.  Ben had his first strings performance, which was basically a practice in front of the parents so that the kids could get used to the pressure of having an audience watching and 10,000 smartphones pointed at them.  Ben is at the back on the right.  On Wednesdays, we go back to school for music lessons (and in this case, the quick performance) and Matt usually needs the car to get home around the same time we're leaving.  The walk home is manageable but tough right now with the heavy guitar case.  So far, we have had several taxi disasters where we couldn't book one, it never showed up, or it got stuck in traffic.  This past Wednesday, it finally worked out perfectly and our taxi was waiting as soon as we hit the parking lot and we were home 5 minutes later.  Small successes are a big deal!  But later I realized I underpaid the taxi driver (I had no idea there was a minimum fare, but we're talking less than a dollar) so I was humbled again.  Baby steps here.

I had my first lunch with Alex and it's fun because the parents can just join the kids wherever they're sitting and talk to their friends as well.  He has an adorable little French friend named Minan. Both of the kids are starting to find their people and will hopefully see more of their friends on the weekends once we're unpacked with everything at the house.

 

Naturally, we've introduced our furry and feathered friends and at the moment there is no doubt who is in charge.  The big beak wins!

I will always remember this picture because I thinks it's precious, but also because it was such a happy morning and Ben was home from school for his conference day.  Right as Alex was getting on the bus, we decided to see how Kitty would do in the front yard so Ben went to grab him.  Little Kitty absolutely freaked out and took off running down the street.  Unfortunately, Ben and I were barefoot and Alex's bus came at that moment.  Our sweet driver and guard went running after the kitty but he had disappeared.  We looked and looked and finally had to acknowledge that there are infinite hiding spots for any cat that doesn't want to be found and pray that Kitty would decide to come back home.  It was a pretty horrible day.  Things just snowballed for Ben and all the stresses he's been experiencing over the past few months came pouring out with tears over our brunch.  My heart was breaking for him and for Alex, who was at school hoping that we'd found Kitty.  The day continued to get worse for the boys, who'd grown so attached to the innocent love of a kitten, and I just prayed and prayed for some encouragement.  Just before dark, we went back out to see if Kitty would be venturing out to look for dinner and we saw a different guard running down the street with a wriggling, angry orange kitten in his hand.  Thank you, God!!  We felt His love, the love of our staff, and the community out on the street.  And we got the sweet love of our kitten back safely.

Kitty

If one pet is good, then two are better, right?

Stray cats are all over the place here.  They live on trash and rodents out in the streets and are pretty comfy doing their thing wherever they please.  One of my friends had a sweet little mama cat raising kittens on her front porch and as soon as they were old enough to be weaned, she took mama in to get fixed.  We brought one of the kitties home to see how he'd do in our backyard.

 This little street cat didn't know what to make of our backyard and kept calling for his mama, then running to hide the minute we walked outside.  With the huge walls around the yard, there was no escape but we knew he'd be safe.

We kept offering him free meals near his hiding spots and after a few days he realized people = full tummy.

On the third morning, he came out to see us and sample the goodies we brought.  We'd won his little heart over by going through his stomach!

We still haven't settled on a good name for him (possible contenders - Tiger, Garfield, Hobo, Joe), so we're just going with Kitty for now.  He is a sweet boy with the loudest purr in the world.

He is still a street kitty, though.  On one particularly rainy day, I looked for him in the bushes to bring him up on the porch, and I found him sleeping happy and dry in the tree.

Now the little guy is comfortable on our porch and happy to meow into the window to let us know he needs to be pet.   When he really wants to sleep, he dives down behind the couch cushions and stretches out against the rattan.  I guess he's safe and cool.

Little Kitty will be a strictly outdoor friend but it's great being able to love on him whenever we want and watch his cute kitten antics through the windows.  The kids are loving learning about cats as well as parrots!  It wouldn't feel like home without being some sort of zoo.