To Ubud!

For our first wedding anniversary, Jen and I decided to pay our first visit to Bali. We didn’t want to end up on a beach (what with our Christmas pounds still hanging around and all), so we headed off to the cultural and artistic capital of Bali: Ubud.

Jen was in charge of choosing the hotel, and after weeks of poring through the Lonely Planet and scouring the internet (and endless calls of “Ryan, come look at this one – I promise it’s the last one for tonight!), she settled on Nick’s Pension.

Our back entrance:

Located off of the two main roads in Ubud, it really was a great choice, and worth all of the research. Nick’s Pension is one of three properties in a chain with the same owner (I guess it would be Nick), that includes Nick’s Hidden Cottages and Nick’s Homestay. We splurged ($43 Canadian a night!) and got a “superior room”, which is essentially a half-bungalow with private verandah. Everything wooden in and around the grounds was carved in Balinese style, and we had a rice paddy and jungle-covered stream on the grounds. Very calm.

Our place:

The main attraction for Jen in Ubud wasn’t the culture or the shopping or the art. It wasn’t even the peace and quiet that was a nice break from the insanity that is Jakarta. No, it wasn’t any of those “normal” things. The highlight of Jen’s visit was monkeys. Yep. Monkeys.

The Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary was about a fifteen minute walk from our hotel, and Jen must have dragged me down there at least three times during our five day stay. I love animals as much as the next person, but I have to say that the last time I went out of husbandly obligation. It was our anniversary after all.

I haden’t seen my little niece Sophia for a few months, but I found a little monkey who acted a lot like her the last time I saw her. It was fun watching him play.

My little niece’s twin:

Jen’s friend:

My visitor:

The one thing I wanted to do while we were in Bali was to go white-water rafting. We shopped around a bit, but had our guides make us a reservation with a local company. So, on Friday morning, we got up early and headed out to the Telaga Waja river. We were joined by a Russian psychology professor, a Swedish woman from Dubai, and an American couple on leave from English-teaching jobs in Korea.

When we got to the river, we were put in a boat with a vacationing Australian couple and our guide. I was kind of happy, because the Russian professor had decided that he needed to be very “hydrodynamic” while rafting, and had squeezed himself into a tiny Speedo. Fun.

The river itself was beautiful, and the ride wasn’t too demanding. Most of the time the guide and I were the only ones paddling – photo to follow.

We made a pitstop at a waterfall for some refreshments, then headed back into the river. At the end of the trip, there was an all-you-can-eat buffet of delicious Indonesian food. The day was great.

Rest stop:

Cooling off:

More on our Bali trip to come! For now, lots more photos on our Flickr stream.

-Ryan

Looking back at 2008, part iii.

This is part III of our look at our lives in 2008. Previous posts here:

Part I & Part II.

In October, Jen took part in a Jakarta Animal Aid Network project to “fix” cats on Pramuka Island off the north coast of Jakarta. She had a great visit – the work they did on the island was useful and rewarding, and island was beautiful.

With some new friends:

Scenic Pramuka:

I was invited to go to Hong Kong to write a promotion exam – the bonus was that I was able to extend my visit and see some of the area.

I caught up with my friend Mark from Manila and his wife:

We made a quick run out to see the Po Lin Monastery:

Macau is about an hour’s ferry ride from Hong Kong. While I was in New Zealand, I did five bungy jumps, and when I heard that the tallest commercial bungy site in the world was in Macau, I had to go.

Here goes nothing:

The other major sight in Macau are the Ruins of St. Paul’s Cathedral:

While I was in Hong Kong, Jen was on her way down to Vegas for her sister’s wedding. The ceremony was beautiful, and Jen was thrilled to spend time with her family.

The lucky couple:

For Christmas, Jen and I went up to the Puncak, and stopped off at Taman Safari on our way home to visit some cute baby animals:

Peaceful Puncak:

Indonesian housecat:

So that was our year. Pretty busy, but we have so much to look forward to in our time here in Indonesia.

-Ryan

As always, so many more photos on Flickr.

Looking back on 2008, part ii.

This is part II of our look at our lives in 2008. Other posts here:

Part I & Part III.

When we got to Indonesia, we didn’t waste any time taking advantage of the travel opportunities in the area. Our first weekend in Jakarta, Dana & Gilles took us out to the Embassy’s bungalows in the Puncak area. The bungalows are a great place to go to get away from the craziness of Indonesia’s capital.

Peaceful Puncak:

Crazy Jakarta:

The next weekend, we headed to Gili Trawangan, an island off the coast of Lombok, Indonesia. The island was beautiful, and the people were incredibly friendly. While we were walking through the village, Jen and I got invited into the home of a local fisherman and his wife, who gave us coffee and talked about their hajj. They were quite poor, but happy to share what little they had. Once we left, their kids followed us around for awhile, and took advantage of some free transportation:

On the way back to the airport, we made a stop to visit with the local wildlife – we weren’t feeding this guy fast enough, so he stole the entire bag of peanuts and ran up a tree:

After a month or so in Jakarta, I went to Bangkok to attend a conference. I was actually there just as things were starting to break down. I never felt unsafe, but some of the pictures were pretty unsettling. I still managed to get out and see a bit of the city.

Tuk-tuk ride:

Wat Arun:

Jen was supposed to join me in Thailand at the end of the conference, but the security situation led to the cancellation of her plans. To make up for it, we booked a trip to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the next weekend. The highlights of our trip were visits to the Kuala Gandah Elephant Santuary and the Deerland park.

Jen with her new friend at Kuala Gandah:

Making Jen jealous with Muda (a sunbear) at Deerland:

One more post to come to finish off the year. More on Hong Kong, Pramuka Island, and another wedding.

-Ryan