Bali Day 1: Hello Bali and Cycling Tour

I had been so looking forward to the Bali holiday, maybe bcos I felt that I so need a break. I am tired. 

Finally! The Bali holiday is here! Mochi got his staycation before us, unfortunately, very unwillingly. We had wanted to put him with SooSoo, but it didn’t work out as some of her cats were down with the Parvos virus, which is very fatal for cats. While her cats have recovered (and some sadly didn’t), the virus is well-known to be persistent and Mochi had skipped his vaccination last year. Thus, we left Mochi with another sitter, N, who also helped us the last time. 

Our flight was at 7.10am. We were up at 4ish and out of the house at 5am. 

We met Auntie S’s family at 5.30am, had bfast and headed to the gate. 

Bali, here we come! I can’t remember what seats I had booked. The flight had retimed 2x and each time, our seats got messed up and we had to rebook the seats. Scoot will give us vouchers and we will have to pay again for the seats selection. Very messy. I only remembered that Daddy Lim would be seated in front of/ behind us and the 3 of us would be together. Auntie S’s family would be behind us. 

We got the Board Me First privilege from my Krisflyer Silver status. The flight seemed full and many were bringing their carry-on luggage, so boarding 1st would be helpful to settle down before the rest of the crowd. I was surprised - I actually got extra leg space seats for all of our family. That is very rare. Usually, only Daddy Lim gets that privilege. Lol. 

Wait, who is that photo bomber? Lol. 

Even though we had bfast before flight and it was only a 2 hr 40 mins flight, Zaky said that he wanted flight meal and made me pre-ordered for him. 

It was very cold, Nana used Zaky’s hoodie as her long pants. Hoho. 

I read and I napped and I read again, totally immersing in the holiday mood. The almost 3 hours flight passed so quickly and uneventfully. 

There are automated lanes and manual immigration counter. I directed everybody to the automated lanes but ended up, only I was successful. Then I remembered that I had enrolled for the egates the trip before to Jakarta. No wonder I was able to use the egate and had to wait a long time for them as they cleared the manual q. Done! 

We grabbed sandwiches for lunch bcos the car ride (booked via Klook), would take 1.5 hr and we had booked for an afternoon cycling tour. Pick up transport for the cycling tour had been arranged for 1.30pm. 

We got a 10 seater mini van and were comfortable but 1.5 hour car ride after a 2 over hour flight was torturing for our backsides. 

Most of us napped. I didn’t. I started crocheting. Hoho. It really did feel like a holiday. 

We arrived at the Villa safely. 

It is always very exciting when we 1st entered new villas. 

After the Oooooss and the Ahhhhss, it was to decide who would sleep with who and where. The boys decided that they would take a room and likewise for the girls. Auntie S got to enter a big bed herself. Each room comes with a nice double bed and a nice open air big toilet. 

We didn’t get to stay long in the villa before the cycling tour staff came to pick us up. It was a 7 seater car. The adults were busy packing for the tour and Nana laughed at my “Ronald MacDonald’s shoes”.

The kids were laughing at how the parents have the same style. Aiyo, we so cute!

The 1st stop was to the usual flavoured coffee and tea sampling. 

Then we realised that it is the same coffee place that we visited many years ago, when the kids were very little and with the rest of the SHSS gang, also before a cycling tour. The place still looks the same but the kids have grown up so much. 

We left empty handed and were brought to the starting point, which was actually somewhere out of nowhere. It was surprisingly very cold and we were dressed for the heat. Lol. We were outside of Ubud, in some part of mountains. 

The cycling was very easy bcos it was simply rolling downhill. 

We stopped at a temple. 

Then a Balinese home. The ladies were all crocheting expertly. We were more interested in the little puppy and kittens that happily roamed the house. So cute.

Bcos it was a Sunday and no school, the kids were running around, waving as we go past and also flying kites. Their kite flying skill is superb. I got to “hold” the sting of one that is high up in the sky. Hoho. 

Next stop - rice padi. 

That was the last stop before we headed to the restaurant for dinner. We were hungry given that the only proper meal was bfast. It was buffet style and we were the only group in the restaurant and all the food was for us. We finished mostly the meat. Haha. 

Then, it was a long drive back to our villa. While it was still early, the sun had set. Zaky said that he would swim, changed and jumped into the pool. 

The girls wanted to shop for bracelets and we walked to the Ubud Center, which is about 10 mins walk away. Zaky came along bcos he didn’t want to stay alone in the villa. Sadly, the shops were starting to shut for the day at about 8pm. The girls did manage to buy their bracelets. Zaky got a crepe. 

Daddy Lim got a beer at one of the bars outside our villa, with a mini band. He and Zaky still managed to share a pizza. I duno how they found space in their tummy for more food.

At least Zaky tried to burn off some of his pizza calories after that. The kids spent a long time in the pool. 

Zaky said that it wasn’t cold and with the amount of monkeying that they did, I am sure they warmed up. They made full utilisation of the pool. As for me, I chose to watch them over coffee. Hoho. Daddy Lim was worse; he sipped my coffee and opened a big bag of chips. I can tell that he is totally enjoying himself.

I was dead tired by 10ish. The kids were still in the pool when I decided that I would go to bed. I am sure that the kids would be able to take care and manage themselves. 

Bcos our toiletries and charging cables were packed together, we had “visitors” coming into the room as I was dozing off, asking for this and that. Yawnz. Daddy Lim said that there wasn’t a need to lock our bedroom, the lock is pretty wonky anyway. That is bcos the villa has a staff that is stationed in the villa every moment. The main door to the villa is not even locked and they have one of the low front door/ gate. So secure and safe?

I slept well, much better than most 1st days in new places. I didn’t even wake up in the night. I must be tired. Hoho. 

Mummy Lim

Crochet-ed

The initial plan was to go back to Grace after we are done with the scrunchie crochet, so that she can teach us the “real stuff”. We all wanted to learn how to crochet plushies. 

Then, I started to look at some YouTube videos on crocheting plushies for beginners. The octopus is highly recommended and I also realised that the stitches are variations of the basic crochet stitch. I thought maybe I can try with YouTube. 

The 1st step is to buy yarn and my crochet expert colleague pointed me to buy “milk yarn” and said that she usually uses a 2.5mm crochet hook. Grace provided us with 4.5mm hook during class, which is supposed to be easier for beginners. I bought a 2.5mm hook and an extra one for Auntie S. The yarns were delivered the next day. 

So pretty! 

I think it will take a long time to finish them all. 

I googled and found a video on how to crochet the basic octopus. Like Grace said, instead of crocheting a straight line, crochet in a circle instead. 

I duno if it is the yarn that was used, to try to count the stitches was the most difficult part. After a while, I gave up and just agar agar. I was able to follow, the single yarn over, double yarn over… 

It is very interesting how some stitches just naturally make the crocheted piece curl. I was very glad that I could follow how to crochet the legs too. It did take me a couple of tries. The 1st tentacle.

The 2nd one. 

Again, counting and hooking under the right count of stitch was the most difficult. After a while, my agar-ation naturally took over. As a result, my octopus has 10 tentacles instead of 8 in my attempt to fill all the space. Lol. 

My octopus has no eyes bcos I didn’t buy eyes. Lol. The whole thing is supposed to flip inside out but the tentacles go all funny when I tried to do that. The stitches aren’t the neatest and could be tighter but I didn’t quite care and just wanted to “finish” the project. Also, tightening the stitches will make counting the stitches and hooking under even more difficult. I cannot do it properly even with loose stitches. 

I am super proud of myself despite the not at all perfect octopus. Daddy Lim and the kids also laughed at my extra legged octopus. Hoho. I searched for the next project and have decided to do a bumble bee next. I told Zaky and he asked if I have yellow and black color to crochet the bumble bee. Hmmm.. I have started with the same blue yarn. Hohoho. 

Yes, I am having fun. 

Mummy Lim