It is the start of my second full day in Bali with my cousin and her husband, my nieces Annabelle, Elisa and Elody, and my cousin's best friend Yvonne's family. There's no doubt that it is amazing here, along with beautiful, hot, humid, the family time and the activities have been memorable and irreplacable. But my favorite times during this trip have been the mornings, at around 7 am when I wake up before everyone else, sit on the terrace of our vacation home facing the ocean, and have my morning cup of french press coffee. I have never experienced such peacefulness, from my direct view of the ocean, to the sound of the crashing waves and the birds in the background, to the warm taste of freshly made local coffee. During this time of my day, I reflect on my experience thus far on this trip, remembering the people I have recently lost and gained in my life, and how long I've waited for this particular trip to visit and spend time with my Singaporean family. So, this seems to be the perfect time to write.
I got to Singapore on Monday afternoon around 11:30 am and was picked up by my cousin chi Thuan and her little girls, Elisa and Elody. This was my first time meeting my nieces in person, although we Skype on a somewhat regular basis and the girls send me pictures they have drawn of me (not very flattering, but oh so fricken adorable). That night, we met up with my other cousin's family (chi Thao, anh WeeHann, their kids Annabelle, Lucas and Isabelle), whose kids I had met almost 5 years ago when I visited our family in France. Had a great dinner, and somehow convinced anh WeeHann to let Annabelle come with us to Bali the following morning! What a great night!
We flew out the next morning from Singapore to Bali for our 5-day long family vacation. It was a 3 hour flight, with a 1.5 hr shuttle ride from the airport to the vacation home in a more remote area of Bali, away from the hussle bussle of the typical tourist areas. Let me tell you, so far I have seen 2 sides of Bali --both of which I love and are so interesting! The first is the swank of Bali --what I mean is luxury living. We stopped during the car ride at a spa resort to have lunch and it was one of the most beautiful outdoor restaurant I have ever seen with the lush settings and tables in a courtyard connected to their own white sand beach. The scenery was gorgeous and very different from immediately outside the spa where the locals are riding around in their motorbikes among traffic, trash, and run down shacks for homes and businesses. When we got to the vacation villa, I am talking some serious.fricken.swank. There is no other way to describe it, especially for someone like myself who has been a student for most of my life and grew up in a less privileged home. This villa is of open concept, directly facing the ocean with an infinity pool. The villa comes with staff and a driver --all in a beautiful setting. My cousins have worked very hard to build their success from the ground up and from what I have learned about Asians in Asia so far is that they are a true example of working hard and playing hard. Singaporeans work normally 10-12 hours a day (their regular work day is 8-7 --traffic jam happens around 7:30 pm in Singapore). But when they go on vacation, they spoil themselves and their family --rightfully so because they absolutely earned it! Money is not a real object when Singaporeans go on vacation --they have worked so incredibly hard to earn that time off, and for them, it's worth it to spare the stress of money and just have fun. I really like that.
The second side of Bali that I love is the raw, organic, nature of rural Bali --the real Bali. Yesterday, we all went for a walk outside the compound and I witness one of the most beautiful things. There's a tiny water lilly pond about a quarter mile from where we were staying. It sits in front of a temple, and behind a small primary local school. It isn't at all fancy, it is in fact quite a dirty little lagoon --mirky water with plenty of algae to color the pond green and brown. At the far end was a group of 5 boys swimming and playing in the pond. They are dark, skinny, look like a bunch of neighborhood kids who were having the time of their lives. These kids' families probably see less money in a month than a kid in the USA have to eat lunch everyday. But they were so happy, so content, having so much fun. From what I could see, it didn't matter what status, what money, what level of education their had --they live a simple life having the essentials like enough food to eat, friends and family, a roof over their heads and that was enough. What do we, as Americans, have to always complain about? Why the stress? Don't we have more than enough? Isn't it enough to live, eat, laugh, cry, and be with the people we love and who love us? How can it ever be not enough?
Anyway, gotta go --time for breakfast and head out for the day. Family is all up and the kids are about to get reaaaal hyper!!! There's plenty more I've got to say, maybe tomorrow morning during my coffee.
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