Ubud, Bali

After all the ordeals in Bali, we are now safely back on Koh Phangan. Have been for over a week now, in fact, but I've lazed around with the blogging, since there isn't really that much to tell. We went there, got sick and got back home. Well, not exactly, I did have a chance to do some shopping and one yoga class and we did go and see the silhouette of Gunung Agung mountain. And there were of course the necessary massages plus a two-hour pampering for me, complete with a massage, a peeling and a moisturizing treatment. Bliss!

So yeah, that was pretty much the extent of our trip. In Kuala Lumpur we went to see the Hobbit in a traditionally ice-cold cinema (we never remember to take enough clothes with us...) and I went yarn shopping (more of that here in case someone's interested). And we took plenty of showers in the lovely Furama hotel. Oh man, the shower! And the bed with the perfect pillows! That was easily the best part of the trip. No, seriously, it was.

But enough of the banter. Here's some photos. Enjoy :)

The first night at a somewhat swanky (and way too expensive) hotel

Our favourite café, the Art Café.

All sorts of beautiful stuff for sale

Even the leaves get eaten gracefully in Ubud

Ubud Market

Another fave cafe, the Juice Ja Café

The mountain, or what was visible of it that day

The rice paddy loveliness

Oh, and did you already hear the news: we'll be coming back to Berlin 3 weeks earlier than planned. The reason is plain old homesickness plus the fact that March in Berlin has usually been pretty tolerable what comes to the weather. So Berlin, get ready, we'll be there in approximately 5 weeks. Yay!

Clouds in the sky

Holiday, yay! Bali is great and Ubud a place of beauty, just like last time. The weather, though, is not playing along, but going on with it's rainy season schedule. So, gray skies, wind, torrentous downpour. But I'm not complaining, there're always spas, cafes and restaurants to go take shelter from the rain.

What has disturbed the holiday mood more is that S got a severe case of some kind of stomach bug (food poisoning? gastroentritis? who knows...) and we ended up staying on a small clinic for the night, him with a drip in his arm, me reading The Help. The staff took good care of us and now we're already recovering from the ordeal back at the nice little homestay we're booked into. All seems to be well now, the meds and food are staying in, so no reason to worry anymore, pheew. And there are still plenty of days left before the holiday ends. So fingers crossed that we get to spend the rest of our stay in here in somewhat healthier state! Wish us luck...

Happy 2013!

So it seems to be 2013. We spent the new year's eve mostly sitting inside and listening at the rain. Luckily the evening turned out a bit nicer, and we got to have excellent dinner at one of our favourite restaurants and to down to the beach to see people set off wish lanterns (we sent out two ourselves) and shoot firework. It was a nice and relaxed evening, but we were thinking fondly of the awesome party we had last year with our friends in Berlin. Next year we'll do it again, for sure!

But yes, 2013. Where did the old year go? It seems like we came to Thailand only a short while ago and we're already more than halfway through our trip. Wow, time really does fly. On the other hand we're getting more homesick by the day and find ourselves fantasizing about homey, Berlin-ey things. Oh well,  once we actually return home, I'm pretty sure we'll miss everything that we have here on our island: the hammock, the sea, the warm weather, wearing flip flops every day. But the bugs and sleeping with a mosquito net, that will not be missed!

A good remedy for home sickness is constant movement, and we're going to get busy with that starting next Saturday. First we'll have to empty out our little house and pack up everything. No, we're not being kicked out, but as we weren't quick enough to tell our landlady that we'd like to stay longer, she had already rented out our cottage to someone else 10.1-2.2... Bummer!

But then it's off to Bali for a vacation/visa run and Kuala Lumpur a couple of days in transit (and staying and working in the same hotel as last time). Then we're changing houses and staying in a new cottage close to the main village Thong Sala for three weeks. After that we're coming back to the cottage for a month 2.2-2.3 and then we have a month to go, which we will probably spend on Koh Samui as we'll need to extend our visas anyway. And then... back home! Ooh I really hope that the weather will already be nice and springy when we return.

But for now, happy new year to everyone, next post will probably be from Bali! Yay for Ubud :)

Edit: Oh, I almost forgot to mention: I have a new knitting/baking/misc project blog called Wonky but with love. Check it out! :)

A day in the life

...also known as some photos of quite normal things from our little tropical paradise. Some with stories, some without.

It's always good to start with a cat. This little sweetie decided that our balcony was a nice location for a nap and she stayed with us for a couple of days. We didn't feed her a lot so that she wouldn't get used to getting food from us and then starve when we left, but she did enjoy an occasional dog treat (which we bought to try to make peace with the not-overly-friendly guard dogs around here but haven't been able to get close enough to give them the treats yet). But then S got too allergic and we had to say bye bye to Maukka the cat. Boo for allergies!

Then onto a somewhat more humid business: the monsoon. It has treated us pretty well so far and we've only had one cold and rainy week so far (touch wood...). When it rains, it rains so hard that you have to wear headphones to listen to music while working. It rains so hard, that the long eaves aren't nearly enough to keep our balcony dry. Luckily we have the curtains to block off some of the balcony from the downpour.

Oh look, a sneak peek of our christmas deco!

Can you spot another piece of deco here? Also note the grandma-styled pillow case. Totally Thai!

As the local tap water isn't potable, our drinking water comes from these big fellows. 30 baht a pop (less than an euro), each 30 l tank lasts us about a week. The appreciation for potable tap water has again risen hundredfold... 

I'm a bit ashamed to admit that we really don't cook that much, as the lovely Thai ladies do so much better a job with it and eating out is really cheap. There is still of course some food for breakfast and lunch in the house. Just took some photos just for the fun of it :)

Lovely fresh fruit are of course always available. Yum!

We do love our little summer cottage but we've been thinking that it might be nice to upgrade to something air conditioned and a bit spacier for the last two months of our trip. We've gone to see a couple of options but as it is high season, everything is ridiculously expensive, and as we told in the earlier house hunting post, there seems to be a gap between the normal houses and the super luxurious villas that cost a fortune. So, it might be that we'll stay here and maybe go to Samui for the last month. We'll see...

The half way marker of our trip has come and gone and I feel it's time to reflect on what we miss from back home. It would be wrong to say we don't feel homesick. We do, but not because we don't like it here, but because now, after being away for a while, we realize what truly is important for us and what makes our life in Berlin so lovely. Our bug-free apartment, kitchen with its utensils and appliances, friends, the possibility to bake and do crafts (knitting! decorating!), fast internet... there's more, but these seem the most important ones. And Christmas... Don't even get me started. I'm such a huge fan of Christmas and all that goes along with it that it has been quite hard to just read of all the lovely things and preparations for the holidays people are doing. Christmas markets! Making gifts! Decorating the house! Well, there's always next year to catch up on all the Christmassy things that have been lacking this year. I still didn't think it would be this much of an issue. Live and learn, I guess.

In order to catch at least some Christmas cheer I have been able to pull off some meager Christmas decorations. Thank you Tesco for your bright-coloured baubles and lights. Not quite in my taste but hey, beggars can't be choosers, and we're doing it in colourful Thai style this year :)

Oh and we also have this lovely Christmas orchid. Well, technically it's just a normal orchid but as it's blooming in December I have given it a new name.

With these photos I'd like to wish everyone who's followed us with our journey a lovely, peaceful and joyful Christmastime (and a stressfree preparation for it ;)). 

Waterfalls

Last weekend we took advantage of the rainfall we'd been having and decided to go see, if the Phaeng waterfall would have turned from a trickle to a stream. It had indeed, and so had the numerous other waterfalls along the path. S was still recovering from his cold so we didn't trek the whole route, but decided to take the easy (debatable...) way straight up to the viewpoint. Needless to say, the tight skirt and flip flops weren't the correct attire for such a climb, but we made it nevertheless. The views were cool but the waterfalls even cooler. And it was great to see some locals enjoying the newly formed pool. Here's some fotos from the day: