Work in progress

I realized after coming home that for some reason when I blogged from my iPad this time, the photos didn't upload in normal size. When you look at the blog from a computer they come out all pixelated and blurry.
I'm fixing it. Slowly but surely post by post.

So if you are keen on seeing the photos in better quality, stand by, I'll slowly be replacing all the photos in all the Bali posts.

Edit: It took me all afternoon, but now it's done! And I've even added a few new photos here and there! Enjoy!

I ♥ Bali

We truly had a magnificent vacation in Bali.
The world is a big and beautiful place and there certainly is so much to discover that you could say it's a shame returning to the same place twice. But when it comes to Bali... I will have to go back.
I fell utterly in love, and a week certainly wasn't enough to explore it all.

I knew I wanted to bring back some sort of memento to put in our home, something special and not just your average souvenir, like a Bintang Bali t-shirt... I was lucky to find the perfect piece of art. I didn't do much other shopping unfortunately, a few summer dresses and a few things for the children - but at least I came home with this:

I love it. Now it stands on the table in our hallway, and every time we pass it, it makes us think about our lovely Bali vacation!

Bali, Day 8 - Goodbyes

We are going back home via Singapore, so our flight left five hours before the Dehlis' flight back to KL. We left the villa after having one last swim and one last group photo this morning.

I'm not so good at saying goodbye. I always find it very emotional, especially if I'm not sure when I'll see people again.
We do hope the Dehlis will come and see us on Brunei in December though..!

When asked what was the best thing with our holiday, Lucas thought the Waterpark, Malthe couldn't choose between Elephant Park and Waterpark; Daniel thought the morning pancakes and Linnea said "doing it all with our friends". I'm with her!
Thank you guys for a great week together! Bali rocks!

Bali, Day 7 - Chillaxing

We decided to spend our last full day in Bali on the beach. We were excited to see Seminiyak beach a lot more busy than it was on Saturday. There was quite a lot of surfers braving the waves, and our little ones didn't take long getting out in the water either!

We arrived about 11am, and apart from a short lunch break and coming up to wipe their faces from sand or having a drink - they didn't come out of the water until 6pm!
They had an absolute ball!







We enjoyed a few last-day cocktails and a lovely lunch, it was really a perfect afternoon.

 

Anne and I even had time to revisit some shops one last time, and pick up a few things we had missed the other day.

I must say, shopping in Bali was somewhat overwhelming. I ended up not getting all the things I wanted to, because there was just too much choice, too many options! I just couldn't decide - so I guess we will just have to come back soon!

Kuta by night

It started to rain as we left the Waterbom park in the afternoon. We walked up to the center of Kuta and had a bit of a browse in the shops. Nathan finally found a Billabong shop and could get what he "needed" (we ended up shopping so much we got 2 free t-shirts and a free membership!).

Anne also found a nice shop with gorgeous linen clothes and did some shopping, and the rest of us found Starbucks! Mmm!

We had a look down the famous beach where people were enjoying the sunset.

Then we went looking for somewhere to have dinner, ended up at this nice Italian restaurant. It was a quick dinner though as all the kids were slowly withering one by one after a busy day..!

Of course there's always time for a cocktail or two though! It's holidays after all!

Bali, Day 6 - Waterbom Waterpark

Yesterday was a day for the kids, they got to pick what to do, and they wanted to go to the Waterbom Waterpark. I'd heard from a lot of my friends that it was supposed to be a really good waterpark for both younger and older kids. And it was.
The park itself stretches over nearly 4ha of landscaped botanical gardens, and there was 20 different slides for the kids to try.

After a bit of a wander we parked ourselves by the Kids Area, and them took turns in taking the kids for rides. Although Malthe and Lucas mostly went around by themselves. One of Lucas favourites was actually just floating along in the Lazy River, the long flat ride through the whole park, with a current. Relaxing and pretty!

Linnea and Nathan after having gone on the Superbowl:

Lunchtime by the pool. We didn't even bother trying to get all of them to eat lunch together, just ordered snacks as the day past, whenever they were hungry.

The younger ones had a blast at the more gentle kids slides:

Lucas spotted the fish spa and really wanted to try with me. Anne had never tried it before either so we decided to go for it. First you needed to have your feet washed:

Then getting them into the water was a bit of a challenge! The fish literally waited by the surface, nearly jumping out, to get to your feet first!

Lucas was brave, although he said it tickled a lot.

He was a bit disappointed though that the fish seemed to like Anne's feet better... I tried to explain that his feet are so young and fresh that there isn't much dead skin to nibble on.

Anne had to take here out of the water, for him to get the full experience!

Then we swopped places and it was my turn. It is a weird feeling, although I've tried it before so I knew what I was expecting. It's a bit like a small electric current all over your legs.

Finally Linnea got to try too:

 

The Boomerang, tickled your tummy!

Linnea and Daniel were busy posing and collecting photo bands from the official park photographers.

The Climax to the left, and the Pipeline to the right. Lucas actually went on the Pipeline, several times! Nathan was the only one in our group brave enough to try the Climax.

We also tried the Raft River, the Jungle Ride, the Macaroni, the Boogie Ride and many more.

Lucas and Malthe ended the day with a bit of a water balloon war:

It was a great day! Everybody happy and tired by the end of it. After a quick visit to the souvenir shop it was time to explore Kuta.