Bali Toes

I almost forgot - my toes for Bali :)

Taipei, Taiwan

On our way back from Bali, we had an overnight layover in Taipei.  We decided to make the most of it and take a look around the downtown area!  We took the train to the famous Shilin Market (all-night market).  It was an experience.

This was right outside our hotel when we were about to catch the train:

Downtown Taipei:

Michael enjoying some Taiwan Beer.

You just had to try and not think about ALL of the health code violations that could potentially make you very ill.

Enjoying our dumplings.  These are Michael's favorite.

Our dumplings:

No thank you.

LOTS of food on a stick.  It put hot-dog-on-a-stick to shame.

Not sure what to do next.  Vomit from the occasional nasty smell, or enjoy some of the tantalizing treats ...

We opted to go for it and try some treats.  This was an interesting one.  I felt like we were at the soup nazi's kitchen in NY.  They barked at you to get in line, you point to your "flavor" (I chose coconut), she writes it on a baggie, you pay your money, and then you move to the left ...

When it was your turn the guy took your baggie, grabbed one of the pastries you see above, and smashed it inside a homemade tortilla ...

He threw some coconut in with it, wrapped it up and off you went!  It was pretty yummy!

This sums up our experience - overwhelmed!!

We have no idea what this drink was, but they were selling it everywhere.  We were too scared to try it.  We did have a plane to catch in 7 hours and didn't want to be TOO uncomfortable on the flight!

Why WOULDN'T I want to try candied strawberries on a stick!?  They weren't too bad either.

The front of the Shilin Market:

Our hotel for the night in downtown Taipei:

Bali, Indonesia

Our trip to Bali was fantastic!  Coming back to work on Thursday was a real slap in the face with reality :)  It was absolutely breathtaking there ... but once we left the resort area I didn't feel as safe as I normally do when I'm on vacation.  That may have had something to do with the cab drivers honking, the people trying to pull us into shops, and the general stares we attracted from the locals ... or it could have been that we had to have a terrorist briefing before we left.  At any rate - it was a great trip, we stayed safe, and it was a once in a lifetime experience!

Here I am in the Taipei airport eating some soba during our 8 hour layover:

The view from our balcony:

Michael in our room:

Heading to the bales next to the beach:

The beach in front of the resort:

The shrine residing on the resort grounds.  Bali is a very religious area - a large majority of the population practices Hinduism.  Every night and everywhere we went there were small offerings (?) that businesses and individuals were setting out.

This beautiful fountain was in the lobby:

The view from the bale:

Hanging out in the water to cool off:

Michael enjoying some delicious Bintang while relaxing in the bale:

One of the vendor ladies ... they sold everything but if you told them "no" they generally left you alone.  I guess it helps that there is resort security that enforces this!  It was neat to see them walk with the baskets on their head - I'm still not sure how they did it though ...

The squirrels were a little nuts ... if we left the bale to go swim they'd come up and try to steal any food items that we had left behind.  This little guy stole a peanut and then ate it real quick before we made him go away (they'd even take food from your hands if you wanted them too ... but they'd also bite if you weren't careful):

It was just so beautiful ...

Relaxing at the pool:

We went into Kuta for an evening.  What an experience!  There was great shopping - anything counterfeit you wanted was in there!  Knowing our luck though, we didn't chance getting caught at customs with any "purchases" and instead stuck to the legit stores.  This was the back porch of the "mall":

So we hung out there for awhile:

The craziness of the drivers there.  Mopeds often were passenger vehicles, carrying entire families (4 people).  There were no laws.  Just guidelines.  It was worse than Japan.

The restaurant in a shopping area near our resort.  They came and served all of the meat right at your table!  You had a small card that was red on one side, green on the other.  When you wanted more to eat you just flipped it to green and they started to bring anything you could ever want!

The resort next to ours where we spent an afternoon so we could utilize their great slide and swim-up bar:

This picture doesn't do justice to the gorgeous hibiscus flowers hanging from this canopy:

Our last time down at the beach before we flew home:

The flower clip we bartered for with the vendor lady:

Our traditional pose:

Can I please just stay on the bale one more day!?

Michael in the resort:

Pretty orchids:

My 28th B-Day

I had a great 28th birthday!  My co-workers surprised me with an ice-cream cake and then after work Michael took me to a Garlic restaurant down towards Naha (Arin Krin).  It was so delicious!!

Enjoying our Asahi and garlic pizza:

Michael surprised me with another ice-cream cake when we got home!  I guess everyone knows how much I love ice-cream ...