Selamat Ulang Tahun

That's Happy Birthday in Bahasa(Balinese). In 2010 I was dying for a vacation, my dreams were small, cheap and easy. Mexico, drinks, sun, no kids. Then there was this little move, 2 job changes, and well, the vacation fell to the wayside. By the time 2011 rolled around I was pretty much in rigor mortis for a vacation. I would have gone anywhere sans twins, to the Sydney Hilton, the Paducah Courtyard anywhere. As luck would have it, the Kansas Society of CPA's had the Paducah Courtyard all booked up so we ended up at The Chedi Club, Tanah Gajah, Ubud, Bali. My birthday just happened to be during our stay...and we were cunning enough to trick my parents into watching the boys. The last time we tricked them into watching them, the boys were sweet precious rolly poly, non-mobile, non-verbal 8 month olds. I assured them they were just about the same...said a quick prayer for forgiveness and booked my flight! 

The hotel lobby where you are seated for check in and served a welcome drink and delicious little nibblies.

Our private pool inside the walls of our villa

I finished three books, none of which contained illustrations, in those chairs 

The main pool, never put a toe in

Daybed by the pool

Outdoor tub

A portion of the interior of our villa, it was so immaculate in every detail that it looked like we were the first guests to stay there. All 7 days it looked this clean,  as our butler REALLY cleaned 2X/day, he also did our laundry and put it away everyday, brought food, drinks, ice, paper and anything else I could dream up. I was not sure if I should tip him or propose.

We were set to hike the volcano in the background and got up at 2:45 am to do so. Fate intervened and it rained and rained hard, so we hopped back into bed and slept like it was our job! I don't want to brag but we slept until past 8, which would have been 10 Sydney time

Pretty obsessed with having a private pool

Ubud Temple

I have always wanted to try this gourmet dish but have never had the opportunity, dreams do come true in Bali.

Where we ate most of our meals, poolside

They offer complimentary tea every afternoon, they also offer complimentary drinks but somehow I always forgot to take a picture. They make a drink called the Tanah Gajah Purple with purple basil, if basil is a vegetable, I got my 5 servs a day, easy!

Mama cleaning her baby in the Monkey Forest, monkeys EVERYWHERE!

"Seen one jade budha seen 'em all," is phrase we came up with in Shanghai. It also applies to local dance shows, tourist markets and the entire family of Marriott brands. I would have left this show it was so bad, but I did not want to further the ugly Americans cause and there were kids in it, and I could not make the kids sad, although the kids reminded me of really young kids playing in the outfield of little league. Bored. Picking at grass. Making faces at each other. Almost setting fire to one another with their torches, typical kid stuff.

Rice terraces surround the property

Our butler took us on a rice terrace tour, these are the locals a day post major temple festival, slaughtering animals for sacrifice, burning trash and other fun things

Super sturdy bridge, "don't worry people ride their motorcycles on it," our butler said as it swayed under our "Western style" bodies. 

Three monkeys, two are obvious, the third is lower left of center 

Your OK, I am NOT OK

I think this was rhetoric from some 80's self help. But this refrain keeps going through my mind. I am clearly the problem, I have been pointing fingers when I should have been looking in the mirror! I mentioned in the previous post that my Dad had made tons of friends at the Hotel Mosman. I placated myself by brushing it off as casual drinking buddies, something that was not "real." Well, I have returned from a  week long vacation to find that both my Mom and Dad have made many friends and they extend well beyond the magical world of HM.

In no particular order are all of the people they know well after less than three weeks here: (keep in mind my Dad was "quarantined in posturing" for the first week and a half)
(all of these people have names that are known to P&B but since I am clearly the social moron of the fam, I do not know them)
The fishman- they already liked him, and chatted with him about India and the States, by accident they undercharged his card by $30 today and he returned to right the wrong, now he is practically immortal!
The drycleaner, they love my dad, they shout from the store and holler and wave as he goes by
The bakery owner(they got free hot cross buns today, free, I almost fell over!)
A mum at McD's who invited us(my Mom and the boys) to a few activities
They ran into a "friend" at the store today, yes they ran into someone they know after just three weeks!
and...
The new bus driver doing the Zoo route and his training supervisor

I have never been a lover of small talk, and chit chat, in fact I have "stranger danger" and loathe talking to someone if there is no chance I will ever see them again. The word "networking" makes me cold sweat! But one thing is painfully obvious, I need to pull it together, starting tomorrow!  I am vowing to always ask myself WWP&BD?

How ya'll doin'? or Crocodile Dundee said it would be like this

My parents are true blue Southerners(to be very clear not like from an episode of Hee Haw) which means it is their birth right and responsibility to speak comfortably and with great familiarity and ease to any and all strangers they encounter. There is no such thing as a stranger, just a whole bunch of new friends whom you will soon know everything(you never wanted to know) about. If you are any kind of decent Southerner you can accomplish this feat in less than 5 minutes and potentially anywhere, although being in queue somewhere is the preferred locale.


So this very genuine, friendly and open demeanor goes over like a fart in church here in Oz. A few examples: The Dr tells my Dad he will need to take steroids for his eye, my Dad says, “But, sir what about my football career?” Dr., "pardon me sir?" My Dad at the Hotel Mosman(which he thought was a proper Hotel and previously tried to book a stay) he put down his card to start a tab, he said something like...”Now don’t go over and hit up the shops on a shopping binge with my card.” Bar girl, “huh, ah no sir we just keep the cards right here behind the bar here.” In the elevator, “hello, how is everyone doing tonight?” deafening silence crickets crickets crickets. On the street, he makes eye contact and offers a friendly hello, he notes later that people do not make eye contact, at all, undeterred he keeps at it. You can't deny your birth rite or shake who you are because other people don't understand you! 


I, of course am well versed in the social awkwardness of being me in a strange place. But it is all new again seeing it through someone else's eyes. Still, I do not know what to make of all this unfriendly stand offishness? Is it a colonial hangover? Is it that we live on "the insular peninsula?" Is it the lurking thought in their mind once they hear the American accent that anything else coming from our mouth will be rubbish? I don't know, but, you know the younger generation is weaker because I gave up after tiring of explaining my "jokes" and being the only one smiling, ever! Lucky for my Dad, he has persevered and not let any of the setbacks slow him down. He has met several "good friends" at the Hotel Mosman and been invited sailing and to country Western bars. This all happened in two days, which brings his total invites to two more invites than I have received from a real Aussies in six months. 


So...upon self reflection, I see where the problem may lie, I clearly do not drink enough(never thought I would say that).  All of the friendly Aussies must enjoy the drink. Crocodile Dundee told me it would be this way, I just didn't listen. 

Where the magic happens

Cheers to the Party

                             The Ram’s(Aries) celebrate in style

Following some pre-game “posturing,” the adults hit the town to celebrate BD’s birthday and my own April birthday. The night started in a room with a view at the Shangri La Hotel bar Blu. This is the place to see, all of beautiful Sydney Harbor, and be seen by what seemed like all of the 20 somethings in Sydney.  The drinks were DEVINE & DELISH. Momo and I had a Gin/St.Germain/rose martini, LK had his usual, a sidecar, (the drink that’s all the rage for the nursing home set) and BD got a Cosmopolitan which was almost a Carlton Draft due to “same same but different” English. Not to be outdone by the view, the bartender lit the orange for the bitter Cosmo en fuego, muy caliente! From Blu it was off to Rockpool Bar and Grill to enjoy flawless service, very good food and excellent company. Here is my take on RPB&G; the menu is vast, vast enough for many different options, but also vast enough to allow for incredible inconsistency. Example A: Entrees-mussels were excellent and the portion suitable for a party of 4, the Calamari was just ok and the portion was so small we each got one bite, literally one bite each of the just o.k fried squid for $30+. Example B Mains: lamb - to die for, braised beef - crave it for days, don’t toucha my plate kinda meal, bone in rib eye - beefy perfection on a plate, John Dory - boring, plain, looked worse than I would serve up at home for a Tuesday night dinner.  Example C: Sommelier pick of wine for my dinner was the most nothing wine I have tasted in ages, it could have been water if I closed my eyes. It was their own brand which should have tipped me off to the game in play. As a consolation, they bought another glass of something suitable with no drama(sometimes dining in Sydney "no drama" from the waitstaff is the best you can hope for). As we left after a 3 hour leisurely meal we were treated to the other side of downtown commerce, we were witness the oldest profession in it’s negotiation stage, right there in front of Rockpool B&G! For this small town gal, that was just CRAZY! :)

Back in the saddle

After emergency eye surgery and "posturing" for three days Big Daddy was back on the tourist circuit. 

Big Daddy and "my Little Daddy" at Watsons Bay Hotel, where you can not, no matter how drunk you are, stay the night.

Park by WBH

Watsons Bay

Harbor Bridge Pylon Climb. Great little museum on the way up

Never gets old. Sydney could be the prettiest city in the WORLD!

Whatever it is they are doing it can not be good! I can tell by their conspiratory body language!

And the "eyes" have it!

To everyone’s delight Momo and Big Daddy arrived Saturday March 26. On Sunday while out to lunch at the Manly Wharf Hotel BD said, “Is my eye swollen, I can see these spots under my eye, it is like I can see my skin or something in my vision?” Monday morning at 5am he knew something was wrong and was on the phone to his Dr in the States. Monday 8:30 am we were at an Opthamologist. By 11:30 am we were downtown at the Sydney Eye Hospital being informed by Dr. Cheng(who is a wonderful amazing Dr.) of the emergency surgery required to repair a detached retina, if a detached retina is ignored it can lead to blindness within 24-72 hours. From what I have learned, a detached retina is like wallpaper that is starting to peel off the wall so the Dr. inserts a gas bubble to push the “wallpaper” back into place. The really tough part comes after surgery and that is called “posturing.” Following the surgery BD was instructed to be face down for 22 of 24 hrs in the day for the next 3 days. Think seated massage chair, no masseuse. The gas bubble also rules air travel out for a duration of time. Lucky for us, they will extend their trip. Hopefully, they can do the sightseeing they have missed out on while "busy" posturing. 

I know I have railed against socialized medicine in OZ but this experience was so different. Perhaps for emergent care things are different. Perhaps it is as simple as the individuals who were involved are extraordinary, caring, compassionate and professional. Whatever the reason I am thunderstruck by the contrast. I can not sing the praises of Dr. Cheng and his entire staff enough.

MOMO and BIG DADDY come to my new house!

Lunch at Burnt Orange

Walking with my Big Daddy

Momo has endless patience for reading stories

Funny ad in Manly, Gaddafi in a floral shirt with ukulele, "Like Me, Everything Must Go"

Manly Corso

 Manly Beach with three Manly Men

In Sydney you are never too young for a flat white addiction. 

This was one(really just juice) was enjoyed at The Bower on the walk to Shelley Beach

Sky Safari!!!!

Meow

"Big Daddy, where are du?" See the next blog entry.

CM picked his outfit, this is his favorite shirt, 

when he wears it he tells everyone"I look so coot." Truth to be told it his brothers shirt in size 24 mo. He wants to dress his brother too, and really likes to wear matching outfits so he tries to persuade him to wear the 18 mo. shirt. I hold it up to CH, who is soundly in size 3/4 and sometimes 5, and he emphatically says, "NO, NO too small, I pick other shirt, Mommy." Since he is such a love he always waits until CM leaves the room to make his clothing decision.

Taking pictures of twin toddlers is like herding cats