Birthday 2024

The monkey turned 11 in May, so I took her to some NY favorites.  

First was Serendipity 3 for lunch and their famous frozen hot chocolate.

Next we went to the Top of the Rock to see the view of the city. This was my first time going to Top of the Rock and the views were great, and there were minimal lines and crowds, unlike going to the Empire State Building. 

And as we have done for the past three years, we went to see a Broadway show.  

 

Ohio spring break

 Since we didn't get to go to Ohio for Christmas, we decided to drive out for a few days during spring break.  Some people know that I ordered a Piecaken for Christmas and had it delivered directly to my sister's house in Ohio.  It comes frozen, packed in dry ice, so she put it straight in the freezer, in case we got the chance to come out to visit.  

So here it is...

It has a layer of pecan pie on the bottom, pumpkin pie in the middle and spice cake on the top.  The cake is covered in a spice buttercream frosting, and topped with apple pie filling.  I thought it was delicious and now I want to try one of the other flavors. 

We played a lot of games

Playing ukulele

Some people went to the zoo so they did this photo re-creation.

  

Bali, part 4

 After leaving the hospital, we went back to the same hotel we stayed at the beginning.  We did this because the hotel is closer to the airport, and it turned out to be a good decision because this was a little easier for someone who needs crutches or a wheelchair to get around.  

So the invalid stayed behind and we had one last adventure on Nusa Penida.  This was a beautiful island that offers lots of Instagrammable places to take pictures.  Once again, we saw lots of couples posing and women posing for their boyfriends to take photos, while they pretend that they are not posing.  

Our guide got up into this tree to take photos of us

Pretending not to pose...

That night we packed up and left, and sat on an airplane for 26 hours!!  Despite the unfortunate events that happened, I felt that we got lucky in that the hotel staff were so kind to us, the hospital staff were (mostly) super helpful, and the scenery was beautiful to experience in between hospital visits.  After our plans got derailed, we started talking about going back another time and maybe experiencing the rest of Bali.  However, after that flight, I'm not so sure.  There are beautiful beaches in closer parts of the world...

The End 

Bali, part 3

 So, after that beautiful day in the rice fields and the temple, we were on the way back to the hotel and got a text from our friend that decided to stay behind to take a cooking class at the hotel.  The text said that she broke her leg.  We got back to the hotel in time to get into the ambulance to go with her to the hospital.  Unfortunately, she slipped on the stairs when it was raining a little and broke her leg and dislocated her ankle and then she was stuck in the hospital for the next three days and had to have screws put her in her leg.  

With our trip sidelined, we had to cancel our next stop at the northern end of the island.  But luckily, we were able to stay in the hotel for that time and they treated us so well.  

Here are some meals we had at the hotel restaurant. 

While our friend was laid up in the hospital, waiting for the surgeon to travel from one hospital to the next, my other friend and I went to the monkey forest.  We were warned not to wear hats or sunglasses, because they might get taken by the monkeys.  I'm still wondering what happens to people wearing regular seeing glasses.  We did see a guy that was posing with a monkey lose something out of his backpack.  They were just sitting there, and then all of a sudden, the monkey grabbed it and took off.  I think it was a magnet or something that he bought a tourist shop, so nothing too expensive.  But surprising to see how fast and sneaky they are.  

You can pay a few dollars to have this monkey trainer get the monkey to sit on your lap while he takes pictures for you.  I didn't do this.  Monkeys are kind of gross.  

But also, can be kind of cute...

Bali, part 2

 I am not sure why this is taking me so long to finish posting about this trip, but since my mom keeps reminding me, I will add some more pictures.  These are some pictures of the second hotel where we stayed.  It was very cute and felt local.  

Every morning they replace the flowers around the hotel

The rice fields at Tegallalang are one of the big tourist spots.  These pictures look pretty because I aimed my camera to remove the things that are too touristy.  

So here you can see the toursity things.  They built these swings, and you can pay to go on the swings.  they have stores across from the field to rent these dresses with the long skirts.  So people rent these dresses and then have their boyfriends take their pictures.  Before you ask, no, we didn't do this.  But I do see the appeal because the pictures do look nice. 

Next stop was this temple -- the Temple of the Holy Water

This is an altar at the temple, and people put up their offerings. 

These are the offerings -- people put what they want to come back to them.  These include money, flowers and Oreo cookies

Our guide showed us what they do at the temple of holy water -- they take water from this fountain and put it over their head three times, and then drink three times from their hand.  They also put the flowers behind our ears as part of the offering.  

Bali part 1

 

In the fall, I went to Bali with some friends.  It was a landmark birthday for one of my friends and when I asked what she wanted to do, she said wanted to go to Bali.  It doesn't take much for me to be convinced to travel someplace new.  Here are some pictures of our first day at the hotel.  

This is a little church that has a clear view straight through to the ocean.  We saw a wedding happening here one evening.  

These little alters are built all over the island, including this one at the hotel.  

The next day, we were heading north, so we stopped at the Uluwatu Temple.  

This is the temple  built high on the cliff "between Heaven and earth."  

On the way out, we caught a glimpse of some monkeys.