The Lopez family's first major trip outside of the US was an adventurous one! They braved the 20+ hour flight across the world to spend a week with Joe and I in Southeast Asia. It was awesome having Diane (my mother-in-law), Raul (my father-in-law), and Rick (my bro-in-law) in town to share our Singaporean life and to do a little traveling as well.

Day one started with a "day in the life of Ana and Joe" tour. Di, Raul, and Rick (DRR for short) met us at 8 on Claymore for breakfast and experienced the Asian fare as well as the hospitality of the staff. When Joe left for work (unfortunately he had to work that day), I took DRR on a little walking tour of the Orchard Road area. From the huge malls to the efficient MRT, Di and Raul were amazed by the infrastructure of Singapore. 

After we meandered around, we met Joe for lunch near his office at Suntec. The Lopez clan's Asian culinary adventure started at Madam Saigon, a great little Vietnamese restaurant. After lunch, we hit up one of my favorite juice stands along Orchard Road for some dessert in the form of fresh, tropical juice. I, of course, stuck with my favorite... mango!

The jet lag finally hit DRR and they went back to their hotel for a quick nap. When they met back up with us at 8 on Claymore, we had a surprise waiting for them...

... a birthday/anniversary cake to celebrate all three of DRR's birthdays as well as Diane and Raul's wedding anniversary. The cake was decorated by yours truly (hence the chaos haha). I found a really cute cake shop at the Somerset MRT station where you can decorate your own cakes.

After dessert, we headed out for dinner :) The next stop on DRR's culinary tour was Lau Pa Sat Festival Market, a famous hawker center in Singapore. The highlight of Lau Pa Sat on the weekend is its satay street. Stalls of satay vendors line up along the road and their "salesmen" rush up to visitors to get you to buy from their truck. Diners sit on plastic chairs at plastic tables in the middle of the street, similar to Jalan Alor in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We had dozens of chicken, beef, and lamb skewers, and Raul and Rick tried the shrimp satay.

After Lau Pa Sat, we took a stroll along Marina Bay to show DRR the famous landmarks of Singapore: Marina Bay Sands, the ArtScience Museum and the Merlion. It was a great end to a great first day in Singapore for DRR!

Part of the Lopez clan is in town visiting from the US! It's been a lot of fun showing them around Singapore, and we took an exciting trip to Phuket, Thailand with them. Our travels have kept me busy and away from my blog for a few days... but don't worry, I'll have lots of stories to share soon. Stay tuned... :)

The Singapore Sling is Singapore's famous alcoholic beverage. It was concocted by a bartender at the landmark Long Bar at Raffles Hotel sometime before 1915 (according to Wikipedia). I first heard about the drink from a couple Joe and I met while vacationing in Jamaica this past summer. Sue and Graham from the U.K. had traveled quite extensively and loved Singapore. They said we MUST try the famous cocktail while in the far east. 

The drink was good... it tasted sort of like fruit punch with a hint of alcohol (see photo below for list of ingredients). But the highlight of this experience was checking out Long Bar and visiting the Raffles Hotel. Raffles has an interesting history (click here for more info) and the bar is a tourist landmark. 

Long Bar is a very laid back establishment with sort of a "beachy" Key West vibe to it, wicker chairs, and an older crowd. The thing that surprised me the most was that the bar provides peanuts with shells and allows patrons to throw the shells on the floor. This was a stark contrast to the sterile environment of Singapore and I was really shocked to see something like this here!

As I've mentioned before, the staff at our serviced residence is AWESOME! This afternoon, I got a random knock on the door and two staff members presented me with a box. They said, "We heard you like chocolate and we just wanted to thank you for being awesome guests." Inside the box were some of the best cupcakes I've ever had in my life (sorry for the "after" photo - I greedily dug into these before thinking of taking a picture). 

Needless to say, this made my night. Our friends at 8 on Claymore are wonderful!

Joe and I explored the Marina Bay area this weekend, and went to see the famous Merlion statue in Merlion Park. According to what I've read on the internet, the Merlion's fish body represents Singapore's origin as a fishing village and its lion head represents Singapore's original name, Singapura, which means lion city. 

The Merlion turned 40 years old on September 15, and Singaporeans are still celebrating the occasion. Merlion Park looks like a little shrine with candles and birthday cards from children. Speaking of children, we saw a little boy pretending to drink the water from the fountain in a photo, so of course, Joe and I wanted to try it as well!

Marina Bay is a really nice area to walk around and there are many restaurants along the water offering a great view of some of Singapore's most famous landmarks.

As you can see here, I captured a great shot of the Marina Bay Sands hotel. This hotel houses a casino as well as several clubs (a few weeks ago I wrote about visiting Ku De Ta at the top of the hotel). I love how the top of the hotel looks like a boat.

Other landmarks we saw from afar include the Singapore ArtScience Museum (the lotus-shaped building, which is part of Marina Bay Sands) and the Singapore Flyer (the ferris wheel). I plan to visit both of these in person before we leave Singapore! 

Be sure to check out our photos from Bali. Hover over the photos tab until the drop down menu appears, then click on Indonesia.

On our last day in Bali, we took a day trip to Ubud, a town known for its artists. Ubud is about an hour and a half drive north of Nusa Dua. 

We discovered that the best way to travel around Bali is to hire a driver for a day. Everyone in Bali seems to have an uncle or brother who can provide transportation. Our driver, Ketut Suputra, was referred to us by his nephew, the driver who took us to the Odysseys Surf School. Hiring Ketut for the day only cost us about US$35. It's incredible how cheap transportation is in Bali!

Ketut was a great driver and tour guide. He was born and raised in Bali and knows the island well. I have his contact number for anyone who is thinking about visiting Bali - just let me know if you need it!

Along the drive to Ubud, we passed through areas that appeared to specialize in different types of art. Ketut explained that each village in Ubud produces a unique form of art. First, we saw many stores that had enormous stone carvings - they were huge elaborate statues that you might see in front of buildings. Next, we saw stores with enormous wood statues that were beautifully carved with fine details. Finally, we saw stores with beautiful paintings. Ketut took us to an art collaborative that featured paintings by local artists. Although the paintings weren't my style, they were very beautiful. We weren't allowed to take photos of the paintings, so unfortunately I can't share them here. But I did have a chance to grab a photo of one of the artists hard at work.

Next, Ketut took us to the center of Ubud where we explored the Ubud Market. Half of the market was under renovation, but the remaining half was still an expansive space full of market stalls selling touristy trinkets. Although most of the goods were cheap junk, I was impressed by the quality of the Balinese silk and discovered some really pretty scarves.

After the Ubud Market, Joe and I wandered around the streets of Ubud. The streets are very narrow, packed with spas, restaurants, shops and guest houses (small hotels). The entrances to the guest houses are ornate and beautiful (see the photo below) and left me wondering what the accommodations look like. I wish we had had more time to stay the night at one of them.

After exploring the town, Joe and I ventured to a restaurant called Sari Organik Warung Bodag Maliah. This is a must-do for anyone who plans to visit Bali! The restaurant is about a 15-minute walk away from town and the trek is beautiful. We walked along a narrow foot path through beautiful, green rice fields. It was picturesque and great to see an undeveloped, natural aspect of Asia, away from the hustle and bustle of tourists.

Sari Organik is a small, family-owned restaurant right in the middle of a rice field. The building is basically a big open air deck and most of the food cooked at the restaurant is grown/raised on site. Everything is fresh and delicious! We shared a meal of a mango smoothie, guacamole, Balinese chicken satay and nasi goreng (Indonesian fried rice). What's more, is that the entire meal only cost about US$18! I couldn't believe that a big meal like this at a beautiful farm would be so cheap!

Lunch at Sari Organik was a great way to end our trip to Bali. Overall, Bali is my favorite place that we've traveled to so far, and I hope we're able to visit again someday!

Before going to Bali, I researched many different options for excursions and tours. I came across one girl's blog that detailed the fun she had taking a surf lesson. I decided to go out on a more adventurous limb than usual, and signed Joe and I up for surfing. When in Bali, do as the Balinese do... right?

Bali is known for its great surfing conditions, and the town of Kuta is very popular with surfers. Kuta is about a 25 minute drive north of Nusa Dua... although the ride can take up to an hour because the traffic is terrible and there is only one road from Nusa Dua to Kuta.

I chose to sign us up with the Odysseys Surf School because of the great reviews I read online. The surf package was really inexpensive. At $45 per person, the school provided transportation to and from our hotel, all of our surf gear/clothing, a 2.5 hour private lesson, bottled water and a decent shower facility. It was totally worth the experience!

Surfing is VERY DIFFICULT and our surf instructor Gary was very patient with us. Joe got the hang of things pretty quickly and was able to surf on his own. He had some great rides on the waves.

Me on the other hand... let's just say I needed some extra help. I could not, for the life of me, keep my surfboard perpendicular to the waves in order to surf on my own. Gary had to be my "training wheels" and hold my surfboard until a wave would come so I could have a fighting chance at standing up. 

Despite falling a million times, getting hit by my own surfboard as I toppled over, and swallowing mouthfuls of disgusting sea water, I have to admit that the experience was very exhilarating. It was worth it for the few times I was actually able to stand up and ride the waves. Joe and I have promised ourselves that we will try surfing again in the future... maybe Hawaii next time?

While I highly recommend surfing for anyone who visits Bali, be aware that you might not be able to walk or move your body the next day! :) I consider myself to be a pretty fit person, so it was comical that I could hardly breathe the next day (my ribs were extremely sore!).

Joe and I had a fabulous trip to Bali. It was a relaxing, adventurous, and overall awesome vacation! We stayed at the Westin Resort Nusa Dua. Nusa Dua is a gated community in Bali that's known for being a quiet, family-friendly area. The beaches in Nusa Dua are really pretty with warm, crystal clear water.

Our first day in Bali was quite lazy. We hung out on a daybed by the beach, dozing, reading, and enjoying the ocean. The Westin is an awesome resort with great food and service. I highly recommend it to anyone who is thinking about visiting Bali.

Although Bali is beautiful, the most striking thing about the island is the people. The Balinese people are some of the friendliest and most peaceful people I have ever met in my life. Their smiles are incredibly warm, welcoming and genuine! I was struck by how positive the Balinese are, despite the fact that they are very poor. One of the locals we interacted with said he had never been outside of Bali because it is too expensive for him to travel, but that he is just thankful to be alive and well. It's a sobering experience to see how people in poorer countries live and makes me appreciate my life even more than I already do. I'm going to make a conscious effort to be as positive as the Balinese any time I face an obstacle in the future!

Stay tuned for the next posting... day two was a little more adventurous. Joe and I tried surfing for the first time! 

I walked up to a frozen yogurt stand and asked for mango yogurt and sprinkles. The lady at the counter looked at me with a confused expression on her face. So, I pointed to the sprinkles... and when I looked down at them, I realized they are called color rice here in Singapore. Lesson learned. Sprinkles = Color Rice