First Birthday of the Birthday Week

It could be said that Pit celebrated his birthday as soon as possible. After an airline delay from Singapore, a long queue through Indonesian Customs & Immigration, and a technical problem with the hotel room key, we found ourselves standing in the hall outside our room counting the 12 strokes of midnight.

Just after midnight on June 18 in Bali, we entered our hotel room and promptly ordered room service. We were famished, and Birthday Boy gets what Birthday Boy wants, especially if The Daddy wants it too! At 2am, we heard Frunty utter words we thought we would never hear, "Can you turn off the lights so I can sleep?" Pit on the other hand was in better shape since he napped between the airport and hotel.

Daylight broke 5 hours later but thankfully the Birthday Boy, born in the year of the Rooster, did not wake everyone until 9am. Oddly, we were famished again and so we rushed off to breakfast for a feast. Perhaps it's the plentiful fresh sea air or perhaps the rigours of travel, but we all stuffed ourselves with pancakes, fruit and yoghurt.

After brunch, the boys splished and splashed in the sea and the 3 different swimming pools scattered throughout the grounds. Our hotel is very attractively landscaped and decorated in Balinese style. Alcoves, nooks, fountains, and ponds abound. The boys fed the koi with our room service leftovers but finally had enough of the swimming. So, we moved indoors for some TV while The Mommy went for a spa extravaganza.

We met The Mommy en route to the "warung" where we ate dinner, a small local place with no more than 5 square tables. The owner noticed the birthday celebration and entertained us with his makeshift xylophone to play gamelin, traditional Balinese music. After dinner, we bought some snacks and gave them to local children as a way to share the birthday wealth that we enjoy that locals do not.

Tomorrow, our boat adventure awaits but it means waking at 6am! We'll take the boat to cross the channel where we'll spend the week on Gili Meno.  We'll be celebrating the next birthdays on the tiny island near Lombok.