Weekend Getaway

I had the chance to have a fun and relaxing weekend in Ubud, Bali with my sister over a weekend in February. Only a 2.5 hour flight, Bali is a very close paradise. I couldn't believe how pristine and beautiful everything was. The culture, the food, the Hindu architecture--all of it is enchanting, making Bali a unique and enjoyable destination. I could definitely go back and explore more of this Indonesian island. We stayed in central Bali--Ubud in a resort on one of the many river gorges in this area. It was a beautiful setting for a hotel nestled into the hillside. I had my first full massage in the outdoor spa overlooking the river.

We spent the first day exploring the main roads and shopping district of Ubud where I learned that my sister is much more decisive than I am and can drive a hard bargain. Cami also came with several restaurant recommendations and they proved to be winners. The food was as delicious as it was beautiful.

A street corner in Ubud with the Hindu offerings--rice and flowers wrapped in some sort of leaf. These offerings are littered all throughout the country in every conceivable setting.

We spent a day exploring some local craft villages known for their silver jewelry and wood carving. My favorite thing was meeting a lady who owned a shop and she let us have a look in her own living quarters--a Balinese style compound she shares with her married sons, containing religious structures and private rooms surrounding an open courtyard. Below you can see the entrance to her home as well as the courtyard with apartment. This is such a unique concept of a home and we saw the outside fences to these homes all around in Bali.

On our final day in Bali, we headed north to see an old palace that was once the home of a king and queen. It was nestled in rice terraces in a valley alongside a river. We didn't realize how many steps we had to descend to get there until we were climbing back up in the heat of noonday.Not far from the palace is a famous, old temple with sacred waters. We saw the sacred waters behind the temple, bubbling with a black smoke coming out just beneath the surface of the water. We were lucky to go on a day when the locals were their worshipping and performing all the typical rituals. Upon our return, we took a walk through the rice fields, stumbling on a quaint organic, outdoor restaurant situated in the rice fields. We stopped to share a very healthy tasting salad and beet, sweet potato, orange, passion fruit smoothie for me. I'm positively glowing--but I'm afraid it is more from the sweat and sunscreen rather than the organic serenity.

Et Cetera

Joseph took the big kids on a 6 mile hike around McRitchie reserve. It was a long hike but they sure felt proud when they finished.

Maggie in her "Read-to-Feed" school assembly. She is beginning a program where she gets sponsored for every hour she reads. In 2 weeks, her 3rd grade class will put all their money together and decide on which animals to buy for families in developing countries. Maggie has a big heart and is very philanthropic. As a consequence, she is very serious about this whole thing and I am sure to be out of quite a bit of cash when this is all over. That's okay. It is for a really good cause.

Abigail took this cute picture of Juliet with her new camera. Juliet is a very calm, patient and sweet girl and a complete joy to have in our family.
I like this picture because it reminds me of my baby pictures. I think out of all my kids, Juliet has the most of me.

Abigail is a beautiful girl but she is always so camera shy.

And her daddy's girl through and through, Ella takes more from Joseph than his deep set blue eyes, curls and round face. She is energetic and very strong willed. Her new passion is drawing. I recently showed her how to draw stick figures and now our house is littered with stick figures on white papers representing mostly Ella, but Joseph and myself too.

Chinese New Year and Xander's Field Trip

We recently celebrated Chinese New Year here in Singapore. It is the biggest holiday of the year here, mostly because the bulk of the population is of Chinese heritage. Joseph went to Chinatown with Xander's kindergarten class during the festivities and took some fun pictures that represent what we see all around us during the holiday. I thought I would post them because someday when we move away it will be fun to reminisce about the things that were so familiar to us at one time of our life.

Xander with his school buddies. He sure has a fun time at school and enjoys just about everything about it. The other day he was sick and was missing his first day of school this year. He was pretty distraught because he thought he would miss something fun.

We see a lot of dried meat stalls around CNY. I recently learned that it is because the Chinese do not want to use knives (bad luck) after the start of the new year so they buy dried meat to steam with rice.

Xander took this picture of Joseph. (That was pretty brave of Joseph to hand over his huge camera.) Joseph is standing next to a stand of pomelos--a sweet citrus fruit popular during CNY.

Burning sticks for ancestors--the smoke goes up to heaven and reaches them.

Chinese lanterns hang everywhere.

Cherry blossoms bring to mind springtime and new life. In China I think they bloom around CNY. I love this picture because of what Xander is wearing. He was so excited about the field trip and carefully picked these clothes the night before to wear (normally he wears a uniform to school but it was free dress for the field trip.) Plaid on plaid and just perfect.

Read and gold are the colors we see around us everywhere--they symbolize weath and prosperity.

A CNY delicacy. I used to know what it was made out of but I forgot.

I just love my happy, optimistic boy.
Shop houses in Chinatown.

Birthdays Galore

We celebrate quite a few birthdays in the Gordhamer household in the first two months of the year, beginning with Abigail on January 18. She turned 11 years old and got her own camera this year. In fact, I borrowed it to take this picture of her opening another present. She is sure growing up fast these days.


Not to far behind, on February 8 came Maggie, celebrating her 9th birthday. After her sister's birthday, she was very eager for her own. These two girls do a lot together and pretty much celebrate their birthdays together. Maggie really wanted an amethyst necklace and that is what she got this year. A girl after my own heart.



Joseph is just a week after Maggie, almost a Valentine's baby, on February 15. He is getting up there at 36 years. I asked him the day before his birthday what kind of cake he wanted. I must admit, I was hoping for something really simple (like brownies--just what he wanted last year.) Sadly for him, by the time his birthday rolls around I have had enough baking cakes and sweets. He wanted German Chocolate Cake. I have never made that before but I gave it a try. 9 eggs and 3 hours of my afternoon produced the masterpiece you see below: German Chocolate cake with coconut frosting all made from scratch. It really was delicious and a big hit with all the kids. They all had fun decorating the wrapping paper too.

Krabi, Thailand

It has been quite awhile since I posted anything and I need to catch up. In early January, we took a family trip to Krabi, Thailand. It is a coastal area in Southern Thailand with huge, limestone peaks famous for rock climbing. While we thought it a beautiful vacation destination, it was at times overwhelming with the little ones. Sometime on the first day, Joseph and I looked at each other and said something like, "this is it--no more southeast Asia family vacations for us." It is kind of a relief in a way because traveling with all the children is difficult and expensive.

Because our "resort" was on a peninsula with no roads, getting there was quite an adventure. (I use quotations because it tuned out to more of a twenty-something backpackers cabins and a 15 minute walk from the beach.) We took a car from the airport to the pier. Then we got on a boat with all the luggage and kids in tow to find that we couldn't approach the shore because it was low tide and swampy-like conditions. So when the boat stopped pretty far out, I really thought for a moment we would have to walk through it with the luggage somehow, but to our surprise a tractor with a trailer came out to rescue us.

The kids all had the amazing opportunity to do some climbing on the first day we were there. We hired a couple of guides with equipment and spent 4 hours climbing right off the shore. I had one short turn and that was enough for me. Joseph stayed longer with Abigail, Maggie and Xander. They all climbed multiple runs and did really well. Maggie is pictured below on her first run and Abigail as well on another part of the rock.

This was the view from the shore just behind where we were climbing. So you were either looking at the limestone or looking at this stunning scene. Juliet and Ella played in the water while we all took turns climbing.

Xander had a great time and put forth some good effort for a 5 year old. Below he is pictured repelling down a climb after he made it about half way up (the same one Maggie is doing in the picture above.)

And Abigail repelling down. I just thought this was such a cool picture I had to include it too.

Beach time is always fun. The beaches here were particularly nice because of the sand and the crystal clear water. The kids had fun digging holes, filling them with water and then trying to catch the little fish and sea jellies to put inside them.

Joseph in the water with the kids by Pranang Cave.The boat ride back--I just thought these were some nice pictures of Juliet and Xander.

And finally, we all went on a 1 hour elephant adventure, riding 3 elephants through a forest area and feeding them some pineapple. If you've ever wondered what it feels like to ride an elephant, it is very slow going and uncomfortable but definitely something to at least try once. The kids loved it though.