Day 314 : Elle Tournent Dames Draaien Brussels International Female Film Festival! (Day 4)!

It was the last day.... rather, last half of a day.. left in Brussels. Our flight was at about 2pm, so we decided to make the most of it and go around the beautiful city one last time.

We first went to a cafe to get some breakfast - our first breakfast outside the hotel. It was interesting because it was pitch dark at 7:30am when we settled in for our breakfast of amazing toast with eggs and bacon topped with coffee and hot chocolate. It was also interesting because some people came into the cafe (I mean indoors) with dogs and nice settled down right next to us. I can't imagine dogs allowed indoors in any restaurant or cafe in Singapore, but clearly Brussels is very pet friendly.

Post the breakfast, we walked around the Grand Place one last time. Given the early hour, the square was almost all empty - a sight hardly seen in the otherwise tourist heavy area. We even managed to get a shot of the Mannekin Pis without other tourists crowding around it! After walking around for a while, we had yet another round of Belgian waffles and then it was time to say goodbye.

A tourist-less (except the husband, of course) Mannekin Pis

Last round of Belgian waffles

An almost empty Grand Place!

Oh, I must mention the Pakistani Uber driver who happened to shuttle us twice within the same day - once to the breakfast cafe and then again to the airport. His was an elderly gentleman named Akmal, who spoke such beautiful Urdu, that I could just sit and listen to him going on and on. I LOVE that language!

So yes, that was that. We had a pretty eventless journey back. I slept most of the way, enjoyed the food on Emirates (which wasn't the case on the way to Belgium) and it all ended pretty well.

What more can I say other than that this was probably one of the best four days of my life. I am so thankful for this opportunity - the festival, the people, the sights, the food, the husband and everything else that with it. SO. SO. Thankful.

186 more to go. 

Day 313 : Elle Tournent Dames Draaien Brussels International Female Film Festival! (Day 3)

Thus, after sleeping since 4pm yesterday, we woke up to the day of the screening!

Again, after breakfast at 7am at the hotel, we got dressed and caught a taxi to go for a brunch organized by the festival. The brunch was at the house of two of the festival’s organizers and it was in one of those multistory row houses that is so typical of Brussels. At the brunch, we met several other film makers, all the organizers of the festival and also super talented Indian actress Shahana Goswami who was representing one of her films from Bangladesh. It was a great experience to talk to all of the different film makers about the making of their films, the themes, their lives as film makers and what not, all done over an amazing array of incredible food. Then I got the surprise of my life when one of the key organizers came up to me and whispered that she thought our film was the best of the festival! She told me how much she loved the film and how it stays with for a long while even after watching it. Another organizer told me how they had long discussions about the film after they watched it the first time. It was all so overwhelming, especially since I was wondering how an European audience would have reacted to the film. Of course, I knew they would have liked it because otherwise I wouldn’t find myself in Brussels like this, but I didn’t realize the depth to which they had liked the film. I felt on top of the world and wished that the rest of the audience would appreciate it too. Post the brunch all of us took one big group photo in the backyard, which by the way, housed two chickens, much to our amusement!

With the other film makers and festival organisers

Belgian Chickens!

 Post the brunch, the husband and I went and bought ourselves a new travel luggage because one of ours had broken over the flight here. After picking up the new one, we went back to the hotel to drop it and immediately started out again to grab lunch before the screening, which was scheduled at 5pm.

We went straight to the area near Cinema Vendome, the venue for our screening, and realized that it was the African part of the town. All the shops around were selling African groceries, African clothes, African accessories and what not! It was very, very fascinating! We walked around, did a bit of shopping, picked up some middle eastern lunch again and then made our way to the venue.

Cinema Vendome, screening venue 

 We reached just in time for the Q&A session of the previous movie which was a documentary about mothers of jihadists in Brussels. We had not watched the film but I saw a Kurd film maker, who was in the audience, crying heavily. She later talked of her experience – about losing a loved one to a terrorist attack during a peace protest in Turkey. It was my first up close experience with someone who has been through such a harrowing experience that I am only familiar with via media. It was disturbing but also very humbling. I sent out a million prayers in gratitude for all that I have.

There was a short gap between the next screening, which was my film. My husband and I picked up some popcorn (the husband was VERY excited about the popcorn) and drinks and settled ourselves comfortably. I wasn’t sure how many people would turn for our film and quite amused to see that we had almost a packed house!

And then it happened. One of the most beautiful experiences ever!

The screening went on smoothly and I could judge the audience’s positive reactions throughout. There were many smiles and good natured laughs and a great applause at the end.

During the Q&A, I was asked so many interesting questions! A guy asked “Do men in India not express their feelings openly to their spouses?” (to which one lady answered “that’s a common thing everywhere, universal truth, not only in India!”)… another asked about how I got the actors to look at each other so intensely, intimately, another asked what would be the tip I would give to someone who wants to make low budget films, another asked whether the actors have been through such experiences before and is that why they are looking so realistic on stage, another asked if I were a psychologist because everything in the film and everything I say sounded so right (this one really cracked me up!) and so many more! At one point in time, someone asked me whether I was endorsing leaving your love for the sake of your parents, and I said,  “No. That was only a backstory. What the message is that no matter what the past has been… we still have the ability to fix the present and be happy with it. The message is that as long as you communicate to your spouse openly, there would be a lot of love.” And then I saw a couple in the front row… the man held the lady’s hand and gave it a tight squeeze and smiled and she in turn, smiled and rested her head on his shoulder. It was probably the most defining moment of the whole night for me. It was SO beautiful!

Getting questions translated during Q&A. 

 

With the lovely audience. Unfortunately many had left before we could take this pic, thanks to the loooong Q&A. 

We had such a long Q&A session and it was all the more interesting because it was all done with help of a translator. They would ask questions in French which would be immediately translated to me and then my English answers would be translated back in French for them. Post the Q&A too, so many people came up to me  and continued to talk about the film. They asked if there would be more screenings because they wanted to bring their partners / children / friends etc. to come and watch. One told me that if her husband had been anything like what’s said in the film, she wouldn’t have had to get a divorce! They told me my film is like French Cinema. They told me it is poetic. And everyone told me there is so much “heart” in it… or something similar because there is no English direct translation to that word in French. I was hugged, and even kissed because people were so happy!

And then the husband, who also watched the film on the big screen for the first time, said, “I am so proud of you.”

 

All smiles post the screening!

Needless to say, I was on cloud nine. Or higher, if there is one. All this is SUCH  a blessing.

After I talked and exchanged contacts with a lot of people, the husband and I decided to make the most of the rest of the evening by taking a walk through city centre and Grand Place at night. One of the translators recommended a certain route because “it’s the most beautiful part of the town”. And she was SO right. It was indeed the most beautiful part of the town! We walked around for a long time with wide eyed wonder, discovering one pretty sight after another.

Brussels at night

Brussels at night

We had dinner, again with a magnificent view to go along and then by the time we walked back to our hotel, we were sad to leave but happy to have been here.

What a day! 

187 more to go. 

Day 312 : Elle Tournent Dames Draaien Brussels International Female Film Festival! (Day 2)

Thanks to jetlag, we were up by 5am and then started the horrible wait until breakfast to open at 7am. Sharp at 7am we were at the dining room in the hotel and stuffed ourselves with the local fares of cold cuts, breads, a million varieties of cheese, coffee, tea and freshly squeezed orange juice.

Then we got ready and decided to explore the city further. Given it was a Friday, the festival was opening only in the afternoon at about 5 or so, so we had the whole morning free.

We walked again, this time to the Grand Place, the main square and chief tourist attraction (for very good reasons)  of Brussels. We had been here on our previous trip as well, but this time it was much nicer because it was off-season and there were only few tourists. We walked about the area a lot – in and around the square, some shopping places as well as the non motorable City centre, paid a visit to the Mannekin Pis (the peeing boy, who is a local legend), saw a carnival, were given oranges by the carnival folks, had Belgian waffles, had Vietnamese Pho for lunch because I wanted something hot and soupy to deal with the cold, had coffee in another place with a  grand view of the Grand Place, bumped into two beautiful churches, hear a pipe organ playing enchantingly in one, chatted a lot, took a lot of pictures and generally had a ball!

Grand Place

Local carnival

Oranges!

Waffles

Non motorable City Centre

The long walk from our hotel to Grand Place

Sights that we bumped to

Coffee with a view!

Church #1

Church #2

 After a while, we felt exhausted with the jetlag catching up, so we walked back to the hotel and decided to take a “short nap” at 4pm. Incidentally, the “short nap” ended at 1:30am when both of us work up feeling extremely hungry. But it was too late and even the Turkish place downstairs was closed. So the husband ate a bar of Snickers and given I am a bit more health conscious, I drank a glass of water and both of us forced ourselves to sleep again. I was a bit of disappointed that we “wasted the whole evening sleeping” but the husband was more optimistic. He pointed out that one thing about travelling without Madam is that we can sleep and wake up whenever it pleases us, so we should be pretty happy that this was achieved. Touche!

Thankfully I was exhausted enough to fall back asleep again, that too with the memories of a day well spent in gorgeous Brussels, so it was all very good.

188 more to go.  

Day 311 : Elle Tournent Dames Draaien Brussels International Female Film Festival! (Day 1)

Where do I begin?!

I had the most amazing, most magical four days ever! And since it were so magical, am gonna write everything about it in detail across four blog posts.

I made my way to the Elles Tournent Dames Draaein Brussels International Female Film Festival and given that we are in the celebratory mood of our 10^th wedding anniversary, the husband joined too. This was our first proper holiday – with just the two of us – post Madam’s entry into our lives, so I was thoroughly excited. We spoke to Madam about her parents taking off together for a few days and she gave us her blessings. So, we left her with my mom and our helper and the two of us took off.

I was so excited right from the start that I even looked forward to the long flight with its stopover in Dubai (not one of my favourite airports for sure – the food is super expensive, the bathrooms are too few, and it is generally over crowded and yes, I am spoilt rotten by Singapore’s Changi airport!). I started the celebrations right from the first leg of the flight – that took off at 1:30am from Singapore to Dubai – with a couple of movies (a terrible Malayalam film called “Kunjiramayanam” and something else that I don’t even recall anymore) and wine to go along. We passed our transit in Dubai – first at a random overpriced café and then at McDonalds (only sane food place I think) and then took the next leg of the flight which was pretty eventless and on which. I watched another movie – the Kannada film “U turn”, which was a non surprising thriller but with an excellent lead actress.

Once we arrived in Brussels at their local time 12:45pm, we were greeted by the sub zero temperature as well as the volunteer from the film festival who came to pick us up. We had a nice time chatting with her as she figured the route to the hotel. We got lost once too, but thankfully that was in a beautiful residential area away from the city, so no complaints!

Soon she dropped us at our Hotel Retro, which was pretty nice. We checked in and then walked to the Turkish kebab place right opposite and had one of the most amazing meals ever! Am not usually a huge fan of middle eastern food but this was to die for! After feeling pretty full and happy, we got back to the hotel for a short nap before the opening night event in the evening.

After a good siesta, we quickly got ready and decided to walk the 1.5kms to the venue, in -3 degree celsius weather. I was initially skeptical about whether I would be able to handle this because I feel cold at 24 degrees in Singapore, but I seemingly survived pretty well. By the time we got out of the hotel at around 6:30pm, it was already dark outside and pretty chilly. But we walked through the beautiful streets of Brussels and I began to fall in love with the city. We had been to Brussels a few years ago with both sets of parents, but hardly got to spend any time there – just a few hours, as part of the vast itinerary that was part of the tour package. But this time we were exploring it by foot, and it was great!

We found our way to Bozar, a centre for the arts and the venue of the opening night. Upon arrival, we were greeted by the festival organizers, were fed some wine and Iranian nuts, and were introduced to the translators who were to translate the opening night’s Iranian film that was screening with French subtitles. We also met some fellow film makers – and together we watched the film with the help of the translators.

Post the screening, we walked back to our hotel, again ate at the Turkish kebab place (seriously, SUPER yum!!) and then hit the bed like a couple of logs because we were SO exhausted from the long flight, the jet lag and the walk in the cold.

End of Day 1 and I already love Brussels. 

In transit at Dubai

Opening night at Bozar, with the festival brochure!

189 more to go. 

Days 302 - 305 : Dhaka International Film Festival!

I had the privilege of attending the Dhaka International Film Festival for the second time! The first time was in 2012 with my first feature film Mausams. It is a warm festival with great hospitality and some of the best films around the world.

The highlights were :

1) Meeting veteran film critic Gautaman Bhaskaran, Indian national award winning director Salim Ahamed whose film "Adaminte Makan Abu" was the Indian entry to Oscar that year and his producer T. P. Sudeesh, all of whom encouraged me in different ways to "aim bigger". I had several long conversations with all of them and they gave me much needed insights and offers to help if I ever plan to take movie making more seriously. It really was a tremendous learning experience!

2) Meeting all the beautiful folks from the previous round - festival director Ahmed Zamal, his wife, his niece Tahmina, Bengali filmmaker Debanik Kundu and Iranian filmmaker Zohre. Some of the volunteers from 2012 who had remained friends also visited just to meet my co-producer and I. Today they are working / married / with kids and took the effort to come down all the way to meet us, even though otherwise they are off the festival scene completely. How sweet is that!

3) The food! Always and always a favourite! The Bangladeshis have really figured this one out!

4) The weather! The temperature was just right for my taste. It was cool and sunny in the mornings and I really enjoyed the time sitting out in the sun together with the other film makers and the festival director and catching up on films, festivals and life.

5) This probably should have been higher on the list, but the screening of the film itself! It was wonderful to hear the responses after the screening! I was especially thrilled with the feedback because the screening itself was a bit of a bummer because of bad audio. But all's well that ends well.

6) Meeting several other film personalities such as FIPRESCI Jury Members, festival directors of other film festivals such as renowned Iranian film maker Reza Mirkarimi of Fajr festival and many, many others.

So yes, it was a beautiful few days and I had the most amazing time! I wonder whether I would be back in Dhaka again for another film festival, but for now, am so super grateful for having the opportunity to be there second time!

196 more to go.

Days 218 - 220 : China again!

Yup, I found myself back in China, for the second time within 2 weeks!

The key highlight was the food this time. Our global CMO was in the town and she ensured the team went out for dinners on both the days I happened to be there.

On the first day we went to Mr & Mrs Bund on the Bund in Shanghai, which is like one of those super high end Michelin star restaurants or in my CMO's own words, "One of the best restaurants in the world!". And the food didn't disappoint at all.

On the second evening, we made our way to Chinese restaurant that specializes in the hairy crabs that Shanghai is famous for, also a Michelin star one, if I may add. I avoided the crab, but gorged myself on everything else that was laid out on the table, topping it all up with some Chinese rice wine (too strong!).

The downside was that I had a horrible experience travelling back because of continuous delay in the flight timings thanks to Shanghai's overcrowded airspace. But that was more or less compensated by the really cool Italian film I watched called "The Perfect Strangers"on the flight. It was a super low budget film - set over a dinner party and featuring 7 characters - but with absolutely brilliant writing, direction and performances. Loved it!

Thus wrapped up yet another, and hopefully the last for the year, China trip.

280 more to go. 

Days 191 - 197 : Kanpur!

I had a last minute planned, beautiful short holiday in Kanpur where I relaxed a lot, shopped a lot, read a lot from my Flipkart overdrive purchase, ate a LOT, spent a really good time with the in laws, visited the beautiful Sai Mandir & Iscon temple and in short had a fab time! Madam enjoyed thoroughly too  and didn't want to get back to Singapore. I believe it is all best explained via a bunch of photographs. Actually I was so relaxed that I didn't even take enough pics, seems like! But still, here you go.  

Madam all set for her flight to Lucknow, with her luggage, her activity book and big smile! 

Enjoying the chairlift with her Dadi!

Super happy times with Dadu & Dadi! 

Super happy times with Dadu & Dadi! 

Super happy times with Dadu & Dadi!

Attitude @ Kanpur

My Flipkart purchase!

303 more to go.

Days 174 - 179 : Being Lazy!

Yup, it's official. I have become really bored of the blogging. Rather I have become rather lazy about it. Not that things haven't been good. But the quiet days continue to be quiet and with quietness, I realize, comes laziness.

So quick recap.

Sep 10 - Had a fab time at a friend's place celebrating his dad's birthday. In the evening went with the husband on a "date night" - with a little bit of shopping from Raffles City (trying to spend the vouchers I received at work for my "excellent service"), dinner at Podi (after a really long time and I thoroughly enjoyed their pasta with curry leaves) and drinks at the Gravity Bar at Carlton Hotel, which my newest find for a nice, quiet place with some good music of numbers from 1990s.

Sep 11 - Back to Shanghai, but not before I bought myself many books from my favourite airport bookstore at Changi! I watched a couple of films too, including Hail Caesar, which was set in the backdrop of Hollywood a few decades ago, and was fun with many a surprising moment.

Sep 12 - It was a public holiday in Singapore, but I was working away in China. A day full of meetings, productive ones thankfully, some yoga in the evening, and some reading before bedtime. Not bad.

Sep 13 - A couple of meetings in the morning before the flight back to Singapore. Watched a couple of films, but nothing to write home about. In fact, I don't think I actually ended up watching anything fully. Back home, was surprised by the husband who had come all the way to the airport to pick me up!

Sep 14 - The husband took off on his business trip, so it was me and Madam and Onam. To celebrate Onam, my brother in law and sister in law came over, we went to the temple (I even wore a sari!), got a really good sadya packed from Swaadhisht, relished it, and felt pretty happy about the whole thing.

Sep 15 - The husband was still away, so it was me and Madam again. We talked a lot, painted a lot, "worked" a lot, exercised a lot, played a lot and goofed around a lot.

Am loving these quiet, lazy days!

321 more to go.

Day 148 : A Birthday "Abroad"!

I woke up in China today, on my 34th birthday. The birthday is shared with the husband who, needless to say, wasn't too happy that I would be away on his birthday. Of course, I was quick to point out that it's my birthday too. Anyway, here I was, so I thought I might as well enjoy it. And honestly, it ended up being quite a nice day!

Firstly, I had woken up to a gorgeous view. The Shanghai skies had cleared for the first time in all my visits over the last year - there was no haze at all, and it presented a beautiful view from my hotel room on the 46th floor.

Inspired by the view, I spent about 40 minutes doing Ashtanga Yoga. Then I called home and spoke to the husband and Madam. Madam seemed rather disappointed that she woke up and didn't find me, and she asked me to get back home immediately. "You come home. NOW." And when I told her that I couldn't, her exact words were "What kind of a mother are you?". Oh dear. Sometimes I wonder if she is 3.5 or 35.

Anyway, back in the office, I was surprised with a birthday cake by my lovely colleagues. I was so super pleased that I had two pieces of it - it was pretty yummy too!

The Cake

Post the day long meeting, they then took me to an Indian restaurant, where I had some good Chilli Naan and Goan Prawn Curry and topped it off with Masala Chai. And as we all know, topping anything with Masala Chai makes me the most happy!

Unfortunately work wasn't done for the day as we had a few meetings to go post dinner, but I discovered this lovely library at the top floor of the hotel, and used that for the meeting.

The library at JW Marriot - isn't it cosy?!

Back in the room, it was more emails and powerpoints but I was happy. It was indeed a happy Chinese birthday after all!

352 more to go.

Day 141 : A Volcanoe & a Floating Restaurant!

In our previous trip to Bali, we had paid a visit to Mt. Batur, an active volcano in Bali's Kintamani region. We decided to revisit the place this time - it would be educational for Madam and a new experience for our helper. But in my quest for making the visit "different" from the last time for the husband and myself, I searched for restaurants in the vicinity that would be of interest.

Most folks go to the viewpoint in Kintamani to take a look at Mt. Batur and the lake around it and have lunch at the only proper restaurant there. So I was looking for something different from that. In my search on the internet, I found out that there is a floating restaurant right on that lake. According to the folks at the villa, it is apparently a little known secret simply because it takes a longer drive to get there vs. the viewpoint, and the road itself wasn't supposedly the best. But a floating restaurant sounded awesome, so we decided to check it out!

The drive to Kintamani was beautiful - it was mostly away from the touristy routes and yet, presented some lovely sights like the famed terraced farms (the big steep ones, different from the ones next to our villa), the pristine, non commercializes parts of Bali and finally the volcano and the lake at a distance that we caught from the "viewpoint" area. We then proceeded to the floating restaurant and I realized that roads were not at all bad as the folks at the villa made it out to be - clearly standards for roads are different for Indians and Balinese people.

Anyway, coming to the point, the floating restaurant and the view it presented were beautiful (once again, the pictures do no justice)! And the weather was cool and breezy and just about perfect.

Mt. Batur as seen from the floating restaurant

The floating restaurant

 And what topped that view? The food! We gorged on a lot of things but my personal favourite was the nice & spicy fried fish that came with two awesome sauces and some cut onions with lime, chillies and coriander which was simply the best! We all agreed that this was the best food we had in Bali this time - especially given how cheap it was!

Back in the hotel, we lazed about for a while, had some ice lemon tea and some local snacks and then went out to the Ubud centre one last time. We walked around, shopped a bit and got ourselves another round of local Balinese cuisine. This one, unfortunately, was nothing to write home about, however, we were very entertained by the fact that the staff were all glued to the TV watching a melodramatic Hindi soap dubbed in Bahasa Indonesian. Not only were they glued, but they were ooh-ing and aah-ing because seems like the hero just returned to the heroine after a bout of disappearance. To make the experience even more Indian, this Balinese restaurant also served "Indian Chai".

Back at the hotel, I helped myself to a glass of wine, watched a few more fireflies, read my book and tucked myself in happy at the thought of a holiday well spent.

359 more to go. 

Day 140 : Swept Away!

I woke up to another beautiful morning in Bali!

Post breakfast, the husband and I went on a short walk around the neighbourhood - through the farms, along the streams, dodging a variety of fauna on the way. Then we chilled out at the villa for a while, before taking off the Samaya resort to have our lunch at their Swept Away restaurant - my find from TripAdvisor.

We tooka  taxi to Samaya resort, with a short break at the entrance of Monkey Forest to see the monkeys - the monkeys here are known to be unruly, so we didn't go in any further, especially as we were greeted by loud cries and shrieks from fellow tourists who presumably lost a purse or a hat or some such thing thanks to one of the abovementioned unruly monkies.

Samaya resort was in a very quiet area of Ubud, but perched on a hilltop, with rooms and restaurants at various levels of the hilltop. It presented a amazing view - one which is done zero justice by the this picture below.

View from Samaya's reception area

To get to the Swept Away restuarant, which is right at the bottom of the hill, we had to take a buggy. Madam was delighted by that! She exclaimed her "car was so cute!" and "Wheeeeee"-ed all the way down.

Swept Away was right next to a beautiful river with rapids - it is the same river that much of Bali's white water rafting is conducted. While the restaurant itself is a few feet above the riverbed, they had a little path all the way down to the river. We walked down the path and splashed our feet about in the clear, cool waters.

The river next to Swept Away

And soon I realized that Swept Away not just had the best location - it actually had the best service as well as the best food! We ordered some black rice with chicken, pasta with chilli prawn, fish & chips and grilled chicken and mashed potato for Madam. They were all, A.W.E.S.O.M.E. Even Madam who is a poor eater otherwise, breezed through her chicken & potatoes ! Their drinks were really good too - I ordered a mixed fruit juice followed by a mocktail called "Oh My God" - a mix of orange juice, ginger and mint leaves - and truly went "Oh My God, it is so good!"

The staff were very good as well. They noticed that Madam had a fascination for the fish in the Koi pond right next to our table, so they got some bread crumbs for her to feed them. They were also super attentive and always making sure we were happy with the food. All in all, it was an amazing experience!

After yet another buggy ride along the steep hilltop, we were back at the villa. We relaxed for a bit and then went on to get our full body Balinese massages, offered free by the villa. How awesome is that!

So the husband and I got an hour of super relaxing massage next to the swimming pool . Then Madam and the husband hit the pool, while I caught up on the blogging with this view as well as the afternoon tea - ice lemon tea & banana fritters - to go along.

I had this beautiful view for company while blogging in Bali!

We felt pretty lazy to go out for dinner and we didn't fancy another night of dinner from the villa, so we ordered in some food from Warung JB - a restaurant close by. I got myself some Crispy Duck, a specialty in Bali apparently, and it was out of this world!! I was a bit apprehensive at first as I never have had it before, but oh my God, what a mistake! I definitely want to give another go at it before I return to Singapore.

Then the husband and I opened the bottle of wine we had picked up from dutyfree. There was also some excitement trying to get rid of a lizard that had entered the room. But after all that quietened down, I settled down with my book #2 - one by Ian Rankin, with my wine for company, and with the sounds of the crickets and frogs as the backdrop. It was, once again, perfect.

360 more to go.   

Day 139 : Surprises of Ubud!

It was a day of surprises, to say the least.

Firstly, I woke up to Surprise no. 1 - this fantastic view of the terrace farms right from our room!

I honestly had no idea I had booked a villa right in the middle of some of the famed terrace farms of Bali! The Airbnb profile had not given that away - or at least I didn't see anything of the sort.

So this basically meant that I was absolutely delighted at what I saw and couldn't stop raving about it!

View from our room at Inang Villa

Over our breakfast of eggs, fruits, toast, banana pancake, juice and tea at an equally adorable dining area at the villa, we saw ducks, roosters, honey bees, farmers, rice being laid on the floor for drying, young boys training for sports, old folks fit as army men/women and what not. It was almost like every single thing fascinated me!

View from the dining area at Inang Villa

Post breakfast, we took the free shuttle service and made our way to Ubud centre. We hung out around the Ubud palace, shopped for a few trinkets in some of the 1000s of little shops, had some Balinese food and topped it all with ice cream.

Which brings me to Surprise no. 2 - while we were having our lunch, I heard a voice behind me "Shilpa alle?" ("Are you Shilpa?"). It was a lady who had recognized me from my sitcom Athazham! While I blinked at her open-mouthed, she went on to explain that she is living in Singapore, is visiting Bali with her family and has watched all the Athazham episodes. She also went on to add that everyone in her family, including her brother and his family in UK, are all "fans". Needless, to say, I was super duper surprised and of course, rather pleased about this unexpected "celebrity" moment. Being recognized in Bali from an online sitcom - seriously, who would have thought!

When we got back to the villa, we were served hot ginger tea and yummy banana fritters, which apparently comes free every afternoon - that would be Surprise no. 3!

After enjoying that lovely evening tea and fritters, Madam and I made our way to the swimming pool. I had sent our helper out on a half day tour, so at least she feels like she had seen around Bali. The husband and I had done all the touristy spots in our previous visit and were not keen on repeating them, especially with Madam in tow. So the helper went off to see Tanah Lot and the Royal Temple, while we chilled out at the villa.

The pool at Inang Villa

After spending a considerable time in the pool Madam and I felt rather tired. So we ordered food early and she immediately dozed off after her dinner.

It was once again pitch dark outside, but I stepped out to the balcony to gaze at the stars and was rewarded with Surprise no. 4 - Fireflies! There were a few flying around, blinking on and off, just a few metres away. I was so excited!! I rushed back in and switched off the lights in our room so that they can be seen better and then dragged the husband out.

He and I spent some time enjoying the sight of these wonderful creatures, with darkness all around and the stars above and it all felt oh-so-perfect!


361 more to go.

Day 138 : Sounds of Bali!

After all the messy last minute deadlines at work and packing that never seem to end, we left for Bali! As always I gifted myself a few books from the airport bookstore, Madam helped herself to a couple of sticker, colouring and activity books and all of us, including our helper who is accompanying us this time, got some tea and juices to go before the flight.

The flight was pleasant - Madam slept through it, so I started on my first book - Shamini Flint's "Inspector Singh Investigates : A Curious Indian Cadaver", which turned out to be a light, engaging, fast paced entertainer. The husband and I also decided to start on the "sinful" part of the holiday and ordered some instant noodles in the flight.

Soon, we touched down at Bali and was welcomed by its new airport. I have been here twice before and the memory was that of a rather tiny airport but the new one is humungous and sparkling, in line with all the new airports these days. Immigration was quick & easy and we were picked up by our driver Ketut who took us to to our villa in Ubud.

We passed by the main streets of Ubud centre and I immediately fell in love with the line of quaint, cosy restaurants, boutiques and cafes on either sides of the narrow road. There is really a very nice, old world charm about this place! Soon we left the "centre" behind us and were heading more and more into the interior or "the village" as Ketut liked to call it. First came a few houses with the shrines at the entrance and then paddy field after paddy field (we guessed that's what it was since it was pitch dark outside and we couldn't make out a thing).

Soon we reached Inang Villa and what struck me first as we got out of the car was the change in sounds. There were no vehicles and no voices except our own. But there were a myriad of other sounds - that of crickets, frogs, birds, flowing water and the breeze. I glanced up at the sky and sure enough, there were more stars up there than we could ever see from Singapore . I decided then and there that this was a place I would be happy to stay in forever.  

We checked in to our two bedroom unit - Madam was quick to pick "her room", enjoyed the lovely welcome drink, drove out a lizard who was hanging out in Madam's room, ordered some fried rice and fried noodles in for dinner, and tucked ourselves into our beds. As I snuggled up with my book, I was amused to hear roosters crowing in the middle of the night!

Needless to say, I slept a very happy sleep.

362 more to go. 

Days 120 - 122 : Picture Perfect Phuket (Continued)!

It was the perfect holiday. I spent good time with the husband and Madam as well as our friends who joined. I read a lot, ate a lot, drank a few glasses of really good wine, chilled out by the pool, listened to the waves, did yoga on the beach to my heart's content, and sent a silent "thank you" out to whoever it is that painted the gorgeous colours in the sky every dusk and for me having the privilege to be able to witness it.

I think more than explaining it all, the pictures would work better again.

Yoga on the beach (something I'd been wanting to do for a long while)!

The pool & sea at Outriggers Laguna Beach Resort

The lagoon view at the resort, drenched in rain

View of the resort from the lagoon

A canal in the lagoon

The resort at dusk

A "kissie" during sunset

One of the many beautiful sunset moments

It was so beautiful, even Madam had a "Titanic" moment

:)

378 more to go.