Charlene's first overseas trip

29 Oct 2011 - 4 Nov 2011

We thank God for providing the opportunity for our family to go on a holiday together! As Dez is there for work, the allowance helps us to cover part of our hotel's expenses. Charlene's and my air ticket cost around $600 and we put aside $500 to spend.

Charlene is probably too excited the night before we set off and she couldn't get to sleep. That resulted in her biological clock being inverted again. She slept through the flight to Bali and only woke up at the night during our stay in Bali. Or perhaps, she wanted to let us enjoy ourselves...

The hotel we stayed in (Santika Premiere Beach Resort, Bali) was fantastic! The entire hotel atmosphere is rustic and peaceful. The staff is friendly and greet us at all times of the day. Outside our room is the swimming pool. When Dez was away working and Charlene was sleeping, I went swimming in the afternoons and would just lie on the chair, looked at the clouds in the sky, read my Daily Bread and appreciate God's creation. Dez and I also had an opportunity to drink cocktails (50% off during happy hours) while swimming in the pool. A pool-side bar experience is something that we probably will never do again...

The buffet breakfast in the hotel was good! There was different food (indonesian food, pastries, fruits)  each day and the quality of the food was good. I ate so much that I can skip lunch and just have dinner. Kunyit restaurant in our hotel serves authentic Balinese food. We are glad we tried their signature dish fried duck on the last day - crispy on the outside and succulent on the inside.

Besides Kunyit, we had dinners at some other places. Febri restaurant just opposite our hotel is value for money. The food is good too. We had nasi goreng and gado gado. We also had Greek and Mediterrean food at quite reasonable prices. The pita dip and kerbab were savoury too. Dez liked the waygu beef burger he had in a Japanese restaurant.

We are not really people who shop. There are many street shops in Bali selling singlets, T-shirts, bags and souvenirs  We are lousy in haggling and very often kena cheated big time. Beware of these street stall owners, they will raise their prices by at least 4 times! So even after they give you a 50% discount, the prices were still much more expensive than the shopping malls. There are 2 shopping malls - Discovery Shopping Mall and Kuta Square. If u are not good in haggling, Bamboo souvenir bazaar in Discovery Shopping Mall and Matahari in Kuta Square may be a better idea. The water in Bali is not drinkable and we had to buy plenty. One mini mart (Dewatra) near our hotel sells water the cheapest.

We didn't go to the beach much as we didn't want Charlene to be sun-burn or catch a cold as the sea breeze can be quite cold. I thank God that on the evening I pushed her there in her pram, not only did I manage to catch the beautiful sunset, I was also able to witness a wedding on the beach!

Overall, we are really happy to be able to create new memories with Charlene. Never would we imagine that we can travel overseas with Charlene. Indeed, as written in Mark 10:27, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”