Waterbom

We were very excited to visit Waterbom while we were in Bali.  It is rated the #1 water park in Asia and the #3 water park in the world (#1 and #2 being in Spain and Brazil) by TripAdvisor.  It did not disappoint.  We got there when it opened and reserved a cabana right by the kids' play area.  This gave us a place to leave our towels and shoes as well as a shaded place to rest/eat throughout the day.  Also, when Tom and I were worn out, the kids could play in the play area and we could keep an eye on them.

Charlotte relaxing in our cabana

kids' play area

Waterbom has 11 different water slides, one was under construction, and one Tommy was not tall enough to ride.  Tommy made sure he rode all 9 of the slides he could.  Tommy also made sure Tom and I rode all the rides too.  Charlotte was tall enough to ride 3 of the slides.  We had a blast!  Charlotte took advantage of the of the slides she could ride and rode them over and over again.  The workers at first were concerned she might be scared, but thought she was pretty cute doing it over and over.  One of their favorites was the twin racers, where they could race each other.  They tried racing Tom and me, but since we are so much heavier, we would easily beat them, even after giving them a head start.  They would stop at the beginning of the straightaway, where we would travel closer to the end.  Tom and I felt bad when we would get to the bottom and turn around to see how they did and they are turned around waiting for us to come down because they are sure they beat us this time.  It was much more fair if they raced each other.

Tommy and Charlotte on the Twin Racers

The weather was absolutely perfect.  It was in the mid 80s.  It was warm enough the water felt good, but not so hot that you were sweating the whole time.  The only bad thing about the park was there were a ton of stairs.  At the top of the rides, they had signs telling you how many calories you burned on your trip to the top.  We got ice cream at the end of the day and we had earned it!

Tommy is exactly 122 cm (about 48 inches) in bare feet, so he was just tall enough to ride many of the rides.  Therefore, he was one of the youngest kids riding these slides.  There were several slides where there were much bigger kids, and even adults, who were scared to go on the rides.  They were impressed with how brave Tommy was.  There were two rides that were especially intimidating.  They started with a straight drop.  Therefore, you had to stand inside an upright tube and the worker closes the door.  Then you hear a countdown and the floor drops out from under you.  I was a little intimidated the first time, but they were a lot of fun.  Tommy didn't even hesitate.  I am sure Charlotte would have gone on all the rides, fearlessly, if she had been tall enough.

View of the slides from above

The kids also had a great time playing in the play area and we took several trips on the lazy river.  Overall, it was a great day.  Tommy keeps asking when we can go back...

Bali-beach and relax

Today was our first full day in Bali.  We decided to spend the day at our hotel and surrounding areas relaxing.  The breakfast buffet was delicious.  They had a good variety.  We have enjoyed trying all the fresh fruit.  This morning we had yellow watermelon.  It tasted just the same.  We also like the fresh squeezed juices.  We all tried some of the watermelon strawberry juice this morning. 

Breakfast

Our view from breakfast: the pool, with the ocean in the background

After breakfast, we changed into our swimsuits and headed to the beach.  Tommy was pretty excited to swim in the Indian Ocean.  Our hotel is close to the airport and we had a really good view of the planes landing and taking off from the beach.  Tommy loved watching the planes and seeing all the different airlines he didn't recognize.  We splashed in the water and had a great time.  Tommy and Tom walked further down the beach to get an even better look at the airplanes while Charlotte and I played in the sand.  We all had a wonderful time.  We headed back to the hotel to clean up and eat a late lunch.  We spent most of the afternoon indoors.  Tom, unfortunately, had to do some work.  Charlotte wanted to go to the kids' club.  They had toys to play with and had a new activity planned every hour.  I kept going back to get her, but she didn't want to leave.  She ended up staying a couple hours and came home with a few art projects.  Tommy played some video games and walked into town with me to try to get money out of the ATM. 

Tommy's drawing of a Lion airplane, one of the new airlines we saw

At the beach.  The strip of land in the rear left is the airport runway.

playing in the sand

The view of our resort from the beach

coral washed up on the beach

We had been unsuccessful at the ATM, so after we picked up Charlotte we all walked further into town to try again.  It took us 4 ATMs before we found one that would take my card.  Our card uses a 6 digit pin instead of a 4 digit, so I don't know if that was part of the problem.  The places we were visiting will take credit cards, but we needed cash for taxis to get there and if we wanted to buy anything from the local markets.  I couldn't resist buying a tote bag on our way back to the hotel.  I have been looking for bag I can take to the beach/pool and found one that should work well.  It will be nice to remember our trip every time I use it.  It was so inexpensive, I didn't try to bargain with the woman selling it.  We ate dinner as the sun set and went to bed.  It was a good day.

View from our room's balcony.  Charlotte is playing with bubbles on the grass with the kids' club

Bali bound

The kids have a week off in October for midterm break.  We wanted to take a fun, but relaxing vacation so we decided to go to Bali, Indonesia.  Tom ended up having to take a business trip to the States right before we left and arrived home Thursday evening.  Saturday morning we were up bright and early to go back to the airport for our trip to Bali. 
It was a little rough getting there.  On the first flight, we had very little leg room.  I sat down and had such little room, I could not get my book bag under the seat in front of me without standing back up.  You can imagine how comfortable it was for Tom.  I traded seats with him so he was sitting between the kids and could impose on their space.  The good thing about this flight was it had TV's to watch.  I watched Jurassic World, which I had wanted to see.  The kids decided to play on their devices instead.  We had a layover in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  As we were landing, the tv's played an informational video about the KL Airport as well as things to do in Malaysia.   Then they played a video with different exercises you could do on the flight and tips to keep you healthy on your next flight.   I didn't see anyone doing the exercises, well except for Charlotte.  Tommy was very disappointed our layover was not long enough to leave the airport and see the Petronas Towers.  Maybe next time. 
Tom took Tommy to the lounge while Charlotte and I explored the airport.  We visited the “rainforest” they mentioned on the video.  The area had a waterfall with a path lined with trees.  Some of the trees had signs with letters on them.  There was a display that told you about the different trees.  The exhibit wasn't too exciting.  We didn't see any birds or animals.  It was very hot and humid though.  It felt like a rainforest. 

Charlotte in the "rainforest"

To get on our second flight, we had to go through security again at our gate.  Instead of having many gates together where the seats are all mixed together each gate was roped off.  An hour before the flight took off they opened the gate and you had to walk through the metal detector and put all your bags through the scanner.  It was a good thing we didn't buy any liquids at the airport.  Then you walked down a flight of stairs to get to the secure waiting area for our flight.  Our second flight was much more comfortable.  Tom had a bulkhead seat so he could stretch out his legs at least a little.  The kids and I sat together in the back of the plane.  Unfortunately, this flight didn't have TV's.  Also, their devices were almost out of batteries.  Tommy was able to use the iPad a little, but not much.  We did get a meal on both flights.  I requested a child's meal for the kids.  It is always interesting to me to see what people consider good choices for kids.  I expect to see familiar, healthy foods that aren't too spicy.  The kid’s breakfast had pancakes with maple syrup and blueberry sauce, a chocolate muffin, mango jello/pudding, and potato chips.  Everything was artificial and full of sugar.  Lunch was slightly better.  They had a cheese sandwich (on white bread with no crusts), a big candy bar, and apple jello.  After lunch, Tommy and I played some card games and Charlotte colored.  They did really well without their devices.  It reminded me of flying when I was a kid.  We cleared immigration quickly and found the transportation for our hotel.  

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Resort.  Our room was really nice.  It had a king sized bed, a pull out couch and a separate room with bunk beds and an XBox.  The kids were so excited about the bunk beds.  They quickly planned out who would get the top bunk each night (Charlotte the first 2, Tommy the last 2).  The bathroom was also huge.  The tub/shower area was really big and had a huge window that looked into the bedroom.  It did have a shade you could pull down for privacy, although the shade was located on the bedroom side instead of the bathroom side.  I’m sure the location is because of mold and mildew, but it seemed like there could be some potential problems.  Overall, we had plenty of room. 

bunk beds

huge bathroom

strange window from the bedroom into the bathroom

Bali by Tommy

We just got back from a trip to Bali.  Tommy wanted to write a post about our trip.  I will add more entries with a few more details later.

We rode Malaysia Airlines we had a layover in Kuala Lumpur   next we went  to Bali .When we got to Bali it was time to sleep and me and Charlotte found out we had bunk beds .The next morning we had breakfast .After breakfast we went to the beach . At the beach we played in the Indian Ocean and me and daddy wached the airplanes. After that Charlotte did the kids club and I went out with Mommy to go to the ATM to get some money. We were surprised that no money came out so we went back to the hotel. When we got to the hotel Mommy and Daddy had a rest and I played the XBOX360.After that Mommy brought Charlotte back from the kids club and we had dinner. Next we went to sleep. The next morning we went to Waterbom. My favourite rides were the smashdown2.0,doubletwist and fastnfierce. smashdown2.0 and doubletwist were ones were the floor dropped open and fastnfierce shot you straight down.

Tommy's drawing of Malaysia Airlines.  This is not our plane, we rode a single decker.  He drew a double decker so everyone would know what they looked like.

Splash Night/Party in the Park

We had a couple of fun events this past weekend.  Unfortunately, Tom had to take a trip to the States at the last minute so he was gone.  I am always thankful to have things planned over the weekend when Tom is out of town as it makes the weekend go by faster and gives the kids less time to think about missing Daddy.
Friday, the kids had an early dismissal from school.  Charlotte and I spent the afternoon baking and decorating cupcakes for Party in the Park.  That evening, we attended the last Splash Night of the season.  A cyclone on its way to China had brought torrential rain earlier in the week.  We had finally had some sunshine at the end of the week and it felt good to go to the pool.  To celebrate the last Splash Night, after a couple hours of playing, they showed Finding Nemo on a big screen.  The kids were very excited to get to stay late and watch.

Watching Finding Nemo.  They are sharing a raft on the far right.

Their raft deflated about halfway through the movie and they got pretty cold after the sun went down, so they ended up watching the rest of the movie cuddled up with a towel on a lounge chair with me.  We had a great time.

Saturday was Party in the Park at school.  It was a spin off of the fair from last year.  They had games, activities, food, and drinks.  The kids had a great time.  I bought them each some tokens and they had a great time spending them on games and treats.  The first thing Charlotte did was get beautified.  She got her nails and face painted.  I tried to convince her to wait on the face painting because I was afraid she would sweat it off, but she didn't want to wait.  Luckily, the sun stayed behind the clouds and her design stayed intact.  

Beautiful butterfly

Tommy headed straight to the Human Foosball.  I think he ended up playing it 7 times different times throughout the day.  He kept finding different groups of friends he wanted to play with.

They also played carnival type games.  Charlotte won a small coconut.  They put a hole in it and a straw so you could drink the water inside.  They also both took a turn in the bounce house.  

Charlotte also did Drum Jam.  Two leaders led the kids through a drum routine where they had to imitate the beat they heard.  They did a good job of making it interactive.  They let different kids get up and lead the beat and participate in dances.  

Charlotte had to leave early to attend a birthday party.  Luckily, I found a friend she could ride with so I could stay at school with Tommy.  Tommy had such a good time.  After he and his friends ran out of tokens, they just started running around and playing tag on the field.  The event was supposed to end at 4, the band played until 4:15, and I had to drag him out of there at 4:20.  There were quite a few people still there.  Charlotte came home about an hour later.  She had a great time at her party, but she was exhausted.  We all had a great day.  I got the kids to bed at a pretty regular time, with only a few meltdowns.  Charlotte slept until 8:45 AM the next morning and Tommy slept until right after 9.  I think that was a record for them, especially on a non jet-lag/travelling morning.

Mid-Autumn Festival 2015

Monday, 21 September was a public holiday to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.  On the Saturday evening prior, we attended our neighborhood's celebration.  They put on a nice event with games, a raffle, food and drinks.  All free for residents.  We had a good time, but it was very humid.  The celebration didn't start until 8:00 PM.  The kids are normally in bed by then, so they were already tired.  We were very hot and sweaty and were ready to go home after not too long.
The next day, we went down to Causeway Bay on Hong Kong Island to see some friends.  The kids had a great time playing with Lily in Guilin and couldn't wait to see her again.  Her family lives right across from Victoria Park, one of the biggest parks in Hong Kong and they put on a big celebration for the holiday.  We ate dinner at their house, the kids played, then we headed over to the park.  The whole park was lit up with lanterns.

Lots of pretty lights

Charlotte, Tommy, and Lily

We had fun walking around and looking at the lights and displays.  Again, the celebration started really late and it was a long ride home for us, so we had to leave before most of the festivities began, but we still had a good time.  It was good everyone was off on Monday so we could sleep in.

Water problems

Last weekend was a holiday weekend.  The kids actually had a strange week, because both Monday and Thursday were (unrelated) public holidays.  Many of the Chinese holidays depend on the lunar calendar (like Easter) so the date varies greatly from year to year.  I still haven't gotten used to the fact that the Chinese just celebrate holidays on the day they fall instead of moving them to a Friday or Monday to make it more convenient for working people.  The Thursday before the long weekend, we woke up at 5 AM because the water was blasting out of the sinks in the kids' bathroom.  The faucets were making spluttering noises like there was air in the lines.  Apparently there was a problem with the water lines in the neighborhood and the water had come on with such force that it had turned on the faucets.  The next morning, the water in those faucets was brown, so the landlord had to flush out the lines and we started boiling the water.

Saturday, it had just started raining rather hard.  Tom was upstairs in our bedroom and noticed a water noise that seemed to be more than just the rain on the ceiling.  He went into our bathroom and a pipe had burst and was spraying water and dripping down from the ceiling.  He tried to turn off the water valve at the street, but when that didn't work, he climbed up in the ceiling and turned off the valve on the pipe.  We have a drop ceiling in our bathroom.  Above the ceiling, there is electric as well as a large tank that fills with water and is used to flush our toilets.  There is a pipe that fills the tank that had burst (presumably, the water pressure from the day before had weakened the pipe junction).  I was SO glad Tom had been home.  I would not have known how to turn the water off and wouldn't have been able to reach the pipe to turn it off even if I had.  It definitely made us think what could have happened it the pipe had burst when we had been out of town the previous weekend or over the summer when we were gone for a month.  I texted our landlord's maintenance man to tell him what had happened.  His original response was "Is there a problem?  We are off today."  Really?  There is a burst pipe, water is dripping from the ceiling and our bathroom electric is sitting in a puddle of water.  After a few more messages and a phone call from Tom, he agreed to come over that day.  Most everyone is off on Sundays and Monday was a holiday.  This definitely couldn't wait until Tuesday.  After fixing the pipe twice (it dripped the first time), it was finally fixed by the following Friday.  It was nice to have our bathroom ceiling back in place.  Hopefully, that will be the end of our water problems at this house.

The tank with our flushing water.  

The pipe that burst.  Luckily, it had a shut-off valve