Hand made / Hand painted kites from Bali

Before I moved to Germany, some friends and I went to Bali.   I had always wanted to go there but, I really think it was tied up into watching that musical movie that was based there...South Pacific is the name of the movie.

You know the one... where they sung the song:  "Gonna wash that guy right out of my hair?"   And, the sailors dressed up as dancing girls w/ coconut halves strapped to their chests?   Darn it all... it seems that the weird 'inability' to not be able to type in paragraphs with normal paragraph breaks is once again back!

Anyway, I bought 2 of these kites.  The first photo is one of my kites:  A Dragon Kite and I also have one of the blue butterflies.  These looked so pretty hanging outside shop windows.  I need to get my dragon kite hung up in my classroom.    I'm going through some of my photos (that were on that lost and now found memory stick) so, I 'll continue posting some images as I find time to do so.  I hope you enjoy them.   By the way, even if Bali wasn't like the movie that I watched as a child... it was still a very beautiful place, friendly people, and great food.   We stayed in the "Hard Rock Cafe Hotel."   It was my friend's 'dream come true!'  ha ha

Eat, Pray, Love

Some of you might have read the book or have watched the movie based on the book: Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

When my friends and I went to Bali in April 2008, they had both read the book- but, I hadn't (shhh, I still haven't) read it at that time. They were determined that we would find the Medicine Man/ guru that was mentioned in the book so that we could get our fortunes told.

We hired a local guy to help us find this man and drive us to see him. Our tour guy had to ask around a lot and he finally got a lead and off we went. We did manage to find him. He was quite charming. It was a fun adventure and he liked that we were all 3 teachers. He told us that teachers were very important.

Oh my fortune? He told me that I would marry a good man, a man with enough money that we would never have to worry, and he would be a man would would always love me. He did seem to mention something about this man being a good lover too!

All I can say is, "Hey, Ketut, (the medicine man/guru that gave us our fortunes) I'm still waiting."

I guess that I should have asked him WHEN??? ha ha

Speaking of birthdays and monkeys....

I have a couple of teacher friends who have birthdays in June and July. This is after we are out of school and most teachers overseas have flown back to the states and since two of us moved to a new country last fall.. that means that 3 of us are now in 3 different countries. So, to me that meant.. I needed to get on the ball and get their gifts sent to them quickly.


Last year for Memorial Day weekend and the Monday holiday that we were already out of school and an additional 3 days of 'any purpose' leave days.. that we all signed up for early enough to insure that we'd be able to take these 3 days off from work.. we went to Bali for a week.


I had always wanted to go to Bali.. for what seems like forever. I know it stems from watching SOUTH PACIFIC when I was a child... and I just knew that if I didn't go this time... before I left the Pacific region and Asia in general.. that I'd never have the chance to go. So, off I went with 2 other friends... (the friends who just happen to be celebrating the June and July birthdays that I mentioned)


I never did blog about this trip last year.. because I moved from my apartment and into a hotel right after we returned from Bali and of course the trip also happened during the last 3 weeks of school. That is a very busy time in general.. without throwing in a vacation and getting ready for the movers to come to your apartment to take away your worldly possessions. Much less setting aside your best 'guesstimate' as to what 150 pounds is for the 'express shipment' that the military will fly to your new destination so that it arrives in one month instead of the 3 or 4 months that it takes for your household goods to arrive by boat. And, let's not forget 'deciding what you need for the next 3 months and what will fit' in the suitcases to take with you for your summer vacation (usually in the states) and to tide you over in your new location.

As you can imagine, quite often one over-estimates what they have, need, or will fit in a suitcase.. especially with the weight limits of today. Did you know that for international flights you used to be allowed to check 2 bags weighing up to 70 pounds each? When I made international moves was the only time that I did this.. but, it was great for when you were moving. Of course, those days are long gone. Just like cartoons being shown instead of commercials at the start of movies in theaters.

All of this packing, deciding, and add in shipping a car, and all the grading and report cards, meetings, etc.. that one has to do to close out a school year.. and the end result is that you just have no time to blog about travel adventures.. much less think that you have any time to go away on a vacation anyway.


Part of our Bali adventure, included going to the Monkey Jungle. We saw adorable, sweet, little monkeys. I even saw a group of tiny baby monkeys being 'babysat' by a few adult female monkeys.


So, in honor of their birthday, the monkey jungle of Bali just one year ago.. and let's face it.. the caffeine in the form of coffee, or soft drinks that most teachers tend to rely on to make it through each day.. much less the last few weeks of school... I decided to knit them a gift that would fit all categories. Their gifts have been mailed and received and now I can post the photos on my blog.


May I present: THE MONKEY 'soft drink can' or water bottle keep-cold cozy.. which can also double as a 'keep warm' coffee cup holder cozy.
The one with a purple hat just makes me smile.. it looks like the monkey finds the soft drink 'just a little too cold' for his/her liking! She/he seems to have a very startled look.

I loved the ones that I knitted for my friends so much that I also knitted myself one.


I will admit that this is a pretty rare feat that I have accomplished.. making something like this for myself.. because, I usually have good intentions to make myself 'something' after making a handcrafted ______________ for friends... and I just never find them time to make the items for myself.

Or let me put it this way, there are many hand crafted ornaments 'that are not decorating' my tree.

THE RICE TERRACES OF 'BALI'

I just realized with my move to Germany and how busy that I was as soon as I returned from my trip- getting ready for a move and ending a school year--that I had failed to post some of my photos from my vacation to Bali, Cambodia, Vietnam and Singapore.

Here are the rice terraces in Bali. I know that the Philippines has an amazing area of rice terraces- but, I was unaware, until my visit, that Bali also had some rice terraces. If you look closely- you can see the different ages of the rice plants that are planted between the terraced areas. They walk on the little earthen dams to tend to their crops and this also helps to hold the water for the growth of the rice plants.







After we stopped and took some photos- a group of people selling their 'wares' had gathered. I loved the lady that was selling the hats. She reminded me of the children's book with all the hats stacked on one of the character's head. Of course, I won't mention that she held out her hand for some $$$ after I had taken her photo. :D

Hey, hey we are the monkeys... and people say we monkey around...

In Bali, we went to the Monkey forest... this area is full of protected wild monkeys just roaming around... as cute as can be. I wanted to try to pet them and hold the little monkeys... but, I'd rather not get bitten and have to take rabies shots for days on end... so, I managed to resist the urge to pet a wild monkey.

They are not afraid of humans and one of the rules is to NOT BRING FOOD in for the monkeys. I was also told that if 'a monkey jumps on you'... (not the best thing to happen but, better than having a monkey on your back lol) stay still, don't touch the monkey and start walking and they'll eventually jump off... oh, and I'm sure that it's a good idea not to FREAK OUT AND START SCREAMING...

WHY do I mention... monkeys jumping on you? Well, while I was in the park, one medium sized monkey suddenly jumped on my camera bag/purse that was slung over my shoulder and was suddenly unzipping the different pockets of the bag. He was moving all over the place and was giving me the 'eye' before he finally jumped down. Problem was... I had a knitting project in the bag and I'm so glad that he didn't find it-- because, I could just see all the mischief that a monkey could do if he grabbed my yarn, needles, the knitting and run off with my yarn and knitting needles through the jungle.

Oh, did I mention that this monkey jumped up on me another time? We were about to leave the park and I noticed a gang of monkeys following closely behind me and then suddenly the monkey jumped up on me again. *I'm sure it was the same monkey too! Prior to taking this photo... there were 6 monkeys following me...




In case you were wondering, I didn't scream... but, it took all the control that I had to not try to touch the monkey... but, as I said... I'd like to keep all of my fingers and I knew that it wouldn't be wise to try to touch a wild monkey that is suddenly around your waist and is eye-ing your face... Any touch, might be considered a threat to the monkey...

Now, for some cute monkey photos.. and after you look at them ...just tell me that I wasn't the only one who would have wanted to pet the monkeys? *In case, I posted a duplicate monkey photo... just consider it another opportunity to go 'aaah'... cute monkey.



I think that this mother monkey looks tired...

Practing a yoga pose, maybe?

This looks like a mom, new baby, and an older sibling-- that isn't quite ready to go out on his/her own?


To give you an idea as to how 'little' this sweet guy is... they are eating the small finger sized bananas... about 4-6 inches long.











"OUCH!!!"


This was a 'play group'... about 6-9 mama monkeys and their babies ran to this hill and the little ones were playing together. I also saw one mama monkey with twins.. boy, were they holding on tight on her tummy while she was moving about.