What are you doing this weekend? Oh, just going to Tokyo...

David and I were lucky enough to be invited to a wedding in Tokyo last weekend. The only down side of a trip like this is that the only flight from Singapore to Tokyo leaves at 6:00am, which means you call the cab at 3:30am. No one should be up at that hour, not even cab drivers.

We stayed at a massive hotel in Central Tokyo, with a pretty great view:

Here's the same view at night. A little more fun, if you ask me, you can see Tokyo Tower wwaaaayyyy in the distance:

We did nothing but sleep the first day (note the 3:30am cab ride above), but the next day we had it together enough to hit the Tokyo National Museum. It was interesting how the scenery on the way to the museum went from this:

To this:

In less than two blocks! Of course pictures were not allowed in the museum, so I can't give you another history lesson, but just as culturally significant was this poster in the subway station:

Apparently there's a bit of an issue with businessmen drinking too much after work and then causing a few problems on the subway station. The place does smell a bit like stale sake after 7pm.

The bride and groom invited us to dinner that evening, which was two nights before their wedding - I was so impressed they even had time! Yuko and Kouta are both terribly lovely:

And we can't wait to see them in their traditional Japanese wedding attire! Stay tuned, it's worth it...

So, What Are You Doing For Thanksgiving?

I love Thanksgiving. Our family tradition is to gather at one of my cousin's houses and eat, drink, eat, watch football, and eat. And sit around. And eat. The person hosting the gathering is responsible for the turkey, and the rest is pot luck. Only the most accomplished cooks in the family are allowed to bring the most important dishes, the rest are assigned ones that can easily be picked up at the grocery store. My favorites are the appetizers which usually take the form of something cheese-based, but also carries the additional requirement of the person assigned this course being extremely punctual. Woe the individual in charge of appetizers being more than 15 minutes late! My mother keeps threatening to bring only raw vegetables for appetizers as she thinks we eat to much and there isn't room for the good stuff by the time dinner time rolls around, so now she is no longer allowed to volunteer for such an important course. Green salad or kid's dessert for her. My brother, being male and unmarried, has only ever been assigned beer or dinner rolls. But I think he messed up the dinner roll responsibility one year and now he's only tasked with beer. There was a recent occurrence (that is now referred to as the the Potato Incident of '08) where I decided throw down the potato gauntlet and bring roast potatoes instead of mashed, and there was a small uprising among the older generation. Concerned phone calls were made. Keep in mind that there are about 25-30 of us at these gatherings, and they've been doing this for 40 years now, so the rules are set. Don't mess with tradition. And don't bleach the good silver.

This year was a distant second to all my family gatherings. Since Thanksgiving is not an official holiday here, I had to work during the day. Luckily there is enough of an American population here in Singapore that a few restaurants were hosting turkey dinners. At the last minute we decided on Dan Ryan's, which is sort of like Old Chicago without the good beer selection. Our friends Cindy and Gary had already made a reservation and were kind enough to let us crash their table as the place was fully booked and I waited too long to make up my mind.

The meal wasn't too bad. The turkey and mashed potatoes were dry (I like dark meat), and the yams were steamed, but there were cranberries and stuffing and gravy, and the green beans were surprisingly tasty.

The only true disappointment was the pumpkin pie. It was definitely from a box and the tiny amount of whipped cream (I prefer a 1:1 ratio of pumpkin pie to whipped cream) was so from a can. Blasphemy.

On the way home we drove down Orchard Road, which is sort of the Rodeo Drive of Singapore. Every year the streets are elaborately decorated to some sort of theme - this year it is "A Christmas All Decked Out". I'll take more pictures in the next few weeks, but here's a preview:

A 20-foot Santa playing the tuba. Makes sense.

The Weather Is Here, Wish You Were Beautiful

David's #1 thing to do was take a surfing lesson. I was a bit hesitant, figuring it would be really hard and I wouldn't be that good at it, but I didn't want to miss out on the chance to try it. I'm glad I did because it was so much fun! David was way better than I was, being stronger and able to do the pop-up thing, but I held my own.

It was completely exhausting and afterward we hit a burger joint where David did some streetside bargaining for a green laser pen. I swear these guys can get you anything you ask for and then some.

We visited a massage place called Chill that our driver recommended. Get this - 90 minutes of massage for $23. I love this place.

We headed back to the hotel to eat a great meal and watch the sunset one last time. Bali will be missed, and I really hope to go back someday.

Supporting the Local Economy

Day two in Bali was spent traveling to and from Ubud, which David described as "the Santa Fe of Indonesia". We had a great driver for the day (he was funny, that's always key to a good tour), and he was so patient with us as we wanted to stop at all the craft places. The first stop was to learn about Batik, where they had live demonstrations:

And of course a place where you could buy any number of things from paintings to hats, scarves, clothing and bags.

Next stop was a tour of a local Balinese home, where the tour guide had the hook-up and we were able to wander around inside the compound. It was pretty fascinating, with almost everything outdoors and open to the elements. Here's the kitchen:

The bedroom:

The workshop:

And the family temple area:

This was considered quite a wealthy family, take a look at their front door (the entrance to an air-conditioned indoor area - also wired for cable of course):

Next was a silversmith, where again there were demonstrations and a shop open to the public. Everywhere you go there are small offerings to the gods - on the dashes of cars, outside all the shops, at all the statues in the temples, etc. This one was next to a buffing machine as the silversmith shop:

Next up, Balinese temple from AD944. David had to wear a skirt!

I found the faces on the statues more humorous than regal...

Finally, we made it to Ibu Oka, famous worldwide for it's suckling pig. That's all they sell, and they do it well. Notice from the menu that you can buy an entire plate of skin:

This poor fella tried to sneak in and get some scraps, but it doesn't look like he was very successful:

Finally, the rice paddies. These are all over Bali, but this one is popular because it's not too far off the main road. Apparently we missed Julia Roberts by just a day, she was there on location filming the movie version of Eat, Pray, Love. The place was breathtaking, like stepping into a postcard.

The last couple of stops were more artists areas, one for woodworking where David bought a mask to add to his collection:

And last but not least a painters co-op, where again we tried to support the world economy by investing in the local art scene. We'll have to host an art show when we get back to MN!

Early to bed, tomorrow we'll be up with the chickens to take our first surfing lesson.

Bali Hai

I have a love/hate relationship with the blog. On one hand, I enjoy recording everything so I can share it with friends and family, but on the other hand there is sometimes so much to report that I don't know where to begin, and I'm paralyzed with indecision. "Begun Is Half Done" is a cross-stiched saying my mom had on her sewing room wall, and I use it often. Like now. Here we go.

I've been anxious to go to Bali ever since I read the book "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. David insisted he needed a vacation "like, now" and Bali is just a 2 hour plane ride away, so twist-my-arm, Bali it was.

We arrived late on a Thursday, and after being greeted at the hotel with leis and mint tea, we were ushered to our bungalow. At first I was a tad unimpressed, but then the bell hop opened a door and we found our awesome bathroom. I love it when showers open to the outside.

David slept in a bit the next morning, so I headed out to have breakfast by the beach and catch up on my reading. I never cracked my book because watching the waves and the surfers was just too enthralling. I could have sat there all day.

Our first stop on the city tour was a local tailor, where David got a custom made wool dress jacket for $160.

Kuta, which is considered "too touristy" by local standards, was surprisingly fun to walk around and buy cheap crap, if that's what you like. And I do.

We walked along the beach for a ways, then headed back up the main drag to find some food.

Along the way, we decided to stop and get 30 minute foot massages which were exorbitantly priced at $3 a person. No, that is not a typo. Three. Dollars.

Since this was supposed to be a relaxing vacation, we headed back to the hotel to sit by the pool and watch the sun set.

We changed and took a short taxi ride to a nice italian place up the road. It was crowded, but we were happy to wait 20 minutes with a glass of wine in hand.

We had a fun walk back along the beach, our only problem was figuring out which hotel was ours. There are huge spotlights beaming out from every resort/hotel along the way, and it's hard to tell where you are. We found it though, much too soon, as the weather was lovely.

Tomorrow, Ubud and suckling pig. Yum!