Going Somewhere?

I am not sure what the problem is lately, but I have not had any motivation to post anything new on my blog! If you are a faithful reader, I am sorry for my slacking off! I will try harder--must persevere!

Anyway, good news! I am leaving again on Sunday for another vacation! My friend and I have planned three Asian vacations this year, and since we are never quite sure when our time off will be, we decided to take advantage of this time we have now and book our second one! So, we are flying off to Thailand this weekend! :) Despite worries about weird parasites that enter through the foot (thanks Dr. House), and fears of drug smugglers stashing their goods in our bags and ending up in Thai prison (thanks Brokedown Palace), we have decided to head for island life once again (cue The Beach w/Leo DiCaprio)! We will be careful, Mom, I promise! Mostly, we plan to soak up the sun and eat as much pad Thai as we can handle! There might be an elephant ride, too. :) I feel very lucky to have the chance to explore Asia this year!

Dr. Fish

These beautiful flowers arrived on my desk at work for Valentines Day! I have an awesome boyfriend! It was a fun surprise! Some of my co-workers told me they want to use my boyfriend as an example for their husbands and how they should be treated on Valentine's Day! :) Hee hee hee..
Valentine's Day night, some friends and I went out to a place called Dr. Fish. First, we ordered Belgian waffles loaded with good stuff (as the staff laughed at us for ordering one apiece--the Koreans share theirs). We polished off our desserts and signed up for one of the weirdest things I have ever done!
Oh, here is a picture of our group minus one.
This is Dr. Fish. We took off our shoes, rolled up our pants, and plunged our feet into a tub of hungry fish. Weird! It was like someone was seriously tickling my feet and I was allowing it, even willing it, to happen! The purpose of this restaurant's feature, believe it or not, is exfoliation. The fish eat the dead skin off your feet and you leave with smooth feet. I don't think mine were in long enough for any real exfoliation to happen.
My legs are the ones at the bottom. You can see all the fish that are pecking away at my legs. So funny! Has anyone ever done this before? I am not sure if Dr. Fish is for everyone, but it was definitely a crazy experience for me! :)

Cold, cold.

Right now it is 14 degrees. The wind is so cold that it probably drops the temp down another 20. I know it is worse in MN! Yuk! Today I saw a girl wearing a miniskirt, a pair of knee socks and a thick sweater walking on the street. Crazy girl!

I have had half days of school this week so far. It is a nice way to spend my mornings: at my computer, in my office, sipping hot tea, and searching the web. I really have nothing more to do since the students mainly watch DVD's for all their classes. I have been helping a student prepare for a speaking contest in LA next week and another student to study his German vocabulary words. Both have been fun to work with! Not a lot to report at my job!

And now, it is way way past my bedtime and I am still awake because I took a "short" nap this afternoon which lasted three times as long as it was supposed to! Oops!

Keep warm my Minnesota friends and family!

Images of Bali

This is what our treehouse/bungalow on the beach looked like from the back! Isn't it absolutely great?! It is the coolest hotel/accomodations I have EVER stayed in! It was kind of open at the top so the ocean breeze wafted in throughout the day and night! Thats me: Swiss Bonnie Robinson! :)
These are the rice paddies we saw as we drove up to Amed from Ubud (about a three and a half hour drive when going only 50-75KM per hour...) There is a saying in the German language that I like: Es ist grau in grau. (It is gray in gray--used when it is cloudy with no chance to brighten up...just gray everywhere). I would like to tweak this saying and describe Bali as "green in green." It was green EVERYWHERE! The rains would come in the afternoons and make things even greener than I thought was possible! So beautiful!
Kuta Beach on day 1--surfboards...check, sunshine...check, hockers...check check! We skipped the swimming, though--the riptides are seriously strong and we didn't want to risk it!
Fire trance dance on the cliff at sunset...they sang and danced for so long non-stop! It was fun to see this traditional dance!
Wild monkeys. I might as well admit that I am a bit scared of these greedy creatures! Their beady eyes, long, snake-like tails and especially their screeching really give me goosebumps! There were so many just hanging out, and if you were unfortunate enough to forget to remove your earings, hairbands or sunglasses, well, friend, you would be out of luck! They will jump on you and take what they wish! Yikes!
I was adorned with this lovely green sarong and yellow sash by an old Indonesian man who was about as tall as my shoulder. He tied me up and explained the rules of entering the temple. No prob. I don't know a lot about the Hindu faith, but I am interested as to why all the statues looked so scary and serious! Most of the country is Hindu and they frequently put out small offerings in banana leaf trays with burning incense.
And, after all the fun of the day, this is where you could find me with my book, sunblock and a cool drink in my hand (usually a fresh fruit smoothie full of antioxidants and Vitamin C)!

Cooking in Bali

One thing that I have missed in Korea is being able to cook! I have such limited space and access to ingredients that I haven't ventured much into Korean cuisine. However, my friend and I signed up for a Balinese cooking class in Ubud and LOVED it! Don't I look like domestic here? (More like a giant next to our instructor you are probably thinking!)


This was my favorite dish we made: tuna steaks with fresh vegetables. The tuna was great (I usually never eat tuna either!) and the veggies had a really fresh taste! I can't wait to try it out on my own!! Dinner party anyone? :)
Two dishes in this pic: meat on a stick (or on lemongrass as on the right on the grill) and vegetable curry--I loved the curry but, although it was delicious, I probably won't repeat the pork satay.
And for dessert: brown rice pudding drizzled with coconut cream! Before living in Korea, I would not have enjoyed this very much, but that day in Bali, I finished off the whole cup--even with an already full stomach! Delicious!

There were a couple of other dishes we made and sampled throughout the morning. They basically had to roll us out of the restaurant at the end of the morning! I will definitely give these things a try when I get the chance (if not in Korea, for sure in the States!)!

While on the topic of food, I have to add that prices were very cheap. I think our most expensive meal was fresh fish and it cost about $17 for the two of us. Most of the time, we could order drinks, entrees, appetizers and dessert for two for under $10! So, we took advantage of the prices and ate A LOT! :)

Bali Top 10

Top Ten FAVORITE Things in BALI:

10. Funky Indonesian fire trance dance on a huge cliff at sunset with a great, no, AWESOME view!!

9. Fried bananas with ice cream drizzled in chocolate!! Yumm! :)

8. Fresh flowers lining the pathways and strategically placed all over statues and ledges!

7. The smell of incense burning in the frequent offerings to the Hindu gods! The scent lingered and followed us everywhere!

6. The prices!! It is a thrifty person's heaven!

5. Monkey Forest Conservatory! (300+ wild monkeys torturing the tourists...hee hee hee!)

4. Our treehouse bungalow on the black sand beach in Amed, only meters from the waves, under the volcano with palm and banana trees outside our window! Awesome! ($24 bucks a night!)

3. Balinese cooking class (1/2 day for $17.50 AND I got a cookbook and apron!)

2. Spa day!! (3 1/2 hours of massage, mask, facial, flower bath, hair, lunch and snacks for $22.50!)

1. Sunshine!! Woo-hoo! (this will nearly ALWAYS be my #1, however, the others are pretty much interchangeable.)

See you in a week! :)