Bali

After the hectic pace of Java, we needed a bit of relaxation. Luckily, Bali was the perfect spot. Bali is beautiful, interesting, and definitely relaxing.

After spending one night in the beach town of Sanur, we waded out to a boat heading to Nusa Lembongan, a small island off of Bali's south coast. Nusa Lembongan has few cars and the pace of life is centered around the constant Hindu ceremonies and the tidal harvesting of the seaweed.

We stayed in a beach hut on the remote side of the island and rented a motor scooter to get around. One the scooter it takes about an hour to tour the whole island, so we had a lot of time to read or nap on the beach. It was a perfect spot to spend a few days.

Then we headed back to the bigger Bali, where we toured terraced rice paddies, visited the Hindu temples, and wandered the streets of the artist town of Ubud (of Eat, Pray, Love fame). Almost 90% Hindu, Balinese life is dominated by ceremonies and the homes and towns are all centered around temples. Even though the temples there are very old, they are still used almost daily, and we ran across many elaborate ceremonies involving entire communities.

We could have easily spent another week in Bali, but were getting pretty excited for our next destination: Borneo.

Check out some of our pictures from Bali.

Bali

Java

After a two day trip that took us through Germany and Thailand we landed in Jakarta, which is on the island of Java in the country of Indonesia. Indonesia is made up of some 20,000 islands and is well known for the wildlife in Sumatra and Borneo, rice paddies, temples, Bali, and the bombings in both Jakarta and Bali that targeted tourist locations. We went because it had a good mix of culture, beaches, and wildlife (and it wasn't the rainy season).

We spent two nights in the crazy, overcrowded, hot, dirty, and fascinating city of Jakarta. We saw a few things but mostly learned how many people you can pack into a very small space (NYC is nothing!) and how it might be easier to take a taxi across the street than to try to cross on your own.

Our next stop was Yogyakarta. To get there we took a train across Java. The train took 8 hours and we spent most of the time watching the mountains, volcanoes, rice paddies, and daily life go by outside our window. Yogyakarta is a good size city, if we hadn't been to Jakarta we would have thought it was a big city but in comparison it was calmer and smaller. The main reason we went to the city was see two temples. Within 45 minutes of the city is the world's largest Buddhist temple and South East Asia's largest Hindu temple. Both were beautiful and amazing feats of human engineering.

After three nights we were now off for our next adventure in Bali. Here are some pictures from our week on Java.

Java

Honeymoon

For the past month we have been on our honeymoon traveling through South East Asia. Four countries, 13 hotels, 12 flights, and six islands later we are home. We are going to post pictures in three groups, a post for each main island we went to. But here are some things we learned from our trip.

1. Java has more motor bikes that you have ever seen in your life (and the drivers are crazy!).
2. You are never far from a Starbucks or a KFC.
3. You have to bargain for everything.
4. Rice paddies are beautiful.
5. Everything is always an adventure, you never know what to expect.
6. Bali is famous for a reason, it is beautiful and fascinating.
7. Stick bugs are really cool.
8. South East Asia is really really really far away.
9. You can watch proboscis monkeys forever.
10. Planet Earth was right, Borneo is really cool.

Friendly racing

After 5 years out of the sport of rowing, Joe and I decided to make a comeback yesterday. We've been maintaining a rigorous training schedule of at least once-every-two-weeks practices since the fall, so we decided to enter the Michigan Club Invitational regatta in Ann Arbor. It's 1000 meters of intensity, with clubs coming from as far away as Madison, Wisconsin. Despite our lack of fitness, seriously rusty technique, and my mistaking 300 meters to go for the finish line, we won the open double event! And more importantly, we had an awesome time rowing together and are satisfied enough to wait at least another 5 years until we race again.

Before the race: nerves of steel

We've still got it!

Look at that catch timing!

Delirious - it didn't use to be this hard

Summer Goodness

This just might be my favorite time of year. The farmers market is getting to it's peak and there isn't anything much better than wandering around the market on a Saturday morning. Last weekend Arthur and I got up and jumped on our bikes and headed to the Pastry Peddler and got a fresh warm pastry. Then we made it to the market where we got our iced coffee and wandered through all the stalls before we started making our purchases.

We have also joined a CSA (community supported agriculture) and pick up our box of goodness on Wednesday. We drive out to the farm on Wednesday after work and our box is waiting there for us. There are some extra goodies out on a table that you can choose from, flowers, herbs, green tomatoes, etc.

Here are some pictures of the best of the summer.
Our first CSA pick up














Beets and goat cheese from our CSA share


















Farmers market bounty


















Organic heirloom tomatoes and our own basil














First batch of blueberries

Local Salad

Yes, this was fresh lettuce.

Also, look how much our tomato plants have grown in just 2 weeks. They're 5 feet tall now!

2 weeks ago, they were just up to Courtney's waist!

Beet seeds went in the ground yesterday.

Triathalon!

Today I completed my first sprint triathlon! Two of my friends in my office, Kelly and Kendall, signed up for the Iron Goddess and I decided to join them. I wasn't sure what I was getting into but I spent the past few months training for it. I borrowed a friends road bike (thanks Anna!) and learned how to road bike. I have come a long way since the first ride, not being able to change my gears, not being able to make it 20 minutes, and being afraid of falling. I bought a new bathing suit and started doing laps. The first time in the pool I didn't have a swim cap, no goggles, and thought I was going to crash into everyone (sorry everyone at YMCA!). Thanks to Arthur doing my training runs and rides with me I made it to the race today and completed it! It was a fun morning and was impressed by all the other ladies out there making a go of it.

Check out some of the pictures from the day!

Triathalon!