Beautiful. Busy. Bali

Bali -- the trip we had been looking so forward to.  Eric and I booked our trip back in August and scored a great deal over Chinese New Year, when Penang is super crowded and busy and Eric has an extra two days off of work.  We hoped to escape the hustle and bustle of home for beautiful beaches and serene landscapes.  Our trip became even more exciting when Dave and Em added Bali to their SE Asia itinerary to join us! 

We arrived late on Thursday night in the midst of a heavy tropical downpour.  After a quick soaking on our way to the taxi, we were on our way to our hotel in Kuta for the evening.  We enjoyed a few Bali Hai beers at our rooftop bar and called it a night.

On Friday, we hired a driver to take us clear across the island to Lovinia where we had booked two wonderful nights at our own private villa.  Along the way we stopped at Bali's famous terraced rice paddies, visited a mountain temple and experienced Bali's unbelievable traffic and windey roads. 

After a mere day in the van with our driver, Gadae (pronunced - good day) we arrived to Villa Kupu Kupu and the beautiful volcanic black sand beaches of Lovinia.  Five months ago when I found this villa, I could hardly wait to stay there.  Private, secluded and gorgeous our accommodation definitely met expectations.  Our villa came complete with staff -- Cadet, who cooked and cleaned for us and our "Security Gardiner" who watched over our house at night and tended to the gardens and pool by day.  Unbelievable. 

We spent our first night enjoying the complementary welcome dinner of mee goreng (fried noodles) that Cadet prepared for us, drinking beer, playing (more) Euchre and enjoying our plush accomodations.

The next morning, after Cadet prepared us breakfast and kept our coffees and teas full, Dave and Em left the villa to explore Gadae's village and check out a few local temples.  Eric and I played on the beach and enjoyed having the entire beach and ocean all to ourselves.  The water was perfect and we even stayed out swimming during the rain.  It was super romantic.

It cleared up in the afternoon and we enjoyed poolside massages in our oceanside cabana.  Heaven.

Later that evening we headed into town for dinner on the beach. We enjoyed watching the sunset over the volcanoes and seeing the traditional fishing boats come back with their daily catch.   

Our time at Villa Kupu Kupu was way way too short!  I could have easily stayed another week.  We traded in our private and very quiet villa for the bustling streets of Ubud.  Along the way (back across the mountains) we stopped at a nice waterfall.  

After another long day in the van and Gadae's crazy driving, we made it to our last stop on our Bali tour, cultural Ubud.  We stayed in a very traditional Baliense villa, complete with open air rooms, large vaulted ceilings and big patios.  It was a nice retreat from the traffic in the town.

We spent most of time in Ubud walking around the city, taking in the culture, shopping, eating and figuring out what all the "buzz" is about.  Emily and I spent an entire day shopping and sweating (it was soo hot!)  We caught up with the men and did more shopping and eating with them!  We stopped to hydrate (aka drink a beer) every few blocks.  In fact, Em and I were late meeting the boys and sure enough we found them at the bar next to our meeting location....doesn't that sounds like a nice vacation?? 

Our last night we attended a traditional Balinese music and dance performance.  A nice ending to a nice vacation.

Our First Visitors

After 6 months of living in Penang, our first American visitors, Dave and Em arrived!  We were one of their stops on their 2 month Southeast Asia moon of honey. 

Our "family" portrait 

Dave and Em arrived after two cold weeks in China to our tropical home.  We spent a lot of our time hanging out on our patio, drinking rum and cokes, beer, and margs.  At night, we played quite a few hands of euchre, like good midwesterners after hitting up some of favorite food locations.

 Dinner at Northam Beach with our Kiwi friends, Nikki and Leon

Em enjoying a Penang specialty --Char Koay Teow

Unfortunately Eric had to work all week, so it was my wifely job to show our friends around town.  We wandered around historic Georgetown and Little India.  We toured the amazing butterfly farm and Tropical Spice Garden.  Em and I had a beauty day in the mall.  Dave even partook in our fish feet experience. We walked in the Botanical Gardens, swam in the pool and ate Roti! 

Em and Dave under the Moon Gate for Chinese New Year

We had a great visit with our friends and we wish they would have stayed longer.  After four short days, we headed with Dave and Em to Bali!!  (guess what our next blog will be about??)

Jenn's Big 3-0!

Last weekend I gracefully said goodbye to my 20s and welcomed 30 with the help of our Penang friends and my amazing husband!  We celebrated this milestone accomplishment all weekend. 

Eric kicked off the celebration on Saturday morning, taking me for Dim Sum for breakfast and then letting me open two of my gifts -- an iPOD docking station (for my iPOD, not my iPHONE since I did not have one) and a custom made beautiful green turmaline necklace set in 18K white gold!!

I still can't believe Eric bought this for me!  I love it! 

Later that same day, Eric organized my birthday party with our friends.  We started off with "drinks and nibbles" at my favorite bar, Babylon Beach Blanket, where we sipped cocktails and watched the sunset right on the ocean!  Amazing. 

Eric arranged for a mini bus to pick us all up from the bar and transport us back to our place to change before heading to the Hard Rock Hotel for the infamous Foam Party.

The crew and Coco

Yes, you read that right, we went to a foam party for my birthday celebration.  The truth is, I had never been to a foam party before.  They are hugely popular at frat parties in college, and well, I've never been frat party material.  So now, as an "adult" I figured playing in a make-shift tub of foam was a perfect ending to my 20s, and that it was.

We ended the evening with a bus ride back to our condo and a stop for roti before peeling off our bathing suits and getting sand all over the apartment! 

The next day was my actual birthday and my birthday weekend festivities continued.  We had lunch at Cafe 55 where we relaxed and enjoyed this cute location and amazing food!

We also hired a trishaw and had a quick tour of downtown Georgetown.  This was a cool way to see the historic areas!  After our tour, we returned to our condo for Birthday Cake and my last present, an iPHONE 4S!!  I officially graduated to a "big girl" phone!

It was a great Birthday!  An extra special thanks to my wonderful and amazing husband who made this weekend very very memorable!  He is a man of many surprises. 

Our Western Oz Adventure

We spent Christmas and rang in the New Year "Down Under" in Western Australia.  When Eric and I found out that we did not have to travel back to the States for a work meeting in early January we decided to take advantage of our worldly location and chose to check out Australia.  We got (super) cheap tickets but negated to realize that we would arrive on Christmas morning, where consequently, Christmas is a national holiday, meaning everything would be closed.  Oh, how quickly we forgot what happens in Christian countries on Christmas...everything shuts down and people spend time with their families.  Silly us....We made do on Christmas, thanks to Nikki hooking us up with her friends Thomo and Cathy, who took us in on Christmas.  They fed us, kept our glasses full and made us feel "at home" for Christmas.  It was wonderful.  We had a true Aussie Christmas. First stop was Cottosloe Beach where we soaked up the ubber intense sun before heading off for our first Sunday sess (session) at Thomo and Cathy's.

Merry Christmas from Down Under

Soaking up the sun on Cottosloe Beach

Christmas at Thomo and Cathy's

Day 2: After we said our Goodbyes to Thomo and Cath, we stocked up at the local IGA before heading out on the first leg of our 1500km road trip to Exmouth and the Ningaloo Reef.  We spent a good part of our day in our Ford Fiesta watching the "Bush" change as we went through micro climates in the coastal desert north of Perth.  We stopped for lunch at the Pinnacles and Nambung National Park where we checked out these otherworldly structures.

A few more hours up the Coastal Highway and we arrived in Geraldton in time for a take away dinner of fish and chips and sunset over the Great Indian Ocean.

Day 3: The Long Haul
We pulled out of Geraldton by 7am with our Dome Coffee in hand for the long 10 hour leg to Exmouth.  We were warned by our Aussie friends that this drive would be quite the journey and to make sure we were well stocked with gas and water and to stop at the Roadhouses along the way as it could be a few hundred kilometers between stops.  Eric and I have both done some road tripping back in the states and weren't intimidated by the distance or the time in the car.  However, we did not anticipate that our journey would be done on a two lane country road known as "The Great Northern Highway" where we could drive for miles and miles and never see another car or road train.  It was just us and our Fiesta driving through the rough and uninhabited Western Outback.

  The vast open road

Highlights of the day include hitting 51C (or 125F) outside before noon, seeing the landscapes change at least a dozen times, stopping for a quick swim and snorkel in the beautiful Coral Bay, discovering 6 foot tall termite nests and ultimately arriving in Exmouth before sunset. 

 Eric standing next to a huge termite nest! Amazing!

The Open Road

Day 4 - Ningaloo Reef
The real reason we drove all this way was to snorkel off the untouched and mostly unruined Ningaloo Reef, which is accessible right from the beach.  No tours were required to snorkel here, just our mask and fins.  We woke up early to beat the heat and the sun's rays and ventured to Turquoise Bay, where we were the first people on the beach.  This beach definitely lived up to it's name, clear blue waters, white sand and no crowds!  This beach has natural sea currents which enabled us to do drift snorkeling where we could float face down and the current take us over the gorgeous reef.  We saw tons of tropical fish, antlered corals and sea cucumbers.  It was awesome!  We had to pay attention to our location so we didn't get stuck in the currents and get swept out to sea.

Crystal Clear Water! Wow!

Our next location was just down the road at Oyster Stacks.  This rocky beach is great to snorkel at during high tide.  We timed our arrival perfectly and were able to jump in the water and snorkel, 10 feet off shore, literally!  We played around here for about an hour until the cool water temperatures and strong rays made us retreat to the shade. 

 

On our drive back into Exmouth, I spotted a tree full of Galahs -- pink breasted cocktail looking birds. I managed to get super close to the flock before they flew off.  All of the noise also woke up the kangaroo that had bedded down right next to the tree.   The roo was naturally curious and let me get a few awesome shots before hopping away.  (Now I could check that off my list)

Galahs taking flight

Our first live spotting of a kangaroo!!

Exmouth's resident Emu

Our last night in Exmouth we had a great Italian dinner at Pinocchio's, where food was good and wine came by the liter, for only $16.  Good thing we could walk back to our hotel.


Day 5: Coral Bay -- Our Favorite Beach

We left Exmouth by mid morning, headed back down the Great Northern set to explore the parts of WA that we missed on our long drive up the coast.  There isn't much (well anything) between Exmouth and Coral Bay, just a long 2 lane road; no Roadhouses, no gas, nothing, just the open road.  We high tailed it back to Coral Bay, clean, clear crystal waters where we enjoyed lunch and snorkeling right off the beach.  Eric and I both think this is one of the best beaches in the world!  We saw sand sharks, rays, giant fish, and huge clams literally right off the beach.  We highly recommend the journey to Coral Bay, it's not as far as Exmouth but you still get the experience of Ningaloo and the gorgeous beaches of WA. 

Love this spot, you can barely see where the sand and ocean meet

Eric showing off his snorkeling skills

Beautiful Coral Bay

After our beach excursion, we drove 2 more hours to Canarvon, our stop over for the night.  Not much to do or see here, just a place to rest our heads and stock up before our next day of driving.

Day 6: Kalbarri National Park
Like all of the other travelers staying in Canarvon, we left this no stop light town early headed for Kalbarri.  On our drive we found an amazing lookout point that really shows the vastness of the WA outback.  You can see barren coastal desert for miles, no houses, no lights, just open untouched land.  Pretty amazing!  I'm not sure we have been anywhere this undeveloped, including Big Bend in Texas.

This shot sums up our road trip!

Eric and I added our names to the large rock piles that other visitors have left

We arrived in Kalbarri by mid afternoon.  Unfortunatley we were unable to see some of the highlights in the National Park, as they required a 4-wheel drive vehical to reach and our Fiesta just couldn't get the job done.  Tired of driving, we headed for our vacation rental and enjoyed a home cooked meal, our gorgeous sea view, coastal cliffs and some star gazing.

New Years Eve & Fremantle:
Our 6 day road trip drew to a close after another 6 hours in the car on our way to Fremantle, or Freo, as it is locally known.  Along the way we passed a naturally pink hued lake, that produces beta keratin and vitamin A. 

 We also made a quick stop in Swan Valley and sampled some decent Western Australian wines before finally making it to our apartment in Freo.  

We spent New Years Eve wandering around town, sampling fish and chips, drinking beer at Little Creatures and people watching.  We rang in 2012 in our apartment and listened to the city below count us down.  We toasted a great year and welcomed the adventures to come!

The last sunset of 2011

2012 was off to a good start in Freo.  We spent the next 2 days wondering around, visiting markets, shopping and drinking beer.  We never got in the car and went every where by foot!  It was awesome.  We met up with Thomo and Cathy one last time before heading for our final evening in Perth.

Eric sporting his new hat and enjoying a beer

Jenn drinking a proper pour at Monk

Our last night in WA was spent in Perth.  We had an early (6am) flight back to Malaysia and we needed to be close to the airport.  We wrapped up our trip with a visit to the gorgeous Kings Park, with great city views, and our own Sunday (Monday, it was a public holiday) sess in the park. 

You can take the girl out of Michigan but...you can't take the Michigan out of the girl

Go Blue!!

 

Our last session 

We had a great adventure in Western Australia.  We saw so much of this part of the country.  All and all we are glad that we drove up to Exmouth.  We had lots of time together in the car to reflect on the last year and set some goals for 2012.  We are looking forward to a year full of love, travel, family, friends and each other!

Cheers Mate!

From Down Under,

Jenn & Eric

 

Our JennEric 2011

We hope everyone's 2012 is off to a fabulous start!  We just returned from an epic tour of Western Australia (more to come soon) and we wanted to share our annual picture and letter with y'all.  2011 was a year of changes, moves and transformations.  Enjoy!

Our JennEric 2011 Year in Review

Dear Friends and Family,

We hope this letter finds you all healthy and happy during this season of joy.  2011 proved to be the biggest year yet for us!  We have survived a few monumental events and we couldn’t be happier.  In case you missed what we’ve been up to here is a quick catch up on our lives. 

In July, Eric and I moved to the other side of the world (literally) for Eric’s job and now call Penang, Malaysia, a tropical island, our home.  We are truly fortunate to have this opportunity.  We wake up each day and look out the windows of our high rise condo and see the ocean and tropical rainforest hills.  We have seen countless thunderstorms roll in followed by beautiful sunny skies and rainbows.  Eric is enjoying his work here and is focusing on mentoring new engineers and growing National Instruments Penang.  Jenn is now the “trophy wife” she was born to be.  She walks the beach every morning with new friends, keeps our household in order, manages our social and travel calendars and is the head swimming coach at Dalat, the International American school in Penang.   Jenn loves coaching and has 37 children ages 6-18 on her team.  Eric is playing badminton and ultimate frisbee with friends from work.  Our lives are very full here!

Travel - We have been around the world at least once this year, at least in flight miles.  It has been a busy year traveling.  In January, Eric and I completed our PADI Open Water Scuba Diving course with our friends John and Misty.  We knew we needed it before moving to Southeast Asia, where some of the best dive sites are located.  In July, we had 2 weeks of “transit” time between leaving Austin and arriving in Penang.  Our first stop on our tour was Hood River, Oregon for Dave and Emily’s Wedding.  We enjoyed spending time with our friends, drinking good beer and wine, playing in the snow, and being cold.  During this trip, we also visited the Oregon coast where we spent time with Aunt Jo and Inayat and saw whales from our balcony!  It was awesome.  Next we took a short flight to Detroit, where we enjoyed our last days in the US in Ann Arbor.   We drank sangria with Christie and Jay at Dominick’s, had a farewell party at Cottage Inn with family and friends, and stuffed ourselves on Zingerman’s.  We left Detroit with seven suit cases and headed to Penang, a 34 hour trip.

One of the biggest motivators for moving to this side of the world was the ability to travel.  Jenn started booking travel the week we arrived.  After being here for six weeks, we traveled to Phuket, Thailand for 10 days.  We completed our PADI Advanced Open Water certification, cooked Thai food, visited temples and the Big Buddha, sea kayaked and relaxed on the beach with a coconut in our hands.   We have also traveled to Cameron Highlands, an area of Malaysia where tea and most of our produce is grown.  The weather is cool there and requires a jacket at night, which is pure bliss when every day on the island is 85 degrees and humid.  We have also traveled to Langkawi, a chain of 99 islands and a 25 minute flight from Penang.  Langkawi feels like an under developed Hawaii.  We spent the weekend enjoying snorkeling off of our beach and relaxing. 

In October, we traveled back to Texas to celebrate Jamie and Brian’s wedding.  Eric and Grandma walked Jamie down the aisle and Jenn was the Maid of Honor.  We are so happy for Jamie and Brian and are so glad we could share in the joy of their wedding. 

Finally, we will be spending Christmas and New Years in Western Australia.  We are so excited to travel to Australia and learn a bit about life “down under.” 

Our Four Legged Family – Our family has changed a bit this year.  Maizie is living with Jamie and Brian while we are away.  Maizie goes to the barn everyday and plays with her friends Diva and Doug.  Mya is being leased for two years by a loving family.  She is enjoying her life at her new barn and is getting along with the other horses there.  Finally, our newest addition is Coconut, “Coco”, our kitten that we rescued from the local market.  She loves living in her new palace and is getting bigger every day. 

Health -  2011 was a big year for Jenn and her health.  She is officially completed her reconstruction journey and actively reduced her breast cancer risk from 87% to 2%.  Thank you to everyone who supported us and sent us thoughts, love, encouragement and help during recovery.  Jenn continues to be an advocate for BRCA positive women mentoring and sharing her story with anyone who will listen.  We are moving forward with our lives knowing that we kicked Breast Cancer’s Ass!

On to 2012 – We aren’t sure how we are going to top this year but 2012 is looking like it’s going to be pretty awesome as well!  In the first 3 months of the year we are traveling to Bali with Dave and Emily to celebrate Jenn’s 30^th Birthday, going to Vietnam for a long weekend, celebrating Eli and Robin’s nuptials in Canada and Jenn is going to India!  

We wish you all a peaceful and joyful new year!  Come and visit us in Penang!

Love,

Jenn and Eric