Richard's 70th

We spent from April to May 13th in Singapore and Bali to celebrate Richard's birthday. Singapore does not look like it is suffering from the recession although people we talked with said they were. First and foremost, they were terrified that the swine flu would appear there and discourage tourism. They can't survive that - they absolutely live on tourism.

On our way in, we stayed at the Carlton Hotel which is centrally located. First morning, I left Richard lounging around and went to shop in the stalls around the corner. I ran into a long corridor of people doing demonstrations so I enjoyed watching the chopper/slicer/dicer guy, a demo of a device that saves cooking gas, a fabulous mop (i amost bought one), a great pen that
allows one to make fancy writing and designs. Business seemed to be good and people were buying. After Richard got moving we went to the big shopping center and visited Yes! eyewear with the idea of getting more glasses but prices seemed too high. We went to the food court and had one of the Indian pancakes that we like and admired the Vietnamese Food Stall which we hadn't see before. We ate at a pseudo fast food place in the mall where we had a version of Cereal Shrimp and potstickers. Food was good but we were very tired and jet lagged so went back to the hotel to bed. Next day, in a light rain, we visited the Botanical Gardens for the third time and once again really enjoyed the orchids. When it stopped raining later, we walked to Jumbo Seafood for the "real" Cereal Shrimp - delicious. Up early to catch our Garuda flight to Jakarta and on to Denpasar. Garuda had changed the way they operate these flights and we had to collect our luggage in Jakarta and re-check in for the second flight. Turned out to be good because we bought our visas at the airportand Jakarta is much more efficient and easier than Bali. Once in Denpasar, we caught a cab to Prime Villas which turned out to be lovely.

While in Seminyak we spent one day with Toya and visited furniture manufacturers and his uncles carving place. Designed a few items and Toya has sent us prices. Day two we spent with Ayu who ran us around to a few places..she was sort of helpful but mostly just nice company. Married to an Australian, she is very worldly for a Balinese. A fan of Gordon Brown's cooking - she's lived in many places and is quite sophisticated.

Ate well at Gado Gado for Richard's birthday. We had an oceanside seat and perfect weather. Just great food and even a great wine by the glass - a Hugel Gewurztraminer, something I've never seen served by the glass. Had a rather poor meal at Ku De Ta but the setting was glorious and it was interesting to see how many people were there for the sunset, a tradition. We ate two meals in Kuta at the cafe down from Matahari's and both meals were good and perfect for our mood.

On day four, we moved up to Ubud an dour cab driver had quite a time finding the villa. As it turns out, the Villa Sarna was just a bit closer to Ubud than Villa Uma, where we were married. The room was up a couple of flights of stairs, a bit difficult for me with my dizziness, especially in the rain, especially in the dark. I think the staff, who helped me up the stairs, thought I was drunk!! Our bedroom was a little small and the whole thing a bit of a letdown after Prime Villas but it was OK - the outdoor bale for reading was great. Staff was excellent and the overgrown, jungly grounds were fantastic. We saw some new villas built by the owner of one of the big design companies. Next time, we might stay there for a real splurge.

Ate well twice at Ira Burgis (whose cremation we attended), at Lamat (wonderful meal) and at Mosaic. All very fine eating. We shopped at the market as usual for cheap watches and earrings, always fun. Other than that, we did a lot of resting. Enjoyed breakfast at the villa with a view over the jungle. Banana pancakes were great.

Our ride home was easy - all Northwest flights were just fine; customs was empty and our luggage was out in about 15 minutes. Almost like Singapore!!