Travel in Review 2015
Hope you and your family are keeping well, staying safe and healthy during this unprecedented global coronavirus pandemic. Though the days may feel repetitive, like Ground Hogs Day for us parents, the silver lining of all this is spending quality time as a family. For this, I am grateful for this time together.
We were supposed to be in Barbados earlier this month, enjoying the warmth of the Caribbean sun on what would have been our first family holiday for 2020. Needless to say, like many of you, our trip got cancelled. I must admit, I can’t help to feel a bit of disappointment, but equally, I am happy that we are all safe and healthy.
Anyways I got a bit sad especially at the thought that we may not be able to travel for the foreseeable future. To get some happy endorphins rolling, I went through all my old photos on my iPhone reminiscing on our past intrepid travel adventures and lazy days on the beach. It occurred to me that there’s a big vacuum – a black hole if you will – of what we got up to travel wise over the last five years. Allow me to get nostalgic whilst I reflect on the last five years of travel. I’ll start from 2014 / 2015 where I last left off…
Going Back to Cali
The 2014 festive season was a bittersweet one: my mother was diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer. Cancelling our plans to travel to The Philippines, my older sister and I flew back to California, knowing that this Christmas would be my mother’s last one. Three months later in March 2015, we were back in California at my mother’s bedside to say our final goodbyes and painfully watched as she succumbs to cancer.
Kenz and I have never made so many trips to California in a span of 6 months than we did in 2014/2015, with each visit no less than three weeks long. About five weeks later, in May 2015, we were back in California again, this time for a happier occasion – a family wedding. This trip was a more memorable one with highlights including a big Indian wedding on a gorgeous vineyard in the East Bay, a road trip through wine country to the Mendocino Coast with my sister, and numerous day trips to our alma maters – UC Davis and UC Berkeley as well as to beautiful Lake Tahoe.
We were most excited to bring our newest family member back to London: our rescue dog Buddy who we found on the suburban streets of California over that bittersweet Christmas season. You can read about Buddy’s story here. Kenz and I always talked about adopting a dog for years, so needless to say we were very excited about being “furparents” to the sweetest dog who has been our loyal companion ever since.
Nice, France
As newly promoted “furparents,” our approach to travel had to change. Kenz and I could no longer take last minute weekend jaunts on the Eurostar or from London City Airport without pre-organising who would care for Buddy whilst we are away. We did manage to squeeze in a few trips in 2015 after proudly receiving our new maroon U.K. passport.
It was off to Nice, France for a weekend getaway for our wedding anniversary in October. On the agenda was eating our weight in croissants, macaroons, and Salade niçoise with a crisp glass of rose and meandering along Promenade des Anglais gazing at the Mediterranean Sea. The highlight was the amazing Pink Brunch on the Horizon Deck at the stunning Fairmont Monte Carlo for bottomless pink champagne.
The sun graced us —we were able to soak up some vitamin D before the weather turned cold, just enough sun to get us to winter break where we would spend the holidays in Southeast Asia with my sisters.
Bali, Gili Trawangan, and Singapore
It was a sombre start of the year with my mother passing away. We decided to end the year on a high note: an annual siblings trip to Bali for Christmas and New Years with a stopover in Singapore.
Ubud, Bali
We met my kid sister at Changi Airport and continued our journey to Bali. Our jetlagged and tired body arrived in Bali after a long 13hr+ flight from LHR. We spent our first leg in Ubud, the cultural centre of Bali. Ubud, the epicentre of yoga and meditation retreats, unsurprisingly has a zen-like and serene vibe. Perfect for a few relaxed days soaking in the lush scenery and lovely smells of incense. Unlike the rest of Indonesia, Bali is a Hindu island and daily “canang sari” offering dot the streets each morning, adding to the peaceful energy of Ubud.
Some of the top things to do in Ubud:
- Visit Sacred Monkey Forest
- Take a yoga class
- Walk along the Campuhan Ridge Walk
- Watch a Kecak Dance Performance
- Tour a coffee plantation and try the kopi luwak “cat poo chino” coffee
- Feast on local Balinese cuisine at one of the warungs such as Ibu Oka or Naughty Nuri’s Ubud
- Marvel at the traditional Balinese Hindu temples such as Pura Besakih, Pura Tirta Empul, and Pura Gunung Kawi
Gili Trawangan
After a few days of taking in all the beauty of Ubud, we were off to Gili Trawangan to celebrate New Years. The Gilis consist of three small car-free islands: Trawangan, Meno, and Air just off the northwest coast of Lombok. Each island has a distinctive vibe with Trawangan being the lively “party” island.
We mostly chilled out on the white-washed sand under the blazing equatorial sun, that is if we weren’t out diving, which was something we hadn’t done since our trip to Thailand. In the evenings, we bar-hopped along the main drag with a cold Bintang in hand and enjoyed live music at one of the many beach bars. We watched the last sunset of 2015 at a beach bar on the west coast and listened to “Follow the Sun” — very appropriate as we bid adieu to 2015 and welcomed 2016 with open arms.
Seminyak, Bali
Moving on, we were then joined by my older sister and her family in Seminyak, an upscale location on the southern stretch of Bali popular with Aussie ex-pats with a hip nightlife. By day, we were either lounging by the swimming pool at our rented villa, or sunbathing on the wide-stretch Seminyak Beach just steps from our villa. By evening, we were enjoying the amazing Balinese sunsets at one of the posh beach clubs such as Ku De Ta. Dinner was at one of the cool upmarket restaurants – Motel Mexicola (Mexican), Mama San (Pan-Asian), and Ginger Moon (Asian) – to name a few. It was a lovely relaxing time with my siblings.
Singapore
After a relaxed week in Seminyak, my family and I then spent a weekend in the super clean and neatly compact city-state of Singapore. We checked-off all the tourist highlights over our three-day stay: Gardens by the Bay, Sentosa Island, Little India, and Chinatown, keeping our cool under the unforgiving heat. We enjoyed the homey but tasty delights of hawker centres including Lau Pa Sat for some delicious satays, Maxwell Road for some classic Hainanese chicken and rice, and the Amoy Centre for our favourite childhood comfort foods. Of course, no trip to Singapore is complete without a chilli crab feast. And we did just that to celebrate my kid sister’s birthday at Jumbo Seafood – East Coast for some fresh seafood. For the occasion, we opened a bottle of champagne on the rooftop terrace at our AirBnB before each of us boarded a flight back to our respective homes.
This trip to Bali and Singapore was just what we needed –to relax and recharge our batteries – and it was so nice to do in the company of my siblings after a rather difficult year. Looking back, Bali ended up being our last happy-go-lucky winter break trip.
More to Travel in Review to come…
