Summertime

Alan asked me one night when I was home why I didn't blog much...or at all...when I'm home.  It isn't that I don't do lots of fun and interesting things...it is more that I am so busy enjoying myself that I don't find time during the day to blog.

Outside of spending time with family and friends, one of my favorite parts about being in the US last month was enjoying all of the fabulous and fresh summer fruits and veggies.  I just don't get those here because Singapore is a small island and land is a commodity which means there isn't much of it left for farming.  We get tons of fresh fruit and vegetables here...but it just isn't the same as buying them from the farmer's market.

My first day back in NC last month Alan took me to the NC State Farmer's Market.  Everything looked so pretty and smelled so delicious...and I was lucky enough that peaches were still in season...

I ate tons of corn on the cob, peaches, blueberries, summer squash, tomatoes...I just couldn't get enough of it all. 

I know that summer is nearing an end in the US and that a lot of crops are just about finished.  However, if you have a local farmer's market near you go down and check out what they have...buy something and enjoy it a little bit for me.  And when it gets to be September/October you'd better get yourself to an apple orchard...don't make me come back there...

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15/52

Week 15 of 52
Uluwatu Temple
Bali, Indonesia

This past weekend we went with our friends to Bali.  We stayed in an amazing villa and spent a good amount of time relaxing but we also got out and saw a bit of the island.  This little guy was one of many monkeys at the Uluwatu Temple which was one of our last stops.  They were cute little creatures but are mean and sneaky little buggers.  We weren't allowed to wear sunglasses into the temple because apparently these guys will snatch them from you.  While we were there we saw one of them snatch a flip flop from a lady...ugh!

We stayed at Villa Jerami in the Seminyak area...if you ever go to Bali, I would highly recommend this place...

(picture courtesy of Alan)
As you can see, the villas have private pools and outdoor living rooms...it was nice to have our own little piece of paradise...

As amazing as the villa was we did manage to get out of it and were able to see some of the interesting bits of Bali.

We toured a Bali Hindu temple...

We had lunch on the top of a volcano...

We saw rice terraces...

and we had a beer on the beach...

It was a fun weekend and we enjoyed seeing both the sights and hanging out with friends.

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14/52

14/52
Random alley
Chinatown, Singapore

Okay, okay...I know it has been 4+ weeks since I last blogged.  I wish I had some super funky story to tell all of you but I don't.  Instead, I was busy hanging out with some of my very favorite people in the US.  More on what I did on my little blogging vacation later... 

Alan and some of our good friends, Angie & Paul are in Singapore visiting me right now so we spent yesterday wandering around the city.  We hit Chinatown and went down a street I had not been down previously and came across this great wall.  This is one of the reasons that I love to go exploring and especially without a plan...I mean I am all about a plan...but sometimes the best things you come across are those that you didn't even know you were looking for.

I have no idea what is behind that door but I love whoever it was that made it look so pretty. In my mind there some nice lady with an apron standing just behind those shutters waiting to open them and hand me a delicious apple pie.  And the only thing that would make this picture even better would be if a cat was hanging out on the steps...

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