#352 Island B

The boys and I took the canoe to "Island B", the smaller of two islands on Jinji Lake. The other island (Peach Blossom Island), is now inundated with tourists who are brought on boats from the new Ferris Wheel amusement park. We packed a picnic lunch and had a very interesting tour of the island. We saw a peacock (no picture) and we climbed down to the subway tunnel that is being built underneath Jinji Lake.

You can see Joseph and Marco peering down the shaft, then our descent, and the tracks in the subway tunnel. The subway is supposed to open in 2012. The two random guys we met on the island stayed and watched us as we ate our sandwiches by the shore. What an adventure !

#351 Dumplings

Kathleen has been teaching Marco's first communion class on Sundays after mass. This left Joseph and I free this week to find something to do for an hour while waiting. We took a walk across the street to Carrefour, a French-owned grocery store that is like another Chinese Super Walmart.

Check some of the sights above. First, a very colorful dumpling display and then some live snakes and bullfrogs in the deli section. Finally, Joseph poses with some of the fresh seafood. Wow !

#350 Bali, Indonesia

It has been since over three months since my last blog entry. Thanks to my friend Greg for encouraging me to post an update ! By way of excuses, the internet in China has been excessively slow in recent months which makes it difficult to upload pictures.

We just returned from a spring break trip to Bali, Indonesia. Our original plans were to go to Koh Samui, Thailand, but Thailand was hit by a wet weather emergency. On the day we were scheduled to travel, Koh Samui was flooded and tourists were being evacuated by the Thai Navy ! It was stressful for a time as we figured out an alternative and fought with Expedia for a refund on the first tickets.

In the end, Bali was perhaps a much better vacation that we would have had in Thailand. We did a lot of fun things. The boys and I tried to teach ourselves how to surf, Maria got a swimming lesson at the hotel pool, I bungy jumped for the first time, and we all went horseback riding along a remote beach and through the countryside.

On our last day, Joseph and I hiked up Mt. Batur, a semi-active volcano at the north end of Bali. We did started hiking at 4 AM to reach the top before sunrise. The guide cooked us breakfast on the hot rocks at the volcano summit.

In the final picture, Kathleen and I are enjoying happy hour during sunset at the beach resort. Bali is a beautiful place and we really enjoyed this location in the beach town of Seminyak.