2010 - A Year of Travels

2010 was certainly my best year yet when it comes to international travels. Thanks to some great work opportunities and also some careful planning, I was able to visit 11 countries in 2010 (8 of them for the first time). And Ani traveled to 9 countries (8 for the first time). Not too shabby for either of us!


Here's a brief recap of our 2010 travels:

1. and 2. Singapore and Bali

We started the year in Singapore and Bali and absolutely loved both. We loved Singapore largely for the food and we often talk about going back for a long weekend. If all goes as planned, we will make a return in 2011 where most of our meals are already decided - chili crab at Jumbo Seafood, chicken rice at Tian Tian Hianese Chicken Rice and dim sum at Din Tai Fung. My mouth is water just typing this...

Enjoying a Singapore Sling at Raffles Hotel

(See previous posts on Eating Our Way through Singapore and Exploring the Streets of Singapore).

We also had a lovely week in Bali, where we celebrated both my birthday and New Year's. This vacation was a great combination of relaxation, adventure and culture. We enjoyed the beach and pool at our resort in Nusa Dua, cycled through rice fields in Ubud, and enjoyed kecak dance shows and Indonesian cooking classes where I learned some of my now-favorite dishes. We also had some amazing meals in Bali, with the most spectacular being at Mozaic on my birthday.

A kecak dance performance at Uluwatu Temple

(See previous post on Nusa Dua and Southern Bali and Ubud and Central Bali).

3. and 4. Hong Kong and Macau

We hit Hong Kong and Macau in February 2010. I made it into a stopover on my way back from Sydney (where I was fortunate to go for training and where I was even more fortunate to return to later in the year, so more on Australia later). Ani flew from Delhi and met me there for a long weekend. Thanks to my everlasting supply of Marriott points, we had a lovely weekend stay at the JW over the Chinese New Year. This proved to be both a blessing and a curse. It was great to see the city lit up with festive decorations, but it also meant that many shops and restaurants were closed for the holiday. On top of that, the weather was pretty yucky, so our views from the top of Victoria Peak were extremely limited due to the massive fog.

A lion dance performance for Chinese New Year

We also took a high-speed boat over to Macau for a night. Honestly, I found it to be a strange juxaposition of wealth and poverty - a lot like India, but in a more compact space. We did venture over to the Venetian Hotel, which was just like the one in Vegas, but bigger of full of Chinese gamblers there for the holiday. We also had a really nice Portugeuese-Macanese meal at La Lorcha that was the highlight of our 24 hours there.

(See previous post on Hong Kong and Macau).

5. Australia

I spent 6 weeks in Australia for work in May-June 2010 and Ani was able to travel there towards the end of my stay for a visit. I spent the majority of my time in Sydney, but also traveled to Melbourne on a few occasions and Ani was able to see both during his 10-day visit. In addition, we spent an incredible weekend in Queensland where we snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef and visited the wet tropics near Cairns and had a lovely day-trip to the Blue Mountains, which are just outside Sydney.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge and in the Blue Mountains

I also got to spend time with my friend Yomi from the US and her awesome Australian husband, Dave. For those of you who haven't heard their story, Yomi and I have followed similar paths over the past few years. We both traveled to faraway countries for work project, only to find and fall in love with our now-husbands. And today we now live in Delhi and Sydney, respectively.

(See previous posts on my first visit to Sydney, the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, and The Blue Mountains).
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6. Switzerland
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Not wanting to travel all the way to Europe and not visit a *new* country, I added in a weekend in Switerland before our longer visit to Italy. We started in Zurich where we happened to arrive during Zuri Fascht, a street festival throughout the city. This was a great way to explore the streets, the food and the people all in one go. We spent the following day on an amazing day-trip that took us up Mt. Rigi by train, down to the village of Weggis (which we LOVED) by cable car, and then over to Lucerne by ferry. We rounded out the day with another train ride back to Zurich for our final night in Swizterland.

From the top of Mt. Rigi and Hanging out in Lucerne

(See previous post on Our Swiss Holiday).

7. Italy

We spent nearly two weeks in Italy, which was our longest vacation ever. We started with a few days in Lake Como, which is trily as beautiful and relaxing as everyone says, and where we discovered our favorite pizza. This was followed by a few days in Cinque Terre, where we hiked most of the paths connecting the villages. Next was the highlight of the trip, several days in Chianti for Drew and Simona's beautiful wedding. All of this was capped off with a few final days in Florence and a day trip to Pisa and Lucca.

Our favorite pizza and at Drew and Simona's wedding

(See previous posts on Lake Como, Cinque Terre and Drew and Simona's amazing wedding).

8. US

In September, Ani and I both headed back to the US for what has become our annual trip. I started about a week before him and arrived in time to participate in the HL Reunion and Baby Shower Palooza at Brooke's house on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. There, we celebrated the now recent arrivals of Baby Horak, Baby Oates and Baby Henneman Kastellec.

The following weekend was for the annual trek to Mike's house in Maine for relaxation, lobster and a little outlet shopping. And finally, we headed up to Saratoga Springs, NY for Joey and Jarret's weddingh. Somewhere between all of our weekend travels, we managed to squeeze in some quality time at home with the family.

The gang in Maine and Mike, Ani and I at Joey and Jarret's wedding

9. and 10. UK and Sweden

On my way back from the US, I met up with my bossess for a few days of meetings. I ended up being in London for barely 24 hours, but fortunately I had a bit longer in Stockholm. Our first day of meetings there was literally at the airport conference centert, so we stayed in a nearby hotel and didn't get to see much of the city aside from a brief trip in that night for dinner. The following day, we worked from the Stockholm office and after my bosses left for their flight back to Delhi (via London), I headed to the Old Town to explore for a few hours. I needed to fly back through Paris and could only take an early morning flight in order to connect to the once daily Paris-Delhi flight, which gave me a bit of time to see and enjoy Stockholm.

Old Town Stockholm

11. Sri Lanka

We spent the long Christmas weekend in Sri Lanka for our final trip of the year and our final international trip sans child. We figured that being only a 3 1/2 hour flight from Delhi, a holiday weekend in Sri Lanka was comparable to one in Goa, but probably a bit more peaceful. All in all, it was a nice, relaxing weekend, but we could have done with less road travel. We spent the middle two nights on the south of the island. While it was a mere 200 km (125 mi) from Colombo, travel time on the two-lane road takes about 6 hours.

View from the hotel lobby

So, that's a wrap of our 2010 travels. Again, 2011 will certainly be quieter, but hopefully we'll get in one or two international trips to satisfy our hunger!

Bali - Part 2: Ubud and Central Bali

We spent the second half of our time in Bali in Ubud, which is the art and cultural heart of the island. It's also physically located right in the middle of Bali. On the drive to Ubud, we stopped in numerous "villages" to check out the local wares for which they are famous. This included Mas for wood cravings, Celuk for silver, and another whose name I forget for Balinese paintings. First, I must admit that these were not quite the villages I imagined from India, but more like small towns with lots of shops along the main road. Many of the ones we stopped in targeted tourists and I didn't get the feeling they were very "authentic."

But that didn't stop us from shopping. We bought a lot of silver jewelry (for me) and some artwork that we have yet to frame and hang on the walls. People say that prices are really inflated and you should bargain hard. But we they said this, I bet they didn't imagine running into Ani, king of bargaining. Ani is obviously no stranger to bargaining and after each of our purchases, Ani left with a smile and the retailers appeared exhausted.

After our successful purchases, we finally located our small hotel, which was on the outskirts of town. It took a few phone calls and several stops to ask for directions, but we eventually made it to Amori Villa. One of the latest trends in Bali is that foreigners buy houses and convert them into bed and breakfasts. This results in places that can really cater to the tastes and needs of tourist, but it also means that less businesses are locally owned. Fortunately, all businesses must have a local partner, so there's some aspect of sharing in the success.

One regret was that we had a packed schedule and didn't have as much time as we would have liked to enjoy the peacefulness of the surroundings at Amori Villa. Nonetheless, we did enjoy the time we had there among the limited five bedrooms.

One of the highlights of the entire trip was my birthday dinner at Mozaic in Ubud. Thanks to my meticulous planning, I made a reservation two months in advance. And fortunately for us, Mozaic lived up to the hype and we were amazed with an incredible 7-course meal. I must confess that I don't remember everything we dined on, but I remember that the pork belly dish (no surprise there if you know my love of bacon) was my favorite among many tasty dishes. The staff was amazing. The service was impeccable, and they even offered to tweak the set menu around my food allergies. The final result was wonderful. If we'd had more time in Ubud, we probably would have gone back for another visit, and I highly recommend that future Bali travels spend the time and money dining at this restaurant which is the only one in Indonesia to be named one of Les Grandes Tables du Monde.

The following day we ventured out on a half-day bicycle tour around Ubud with Banyan Tree Cycling Tours. We were picked up from our hotel around 7am and whisked up Mt. Kintamini. After about an hour (during which we managed to get in some extra rest), we picked out our bicycled and headed off - fortunately downhill. The bike tour proved to be a great way to see the countryside. As we pedaled along, we stopped in a village home, a village temple and walked through rice fields.

If you think those are ominous clouds in the background, you are right. We soon found ourselves in a middle of a torrential downpour. During the last hour of the tour, we ended up pedaling through lots of mud on our way to the final destination - lunch.

The next day I rallied to take a cooking class at the Ubud institution, Cafe Wayan. The classes are actually held at their sister restaurant, Laka Leke. After arriving a bit late (I live in India afterall), I met my fellow classmates and jumped into preparing several favorite Balinese dishes. We tackled the staple, nasi goreng, as well as Balinese chicken salad, Balinese prawns, chicken curry, and two desserts, black pudding and banana caramel.

I can happily report that the lesson didn't go to waste. The chicken curry has become a regular on our dining room and I've also made nasi goreng and the banana caramel a few times.

Photos of the food: Clockwise from top right: Chicken Curry, Banana Carmel, Balinese Prawns, Nasi Goreng

New Year's Eve was our last night in Bali and we celebrated at Indus, another Ubud institution. The owner of Indus is Janet De Neefe, author of Fragrant Rice and an Australian who has made Bali her home. A note for future Bali travelers: Janet De Neefe also offers cooking classes and market tours, but I read before the trip and heard from others while in Ubud that her classes are less hands on than the one I took with Cafe Wayan.

In any case, here's a photo of us ringing in 2010 at Indus...

...And saying goodbye to Bali (Until our next trip)!

Bali - Part One: Nusa Dua and Southern Bali

I'm finally getting around to posting about our trip to Bali nearly two months ago...

After spending Christmas in Singapore, we headed off for Bali on December 26th. The flight was easy, less than 3 hours and not enough time to finish watching the movie "Up." I'd read some horror stories about the lines for the Visa-on-Arrival, but we didn't have any problems and were headed to the hotel within minutes.

For the first half of our visit, we stayed at the Grand Hyatt in Nusa Dua, which is essentially an enclave of 5-star hotels and resorts. The Grand Hyatt at a lovely beach and pool, which we didn't get to use enough, as well as numerous restaurants, a spa and cultural activities. Here are a few photos of the hotel's environs:

While staying on this part of the island, we spent most of our time visiting temples during the day and enjoying amazing restaurants in the evening. On our first full day, we spent several hours at Waterbom water park and made our way to Tanah Lot for sunset. Our driver tried to convince us that we would be too late for sunset, but we told him to go any way. Good thing we did. We joined the evening crowds and enjoyed an amazing sunset over the water.

That night we had a wonderful dinner at Chandi in Seminyak followed by drinks at the ever-popular Ku De Ta.

We spent most of the next day hanging out at the hotel and grabbed lunch at Bali Collection, the shopping center across the street. In the late afternoon, we made our way to Uluwatu for the Kecak and Fire Dance.

We finished off the day with dinner in Jimbaran Bay where the numerous beachside restaurants allow you to select your fresh catch for dinner. This setup seems to be a big hit with most tourists, but to us, it was exactly like dinner on the beach in Goa, but only more expensive.

Back at the hotel, Ani surprised me with midnight birthday dessert and champagne. What a great way to start year #32!