MONKEYS ON THE ROOF!

september 17-21st: gili islands & bali, indonesia

dirk came back from one of the many perth trips in august & september and we decided to get away for a long weekend to indonesia. i got an idea from a friend at work that these islands off the coast of lombok, indonesia were amazing and a great place for scuba diving. so i booked our trip which included 2 nights in bali and 2 nights in gili air. you can look here for more information on the islands : http://www.gili-paradise.com.

we stayed on gili air which is the smallest of the three gili islands. it was known for being the quiet island with a more laid back atmosphere... boy were they right on the laid back part. we could barely get food within a 2 hour time span. but it was so nice not having tv, internet, moblie phones (they didn't work on the island and it was great for dirk). there weren't even any cars, just horses to get around.

we managed to dive both days that we were there, getting in 5 dives total. we saw so many turtles and up so close. one turtle was sleeping the while we swam around him in aw. the dives were really great and the snorkeling was even better. we literally walked out the front door to our bungalow and to the beach to snorkel. the reef was amazing all around the island, turtles and fish everywhere!

lombok is the island next to bali and is known for its trekking. you can see the moutains in the distance from gili air. next long weekend will include lombok, we got some great recommdations from some people and its just as cheap as phuket, thailand!

the water was amazing! i loved all the colors.

so this is a random picture, out of place, but i am too lazy to correct it. this was one of the days we were in bali on it's famous beach in kuta. kuta beach is known for the surfing and when we were there some sort of surfing competition was going on so all the hotels were fully booked. i am really glad we planned ahead and got a hotel room.

ok... back to gili air! dirk & tina enjoying the water and probably waiting for food.

oh the water... just gorgeous!

so many colors!!

our bunglaow: included open air shower, haven't seen one of those since our honeymoon in costa rica!

Bali, Indonesia

back to bali in 2009... still not that impressed with bali. maybe we aren't going to the right places. it is great for shopping and indonesian massages... they are the best massages we have had in all of asia.

while we were in the gili islands bali had an earthquake. it was one morning really early and the sun was not up yet. i felt the whole bungalow moving but when i went to wake dirk up he proceeded to tell me it was just the monkeys on the roof. i thought for a moment... then decided that if it was an earthquake and there was a wave... we would die anyway because the island is too small and flat to even get to high ground. monekys on the roof... i just love my husband sometimes. needless to say we just went back to sleep. found out that it was a 6 on the richter scale and bali had some major damage.

all the surfers in the morning waiting for the perfect wave!

kappa delta reunion

august 28th 2009- railay, thailand

so back in august i lost my husband for a month to the oil field and became rather restless on this wee island of singapore. i knew of some sorority sisters that were backpacking through australia, new zealand, thailand, and india. so i decided to join them on their journey in thailand.

first off... i love thailand! i love the people, the food, the scenery! i can't get enough. i left singapore and flew into the phuket by myself. i hired a private taxi to drive me 3 hours to krabi so i could catch a boat to railay. railay isn't exactly an island, more of a pennisula with impassable rock formations cutting it off from the rest of krabi. it is known for it's rock climbing and serene beaches.

so mark this off my list of 1000 places to see before you die... didn't even know it was in the book but this beach in railay is absolutely amazing! one of the james bond movies was flimed there too.

these were the lovely ladies that i came to meet. katy & sarah! they were on the last legs of their 6 month trip and i am so happy they let me tag along. here are some scuba pictures they took. i thought they were really awesome and they rented the camera too.

we hung out at some back packer bar that turned out to be really interesting. i believe most of these guys were smoking more than cigs but they were certainly entertaining. a little thai boxing, fire throwing, playing the diggerydoo?

beaches & rocks... oh my!

then we come to the good stuff! the rocks & beaches. i couldn't get enough of these rock formations! they were massive and would come from nowhere, you felt like you were in a total movie too. there was also this great lookout point with a hidden lagoon and all but it was a trek straight up a cliff and i didn't bring any tennis shoes... not that it would have mattered. it rained a bit and the cliff trek was straight up slippery mud. no thanks, i will have to bring dirk back and make that climb. at least someone with an SOS card incase i break a bone...

this was a walking trail with caves in it. the rocks came so close to your head that you had to watch where you were walking at all times.

monkey on the beach that was not afraid of humans and would come straight up to you if you had food... you think cute... no way! i think rabies and how i should have gotten my pre-exposure vaccines... these monkeys are crazy and aggressive!

the beach in 1000 places to see... pranang beach

had to get a point of view... it was totally out of a movie or on a postcard

railay west beach, where we stayed

and this was the transportation to get out to the island... i almost didn't make it when i met up with them... it was dark and an adventure.

ok... i wrote this really fast. i have been terrible about updating this. work has been busy and we have been taking advantage of every opportunity to travel so i am a little backed up with blogging. i promise to do better. dirk is still making his routine trips to perth and i continue to book holidays for when he is home. our bangkok trip was cancelled this weekend due to his work schedule... but we will go in march (our first free month from traveling... kind of crazy)

IMC the work crew...

september 16th: the wine company @ dempsey hill

so i thought i would share some work photos so you can see how wonderful and diverse these lovely ladies that i work with are. i learn something new each day working with them... no matter where in the world you are, nurses have one thing in common, they know how to have fun..... i mean, they have HUGE caring hearts :)

we had a work outing for a nurse from new zealand who is returning home and therefore leaving IMC. gabby was a wonderful nurse and she will truly be missed by us. plus wine & nurses go perfect together right? especially after work and the boss is kicking in :)

SERENE
first AND foremost: this is my mother hen and a VERY IMPORTANT person who keeps everyone sane around the clinic. i call her my mother hen and i am her little chic in training.

LIZ (Australia). GABBY (New Zealand). RUSSELL(Australia)
NEXT: two more V.I.Ps and the guest of honor, the only man at the table who is the owner plus his sidekick who does everything else from schedules to who knows what!

GABBY. CHIN (Denmark)

chin is one of my favorite nurses, she tells it like it is and gives me great pointers with my techniques & skills

NORA (Singapore). Usha (Singapore). Melissa (New Zealand)

nora is our clinic assistant and she is one of my favorite people at the clinic because she will go eat sandwitches with me plus she teaches me all about her culture, USHA (aka: superwoman) is my boss and head nurse, melissa is my scuba diving advice buddy... she has been everywhere

GABBY. CHRISTINA

ANNIE (Scottland). Talita (South Africa)

annie is a wonderful person, great nurse, and i love to try to understand her. talita is my south african friend who will be having her child next year as i will (this is an inside clinic joke because everyone wants us to get pregnant for some reason)

AGNELA (England). JULIE (Scottland). LIZ (Australia)

and this is where nurses have fun...

serene, maria, and wendy all went out after the wine company for ladies night :)

so, there is our group! pretty diverse huh? gotta love working in another country learning so many different techniques, drugs, and word meanings...

missing in action or maybe just august ...

september 10th- china town

i spent the day with farah in china town at this temple. we had a full day planned of temple visits, dim sum, and pedicures. it was great to get out and so some tourist activities in singapore. as we speak farah and patrick are on their way back to the states. it was great to meet such good friends over here.

Thian Hock Keng Temple

singapore skyline at night, pretty amazing

august weekend: little india

farah and i had many last minute days in singapore before she left. we spent a whole day in little india shopping and eating. this here was our favorite shop where we found some beautiful wall hangings along with bedspreads, place mats, and napkins! we had lunch at the banana leaf indian food restaurant. we enjoyed our fresh fruit drinks, naan, and rice... i never knew i would like so much different food while staying in singapore.





august 12th: lady gaga

i went with my beautiful singaporean friend, lili, to lady gaga concert while dirk was gone. it was a great night, not only because it was ladies night and we got free drinks everywhere in clarke quay, but i also got to spend time with lili who i haven't seen in forever. lady gaga was ok, not the best concert music wise but her costumes were great! the concert was at fort canning park which is an outdoor area perfect for concerts. you can see the museum in the background all lit up.

lili & i at lady gaga

coming on stage

fort canning park

so i have been pretty bad at updating this. this is basically all of august. dirk was gone for a long long while offshore in perth and i have been busy learning the ropes at the clinic. we have planned the rest of our holiday travel until the end of the year. plans are to go to bangkok, thailand for a long weekend in october, november is home to texas, december is back to phuket, thailand to dive the similan islands with my little brother, and then the big trip to sydney for new years plus our 2 year anniversary. lots and lots of travel...