Although the holidays can be a difficult time to be living abroad,
we do keep it festive here in China and this season was, although a little
quieter than last year, wonderful. When December came the countdown officially
began, the kids got progressively crazier and the teachers grew more and more
anxious for the time off to rest and recuperate. Of course in my classroom we
began counting down to my Mom’s arrival rather than Santa’s (the last Friday
before holiday)…can you blame me!?
This past Christmas was like no other. I feel extremely
lucky to have had the opportunity to travel around Asia with my mom – what an
absolute treat! With my great excitement of course I was a couple of hours
early to pick her up at the ferry terminal (with a large sign in one hand and
wine, cheese and olives in the other). I cannot describe the excitement that
ran through me the moment I saw her teal coat round the corner to step onto
Chinese soil (cement… let’s be serious). From then on we were attached at the
hip and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. From her arrival onwards it was
go-go-go! She was quite a trooper and dealt well with the jet-lag – thank
goodness because I had her running the roads!
With the little time that we had
at my China-Home I wanted to make sure that she was able to see as much as
humanly possible which, thinking back, I do believe was a successful goal. Some
of her Shenzhen experiences include but at not limited to: the Boathouse, a
tour of Shekou at night (no I didn’t squeeze a place in at night so that she
could say she went, Shekou is wonderfully lit and there is always a ton going
on hahaha), a mid-night mani and pedi, smoothies, panamie treats, Luoho
shopping (where we did very well), hair-washes, Tapinyaki, Kingway (chinese
food) in the park and a delicious Gypsy’s breakfast. I think it’s safe to say
Mom didn’t miss much; it was such fun taking her on tour to see all of the
places that she has heard me speak about for the past few years. She also now
knows how hard my bed really is (straight out of the Flintstones).
From Shenzhen we travelled to Chiang Mai, Bali (with an
overnight stop over in Singapore on the way), Gili T, Kuta and then Singapore.
We fit a great deal into 2 weeks and what a dream it was.
Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai is a wonderful place and unlike anything I had
expected. This was our adventure section of the trip and my goodness it was
spectacular! We were adventurers by day and market-explorers and pad
Thai/spring roll eaters by night. We had a day of temples and the most delicious
Thai Christmas dinner before spending Christmas day with elephants in the jungle
a few hours outside of Chiang Mai. This may have to be ranked #1 on my list of
Christmas Days. It was an absolutely phenomenal experience and one that we felt
for days (goodness elephants are immense animals that are much more
uncomfortable than they look).
We spent time training with them, ate a
delicious meal by a fire, and then went trekking (bare-back) through the jungle
before washing them in the river. Our elephant certainly had a mind of his
own…but we survived and it was an overall phenomenal experience; one I am sure
to never forget. My heart was so happy to have been able to do this with Mom and
on Christmas day no less. There is a Santa.
Elephants one day to Tigers the next!
The day after our elephant trekking adventure we headed to
Tiger Kingdom where we spent some quality time with some ‘medium’ tigers (HA!
They were huge.). We were much more relaxed then we expected to be as you can
see by the picture. What a day! After cuddling with our furry friends we spent
some time watching the babies and all decided that we wanted one to take home.
It was another adventurous day in Chiang Mai!
Temples & Elephants & Tigers & Hill Tribes Oh
My!
Our final day in Chiang Mai was spent traveling from one
hill tribe to another and it was a positively eye-opening experience. It truly
is amazing to me each time I see how some people survive and with smiles on
their faces no less. This day was yet another success! Mom even treated me to a
fantastic hand-made hat for my collection!
When the time came to head to the airport we were feeing sad
to leave the beautiful and very interesting Chiang Mai but were keen to get
into the heat of Bali (it was cool and overcast much of the time in Chiang
Mai).
Before arriving in Bali we had to spend the night in the
Singapore airport. Although it was a sleepless night, Changi is the airport to
‘sleep’ in (believe me, I have slept in my fair-share)! We set up shop in the
Free Movie Theater and watched movies and caught up on Facebook (no VPN
needed). It really wasn’t so bad but I was thankful that our flight out was in
the morning – I’m not sure my mom and my stomachs could handle much more
laughter (I was overtired and feeling a little silly).
With some confusion over flight times, arrives and boat
schedules I had to do some shuffling but was able to get Mom, Kathryn and I
flights to Lombok where a man was waiting for us (with a sign) to drive us to
the boat. The boat scene was straight out of a Jason Bourne/ James Bond movie.
We were in a slick rig and were taken across to Gili T and arrived within 15
minutes, where men were waiting to help us with our bags and take us to our
hotel. Martas, our hotel, was Marvelous and I recommend anyone going to Gili T
to stay here! What a beautiful spot with such hospitable, wonderful people. It is the perfect island for both relaxation and fun.
Mom and I spent a day snorkeling with sea turtles, fish and ship
wrecks around the 3 Gili Islands and eating on Gili Air; that was about the extent of any 'physical exertion'! hahaha We spent our time puttering from place to place, having drinks, eating spring rolls
and listening to live music. (Kathryn left for Ubud while Mom and I enjoyed our
time exploring the small, very lovely island.) Although it was rainy most of the
time we strapped on our sandals, threw on our bathing suits and dresses and
walked (confident that we wouldn’t melt).
New Years Eve on Gili T was one for
the books – I have Never seen such spectacular fire works…it was jaw-dropping!
We ended up going to a huge beach party where they had set up a stage and
After a rough boat ride from Gili T to Kuta Mom and I
puttered around, did some shopping and had some food before meeting up with
Kathryn again. That evening we were all exhausted so we had some food in the
comfy room and went to bed rather early. Saturday, our last day of this
wondrous holiday was Sunny!!!! Mom and I hit the beach for 2 hours of pure
bliss while Kathryn read at a coffee shop (crazy haha). We had such a beautiful
time together playing in the waves and taking breaks to sip our drinks and read
our books in the sun. What a treat to have had at least one beach day on what
was supposed to be a ½ adventure ½ beach trip! Haha Ah well, can’t control the
weather.
After a wonderful day spent puttering around Singapore with Dylan and running to the ferry ticket counter in Shenzhen I was
able to get us tickets on the last boat to Shenzhen – what luck! We did some
packing and fiddling before begrudgingly going to sleep, knowing that Mom would
have to leave the next day. We enjoyed our morning puttering around ‘home’
before heading to the ferry terminal on Sunday to say our good-byes until June.
I half wished we hadn’t had such a tremendous time together…good-bye may have
been a little easier. Alas, all good things must come to an end and mom was off
and home without any truly terrible issues before we both knew it. Strange to
see her on the other side of the screen again but I do feel awfully blessed to
have so many wonderful memories of our time together.
I am Very lucky to have had the opportunity to have such a wonderful holiday with my Beautiful Mama! XO
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