Our Little Rainbow: Month 20: Bali Trip

A few days after we saw the positive HPT, we went to see the doctor and it as confirmed I was pregnant. We were relieved when the doctor told us that we could still go on our Bali trip a few days later. So on 10-Aug-2010, H, X, my mom, my sister and I flew to Bali for 8 days. It as Xuan’s first time on a plane and her first trip overseas. She handled the 3 hour flight very well, she didn’t cry...but she didn’t sleep either. H and I were busy entertaining her and handing her back and forth between ourselves across the aisle. Luckily, I was sitting next to a kind Frenchman with his 10 year old son. He was very understanding and entertaining with Xuan, letting her scribble all over his hotel booking and itinerary with his son’s colored pens!

By the time we reached the hotel in Kuta, Bali, it was already 11pm. Way past Xuan’s bedtime, and she did not sleep on the plane. As usual, she was hyperactive and excited to be in a new place. I was afraid that it would take her ages to settle down to sleep. Luckily, and probably because she was so tired, she just hugged her green bear (her latest lovey, my sister insisted that we bring this and I threw it into the backpack at the last minute), closed her eyes and went to sleep.

The next day, we travelled to Ubud. The hotel was nice and cosy. We had a room on the 1st floor with a big balcony, overlooking a fish pond. Xuan loved going outside to look at the fishpond. Her limited vocabulary expanded to include “GO!! GO!! GO!!” to tell us that she wanted to go outside. Again, she did not take her afternoon nap, she was too busy exploring the room. We went to a restaurant called Pizza Bagus for dinner. By that time, she was so exhausted, she just fell asleep in the high chair before the food arrived. It was kind of strange to eat pizza in Bali, but the pizza was delicious. What else was delicious, was the smell of grilled seafood wrafting into the restaurant from next door. We planned to check that place out for the next meal.

We spent the next couple of days exploring Ubud and the surrounding areas – temples, palaces, etc. One day was devoted to relaxing. We had leisurely breakfast at the lobby balcony, overlooking the paddy fields. Then my sister, my mom and I went for a spa treatment while H took care of Xuan. The spa was ok, except for the first 20 minutes when we had to endure loud ceremonial music from the road outside as there was some ceremonial procession going by. I was a little nervous about having a massage while pregnant, some people advise against that, but I did tell the masseuse and she said it was OK as long as she was gentle and didn’t massage my abdomen.

After the massage, we went back to the hotel and found out that Xuan had a little accident. While we were having our spa treatment, H took Xuan to walk around Ubud town. After a while, it was hot, so he went into a bakery-cum-cafe to get a drink. Our little girl, as usual, was too enthusiastic when she saw the fruit juice and tried to pull the glass towards herself for a drink. The glass slipped and broke against the table. H checked Xuan to see if she was ok, she as not crying. H found that a piece of broken glass had fallen and cut Xuan’s leg, she was bleeding. He hurriedly paid for the drink and rushed back to the hotel to ask the receptionist for the nearest clinic. The receptionist told him that the shuttle car was not in, but offered to send H and Xuan to the nearest clinic on motorcycle. Up to this point, Xuan did not cry at all, but when they got on the motorcycle, she started wailing! She continued wailing at the clinic while the doctor cleaned and bandaged her wound. The cut was about 1.5 inches long on her left calf. The doctor told us to keep her leg dry for a few days and to wash the wound with saline water everyday, put yellow medicine and change the dressing.

After that, Xuan had stopped crying but she did not want to get back on the motorcycle, so H tipped the driver and walked back to the hotel, as it was only a 10 minute walk. When I went back to the room, Xuan had already recovered from her ordeal and was playing on the bed. However, if anyone asked her “What happened to your leg?” she would started crying and point to her cut. Once, my sister asked her “What happened to your leg?”, Xuan started whimpering and pointed to her right leg...then my sister told her “That’s the wrong leg!” and Xuan quickly pointed to her left leg instead! From this experience, Xuan learned another word “Cut, cut”.

Mid-way through our trip, my morning sickness started. I felt nausea almost constantly, in the car, not in the car, sitting up, lying down, when walking. I felt like puking all the time, regardless whether I ate, or didn’t eat, when I drank water. I was puking all over Bali island, at restaurants, shopping malls, hotel toilets. It was as bad as when I was pregnant with Xuan, and I was only halfway through 6 weeks. If this went along the same lines as my first pregnancy, I would be nauseous and pukey for another 10 weeks. Poor H tried to comfort me, but he couldn’t resist saying “I told you it was ok if we only have Xuan!”

After 3 days in Ubud, we went back to Kuta and moved into a hotel apartment, The apartment was spacious and comfortable, very new and modern. We were on the ground floor, facing the swimming pool and Xuan kept wanting to go outside but we were reluctant to let her swim as we were suppose to keep her wound dry. In the end we relented and let her have a quick 15 minute dip in the pool, she enjoyed splashing everyone tremendously, after which we had to drag her kicking and screaming out of the swimming pool.

In Kuta, we mostly ate, walked around and shopped. We had a brief visit to the beach, but again, didn’t go in as didn’t want sand and water to get into Xuan’s wound. On the eigth day, we flew home. The flight home was ok. Although we had a lovely trip, it was a relief to be home again, to sleep in our own bed, without Xuan sleeping spreadeagle across, forming the letter “H” as H and I clung to the sides of the bed, trying not to fall off!

Here are some pictures from our Bali trip:

This is the lobby of the hotel we stayed in, in Ubud. Our room is the one of the rooms on the left.

Xuan loves to go out to the balcony to look at the view. What is she looking at?

Our balcony looks out to a scenic and peaceful view of the paddy fields

Our room also looks out into a little fish pond, and Xuan loves to point out the fish and birds, and keeps asking us to take her out..."Go...go...GO!!!!"