The Terrific3 travel blog

I didn’t sleep super long last night (4.5 hours), which is often the case with a new place, and once I woke at 4am, I started worrying about the passport scam from yesterday and went online to update my credit monitoring services etc. I’m glad my credit card is closed but definitely worried about identify theft.

I was able to catch the gorgeous sunrise from my bedroom private porch. I heard S up at 4am too, tossing and turning in his room (blame single mom ears). Z was the only one who slept well, but S was upset at him in the morning for waking him up with his “loud peeing,” and complained to me at length about how he doesn’t like sharing a room. On one hand, I know he needs that as an accommodation; on the other, I did explain to him that for the past month, he is the only person in that the family who has had a room to himself, and that these 6 days can be tolerated, and we can create a way for it to work. Trying to gently help him push his boundaries without pushing him off on the edge. He was then made that the PlayStation in their room didn’t seem to play many games, and required discs, which we didn’t have.

We changed the mood with breakfast, and then the kids really wanted to play pool. I made them a promise that I would let them do that after my run, as pool can be a dangerous game if not played properly, especially with feuding siblings, and I wanted them to bond doing something else together.

So I gave S a room key, told them to be worried if I wasn’t back by 930am, and left for a beach run. I read an article recently about how American kids are losing their independence because we are not giving them opportunities. They had strict directions to not leave the resort, but I felt they could keep themselves safe and entertained within the hotel.

I has a great beach run. It’s so much easier to run here with temps in the 70s and only 80% humidity vs chiang mai temps in the 80s and 90% plus humidity. Plus so far, we haven’t encountered many mosquitos (I’m sure we will in Ubud). This area is all resort, of course, so not the “real” Bali, but the ocean and sand and wind and scent of saltwater is just so alluring.

The hotel here is gorgeous. There are lots of family, many with little kids. Seeing them makes me realize just how far I’ve come as a parent and be thankful that those exhausting days of chasing 2 toddlers is over. I checked out the kids’ club and activities. I think it’s probably going to be too much geared to smaller kids for my kids to enjoy it, but I think having activities like pool volleyball, pool, fusbal, table tennis, and a gorgeous hotel is enough to stimulate my kids to give me a break. Plus there are other daily activities. Kids want to do beach soccer tomorrow and S independently asked to do a one hour Indonesian language class they offer. He is learning Italian, Spanish, French, and Indonesian on duolingo!!

This pool volleyball game that was supposed to be 30 minutes stretched on way past 2 hours. One thing I love about this hotel is that the pool is literally next to the eating area, so I can lounge at the bar restaurant, order my food and the kids’, and they can swim over and eat it. No whining about how long it’s taking the food (takes a while here as resort is full).

And I’m literally lounging on my butt in a comfy chair, about to watch Netflix and listen to podcasts, and happy I’m not getting eaten alive by mosquitos as I did in Thailand. I don’t think I remember the last time I “relaxed” like this. I’m not very good at it, haha, so restless, but it’s probably good for me.

As much as I’m not a “resort person,” whatever that means, I certainly am a resort parent. It’s been the first time this trip I’ve really gotten a break from parenting, while still being in a beautiful location with things to do for myself that I enjoy.

To give you a sense of resort pricing for food, I just got a delicious tempeh wrap with peanut sauce, fries and a salad for $6 (plus 20% off since I’m a member of the hotel group) and kids under 12 eat free, so both kids got shakes, small pizzas and dessert. A 90 minute hotel massage is about $50 and a 45 minute facial is $30. I’m sure all these things are cheaper outside a resort, of course.

The rest of the day was pretty mellow. Z made some friends in the pool and played continuously for 6+ hours. Sonu played some video games and then read in our room, and I sat by the pool and watched the Netflix documentary about the Thai boys who were trapped in that cave a few years back.

I need to get my mind wrapped around booking some snorkeling and rafting tours. I’m glad we have enough time as it takes me a couple of days to feel settled in a new country.

Btw, the currency exchange rate here is 1 US dollar is 15,000 Indonesian rupiah. It is so hard to wrap my head around it. Today I tried to withdraw the equivalent of $200 from an ATM and it wouldn’t let me get more than 1 million rupiah, which is about $67! It’ll take me a while to do those conversions in my head!

Tomorrow is another “settling in” day for us at the hotel. I have a facial and foot massage, sonu is taking an Indonesian language class, and both boys are doing beach soccer in the evening.