Jeff and Angel's Day

The day is finally here.   Today, my beloved cousin Jeff married his Angel.  

It was a joyous and momentous day.  

Arriving at the beautiful hotel Amankila Bali where the wedding was to be held, we were greeted by views of the mountains and infinity pools that flowed seamlessly into the ocean backdrop.  Yes, this is where I took our infamous family Christmas card picture - where I Photoshopped my dear cuzzy out.

From our vantage point, we spied the beautiful venue in the valley below and also the hundreds of steps that led to it, my stiletto-wearing self decided to opt for the glorified golf cart transport instead.  The road down was long, narrow, and winding - reminiscent of Lombard Street in San Francisco.  Just as we were rounding the last corner, the beautifully orchestrated grounds were revealed to us.  It was a sea of white - white canopies surrounding the pool, white linen draped tables, white patio lanterns suspended by tall rods of bamboo, crisp white fabric slung between the palm trees in the wedding area - adorned by white flower petals.  It was absolutely magical.  What a perfect setting for a perfect day.       

 

 

Jeff and Angels' Picture Tree:

 (Picture of the boys at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics)

 

   

As you can see, the Breathtaking views and gorgeous backdrop was rivaled only by the beautiful bride and her handsome groom. 

At sunset, the entire lawn and hillside was illuminated by the soft glow of lanterns - so romantic.

We walked down to the beach and watched a tribal dance.  There was a lot of chanting and trance; it was a very powerful performance.

Now to what we were all looking forward to (besides the beautiful exchange of nuptials...) - dinner!

Ooooh, la la

 Food was absolutely delicious and accented perfectly by the wine and champagne (and so it begins...)

Speeches and toasts:

 

Great heartfelt speech - I'll drink to that (again and again...)

Cake cutting after much toasting...

This is Angel trying to get a sentimental word edgewise, while my cuzzy steals the spotlight bringing his  best "Blue Steel" (a pose from the movie, "Zoolander", where you have to pucker your lips, suck in your cheeks, and squint your eyes as if a strong wind or sand is blowing at you).

Nailed it!

(Angel is such a good sport)

First dance as husband and wife:

Gettin' the party started...

Girls were coming up left and right to take pics with Jayden.  

Lucky boy, this girl asked for a kiss 

(and her boyfriend followed with high-fives and to asked him to share his secret with the ladies) 

 Johnny Magic doing his thing...

The rest of the night was a crazy fun blur.  Judging by the condition I was in the next day, I had a blast at Angel and Jeff's wedding.  Unfortunately, all that fun the night before made me miss the "farewell brunch" and saying good bye to my family : (  Shame, shame, shame.  Jeff - I hope you know that I did it for you!  The rest family may have turned in early but I was representin' for us all!  I know, I know,  you must be thinking, "oh, you shouldn't have" - you're welcome : )  

Special shout out to my home girl, Carmen - thanks for taking care of this ol' gal and making sure I got home safely.  You rock!

Here are some random pictures of the family:

My wonderful family

 My Auntie Grace, Auntie Ruth, and Uncle Peter

Me and Uncle Jerry and Auntie Lanna

Just wanted to thank Jeff and Angel for sharing their special day with us.  We love you guys so much - the wedding was beautiful and we had so much fun (maybe too much for some of us - but no regrets)!

Visit to the Bat Cave...temple

Cockadoodle Doo!  Our morning alarm clocks here are the roosters -  just like clockwork, they crow with the rising sun.  Actually roosters here seem to crow at all times of the day, starting at sunrise and then throughout the day until sunset.  

After we enjoyed our morning ritual shower in the fresh air (the showers were outdoors) we sat down to a hearty Indonesian breakfast of Nasi Goreng with pickled veggies, hot sauce, and cappuccino (substitute Indonesian banana crepe pancakes, fresh fruit, and papaya juice for those under 30 years of age).  We were easily entertained by all the exotic butterflies, dragonflies, bees, frogs, and salamanders flying, jumping, and crawling in every direction.

This morning's itinerary: attend a Barong dance - a cultural Balinese dance narrating the fight between good and evil.

 

The orchestra - Chris thought the sounds to be beautiful and soothing.  I, on the other hand, feel that the music is best described as a group of kids with wind-chimes, pot and pans, and whistles - all trying to play at the same time.  It did, however, lend itself to the atmosphere and within that context, I did enjoy it.  I will, however, think twice before purchasing it as my ringtone for my phone.

Rangda, the evil queen - ha, ha, ha

Here comes Lion Barong: protector spirit

As you can probably guess, the Barong brings the smack down on Rangda; the evil queen is smoten.  Good and justice prevails - hooray.

After the performance, off for some more temple sight-seeing.

Pura Goa Lowah (Bat Cave Temple):

 

Here is the temple alter - wait a minute, let's take a closer look at the back wall of that cave...

Bats - of course, hence the name (Bat Cave Temple)!

Strike a pose!  Most woman do not carry bags and instead choose to balance everything on their head.  We saw woman 3 stacks high and others carrying massive bags of rice - all with no hands!

All that food reminds us that it is lunch time.  Today we were in for a real treat, Norman took us to a favorite local's hangout.  Norman schooled us when we asked him what the restaurant was called, he told us restaurants are for tourists, locals eat at warungs.  This warung was called "Warung Lesehan".  Dirty plastic table clothes and massive swarm of flies around the tables.  I can do this, I can do this...

Norman ordered for us.  Minutes later, the plastic tablecloth was adorned with plates of goodies.  Norman walked us through everything, sprinkle the coconut oil and chili sauce over rice, add the garlic fried peanuts, and enjoy with the different fish satays.

As the only non-Balinese customers, all eyes on us.  Crisis adverted once we took a bite and gave the "yum" face.  This was the best Balinese food!
Here is the look of a satisfying meal.  The 4 of us were stuffed full and the total bill came to $11.00 US dollars!

Norman with dessert - the sweetest most aromatic green mangos

Random street shot - the standard stray dogs, roosters, debris, and garbage

Goa Gajah Temple (the elephant cave temple) - built where two rivers meet:

At the bathing pools

 

Cleansing from the holy water

Entrance to the Elephant Cave

 Inside, the cave was once used by Yogis - Jay strikes his best ninja-yoga pose

At these temples, there are 3 waterfalls used for showering:

Like our sarongs?  These are required while visiting temples.

Norman and JJ

 J trying out Mother Nature's shower

Banyan Tree Roots

Chris wanted to purchase a traditional wood carving - off to our last stop of the day, the city of Mas.

The men perform the carving and the woman sand and polish

This man is putting on the finish coats on the mask - to protect and bring out the color of the wood
 

Barong Mask sitting on our mantel