Ness' bit of everything

My parents, Diane and Martin have always loved to see new parts of the world. I have been very fortunate that most of my travelling has been done with them. So, this was no surprise when announcing mine and Alex’s trip the response was ‘we will be coming to visit!’.

True to their word, we met them in Singapore in mid March. It had been just over 9 weeks since I had seen them, the longest I had been away from home and the longest I hadn’t seen my parents for. It was humbling to see them even in their glamorous jet lagged state pull up to the hotel.

We jumped right into tourist mode to speed see the city with only 2 nights there. They put their jet lag aside and we hit the streets of Singapore…coffee in hand!

We spent the first day wandering the streets, finding our way down Orchard Road, down onto Clarke Quay and wound up in Chinatown eating Dim Sum for dinner.

The second day, was no relaxing Sunday. We got up bright and early getting the MRT then the monorail to Sentosa Island. This can be described as literally a bubble of non reality and a theme park of fun activities. If you are in Singapore and want to experience something that isn’t directly in the centre, I’d recommend this. We rented bikes and ended up on the Luge!

That Sunday evening was my favourite. After a quick freshen up, we headed to Gardens by the Bay. This is a must in Singapore. We visited at dusk and the light made the gardens even more beautiful. The four of us got dinner with a city skyline view of the Marina.

Next stop; Bali. Ubud was the first stop. Alex and I had loved it there, so we had no problem in returning for a few more days. The days in Ubud involved a trip to the rice terraces, the ridge walk, yoga, great food and a trip through the Monkey Forest.

After Ubud we went south to Nusa Dua. We were here for Nyepi day (Silent day) on the 17th March. This was incredibly interesting to be witness. Nyepi day is a New Year celebration unlike anywhere else.

The day before people gather in towns from neighbouring villages with ogoh-ogohs (large papier-mâché statues) these represent bad sprits. These are then burnt in the evening before the day of silence to keep bad spirits away for the next year.

Nyepi day is the quietest day of the year, with the island adhering to local rules, restricting any activities and normal routines coming to a halt. The roads have no traffic, residents and tourist unable to leave their accommodation. Come the nightfall there are to be no lights shining outside and the hotel was basically in darkness. Very surreal!

Nusa Dua, was Mum and Dads chill out time (it was still their holiday after all). Alex and I had one day out to Waterbom situated in Kuta, the best waterpark in Asia, highly recommend! However, the rest of the time left we relaxed, went out for great food and I caught up on some much needed gossip with Mum and Dad.

I am so incredibly lucky to call these two my parents, not to mention that they would travel around the world to see my boyfriend and I on our adventure.

These two below are my inspirations and I love them dearly.

Thank you for everything you do.

Ness x