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cygnetofthesea · 3 years

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Happy Mother’s Day, Iris

In honor of Mother’s Day, here’s a little bit of Iris celebrating with her family. Happy Mother’s Day to all the loving, doting mothers and mother figures!

On AO3

It was the smell of fresh coffee and the touch of soft lips pressing against her cheek and lips that woke her up. She kept her eyes closed as a smile broke across her face and the kisses traveled up to her lids.

She sighed in complete and utter contentment, reaching up to thread her fingers through her husband's hair. She stroked the thick locks, feeling his hum against her skin.

"Happy Mother's Day," he greeted her softly

"Thank you. How are the babies?" she murmured, her voice raspy from lack of use.

"Perfect as always."

Iris burst out laughing, finally opening her eyes to see Barry sprawled horizontally on his side of the bed, fully dressed and his legs dangling off the side. She leaned over and kissed the space between his brows, endeared by his goofy smile.

"Perfect, huh? I mean, they are perfectly beautiful but well-behaved? I don't know about that."

"They sure take the 'terrible twos' to the next level," he agreed. "The parenting books definitely were not written with them in mind. Want to sleep in a little more? You might need it."

He brushed a strand of hair from her forehead as she shook her head. "Uh-uh, I want to see the tornado twins."

They shared a smile, remembering how Cisco gave Nora and Bart the nickname after they had started vibrating slightly in place. They found that when the brother and sister were together and playing with McSnurtle, their excitement went up a level that caused them to vibrate in place. Barry and Iris had lunged to grab them before anything else could happen but it was safe to say, they kept the babies' interaction with McSnurtle to a minimum until Cisco finished his dampening bracelets for them.

Barry's smile dropped slightly, looking off to the side. She knew that look: his speed force senses were tingling, which meant the babies were acting up again.

Barry sped away and in a flash brought back little Bart and Nora in his arms as Iris sat up in bed. Her face lit up, any traces of grogginess washing away at the sight of her gorgeous babies. Her heart felt like they had doubled in size as she reached over to grab the nearest baby, Bart.

He made grabby hands at her, settling them on her hair and locket when she kissed his chubby cheeks. She leaned over to smooch Nora's too as Barry settled in next to her.

"It’s like your speed force senses were tingling," he said with a chuckle. "They spotted McSnurtle."

"Mama, Snurtle play!" Nora squealed before leaning over Barry's arm and turning to her mom as though she had the turtle she so coveted.

"Sn-snurtle play, Mama," Bart repeated looking at his mom inquisitively.

Iris smooched both her babies again after brushing their wispy curls. "Not today, babes. We're going to try to make it without incident today. Ok?" she asked, nodding with a smile.

The twins were only two-years old but it didn't stop Iris from talking to them like they understood complex language. She just loved the wide-eyed looks they gave her in return. Plus, Barry more than made up for it in the baby-talk department.

Case in point, he was leaning over Nora just then, adopting a goofy voice. "You wanna pway with McSnurtle the turtle? You want to pway wid him? Yes you dooo."

Nora just gave him the same wide-eyed look Bart had just given her. "Snurtle!" she repeated as though attempting to conjure him up.

Barry turned Nora to face Bart more fully and Iris did the same with Bart. They found when they didn't get their way, the best thing to do was let them play with each other and they'd forget all about their baby plights.

Barry grinned at Iris crookedly as the babies fought against their holds to play with each other. They released them, keeping a careful eye on their crawling bodies.

"I wanted you to have breakfast in bed without interruptions," Barry said, taking hold of her hand.

It was only then Iris noticed the familiar rolling breakfast tray covered with an assortment of her favorite foods and a single frangipani that could only be found in Bali. She spotted some familiar foods that definitely were not from Central City.

"Oh my god!" she squealed, drawing the attention of her babies before they turned back to their light wrestling. "Is that pan au chocolate from Gérard Mulot?" she asked in a perfect French accent.

It was her favorite bakery in Paris that she took Barry to on their third anniversary. She had fallen in love with the place that Barry made sure to get it for every special occasion or really, whenever Iris was in the mood for it.

Barry rolled the tray over her and let her dig in. "Yup and the one from Marais, too. Nothing but the best for my beautiful baby mama," he said pressing a kiss to her cheekbone.

She groaned in pleasure as the smooth, dark chocolate blended perfectly with the warm, flaky croissant in her mouth. "Holy sh-crap. If the kids weren't here, I'd pounce on you."

"Oh that can most definitely be arranged," he murmured, wrapping his arms around her. He took the piece of pastry she offered, licking the chocolate from her finger. "Tonight, after the portraits and dinner, it's just you and me. I have a whole day planned with us and the kids, it'll be enough to tucker them out for the night."

"Oh yeah?" she asked, sliding a grape in her mouth as she looked at from underneath her lashes. "And what exactly is going to happen once the twins are asleep?"

He peeked at said twins—they were happily occupied with a Flash plush toy, squealing "Dada!"—before leaning over to lick at her lips, taking any of the residual pastry with him. He kissed her, letting his tongue slide into her mouth to taste her.

"Oh I don't know, maybe we could watch Inception and light up that oyster candle thing," he said in a deep and husky voice.

She knew he was using his bedroom voice and normally it would make her body tingle enough to tackle him, but his words made her giggle against his lips. She leaned into the kiss some more, tilting her head to take in his lips because yes, despite the humor his words evoked, she would always want him.

She pulled away slowly, watching as he took his time opening his eyes, the flutter of his lashes making her heart clench.

"You still really think it was that combo that knocked me up?"

He looked at her, his cheeks flushed with desire, but he looked sheepish. "Hey, the guy said oysters were an aphrodisiac." The guy being a young waiter at the Japanese restaurant where Barry had gone to pick up their takeout.

"Please babe, as if we ever needed any aphrodisiac. Your libido is plenty." She pulled at her lower lip. "So is mine, come to think of it. Who knew nerds were my weakness. Or maybe it's just you."

"It better just be me," Barry growled, pretending to bite her. She pushed at his shoulder with a laugh.

"Besides, it's the act of eating oyster that's supposed to be the aphrodisiac, not sniffing an oyster-scented candle. Which I still can't believe you tracked down."

"Ok, we can skip the oyster candle," he amended.

"Please."

"And how about I give you a nice massage instead."

"Yes, please."

"With Inception on or off?"

Iris snorted. "Definitely off. I don't need Hans Zimmer making our lovemaking feel dramatic and scary. But we are watching it first."

"You got it." He kissed again and then grabbed a familiar looking album. It melted her heart every time she saw it and remembered the first time Barry presented it to her.

Iris has been four months pregnant with the twins and hadn't even thought of Mother's Day other than to buy flowers for Nora and Francine's graves. Despite her mother being absent in her life, she was grateful that she had at least given her Wally and been a mother to him. She had brought the flowers home only to be greeted with a huge arrangement sitting on their dinner table next to a brand new photo album.

She looked at the arrangement curiously before turning to Barry who was bringing over a matcha mille crepe cake from her favorite place in New York City. She had been craving matcha anything as of late and Barry never hesitated to speed over to Prince Tea House over in East End to get them for her.

"Hey babe, I already got the flowers," she said, gesturing at the bouquets in her arm.

He beamed at her, his eyes soft. It was that look he always gave her, that was reserved just for her: as though she was a marvel he couldn't believe existed. As though she was the impossible and not him and his speedster abilities.

"They're for you. Happy Mother's Day, Iris."

Maybe it was her hormones—most definitely—or maybe it was that look he was giving her, but Iris could feel her eyes welling up. Barry immediately set the mille crepe down and gathered her in his arms, the flowers crushing in between them.

"You're a mom, Iris. A beautiful, wonderful one at that. You have been since the moment Nora walked into our lives that day and you deserve to be celebrated."

She sniffled and gave him a watery smile. "And you're a dad."

Barry shook his head. "It's not the same. I…I wasn't there for Nora like I should have been, the way you were," he said with regret and residual grief. "But I'm going to do better this time around. I will be anything you and our babies need."

Iris cupped his cheek, stroking the five o'clock shadow there. "I know you will."

She knew it in her heart that he would do anything and everything for them. She kissed him softly, savoring the moment with his scent mixing with the flowers around them.

She pulled away and looked at the album. "But what's that?"

He grabbed the album and presented it to her. On the front cover, he had placed a candid picture of her, smiling brightly with a frangipani tucked behind her ear and a bundle of them in her hands. Barry had made it a habit to collect a bundle of flowers that surrounded the resort where they stayed. It was a large and private area that made it feel like they were in their own little world.

"I want to commemorate every moment of this," he said. "Just like I want to honor every single moment of our lives together. You're the most incredible woman, Iris West-Allen, and I know you're going to be the most incredible mother. I want our children to be able to see their mother every step of the way. How she carried them with love and nurtured them with the utmost care and compassion. Even while they were wreaking havoc on her hormones."

He had looked like he was going to say more, but Iris couldn't wait any longer. She took the album from him and set them on the table with the flowers and kissed him with everything in her.

When she eventually pulled away, she pressed their foreheads together, their heavy breaths mingling together.

"I love you Barry Allen."

"I love you, Iris West-Allen."

And so began tradition. Barry had taken a portrait of Iris with their camera, her wedding ring sparkling brightly as she rested her hand on her belly, curving around it as though protecting their babies. And she was protecting them, just as Barry would protect her.

This Mother's Day, they would be adding a third picture to the album, with the twins slightly bigger than the last photo.

Barry hugged her to him, the album against his chest with her image on the outside. "Ready to add to this?"

Iris glanced over at her babies fooling around on their bed and then turned to her husband, her heart full. She felt like the luckiest woman in the world.

"Always."

#Westallen #WA Fanfiction #Westallen Fanfiction #WA Fanfic #WA Fics #cyngetofthesea writings #HeroSavesPeople #I was honestly feeling blocked today and didnt think I could write anything but woot woot here it is #excuse the mess please #wrote it quickly to be able to post before midnight #:D

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jennie-bb-sg · 4 years

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Daddy Dave pt 2

Tricia and I joined Dave and Keith who were chilling by the pool. We got to know Keith a little better as villa's staff brought dinner in for us. Babi Guling is my favourite dish in Bali and dinner was spectacular.

We kicked back over a couple of drinks as we started to chat about our sexual encounters. Dave shared about our escapades back home while Keith shared that he got checked and stayed clean as per the instructions of Dave. It must have been tough for Keith given that he brings girls back to the villa on a regular basis. Tricia was a lil bitch and started sharing embarrassing stories about me (which I won't share here of course) so I decided to tell everyone about the time that Tricia farted right before another guy took over her ass :p

All this while, the boys were getting semi-hard and were stroking their dicks while playing with their balls. Tricia and I both knew we were in trouble tonight because we had two massive 9-inchers to deal with tonight and if we thought Dave was thick, Keith had a monster.

Dave decided it was time to have some real fun and asked Keith to show us around the villa proper. Tricia and I said we should get naked before the tour and we began untying each others bikinis while making out. I was getting carried away flicking Tricia's nipples with my tongue when the boys stopped us so we could get more comfortable. It was really funny walking back into the villa with our boobs bouncing and the boys' dicks flopping left and right.

The bedrooms looked similar as you would expect from a villa but each had a stunning view of the surrounding area. As it was right at the corner of the compound, the nearest neighbours were around a bend and out of sight too.

Tricia and I excused ourselves to go get showered and we changed into our first set of matching lingerie and heels for the boys. If you ever scold girls for overpacking for holidays, the reason we needed check in luggage was because of all that lingerie, heels and toys (ok and maybe we packed a lot of outfits for our socials too hehe). We strutted back out hand-in-hand in daddy's favourite strappy VS lingerie set which you can see here.

We met the boys back on the roof terrace and stopped to let them admire our bodies. I remember involuntarily touching and getting touched by Tricia as we saw their rods inflating. Soon, they walked over to break us out of our daze and proceeded to please our bodies with their tongues. It was so nice to be pampered first with both Keith and Dave kneeling and eating us out to start.

It was time to return the favour as we grabbed the boys by their dick and led them to the pool beds. I got Keith first and had trouble wrapping my hand around his rock-hard cock, let alone stuffing it in my mouth. It was a beautiful sight watching the two daddies with us girls sucking them off under the cloudless night sky. You could only hear soft moans and wet slurping to accompany the gentle waves hitting the shore. Before you knew it, we had climbed on our respective daddies and were riding them into the night. I wanted to start on top because I was afraid of Keith's stick. What a stretch that was but within a few pumps I was almost taking it like a champ.

Dave suggested that we move to inside and Keith agreed. They picked us up with their dicks still stuffed in our tight snatches and carried us down to the master bedroom. They dimmed the lights and put us down as they went to fetch some cold drinks so Tricia and I entertained ourselves as we whipped out our double dildo. The boys soon returned with some refreshing MOET champagne which made us stop our thrusting. After a quick break and wipe down we all climbed onto the bed and got down to fucking proper. It was actually quite romantic fucking in the candle lit room. Occasionally, one of us would let out a massive moan if Keith or Dave picked up the pace.

We moved over to the full length window as the boys took us on doggie style. That sight of two little girls with their tits banging up against the glass from the thrusts must have been spectacular. Keith picked Tricia and fucked her up against the wall as Dave pounded me on the white leather couch. Dave called Keith over to the couch and instructed us to give Keith a washdown as a small thank you gesture. As instructed, we sat by either side of him and started fingering our pussies vigorously. I soon started gasping for air as my squirt felt ready to blow but Tricia needed a little more time. Holding that squirt in was like holding back the biggest pee I needed to in my life. After what was the longest 30 seconds of my life, Tricia let out a deafening "OH MY FUCKING GOD!" as I released my dam onto our target man.

"Fuck.." said everyone as we all caught our breath. We agreed that that was the wettest bedroom splash we made. It was only us two but we were soaked, Keith was obviously soaked, Dave was soaked, the couch was drenched, the carpet was squishing, the window looked like it was raining.

We dried ourselves off and reclined for more champagne before going Dave leaned in to kiss me and tackled me onto the bed for our third round of the night as I let out a cheeky giggle.. We did not manage to even leave the master bedroom that night and the boys blew a spectacular load on our faces as we called it a night for the first day of our Bali adventure.

Don’t forget to head over to my blog to check out the rest of my adventures!

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purplesurveys · 4 years

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900

1. What’s the last thing you ate? Shawarma. It was a usual meal of mine at school so I’ve been missing it a lot during this quarantine, and I was happy when my dad got me a couple ones yesterday.

2. What’s your favourite cheese? I haven’t been super experimental when it comes to cheese mainly because the better ones are a little expensive and I’m more willing to spend my money on other foods...but the best one I’ve had is feta.

3. What’s your favourite fish? My favorite cooked or grilled fish is tilapia and eel; as for raw fish I love tuna.

4. What’s your favourite fruit? I don’t really like fruit but I’m open to eating avocado-flavored things like shakes and cheesecake; and I’m okay with strawberry-flavored candy hahaha.

5. When, if ever, did you start liking olives? I’ve never liked olives. I take them out of my pizza and such.

6. When, if ever, did you start liking beer? I never *liked* beer but sometimes I’ll have a bottle if and only if it’s to socialize at a party. I just keep the grimace to myself lol because I personally never found it good. I had my first beer at Marielle’s debut, four years ago.

7. When, if ever, did you start liking shellfish? High school. That was when my palate started to expand and I wanted to try being more adventurous with food. I got into shellfish pretty early on and my mom even used to buy a kilo of mussels just for me.

8. What was the best thing your mum/dad/guardian used to make? I love my dad’s laksa, risotto, curries, and chicken wings. My mom doesn’t cook much but I do like her spaghetti.

9. What’s the native specialty of your hometown? My city doesn’t have native food of its own; and I’m not sure about my province’s specialtes either only because cuisines from other provinces are far more popular. I can say though that most visitors who come to the country often try adobo, sinigang, kare-kare, and bulalo.

10. What’s your comfort food? Cheeseburgers, samgyeopsal, pad thai, and chicken wings.

11. What’s your favourite type of chocolate? Milk chocolate. And it gets a lot of flak because it’s not actually chocolate, but I do enjoy the flavor of white chocolate too.

12. How do you like your steak? Rare.

13. How do you like your burger? I like mine with caramelized onions, a mayo-based sauce, and brioche buns; barbecue sauce or jalapeños are add-ons I have no problem being put in my burger. I don’t like tomatoes, pickles, and lettuce.

14. How do you like your eggs? Scrambled if on toast; omelette with cheese, tomatoes, mushrooms, and bell peppers if with rice; and obviously, poached if on top of an Eggs Benedict. I don’t have a preferred style for eggs.

15. How do you like your potatoes? As French fries or mojos.

16. How do you take your coffee? If someone is making the coffee for me, I request for lots of cream and sugar. I’d drink any kind of coffee but black. If I’m at a coffee shop I typically get caramel macchiato.

17. How do you take your tea? I enjoy lemonade iced tea. I don’t really like hot tea.

18. What’s your favourite mug? I suppose my favorite is the only mug I own, which is a white mug that changes colors depending on the temperature of the drink inside.

19. What’s your biscuit or cookie of choice? I can’t stand biscuits anymore because those are what my grandma/mom packed for my recess nearly everyday throughout grade school. I don’t like store-brought cookies either because they taste super processed, but my favorite as a kid were the Presto peanut butter cookies.

20. What’s your ideal breakfast? Garlic rice, a packed omelette, and hashbrowns if I’m somewhere fancy. Scrambled eggs and hotdogs when I’m at home.

21. What’s your ideal sandwich? Monte Cristo or banh mi.

22. What’s your ideal pizza: Quattro formaggi. If we’re talking more experimental pizzas, barbecue pizza is a guilty pleasure.

23. What’s your ideal pie (sweet or savoury)? I’m not a big pie person but I do love savory a lot more, like chicken pot pie. I think most of the sweet pies out there are fruit-based anyway.

24. What’s your ideal salad? Spicy tuna salad. I’ve been having such a craving for it :(

25. What food do you always like to have in the fridge? We always have white bread, eggs, my mom’s cranberry juice, and veggies.

26. What food do you always like to have in the freezer? In the freezer we never run out of various meats and frozen meal packs, like frozen bangus, hotdogs, chicken nuggets, French fries, etc. We also often have ice cream, but it’s not a must-have for us obviously.

27. What food do you always like to have in the cupboard? Pasta, canned food like luncheon meat and corned beef, cup noodles, various condiments like soy sauce and fish sauce, 3-in-1 coffee.

28. What spices can you not live without? I can��t cook but I do know I like salt, pepper, paprika, and cumin. I’m sure I’m missing other essential ones lol

29. What sauces can you not live without? Sriracha, bagoong, banana ketchup, gochujang, peanut sauce, gravy, barbecue sauce, aioli, mayonnaise.

30. Where do you buy most of your food? My parents don’t have a supermarket preference; they just go to wherever is most convenient for them at the moment. Once I start doing my own grocery shopping though I would rather go to a supermarket where they’d have a wider selection for foreign foods, like those that would have Pop-Tarts and sriracha sauce. Just the foodie in me that constantly has to have food from other cultures.

31. How often do you go food shopping? My parents do the groceries once every two or three weeks, I think.

33. What’s the most expensive piece of kitchen equipment you own? Aside from the obvious ref or cooking range, probably the coffee maker. Not sure how much it cost my parents but it’s supposed to be branded haha.

34. What’s the last piece of equipment you bought for your kitchen? Dad bought a couple of pans because he didn’t like how our old ones were starting to get too many scratches.

35. What piece of kitchen equipment could you not live without? Refrigerator. So many things would spoil without it...that’s why when we get blackouts the first thing we worry about is how long the ref would stay cold.

36. How many times a week/month do you cook from raw ingredients? I’ve only done it once.

37. What’s the last thing you cooked from raw ingredients?

38. What meats have you eaten besides cow, pig and poultry? Crocodile, carabao, lamb.

39. What’s the last time you ate something that had fallen on the floor? Don’t remember exactly when but it has to be sometime recently. I’m not too grossed out by this.

40. What’s the last time you ate something you’d picked in the wild? I have never done this.

41. Arrange the following in order of preference: Italian, Mexican, Chinese, Indian, Thai, Sushi – Indian, Thai, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Mexican. This question is a teeny bit annoying and a little offensive. How would you like it if I referred to American food as ‘ribs’ lol

42. Arrange the following in order of preference: Vodka, Whiskey, Brandy, Rum – Vodka, rum, (some) whiskey. I don’t drink brandy because that’s what my grandpa, who had alcohol issues, used to drink.

43. Arrange the following in order of preference: Garlic, Basil, Lime, Mint, Ginger, Aniseed – Aniseed, garlic, basil, ginger, lime, mint.

44. Arrange the following in order of preference: Pineapple, Orange, Apple, Strawberry, Cherry, Watermelon, Banana. –

45. Bread and spread: I don’t really munch on this particular food. Toast and butter is enough for me.

46. What’s your fast food restaurant of choice, and what do you usually order? It’s either KFC or Jollibee. In KFC I get a Zinger and a brownie; in Jollibee, I usually order the chicken-spaghetti set, large fries, and a Yum Burger. If they have tuna pie on the menu I’d get that too. My appetite gets exceptionally large when it comes to Jollibee hahahaha.

47. Pick a city. What are the best dining experiences you’ve had in that city? I no longer remember what exactly I ate but I had a blaaaast eating in Bali. I also had a sushi platter in Fukuoka that I’ll never forget.

48. What’s your choice of tipple at the end of a long day? I don’t drink regularly but if I’m out with friends and we want to chill after a tiring day, we get a pitcher of a mixed drink.

49. What’s the next thing you’ll eat? Eggs and hotdogs for breakfast. Probably with bread.

50. Are you hungry now? A little bit, considering it’s nearly 10 and I still haven’t had breakfast.

51. Do you eat your breakfast everyday? I’ve been having it everyday now because I’ve been home for...most of the year...sigh. But I skipped it all the time when I was in school because getting to class on time and having a clean attendance record mattered to me more than filling up my stomach. 52. At what time do you have breakfast? On weekdays I have it between 9-10 AM. On weekends when my parents are home, we have brunch instead at around 10:30-11 AM because they wake up late.

53. At what time do you have lunch? I normally skip lunch now. In school I just had tiny eating breaks throughout the day, but I didn’t have lunch per se.

54. What do you have for lunch? My usual purchases were instant noodles/kwek-kwek, tapsilog from Rodic’s, or shawarma rice. Thrived on these three for my entire college life.

55. At what time do you have dinner? 7-8 PM, depending on whenever my dad is finished cooking.

56. What do you have for dinner? My dad likes changing up our dishes everyday :) It’s one of my favorite things about quarantine. Outside of the quarantine, I’ve never had a main dinner dish.

57. Do you light candles during dinner? No.

58. How many chairs are there in your dining room and who sits in the main chair? 6 chairs. We don’t have a ‘main’ chair that’s larger than the rest, but my dad is the one who sits on the chair on one end of the dining table, or what we call the kabisera in Filipino. My mom, siblings, and I sit on either side of him.

59. Do you eat and drink using your right hand or the left one? I use my right hand for the spoon and my left hand for the fork. I drink with my right hand most of the time.

61. Mention the veggies that you like most: Broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, cabbage, spinach, asparagus, string beans. Idk what eggplants and bell peppers are but I like those too.

62. What fruit and vegetable do you like the least? Cucumber and ampalaya. 63. You like your fruit salad to have more: Air. Hahahaha I do not like fruit salads.

64. You prefer your vegetable salad to contain more: I love vegetables but don’t really eat vegetable salads? I don’t think I’ve even heard of those.

65. What’s your favourite sandwich spread? Whatever goes on banh mi.

66. What’s your favourite chocolate bar? Whittaker’s peanut butter chocolate.

67. What’s your favourite dessert? I really love macarons, cupcakes, and cheesecake.

68. What’s your favourite drink? Just water. Other drinks make me fuller more quickly.

69. What’s your favourite snack? Pringles, French fries, corndogs...anything deep-fried, really.

70. What’s your favourite bubble gum flavour? Strawberry, or just the original bubblegum flavor.

71. What’s your favourite ice cream flavour? Salted caramel, queso real, or cookies and cream.

72. What’s your favourite potato chip flavour? Original or sour cream and onion.

73. What’s your favourite soup? Miso. Have to have it whenever I have Japanese food.

74. What’s your favourite pizza? Already answered this, but I will always order quattro formaggi if I see it on a menu.

75. What’s your favourite type of dish? I have lots of favorites, but I think chicken curry takes the cake for me.

76. What food do you hate? Fruits, any dessert with fruits.

77. What’s your favourite restaurant? Yabu. It’s a Japanese restaurant that doesn’t even serve sushi (because I’m still ticked off by that sushi question lol).

78. Do you eat homemade food, or food delivered from outside? These days I eat food cooked by either parent. But when I’m on my own, I buy my food.

80. Who cooks at home? My dad does most of the time. My mom will make breakfast on the weekends.

81. What kind of diet (e.g. low-fat, high-fiber, high-carbohydrate, balanced diet etc.) do you have? I’m not on any.

82. How do you keep yourself fit? I just moderate my food intake in general and make sure I stop eating once I feel full. I don’t work out or count calories and stuff.

#survey #surveys

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damnthoseyes · 6 years

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Happy Birthday

@joelitos-baby

It’s Tash’s birthday (or it was) so here is a little imagine (that totally sucks) as a little gift. Hope you like it babes! There might even be a part 2 if @soyunalocagreek and @la-undercover-latina can put their heads together...

Words: 1900+

The room wasn’t bright enough to hurt my eyes when I finally opened them. I looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table: 10:30. Explains why there wasn’t a heavy arm over my torso. I yawned, stretched out and rolled over, trying to get back to sleep, only to find a massive bouquet of red roses on the opposite end of the bed. I sat up and went to touch the soft, velvety petals. They were absolutely beautiful.

How the hell did he get roses in February?

A white card with my name on it stuck out of the middle of the bouquet and a small black and white box lay beside it. I took the card out and another small green card fell out.

Happy birthday, amorcita! I hope you have an amazing day! Love you xx - Joel

The other card only had an address and a time - 2pm. Weird.

I picked up the box and undid the white satin bow. Another velvet black box was inside containing a beautiful diamond heart pendant on a delicate silver chain. My heart melted - it was so beautiful.

I took my phone off the charger to text a thank you.

Thanks for everything baby! They're gorgeous! I love you so much xxxxxx

I had barely taken the necklace out of the box to admire it further when my phone vibrated.

Glad you like it! Don't forget - 2pm! DON'T GOOGLE ANYTHING! I want you to be surprised. Love you more xx

I couldn't wipe the smile off my face when I hauled myself out of bed and into the shower.

Willing myself not to Google the address and figure out exactly what I was walking into proved difficult over the next few hours. Text and phone calls came in from friends and relatives with well wishes and inquiries as to what I was doing today. I told them I had some plans but couldn't provide any specifics.

The afternoon couldn’t come quickly enough. My palms started sweating at the thought of the card and Joel’s instructions. I wasn’t sure if it was fear, excitement or a mixture of both. When I got into an Uber, the excitement started to bubble inside me, but as the car pulled up to the address, the nervousness kicked in.

There were a row of warehouses that all looked identical. No signs except a large brass number above a large dark grey door. No other cars. No signs of life.

Why the fuck would Joel send me to a warehouse?

The driver turned in his seat and asked if I was sure this was where I wanted to go, shaking me out of my daze. I said yes, thanked him and got out of the car, straightening out my shirt while he pulled away. I pulled out my phone and sent a picture of the massive shed to Joel.

This place looks sketchy as hell. Where the fuck did you send me?

His reply was instantaneous.

Don’t worry, just go inside. You’ll be fine xx

I sighed in the driveway, rolled my shoulders and headed for the front door.

The smell was the first thing to hit me as soon as I entered. A coconut and vanilla scent was coming from the burning incense at the far end of the counter. The lack of windows and very dim lighting were an adjustment from the afternoon sun outside. Soft music played from a speaker I couldn’t spot, making the room feel a lot calmer than I was. A woman in a white uniform stood at the back on the opposite wall, gesturing me to come over.

“It’s ok, we don’t bite.” She smiled and tilted her head to the side.

“Sorry, I didn’t exactly know what to expect. The outside doesn’t exactly give any clues as to what’s going on inside.” I tried to smile but my confusion was still very clear on my face.

“We get that a lot,” her eyes were warm and helped ease my nerves. “Welcome to The Morganville Spa & Retreat. Can I just get your name?”

A spa? Where the hell did he find this?

“It’s Tash.”

She looked down at her screen and smiled again. “Great, you’re just in time! Follow me.”

She walked to the side of the desk and over to another door. I followed her until she held the door open for me. The next room was even darker but lit with at least a hundred candles spread throughout the room. It was a lot larger than I expected. Probably the length of the entire building. The floor was made of bamboo tiling with a walkway that lead to the very back on the room. Two pools of water were on either side of wide walkway at the front; pink orchids and lotus flowers floating lazily. Along the left side, a row of tables were occupied by various women getting massages, and on the right side, another row of comfortable-looking chairs were occupied by women resting in white masks with cucumbers over their eyes. I felt like I’d stepped into Bali.

Lemongrass and lavender filled my nose as I took everything in. We walked through another door and she led me to a smaller room down a long hall.

“There’s a robe and towels in there. Make yourself comfortable, someone will come in to give a massage in a couple of minutes. We’ll take care of you sweetie.”

*******

I couldn’t stop touching myself in the car home. My skin felt so soft and luxurious and I felt so relaxed. I didn’t realise how much tension I was carrying around until now. I smelt like a peach and felt like one too but I was ready for a nap. Everything was so relaxing I had to fight to stay awake.

Hope you had a good time babygirl. I’m coming to pick you up at 7. Wear something nice xx

I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face when I read his message. I blushed every time he called me babygirl but it was all I ever wanted to hear him say. Nothing matter when he called me that.

It was dark by the time I got home. The downside to winter. I was still smiling while I searched my closet for “something nice.” That’s a lot easier said than done. I settled on a black dress with a pleated skirt, tights and a pair of black ankle boots and had just finished coating my lashes when there was a knock on the door.

The sound of my heels hitting the floorboards made me feel powerful and confident as I strutted down the hall to the front door and opened it to another bouquet of flowers. I giggled as he lowered them to reveal his gorgeous face. He handed them to me screaming “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” at the top of his lungs.

“Joel! You’re gonna piss off the neighbours!” I took the flowers and smelt them while he looked around him to make sure the coast was clear.

He stepped towards me and closed the door. “The whole street should know by now.” He leaned down and kissed me chastly, pressing his forehead against mine, burying his fingers in my hair. “Happy birthday, babygirl.”

My heart fluttered and I kissed him again before turning away to put the flowers in a vase. I set them on the bench and admired them. “They’re beautiful, Joel.”

“Beautiful flowers for a beautiful girl,” he winked and leaned against the opposite of the bench.

“So cheesy!” I scolded. “Are you gonna go back to being salty tomorrow?”

He put a hand over his heart and pulled his head back. “I am not salty!”

I raised my eyebrows and rested my chin on my hand.

“Ok, maybe I’m a tiny bit salty.”

“You have more salt than the ocean.”

“Shush you!” He pointed at me and I laughed. He lowered his hand back down. “Are you ready to go?”

I lifted myself off the bench and started walking back down the hall. “Just let me get my purse.” I returned with my coat on and walked through the door he held open, ushering me out as he turned off the lights.

“Sooo how was the spa?” He inquired as he wrapped his arm around me.

“Incredible!” I gushed. “I feel so soft!” I lifted the sleeve of my coat and rubbed my forearm. He ran his fingers along my exposed skin and turned us around to head back down the hall. “Joel, what are you doing!” I squealed as he picked up the pace.

“Forget dinner!” He joked. I laughed and he slowed his pace and turned us back around. “I just wanna touch you, baby.” He smirked and kissed the top of my head while I cuddled myself further into him.

“Have I mentioned that I love you?” I looked up at him while he held the heavy door at the front of the building for me.

He looked up as if in serious thought. “Hmmm not yet, no.”

I lifted myself onto my tiptoes and brought his face down to mine before kissing him softly. “I love you, baby.”

He tucked my hair behind my ear and exhaled slowly. “I love you too.” He kissed my forehead and I smiled at him before walking out the door and into the chilli February night.

*******

The restaurant was extremely warm. The ambient lighting and acoustic music playing throughout the room made it feel very romantic. He knee kept grazing against mine and I felt like I could burst when his hand covered mine. Everything was so sweet, I couldn’t have asked for more. We ate, we drank, we laughed and we kissed until I caught myself start to yawn.

“Getting a bit tired, bebita?” His eyes were so gentle and deep; I could’ve drowned in them forever if he’d let me. He brings my hand to his lips and strokes the side my palm with his thumb.

I shook my head slowly. “Nope, not even a little.”

“Liar.” He scrunched his face and stuck his tongue out at me, making me smile wider. “It’s getting late, we should go anyway.”

I looked around and noticing how very few people still in the restaurant. “What time is it?”

“Nearly 11.”

I raised my eyebrows at him. “Whoops.”

He smiles and presses his lips to my cheek before he reattempts getting up. “Come on, birthday girl. Time to go.”

I got up and put my coat on, not fully prepared to leave the warmth and go back out into the snow. He put his arm around me and I held his hand hanging over my shoulder while we walked down the block back to my place.

“So, did you have a nice birthday?” he asked.

“I had an amazing birthday.” I stopped us in the middle of the street and reached up to bring his lips down to mine, kissing him softly.

He pressed his forehead to mine. “Thank God,” he mumbled before kissing me again.

We continued walking, shivering when we entered the building. We got to the front door and leaned down, his soft lips kissing me deeper than he had all night. My grip on his hands got tighter but he pulled away all too soon, leaving me breathless. “Goodnight, babygirl.” He kissed my forehead and turned to walk away.

I pulled back on his hand and dragged him back to me, burying my fingers in his hair as I kissed him passionately. His hands came down to my waist and pulled me closer as his tongue slipped into my mouth, working in sync with mine. I pulled away and found his eyes.

“The night’s not over yet.”

#hope it didnt completely suck #love you babes #cnco #cnco imagine #cnco fluff #joel pimentel #joel pimentel imagine #writings

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sweetdreamscenario · 6 years

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EXO scenario: Traveling with Jongdae

Jongdae always wanted to travel together with you and finally, you had found the perfect location

You would go to Bali for 3 weeks

Jongdae had already planned everything out beforehand because he wanted to make sure you didn’t have to worry about anything when you were there

3 weeks may seem long but he didn’t want to waste a single second

He didn’t tell you a lot about the planning because he wanted it to be a surprise

When you two arrived at your first hotel, you immediately fell in love

He chose the most picturesque hotel you had ever seen

You know, one of those hotels you would see in the magazines: Little cottages next to a white sand beach surrounded by palm trees

You absolutely loved it (and your reaction made some pressure fall off of Dae’s shoulders because he had worried that you might not have liked it)

While being on the beautiful island, Jongdae had planned a lot of activities

He would take you to beautiful Hindu temples and flower gardens but also to smaller villages to meet the locals

You two had the chance to eat with one of the local families and it was hands down the best food you had ever had

While you were visiting all the beautiful monuments, he took a lot of pictures

Both pictures of the buildings and scenery as pictures of you two together

Also sneaky pictures of you because he thinks you’re really cute

When you two aren’t visiting monuments, you two would be at the beach

At daytime you would be laying on the beach enjoying some drinks and swimming when the temperature became unbearable

And in the evening you would go on long walks just to enjoy each other’s company

It was nice being away from the everyday buzz

Just being together and talking about everything that came to mind was very relaxing

Unfortunately, the 3 weeks were flying by as you were already on your last night on the island

Even though he had been giving you all his love and attention these past weeks, he wanted to do something extra for the last night

He wouldn’t tell you were you were going and honestly, you had no idea what he had planned

You almost started crying when you saw a beautiful decorated table standing on the beach close to the ocean

There were beautiful flowers accompanied by lighted candles on the wooden table

‘Dae, you shouldn’t have done this, I really don’t deserve you’, you said tearing up

‘No sweetheart, I think I’m the one who doesn’t deserve you. I can’t even express in words how much I love you’, he said while kissing your forehead and pulling you in for a hug.

You both sat down as the waiter brought you a glass of you favorite local drink

The dinner was delicious and the beautiful scenery made it feel like you were dreaming

Unfortunately after this evening, it was already time to fly back home

A couple of weeks after the trip, Jongdae said he had a gift for you

You were a little confused because you thought there wasn’t a specific occasion

He gave you the most beautiful photo book full of pictures from your adventure

And you absolutely loved it, because it was filled with the memories that you two made on that little paradise on earth

-Author’s note-

Thank you @noona-clock for requesting^^I hope you like it :)

(This is based off a trip that I made a year ago and I really loved it, so that’s why i chose Bali :P)

If you wanna leave a request (or you just wanna ask me something) click here

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inclusivebalitour · 6 months

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Bali SPA and Jimbaran Candle Light Romantic Dinner

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#bali spa #Balinese massage #jimbaran candle light romantic dinner

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devonicholidays · 2 years

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#Bali 🇮🇩 Budget Deal for #honeymooners With #pvtpoolvilla #luxuryresort 🏖 Including beachside romantic candle light dinner 🤩😍🕯 ⭐@just INR 50,000/- Per Couple👫 #finalprice❗️ #planyourtrip #booknow #limitedseats #holidayvonic #instatravel #newlyweds #newlymarried #honeymooncouple #honeymoondestination #bali #trendingnow #jaipur https://www.instagram.com/p/CjhmznHP1Z2/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#bali #honeymooners #pvtpoolvilla #luxuryresort #finalprice❗️#planyourtrip #booknow #limitedseats #holidayvonic #instatravel #newlyweds #newlymarried #honeymooncouple #honeymoondestination #trendingnow #jaipur

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iniviehospitality · 6 years

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Do you plan your intimate new year eve with your belove one? Check this out, @aksarivilla offers Romantic New Year Package which is suit for you to celebrate your intimate new year eve with your belove one by staying in One Bedroom Villa with Private Pool and Jacuzzi, special inclusions package as below: • Romantic Flower Decoration in the Jacuzzi on Arrival • Romantic Flower with Hearth Shape, I and U Decoration in the Pool during Candle Light Dinner • 1x Candle Light Dinner for 2 persons • One bottle of Red or White Wine • Strawberry Chocolate on Arrival • 1 x Floating breakfast Term and conditions applied What are you waiting for? Grab it now and make your new year eve to be romantic and memorable one. ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• THE BEST RATE GUARANTEE FOR DIRECT THAN OTHER SOURCES BOOKING For further information and inquiries, please contact us: 📍 JL. SUNSET ROAD GANG BAIK BAIK 2 NO 8. SEMINYAK 📲 +6281238504678 ✉ [email protected] 💻 www.aksarivilla.com #aksarivilla #visiting #travels #travelphotography #bali #traveller #traveler #hotel #luxuryhotel #balivilla #villabali #honeymoonbali #babymoon #anniversary #love #couple #insight_bali #travelling #trip #traveltheworld #igtravel #getaway #newyear #newyear2019 (at Aksari Villa) https://www.instagram.com/p/BqJZCKAl5g0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1vcbulunuxwx6

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queenstandoor-blog · 5 years

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Candle light dinner in Bali; tips and ideas | Queens Tandoor

Here are some ideas and tips that will make for the perfect candle light dinner in Bali. From the venues to the food, this guide covers it all! Know more.

#candle light dinner in bali #indian restaurants in bali seminyak #indian restaurant in bali kuta #indian restaurant in kuta #indian restaurant in bali nusa dua

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cinnamayroll · 7 years

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Hello!! Could I please have an imagine of the Hosts proposing to their s/o? Thank you so much!

Awww, that’s such a sweet request, thanks a lot! Sorry this took so long, I’m currently working on an English paper. I hope you’ll like this ^^

Since you didn’t say if you wanted Haruhi too I decided not to do her cause that would have taken even longer

-May

Tamaki:

You had noticed that Tamaki had been a bit of a nervous wreck today. He was stammering throughout your entire date, but you just couldn’t really figure out why exactly. It wasn’t some special day or something, right?

“Hey Tamaki? Is everything alright?” you asked, squeazing his hand a bit.

“O-of course! Why? You’re having a good time, aren’t you?” he smiled. “Do wanna get some cotton candy?” he suggested. And he was right, you were having an awesome time. Tamaki had taken you to the amusement park where you to had been frequently going to ever since you had started to date.

And even though the amusement park was not as extravagant as other things that you two had done together, it would still always be your favorite kind of date. The two of you had taken all of your favorite rides, ate something and now you were walking through the small alleyways of the park, hand in hand, filled with cute boothes.

By now it was getting dark outside and he carefully wrapped his jacket around his shoulders. “Hey, ____, let’s go to the ferris wheel, yeah? I have an idea!” he said and quickly started to pull you forward, making you giggle along the way. You loved to see him this happy and excited.

When Tamaki talked to one of the guy in front of the wheel for a second, you hadn’t paid much attention to it. After all he talked to pretty much every person.

“Do you remember when we were in this ferris wheel for the first time?” your boyfriend asked, looking at you with a grin spreading all across his face.

“Of course, we were barely out of high school and- Oh my god, what’s happening?!” you suddenly yelled as the wheel suddenly stopped and your cabing began to shake a bit. It took you a moment to get a grip again, but the second you turned back around to Tamaki you almost forgot how to sit upright all together.

There he was, kneeling in front of you, a little black velvet box in his hands. He cleared his throat, looking up to you. “_____. I love you more than anything else and I thought if I would ever do this it had to be here.” he smiled and took a look around the small cabin standing still at the very top of the wheel. “You’re already making me the luckiest man alive every day that I get to spend with you. And I hope that I’ll be able to make you the happiest wife and the most beautiful Mrs. Suoh the world has ever seen. So, _____ _____ will you marry me?”

For a moment you stood there in silent shock. Because oh god, he had made this ferris wheel stop for you and that was the cutest speech you ever heard him give you and before you even knew it you were launging yourself down at him, urging him to put the ring on your finger.

“Yes! Yes, of course!” you laughed, admiring the ring for a moment before pressing a sweet kiss to Tamaki’s lips. “I love you.”

Kyoya:

“Oh my god Kyoya, please tell me you didn’t pay this string orchestra to play here for me.” you said as you two entered your favorite restaurant, which admittedly wasn’t a cheap one, but still not the kind to always have an orchestra around. And you knew how your boyfriend tended to go the extra mile.

“And if that’s the case?” he smirked, helping you out of your jacket and giving it to one of the staff members. Then he proceeded to lead you to a table, pulling a chair out for you before any waiter had the chance to do so.

“Choose whatever you want, we have a lot of time today.” he told you as you were given the menu, even though you knew that you’s both end up with chef’s choice anyway.

“What gives it today? I haven’t forgotten our anniversary or anything, right?” you asked playfully. Both of you knew fully well that that wasn’t the case.

“Of course not. I thought it was merely a nice evening to go out and have dinner.” he said, looking at you gently. Somehow, you still couldn’t bring yourself to belive that there wasn’t more to it. Probably due to the fact that the string orchestra was slowly nearing your table and there seemed to be an aweful lot of candles around. Kyoya was classy, not sappy. However, when the first course arrived you were distracted for a while.

It was only towards the end of your dinner, the only course remaining the desert when something happened again.

“Kyoya, why are you getting up?” you asked as he slowly got up from the table and moved to your side. The orchestra that had been getting a bit quiter returned to playing like before. “Hey, what are you doing? Oh my god!” you squealed as you immediately realised what was happening.

Kyoya lowered himself down onto one knee and pulled a simple golden ring with a light blue stone out of his pocket. Then he began to speak up: “____, this might be an old fashioned way to do this, but I still think that here is the ideal place for this. I also believe that you’re the ideal person.” you could see a blush on his cheeks and took you all you had to keep you from interrupting his little speech. “So, would you do me the honor and become my wife and a part of the Ootori family?”

You literally burst into a giant grin the second he was done speaking. “Of course, of course!” you smiled, watching in awe as he slipped the ring on and got onto his feet again, gracing the side of your face with his hand. You didn’t even register the clapping of all the other resaturant guests around you. “I love you, ____” he said, giving you a chaste kiss.

Hikaru:

You had learned quite a lot ever since you started dating Hikaru Hitachiin.

Firstly, never kiss any Hitachiin unless you’re absolutely sure that it is, in fact, Hikaru. Otherwise you will never hear the end of it.

Secondly, thh guy wasn’t really good with emotions, especially not his own, so you were to be very careful with them. Doing things like, for example, acidentally kissing Kaoru proved to be counterproductive.

And finally, nothing ever went as you imagined, so you were basically always prepared to be in for a wild ride. Still, you hadn’t expacted the turn out of this day anywhere near this.

You were currently staying with him and his family at the Hitachiin holiday residence on Bali and basically spend the entire day fooling around in the water, trying out exotic food and plotting pranks on Kaoru together.

To be precise, this was what you were doing right now. Hikaru and you were sitting in the sand, leaning over his phone together and plotting out some plan that involved Kaoru sleeping and a huge amount of ice cubes. Admittedly not the most creatve one, but still worth a try.

“No, no! We have to get crushed ice, otherwise it won’t get into his swimtrunks!” you giggled, leaning closer into his shoulder. However, Hikaru hadn’t expected the sudden shift, making both of you fall over.

In a matter of seconds, you were reduced to a pile of tangled limbs and laughter, which it took you longer to recover from than it would have to pull through the plan. Still out of breath, you put your head into the crook of his neck, watching as he fiddled with your fand.

“This is probably a bad time, but marry me?” he whispered, not letting his eyes stray from your joined hands.

You froze in shock. “What?” you whispered back. You didn’t even know why you were whispering, no one was near you.

“Marry me. I love you. I know I don’t have a ring right now and it’s not romantic, but please marry me.” he said a bit louder, turning his face towards you. He wasn’t joking, you noticed, he was completely serious. “I love you.” he repeated, pressing his forehead against your.

Your head was spinning, a thousand questions came to your mind. But none of these managed to make it out of your mouth. “It’s actually the perfect moment.” you laughed, looking into his eyes. “Yes, I want to marry you.”

Grinning, he leaned forward to kiss you, not caring that you were wet and covered in sand.

Kaoru:

“C’mon, ____! The Fireworks are about to start!” Kaoru said, dragging you to the edge of the hill you were on. It was a party, all of your old high school friends were there, watching the Tsuchiura Fireworks from a nice private property with a small hill owned by the Morinozukas.

You followed Kaoru, looking at the sky expectantly. And it wasn’t a second to late. As soon as you looked up, colours started exploding all over the night sky, illuminating the entire place.

“It’s so beautiful...” you whispered, not looking away for a second.

“Yeah, it is. I can’t believe you never went to see it before! They always show off their new tricks here cause it’s one of the last fireworks of the year.” Kaoru explained, turning his face to admire you looking at the fireworks. “Your face looks all colourful.” he whispered, just loud enough it could be heard over the sounds of the fireworks. “It’s beautiful.”

This time, you actually tore your gaze away from the sky and looked back at him. He was just taking two glasses of champagne from someone, handing you one with a smirk. “Have a drink.” he said, chinking his glass with yours.

You took a sip of the drink. It was delicious and you didn’t even want to imagine its price.

There was comfortable silence between you for a few minutes, just gazing at the colourful image above you, occassionally drinking from your glasses.

When something cold and hard suddenly touched your lip while drinking you started. You held your glass out in front of you, inspecting the contents closer. As soon as you realized what you were seeing you gasped and turned around to Kaoru. “Kaoru, I-” you began, but were already interrupted by him.

“I actually wanted to ask you for a long time, but I couldn’t seem to do it yet...” he grinned sheepishly. “And since I knw that you really, really like to watch fireworks I thought it would be something special if I did this here. So-” he cleared his throat and you could see him blush and nervously fiddle with his sleeves. “_____, I love you and I know you love me as well, so will you make me the happiest person ever and become my wife?” he asked, the blush only getting stronger.

You felt tears of happiness gathering at the corners of your eyes and darted forwards to wrap your arms around Kaoru and bury your face against his chest. “Yes!” you whispered. “Yes, yes, yes!” it was like mantra and when you finally seperated you couldn’t stop the tears when he put the ring on your finger, brining your hand to his mouth to kiss it. You swore you could see some tears slipping down his own cheeks as well.

Mori:

It was a quiet and calm day.

You and Mori were both having a day off, relaxing at your flat. After all, you had decided that it would be a little weird to live in one of the Morinozuka mansions with just the two of you and living with his family in the main mansion wasn’t really an option either.

Still, it was a nice flat, very roomy and with a large balcony, providing an excellent view of the city. Right no, you were standing on said balcony, a cup of coffee in your hands. Christmas was coming up soon and you hoped to have snow every day now.

You stood there, watching the city for a few more minutes before you heard the door behind you slowly open, turning around to meet your boyfriend.

He was strangely nice dressed, you noticed. Instead of a shirt and jeans as usual, he had opted for a white button down and slacks. Mori didn’t say anything,, he only extended his hand to you.

“What do you want to do?” you asked, as you took it and he led you back inside the flat and to the kitchen.

“I prepared dinner.” he smiled and pulled out a chair for you to sit on. Now, that was a rare occasion and you smiled back at him. “Wow, that’s great!” you said, “What’s the cause?”

This time he only answered with a shrug and a smile and you knew he had something planned. Otherwise he would have just let a staff member make the dinner like usual.

You two ate mostly in a comfortable silence like you usualy did, talking about little things now and then.

“So, for real, why did you make dinner?” you asked after you were finished and went to the living room.

“Well, there is a reason.” he mumbled, pulling something out of his trousers’ pocket. When you saw the small velvet box, your heart ksipped a beat.

“Takashi, what are you...? Are you going to...?” you stuttered and stared at him with wide eyes. He looked down on you with an adoring look on his face, moving a hand to pat your hair.

“______, we have been together for a long time now and you make me very happy.So, will you marry me?” he asked, revealing the silver ring to you. It was beautiful and for a second you couldn’t bring yourself to do anything other than furiously nodding.

“Yes! I want to! This is beautiful, thank you, Takashi!” you gasped when you gained your speech back, hugging him as tightly as you could and in a matter of seconds he had picked you up from the ground. “I love you.” he said quietly, pressing a kiss to your temple.

Hunny:

Hunny and you were out having coffee and some cake at your favorite cafe, like you usually did on the weekends. He was talking about some thring that Yasuchika had told him from unversity, smiling at you and making sure you were eating up your cake.

“And then Chika said that he’s trying to e into the same field as Takashi. Why doesn’t he want to do the same as me?” Hunny pouted and chomped down onto another spoonfull of cake.

It made you chuckle. “Well, that are just his own interests.” you smiled, watching your adorable boyfriend. “He’s probably looking to go his own path.”

“Yeah, I know, _____chan.” he said, “I’ll still get to see him at training anyway!”

The two of talked about your own time at university for a while and you were jut laughing at some story Hunny told you about Mori getting angry when he had continued to bring his bunny to unversity despite his promise, when Hunny said: “Hey, ____chan! They have a new dessert tray, do you wanna try it?” he asked, looking at you with big eyes.

Oh god, he really was insateable, wasn’t he? But you still loved it. “What? BUt we just had all this cake!” you playfully whined, not really intending to tell him no. Even if you couldn’t eat anymore, there was no way he wouldlet any sweets go to waste.

“But I really, really wanna try it!” he said and cheered when you nodded. “Yay!”

It didn’t take long for the try to arrive and to be honest, it really looked amazing. There were tons of heart shaped chocolates and bisquits decorated in variuos colours. In fact, there were so many heart shaped things on the plate that you almost didn’t notice that the heart in the center of the plate wasn’t even made of chocolate.

“Huh? What’s that?” you asked, taking a closer look at it. Was it a box or something?

“Well, you should take a look!” he said, watching you expectantly.

Without much of a second thought, you grabbed the thing and figured out that, yes, it was indeed a box. You carefully opened it and were stunned when you saw the contents.

Before you could even say anything, Hunny was already starting to talk. “And? Do you like it? It reminded me of!” he grinned. The ring was golden and had a beautiful pale pink stone on top of it.

“Yeah, I like it...” you whispered still in disbelief.

“So, what do you say? Do you want to be my wife, _____chan?” Hunny asked, standing up and taking the ring out of the box.

“How could I say no?” you smiled, happy tears gathering in your eyes. “This is so beautiful. I love you.” you breathed as he slipped the ring on you and took one of the heart shaped chocolates to put it into your mouth.

“I love you too,___chan! And now we have to finish all these sweets!”

#Ouran High School Host Club #ohshc #Tamaki suoh #kyoya ootori #takashi morinozuka #mutsukuni haninozuka #Kaoru Hitachiin #Hikaru hitachiin #Haruhi fujioka #yasuchika haninozuka #headcanons #hc #hcs #scenario #scenarios #writing

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jo-shanebali · 4 years

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We've been to Bali Too!

Day 1: Getting There

2/03/2020: Up at four thirty and dressed. With the last minute items added to suitcases, we woke the kids to give out farewell kisses, but were greeted with signs that being awoken had not impressed them. Mitch dropped us off at Williamtown well before six for our seven o'clock flight.

Once at check in we hit our first hurdle of the day. When answering questions Jo told them that her phone storage battery was in the checked luggage and was told to remove it. A frantic search of her luggage ensued, off to the side of the check in desk just like the Chinese and Indians that we have laughed at on previous occasions. Upon finally retrieving the rogue item, the charger was safely stored in her carry on and suitcases sent through check in. Shane had batteries in his check-in but said nothing.

Standing in line for coffee, one of Shane's colleagues tapped him on the shoulder. Pete was returning from Bali, just checked in for his flight to Dubbo. He told us it was unusually quiet for the time of year, surely as a result of Coronavirus and emphasised not to worry too much about getting around, the light blue taxis were the better ones but they were all okay. Just make sure that they have a meter on. Beers will cost only a few dollars, particularly in resorts and that if we did get ripped off, it would still be cheap, just not as cheap.

Newcastle Airport- Jo looking disheveled after the suitcase search

The flights were quite good, only an hour and a bit to Brisbane. This is where we ran into Ryan, our niece Ashley’s husband. He was on business with Boeing for a few days so we had a quick chat while waiting for the queue to move up the aisle. Then straight on the shuttle as our luggage was going directly to Bali and within no time we were going through security at the International Terminal, with three hours to kill. Some of this time was spent sorting out Jo's passport which was rejected at the immigration auto check. She had to queue and go through manually. First stop was duty free where we only intended to buy a litre each for Bali but nothing for home as when we travelled via Sydney, the duty free was only ten dollars cheaper than Dan's. Not worth it, but Brisbane had two litres of Absolut Vodka for fifty five dollars. We grabbed four bottles for home.

Loaded up and ready to go, and on the way to Gate 76A we passed Brisbane River Grille who were advertising two eggs on sourdough with a two for one deal. Stopping in there for a quick breakfast, two meals, a coffee and chai latte for about eighteen bucks, it was while we were finishing up that our flight was called for boarding. We effectively walked straight onto the plane without too much of a wait and straight to row twenty one. The seats were comfortable, leg room sufficient and the meal provided half decent. About five and a half hours later, at two o'clock local time, the plane touched down in Denpasar. It was well worth paying the extra few hundred bucks to fly with Virgin than with the alternative, the "worst airline" that we had ever flown with.

After ticking off drugs with the immigration card, just prescription meds, not a boogie bag full of whatever and disembarking at Denpasar, we were herded onto shuttle buses that took us to the terminal, successfully maneuvering through the drugs issue (after some explaining), and the temperature gauge picking up if we were crook. Upon exiting the terminal, drivers and their signs were everywhere looking for their clients. Our names finally appeared on cardboard and our driver Made, who pushed our luggage to a clear area and told us to stay put while he retrieved his van, reappeared from the confusion, invited us inside and with the luggage in the back and gave us a bottle of cold water and a cold hand towel each. It was much appreciated.

Welcome to Bali

Made drove like a madman, not unlike the Arab that drove us to the airport in Paris the previous year. Squeezing through gaps that never existed, creating extra lanes at traffic lights that also never existed and blowing the horn at anyone that got in his way. Scooters everywhere risking their lives while maniacs pushed them out the way. Not that they were too innocent themselves. We were soon to find out that this was normal.

Once at the resort boom gate that got us into the Belmond, Jimbaran Puri, the security guard ran the long stick with the mirror around the underside of the car and allowed us in. Thank goodness, we weren't suicide bombers and were rewarded as such with a cold drink each at reception. Orange juice, ginger and lychee plus another cold hand towel and a small flower arrangement for Jo. Then entouraged to our golf buggy, we were driven to our villa where decorations adorned the entry celebrating Shane's 60th birthday. Once inside we were treated to a small birthday cake, candles and a song, a resort shirt for Shane and not forgetting Jo's 58th birthday, a small ornamental turtle made from turtle shells for her. Our butler Ayu gave us a great start to our holiday.

Villa No.65. Traditional celebration ornaments

After our arrival and reception by our butler we cracked open a couple of beers by the pool followed by a dip which was really warm. The pool was around seven metres long by four metres wide. Apart from the area where we could get in, about a foot deep, the rest of the pool was five foot deep and rectangular in shape, but unlike our pool in Phuket, this one was definitely private. Anything was good in the humidity.

Greetings from Bali

The couple of drinks early on led to another one within happy hour. We then headed for a walk down the beach in the direction from where we had just come, the airport.

The first thing that struck us was the filth on the beach, the second was the smell as the locals though it was a good idea to burn the plastic. Bali is apparently just one of dozens of Indonesian islands that are not coping with marine and coastal litter landing on their beaches. Only two years ago some 1.2 million tonnes of ocean rubbish landed on local beaches. Over thirty percent were plastics. Bali's problem is with its locals who are responsible for eighty percent of the rubbish that washes up. Hotel workers and villagers dump their rubbish in the rivers and with the increased flows of the rainy season, off it goes, disappearing downstream. Out of sight out of mind. This has been going on for decades.

Jimbaran Bay

Kuta Beach in December (Jakarta Post)

Maybe a quarter of the way towards the airport we turned about and headed back, politely harassed by hawkers trying to get us into their restaurants, all amongst the debris. With our dinner in mind, and back at the resort, if we had chosen one of the hawkers’ restaurants we would have had the pleasure of the wafting fumes of the local fishermen's fires.

Safely back, we traded a voucher for our first cocktail, the vouchers given to us at reception. Seven meals, seven cocktails and a couple of massages each. Although mostly empty, the few available dinner tables on the sand were filling up. As it was, the beach had a reasonable drop off to the water so from where we sat the rubbish wasn’t visible. We could still smell it. We asked for a table and were duly obliged, on the sand. The waiter took our order and so on it went.

Sand seating at the Belmond

The rest of the evening was lovely, ordering the Balinese BBQ and entertained by what the barman described as a gay band. It was in fact a "guy band", four males singing requests (if they knew them). They were pretty good, their dulcet tones punctuated the moaning and screaming of the local mongrel dogs rooting on the beach in the background. Their back drop was a magnificent sunset. As the meals arrived we enjoyed them accompanied by the aroma of burning plastic piercing the air as we ate. In the end we paid the bill, retired back to our pool for an evening dip. The temperature was hot during the day but quite pleasant during the night.

The "gay band" entertaining everyone

With the first day behind us we hit the sack by ten thirty.

Day 2: A Walk Around the Town

3/03/2020: Being up at six thirty meant that we had plenty of time for a tea, a coffee and swim before breakfast, listening to Leonard Cohen on the Bose. We were only entitled to breakfast and lunch or dinner in our package so a late breakfast would negate the need for lunch. That's was the plan anyway.

By nine we were at breakfast, a buffet type deal with a separate menu for breakfast of the day, mostly egg dishes. We chose the eggs and grabbed other food from the buffet as well, crispy bacon, small snags, fruit, cereals etc. Teamed up with some flavoursome juices, if this was the norm then we were more than happy. After breakfast we checked out the main pool and Jimbaran Bay from the edge of the sand. It was then back to the pool where we lazed around until housekeeping interrupted us to clean the room. We told them to give us fifteen minutes and we'd get out of their way.

This was to be the norm, every morning

Deciding to walk along Jimbaran streets and back along the beach, we strolled along Jalan Yoga Perkanthi, the laneway to our resort until hitting what we thought may have been the main street. No sooner had we turned the corner that Roberto from Timor-Leste bailed us up. He was standing next to his scooter on the side of the road and started giving us a spiel about where he was from and the great opportunity he was going to give us. He gave us a couple of cards that were to be torn open and a prize won. Once opened he carried on and on about the great prize that was inside. Shane won a couple of t-shirts that he could pick up at the Karma Group offices around the corner. Joanne however had won majorly. There was a gold circle inside the card that had to be scratched. It would contain one of three prizes. Firstly seven days at a Karma Resort in Bali, secondly a GoPro camera or finally a couple of million Rupiah. He carried on as if excited, and if we came with him to the office, Jo would get the prize and he would get a hundred bucks commission. Karma are a group that manage time share resorts around the world and for a couple of grand buy in and five hundred or so bucks maintenance fee per year would allow us a week holiday somewhere. Not for us.

After Roberto finished waffling on, we said no and moved on. He couldn't believe that we knocked him back. He must have been pretty confident that he had us hooked but it wasn't the case. We were told before we left that if we rocked up to Karma's offices once in Bali and put up with a couple of hours of hard sell they would give us a week anyway so we knew exactly what Roberto was on about before he started.

The street was very busy with cars and scooters. The footpath was narrow with obstacles constantly in our way, pushing us onto the road. Small and large temples were everywhere and shops catering for locals scattered along. We walked a fair way before heading up a side street towards the beach. Jalan Segara Wangi was lined with a mixture of large houses, businesses and cramped corridors where it looked like the poorer people lived in humpies either side. A fair bit of vacant land as well. A common theme for all of our walk was the rubbish around that nobody cleans up. It reminded us of villages in Fiji, Vanuatu and Phuket. They all looked the same.

Jalan Uluwatu runs parallel to the beach

Accommodation of some of the poorer folk

Approaching the end of the street, larger beachfront sheds came into view. We were in the centre of the seafood restaurants and were blocked for a while from accessing the sand, eventually finding a way through and landed right next to the Aroma Resto Bar which we took advantage of with a couple of beers before deciding to return to Belmond for a couple more. After the first one, Jo was falling asleep in her chair so she ended up back at the room for an afternoon snooze. Shane followed not long after but being locked out spent half an hour in the pool.

Heading back for happy hour, one of the bar staff asked us if we wanted to book a table for dinner, we looked around, nobody to be seen. We questioned her as why it was necessary but she didn't understand. What she did say however was that the place was empty due to the Indonesian government banning incoming flights from China, most of their business and they were hurting*. Their loss was our gain, no obnoxious Chinese tourists to deal with. No table ended up being booked as no-one was around.

We found out later that all outside tables were booked out

Ending up being seated just inside in a pretty good spot, the afternoon was spent watching storms brewing but nothing seemed to be coming towards us. Then everyone outside started picking up their stuff and heading inside, no storm but strong winds bringing some rain. We experienced our second great meal in two nights which capped the day off perfectly.

Patrons enjoying the outdoors, unlike us. Then the rain hit

Dinner done, we headed back for a swim, patch sewing on our travel blanket and bed.

* The ban on China was due to a new virus, Novel Caronavirus or COVID19. It was spreading around the world with the Chinese city of Wuhan being the worst hit and thought to be ground zero. The whole city was locked down and field hospitals set up to cope with the thousands of sick and dying. China was declared a hot spot and by the end of March the world had a pandemic on its hands with most international travel banned.

Day 3: Lunchtime Massage and Afternoon Food Tour

4/03/2020: Up and off to breakfast before eight. Today we had a food tour booked so we would eat lunch with our voucher instead of dinner. It had been raining all night and it was our first wet, overcast day. Eggs Florentine was the focus today, eggs a bit runny for Jo. She had something else, then back to the pool.

Oranges today. Looked like a cross between an orange and a lime. Not sweet and not particularly juicy

It wasn't too long after we jumped into the pool that housekeeping again interrupted us to clean the room. We told them to come back later, to do our room at twelve when we had the first of our massages. Hopefully with a happy ending.

The massage parlour was quite exposed and to the south. Once introduced, the madame gave us forms to fill out regarding our health, their get out of gaol card and showed us samples of what kind of oil we wanted rubbed in. We were then shown to a small shower / toilet room where we stripped off, put on the gowns and paper undies. Resurfacing, the ladies that were to do the duties were then introduced. Shane had Tri who had to give him a strong massage, Jo couldn't remember who gave her a normal one. Once his back was cracked, she got stuck into it and he felt every bit of it. There's a fine line between pleasure and pain but there was no happy ending. Maybe second time around. Jo was very sunburnt as remarked by both ladies at the start and offered aloe vera. As promised, they returned after the massage with the gel from the aloe vera plant and rubbed it into her skin. Bonus!

Immediately after the massage was our lunch which we ranked on a par with the dinners. Seafood for both, large grilled prawns and fish of the day.

Massage Parlour

We again took it easy by our pool until it was time to head to reception for our 3pm meeting for the food tour. Jo suggested leaving a half an hour early and to check out the tours. We were particularly interested in Ubud as it came recommended by several people. There were several good places amongst the AsiaWorld fact sheets so we grabbed a few and told the travel dude that we would book a tour first thing the next morning. Our food tour was beginning.

Our guide was a lady called Sunarti. She was a chef. Originally from a small village in Java, she moved to Bali to live with an Aunt to finish high school and Uni in Denpasar, married and had 3 children including twin boys born in November just like ours. This was a connection between us that seemed to impress her.

We were approaching peak hour in Denpasar so the drive was arduous. The first stop was to a street stall where a Balinese favourite treat was sold. Created by a lady called Murniati Widjaja who entered and won a competition in 1982 to come up with a national drink for Indonesia. It was served in a bowl which was a concoction of ice chips, condensed milk and creamy coconut syrup with a variety of chunky fillings including avocado, jackfruit, jelly like cincau, and coconut flesh, called Es (Ice) teler. It was quite sweet and quite refreshing, very popular with the locals and tourists alike. Sunarti told us how local people would stop at a stall to enjoy a bowl on their way home from work.

Sunarti extolling the popularity of Es Teler

Back in the car and to a home style biscuit factory where a traditional favourite called pie susu was produced. A group of women working from an open shed producing 1000 packs a day, nine biscuits in a pack. We were taken out the back where it was evident that the women made the biscuits from scratch, one would knead the dough, another would break some off and put it in a hand press to make the tart like shell. A third woman would make the caramel type custard to fill the tart and then into a couple of ovens. Out the front of the shed was a group of women who would individually stack the biscuits and package them up. They were working pretty hard but were happy and pretty chatty. The day was cool with the rain but the chat stopped when the heat was on, according to our guide. These home factories are everywhere and each may add a personal touch to the recipe.

The local biscuit factory. About eight women make and package 9,000 a day

Next was a food produce market used by the locals. Wide variety of fruit, vegetables and chickens (not stored on ice). There were also several stores selling the little basket offerings that appeared all over the place. Apparently, they are put out in groups of five, three times a day by families (this occurs at the several shrines in our hotel too). Old ladies with baskets on their head who acted as porters, little kids pulling on Jo's shirt selling packs of tissues for five thousand Rupiah, Shane gave her seven thousand. Snake skin fruit, skinned bamboo root, jack fruit, dragon fruit and eggs covered in salt. So many unusual foods and people made for an unforgettable experience.

Old mate sold our guide this lovely bamboo shoot

The next stop was the night food market. We got there fairly early so there was plenty of room. Sunarti took us around and explained all of the stalls before we chose what we wanted. All bar one was Muslim and they were shut. No pork tonight. We both chose the same, a spicy omelette pancake filled with bits of vegetables and minced meat called Martabak Ayam followed by Bakso Ayam, a dense chicken meatball in a clearish broth with rice vermicelli, some green stuff and some other stuff. Once Sunarti had our order we took a seat at the Bakso Super Purwoharjo tables while she ordered our meals. The food was different and very tasty. We were not disappointed that’s for sure.

I tasted much better than it looked

After dinner, and having been dropped off back to the Belmond at a decent hour, we managed to grab our free cocktail and be entertained by a group of performers and gamelan orchestra dancing several traditional dances including the Balinese Legong dance as well as the Cendrawasih, Baris and more. It was excellent bar the couple that thought it fine to let their toddler walk amongst the orchestra and dancers, touching all the instruments while they recorded him.

Balinese traditional dancers

That was it, day over. Tomorrow, an easy one with a trip to bogan heaven, Kuta Beach.

Day 4: A Half Day in Kuta

5/03/2020: Up at six thirty for a swim this morning, we could hear the rain all night and it had just stopped as Shane hit the water. Everything was wet, including the towels. Lesson learnt. Jo had other priorities with a sick Sophia at home but after a while and a phone call or two, she managed to jump in the pool as well.

We decided to take it easy today but punctuate it with a few hours in Kuta, shopping and checking out the beach so we headed for reception and asked them to organise a car. The concierge said a hundred and fifty thousand for one way. We settled on four hundred and fifty thousand for a half day, jumped in with a local called Markay and were well on our way before eleven. The conversation quickly turned to shopping with Markay suggesting a stop at a store called Krisna to which we agreed. This was a massive store full of all sorts of gear from clothing and homewares to knick knacks. After a quick stop and a few souvenirs we continued on.

Our next stop was within the Jalan Kuta Art Market and the nearby Matahari Centre. The stall holders were immediately onto us, trying to sell us their fake products. Jo went straight for them, looking for cheap Mimco and other purses and bags, as well as shoes. Shane a few shirts and some boardies. An order from Soph had Jo looking for a pair of Converse sneakers. She found some but the seller wanted the cost of a fair dinkum pair back home. Jo offered him 300,000 rupiah but he refused. After walking away, the guy chased her down the road to make the deal. He then had the audacity to ask her for a tip for his efforts.

The Matahari Centre was similar to the Krisna Centre with not much to interest us. Neither was anywhere as interesting as the walk to get there. Viagra, prostitutes, all on offer and strangely enough targeting Shane. He walked to and fro several times and each time they made the offer. They must have thought he was weakening.

Next was a walk to the end of the markets and onto the sand where we were hassled about surfing lessons. As if. Legion Beach was clean from the top down to the water where all of the people were but north to Seminyak and south to Kuta was covered with debris and rubbish. At least a couple of loaders were cleaning it up.

Rubbish on the beach up to Seminyak

We'd just about had enough but a stroll back to where we were dropped off led us to the shops again. Shane bought a shirt in a shop (took a while to find one big enough), he also bought a floppy hat and small bag for tomorrow's golf. Jo bought more bags or such.

Bartering over some purses

Upon reconnecting with Markay, within no time we were back at the resort doing the usual. Lazing in the pool and heading over for a cocktail before dinner.

Early one tonight, Ubud tomorrow and looking forward to it.

Day 5: Ubud

6/03/2020: Around eight o’clock we headed over to reception to meet up with our guide from AsiaWorld, Katut. Once underway he explained that the fourth child is named Katut and then it recycles so the eighth child was Katut. We're sure he said he was the seventh so we couldn’t work it out.

Heading out into leaden skies with light showers, we were continually passed by scooter riders with all their wet weather gear on. The labourers in the back trays of the trucks done the best they could. Small tarpaulins over their heads or just got wet. The brochure listed a set programme for what we paid for but our guide suggested other stuff which we were happy with. So we deviated slightly from the original plan.

Our first stop was a batik shop in a nearby regency, Gianyar. Batubulan to be exact. This required that we travelled over a toll bridge to get there. The Nusa Dua-Ngurah Rai-Benoa Toll Road or Bali Mandara Toll Bridge crossed what seemed a very shallow Gulf of Benoa. As we travelled, Katut explained to us that the area we were heading to were batik producers. The “factories” were run by local villagers, the money made going toward helping run the village as well as income for the workers. This theme repeated throughout Bali with the silver and pottery industries etc.

Local labourers trying to stay dry

Katut suggested that we drop into Sari Amerta Batik Collection for a look around. Out the back were several women using looms to weave fabric. We were shown the different finishes and how they achieved them. The two weavers were creating a patterned silk fabric where the pattern is set out and the fibre dyed accordingly. They then had to strictly adhere to the pattern so as the final product was as desired. The other women were creating batik fabric for whatever, clothes, home furnishings and such. Creating patterns and images on fabrics, for the shop maybe? Maybe not.

Inside the shop was quite impressive and no photos allowed. There were rows and rows of garments and silk scarves, from batik shirts and tops in all sizes to tourist type batik wax stamps. Very interesting. We were quite entertained by the skill of the women out back and left the store with a couple of hundred dollars of goodies.

A batik woman

A woman of the loom

Next stop was a short drive north to a traditional Balinese house with family temple in Singapadu. We turned right into a lane off Jalan Raya Singapadu, a couple of doors from Bigpig Supply HQ. This was great. A substantial property of about a quarter acre of which half was the living quarters and gardens of the family and half the family temple.

The sign on the front entry gave the house number, family name and the number of males, females and children living there

As we entered through a stone portal, the entrance led past the community kitchen and onto a path which linked the individual pavilions of the family members. We all live under the same roof but these people didn't. All rooms were individual and bare. The bedrooms were just that, a bed. To protect them from the inclement weather they relied upon wide roof overhangs and drop down cane roller blinds. Next to, and to the rear of the kitchen was the bathroom. It backed onto the laneway, next to the entrance. In front of the bathroom was a building that contained their grain and whatever else they needed. To the rear were the living quarters.

It was explained that this was a patriarchal society. Women would move into the husband’s family compound and become part of that family. In the event of divorce or separation, the woman would leave and return to her family, leaving behind any children as they are “his” property.

Entrance to the traditional Balinese house

The temple area was exceptional. Delineated by a high stone fence from the residence, the pamerajan at the north eastern corner was strewn with family and other shrines. Apparently, shrines are dedicated to family ancestors as well as the Hindu Trimurti of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Their shrine, the sanggah kemulan takes the form of a miniature wooded structure raised on pillars and containing three compartments, one each. All mounted on a masonry column.

Sounds about it

Only a kilometre and a half down the road was the metalsmithing village of Celuk and the next stop. The Prapen Jewellery Store selling silver jewellery. The store was named after the Indonesian name for forge, perapian or the workshop of a metalsmith and started four generations ago to sell their jewellery directly to the cruise ships that docked nearby. Skilled metalsmiths with limited finances are provided with tools and designs and given work. As with the batik place we were shown around a small workshop with an example of this work prior to going into the store. This gave us a feel about the skill involved in making pieces with such intricate detail.

Four different processes were used to create the jewellery, Carving where a piece of metal is pressed onto a base of black pitch with patterns created by chiselling, Openwork where a pattern is placed on a piece of sheet metal and pierced onto a base of black pitch, Granulation where hundreds of tiny metal granules are soldered onto a base and Metal Weaving, the process of creating bracelets made of woven strands of silver wire.

Which process is going on here?

After our workshop experience we were directed into the showroom and escorted every step of the way. No pictures in here. The display was intriguing but not too much different than any other jewellers. Jo bought a small bead for her Pandora bracelet, we rested at the carp pool and we moved on.

The serenity of the carp pool

By eleven we were in the village of Batuan and entering its nearly one thousand year old temple, Pura Desa and Pura Puseh Batuan. We parked across the road behind a large open pergola type building where traditional Gambuh dance performances took place (but not today) and we would borrow a sarong for respect whilst inside. It was then like we were in a game of Frogger trying to cross Jalan Raya Batuan.

The temple, as testified by inscriptions at the front gate, was over a thousand years old going by the Balinese Saka calendar, based on lunar cycles. It was constructed in 944 isaka but still approaching one thousand years old by our Gregorian calendar. It was also a Tri Kahyangan member, a three temple concept preached by Mpu Kuturan to the Balinese Hindu community around the 10th century. The concept goes like this. The Pura Desa or Village Temple is a place to worship God Brahma the Creator, Pura Puseh to worship God Vishnu the preserver and the Pura Dalem to worship Lord Shiva the Destroyer.

Once inside the temple was typical Balinese comprising of three areas, Nista Mandala or outside area, Madya Mandala the middle area and Utama Mandala or main temple area. From the central courtyard we faced the Kori Agung containing a closed doorway meaning explicitly for the gods. As with the entrance, two rather large characters stood either side of the door. Don't know whether they were welcoming or not. Below them were a pair of not so friendly looking Dwarapala, on one knee with mace in hand. There were also dragons at the base of the stairs. To the right was a Bale Kulkul where drummers played Kentongans to summon and entertain the locals to the temple.

As we moved further towards the back we encountered similar buildings and statues that more than likely had a different significance. At the back of the temple was another building that held bits and pieces that had come from the temple over time. Probably from the maintenance and rebuilding over the centuries. Villagers were responsible for the upkeep of the temple. The “priest” for the temple is an elder from the village who can have a family and normal life.

All in all, an interesting experience, well explained by Katut.

Kori Agung is the main shrine within Utama Mandala, the temple's holiest courtyard

Following the temple we were asked if we would like to visit an art gallery which we did. Turning right a couple of blocks away and up a tight lane led us to the front door of Dewa Putu Toris Gallery. As with the jewellers earlier, we were escorted all the way and denied photos. As we worked our way through the gallery, the paintings were either ordinary at best or far too large. As a consequence we completed one lap and back to the car. The monkeys were next.

At a quarter past midday after a short trip north we arrived at Mandala Suci Wenara Wana, the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary. Here amongst over twelve hectares of forest and temples were over one thousand Balinese long tailed monkeys, or macaques to be exact. They were divided into seven groups geographically divided comprising of the Central group, the largest with over two hundred monkeys as well as the Temple, Selatan, Cemetery, Michelin, East and New Forest groups. The New Forest group was the smallest with just over a hundred monkeys.

Once inside Katut warned us about trusting the little buggers. They’ll steal hats and sunglasses if you’re not careful and have no food or water bottles on display. Don't look them in the eye, feed them or try to touch them as they may become aggressive. Just mind your own business and give them a wide birth. We did this and apart from some curiosity, they were so used to humans that they ignored onlookers and went about their business, playing around, eating and preening each other. This area was not an enclosure and monkeys were free to roam the village. They have been known to enter homes and steel food.

Moving through the different areas was like an obstacle course as not only did they not pay any attention to people moving about, they sat about on walls and the middle of pathways, making the humans move around them. We took our time wandering about before returning to the entrance for our next stop, tucker.

Keeping the young ones at a distance from the public

This one stole the water from a woman and quickly took the lid off

Not far from the monkey forest was a quick stop off at the markets before lunch. The Erlangga Organic Resto was next and served us fine food with a fine view. We were driven around to a rear car park, then escorted to an outdoor covered dining area adjacent to rice paddies at various stages of growth. Katut pointed out that a paddy to the side was ready for harvesting as it was starting to yellow whereas the paddy next to us, although the same height was not. It was still green but not far behind. All paddies were linked by manmade water channels fed by the nearby stream.

The channels were blocked so as the water was directed to the correct paddy

It was mid afternoon and the day was drawing to a close. Earlier on Katut asked us if we wanted to visit a coffee place on the return trip. We agreed and ended up at the Satria Coffee Plantation where amongst other offerings, served Kopi luwak or Balicatpoochino. When we arrived we were greeted by a young woman called Devi and escorted on a path through their property being shown different herbs, spices and such as we went. We then entered a work area where an old lady was cooking up some coffee beans at the back. Trays of different beans and ingredients were in bowls to the side and Devi demonstrated the crushing of the beans into powder as we looked around. After exiting we passed a couple of cages with civets sleeping on an elevated platform. We were then shown to an outdoor seating area where we waited for our tea and coffee samples to be served.

Trays and bowls of ingredients. Old lady roasting some up down the back

Asian palm civets were said to be, along with bats, the cause of the SARS caronavirus nearly twenty years ago. Over eight thousand people contracted the contagion, killing 774. SARS started in China just as the current caronavirus did through close contact or eating exotic animals. Many civets are captured and kept in cages, fed only coffee cherries to maximise their output of digested seed. Devi made a point of saying Satria only kept their civets for a few days and released them. Who knows where they got them from.

The civets eat the coffee cherries and only partially digest them, fermenting them on the way through. People sift through their scat to retrieve the cherries and produce the so called "ultimate bling coffee"

We had no sooner settled in at the outdoor area when the tea and coffee samples were put in front of us. Some were nice, some not so much and some were awful. The samples included ginseng, coconut, vanilla and avocado coffee as well as saffron, lemon grass, rice and rosella tea.

One of the awful ones. Ginger tea

Yum! Balicatpoochino

That was it. No sooner had we finished our experience that we were back in the car, being chauffered back to our resort and prepare for happy hour and dinner.

Early one tomorrow so early to bed.

Day 6: Golf and Lobster

7/03/2020: Today was an early one, Stu put the pickup time forward to quarter past six and was knocking on the door before six. He didn't have a cab so we needed to find one somewhere at this ungodly hour. There was no-one at the Belmond so they walked back to the Fox Hotel and asked reception to order one in. A taxi quickly arrived and after being reminded by Stu to turn his meter on and being shown on his phone how to get there, we had soon arrived with not much time to spare.

Having had security do the mirror under the car trick again, we pulled up out the front and were greeted by some of the caddies. Pleasantries exchanged and the handing over of 2.3 million Rupiah each, we met our caddies who promptly took us to the driving range for a thirty or forty ball warmup. Things weren't looking good if the warmup was any indication.

Caddies waiting for the warmup to finish

The course was magnificent but quite empty. The description of the course could be done no better than their web page itself. It read.

"The tee box on Hole # 1, sets the tempo for the front nine, with beautifully mature trees set in parkland terrain, against a backdrop of spectacular ocean views. Upon reaching the green on hole # 4, a spectacular view can interrupt one’s putting, all the way to the majestic Gunung Agung! The high point is reached at Hole # 7 tee box, where the ocean view may hinder the shots required to conquer one of Indonesia’s longest holes, a par 5 of some 620 yards! Then, it’s onwards to Hole # 8, where your tee shot must traverse a “jungle” ravine to the winding fairway spread out beyond. And last but not least, while Hole # 9 club selection is critical on this tricky par 3 with its elevated peninsula green surrounded by water and greenside bunkers.

Having completed the “first stanza”, it’s on to beautifully rolling coconut groves, with strategically located lakes on holes # 11 and 12 to test the nerve and skill of all golfers. A plethora of well placed bunkers are to be navigated on the par 5, hole # 13 before landing on the nestled down green. Following the playing of two gentle par 4’s, holes # 14 & 15, one must be ready for the strong finishing holes, commencing with Hole # 16, a par 5 carved from amongst high dunes, with the prevailing wind almost all ways in your face! Then, we cross the road to a game breaker, the par 3, 17th hole, where playing for the first time, golfers may well ask, “where’s the fairway”! Yes, your tee shot needs to be somewhat precise, as tee boxes and the green are the only dry piece of land on the hole!

Hole # 18 a 400 yard dogleg left, draped by a lake all the way down the left side of the fairway, brings you to the 18th green directly in front of the clubhouse terrace, where many golfers will be watching your par puts! "

Off we go. Shane's caddy Daihu and Stu's on the back. He didn't ask her name

Apart from the blistering sun and draining humidity which called for plenty of water (and a few beers), we were going through balls like steam. Stu said not to worry as people around the course come out of the vegetation and sell the ones they've found in the scrub. Which they did. The vegetation was so lush that if a ball missed the fairway or rough, they were pretty well gone. Not that our caddies would give up easily. They spent plenty of time in there looking. Not only did the girls look for our balls, they also carried club options to the ball, suggested which club to use and where to aim. They also carried a sand bucket all the time to repair our divots, of which there were plenty. When on the green they would mark our balls, pick them up and give them a polish, replace them and recommend where to hit the ball and how hard. Golfing dumbed down but quite good.

After Shane breaking 130 and Stu twenty shots better, it was all over. Particularly after Shane tried to line up a date with his caddy and Thomas. She was thirty four with no husband or kids and Thomas could use a woman. Didn't happen though as she went shy on him.

A long birdie putt for Stu on the green of the one hundred and thirty yard nineth

Stuart was keen on lobster and usually stayed at Legian when in Bali so after a cab back to our rooms, we gave ourselves a half an hour to meet up again and head for a feed. Stu's girlfriend, Ilene from the Philippines was over as well. A bit over an hour after we returned from golf we were headed out again.

One of the local haunts for a good feed was actually called "The Lokal" in Legian. Stu swore by it as it was owned by an Aussie. Bacon and egg rolls on the breakfast menu. We had lobster mornay, chips and salad all round. Pretty good. One hundred bucks a couple with a few coldies.

Lobster at the Lokal

After lunch we walked to Legian Beach and back towards Kuta along the sand until we hit a shopping centre that Stu was after Ilene was keen for, and the Candylicious shop to stock up on lollies for her daughter back home. Jo bought draught beer flavoured jelly beans as well as champagne flavour and pancakes and maple syrup flavour. We then headed to a café called The Kitchenette where e ordered fruit juice and tea. Stu ordered water but the server forgot. It took ages to get his attention, the same when we wanted our bill.

The day's humidity had taken its toll. Storms were brewing and by the time the rain hit we were in a Bluebird taxi, giving him instructions that the meter was to be on and we wanted to be taken to the three or four factory outlets while he waited with meter running. He couldn’t do it as he had an appointment a short time after. We all piled out into the rain and jumped into another Bluebird taxi that had pulled up behind us. This driver was happy to meet our request of being the driver for our shopping expedition for surf brand bargains. By now it was flogging down. The roads were flooding but traffic was still chaotic. All in all, shopping lasted for a couple of hours and when we were dropped back at our hotels, the fare was under seven dollars. It was arranged for Stu and Ailene to get their swimmers and come back to our villa for a few drinks and a swim. Two drinks were had in the room and then we decided to head to the restaurant to have our free cocktails and some dinner. Shane was feeling ill again and didn’t want to eat so we decided that Stu and Ailene could use our meal voucher for a seafood dinner for two and Stuart pay for a main and dessert for Jo. Apparently, the seafood feast didn’t live up to Stuart’s expectations.

Following a big day we were all so knackered that we agreed to postpone the swim until lunchtime tomorrow. Early one to bed.

Day 7: Stu and Ailene

8/03/2020: Starting the last full day in Bali rather lazily, with the usual enjoyable breakfast, was in due partly to yesterday taking its toll. Jo as usual was on Facebook, contacting people at home and getting the "goss", Shane reading the New York Times. Although Bali was Caronavirus nervous, with only a handful of cases if you could believe the government (prayer will keep everyone safe sort of thing), the contagion was beginning to tear through other parts of the world with the instigators China at eighty thousand cases, Italy approaching ten thousand cases and Spain and France just revving up, Australia had well under one hundred cases. That didn't stop the numb skulls at home from panic buying, unnecessarily emptying the shelves of staples. For some strange reason they considered that wiping their backsides was as important as eating, clearing the shelves of toilet paper. Shane would do his bit though, saving the family from afar.

No toilet paper? New York Times to the rescue.

Yesterday was exhausting, we were golfed out, shopped out and rained out. After breakfast and a few coffees we hit the pool. Stu and Ailene were due soon and the fridge was stocked. We had ordered ten Bintangs and a bottle of wine for the day before but hadn't used them. Their mid morning arrival and a stocked mini bar meant that a few hours of less than salubrious but quality pool time befell us.

The villa oasis

As you'd expect, the Bali sunshine and parched throats meant that the beer and wine didn't last long. Within a few hours we would be heading back to the nearby Fox apartments where Stu and Ailene were staying. Straight up to the rooftop where we could sit under cover by the pool and relax a bit more. If that was possible. The intent was to have a swim but it didn't eventuate. The views were great on both sides. A distant airport and bay to the west and the Garuda Wisnu Kencana statue on the hillside to the east. A football match provided some short lived entertainment below.

Infinity pool

Kick off at lapangan Yoga Perkanthi

As it was our last full day in Bali, it was also Stu and Ailene's last day, flying out late in the night. She flew out to Manilla at eleven and he back to Darwin at one. No curfews here. They had booked for an extra night to make use of the room and facilities until time to head to the airport. In the interim we would eat a late lunch/early dinner at a ribs restaurant that Stuart loved called Naughty Nuri's Warung and Grill. It turned out a bit of a disappointment though as since it was franchised and the taxi driver dropped us off to the nearest one, it wasn't his usual haunt and the quality was below par. Still a good night though.

Ribs at Naughty Nuri's Warung and Grill

After dinner we taxied back to Fox, said our good byes and walked back to the villa, via a few drinks at the bar. We finished off taking it easy and starting to pack.

Contemplation and packing to end the day

Tomorrow we will take in the GWK Park to kill time before our flight home.

Day 8: Heading Home

9/03/2020: Shane was up late due to being up all night with splats. Asia doesn't agree with him. Jo was up early for a swim and more packing, a ten o'clock massage and breakfast alone. She also took Shane's second massage as he bailed out due to fear of embarrassment. Our luggage was to be picked up at ten to twelve as we thought that we were to check out at twelve. Last night we got our check out letter and ancillaries bill. It said we checked out at one, gaining us an extra hour so Jo rearranged our bag collection and rescheduled our driver.

When Jo arrived after eleven from both massages, plus a 20 min facial thrown in for free, Shane got-up and started packing. Before long it was in the pool for the last time, shower and get the bags ready for collection. The porter turned up early and we sent him away until later. Just before one we called him to have a second go before walking to reception followed by our porter, bags and side kick all by golf cart. By the time we had paid our thousand bucks in extras it was quarter past one and time to reunite with Markay from a few days before.

One last garden ornament

Jo had talked him down from six hundred to four fifty rupiah to take us around to a site or two before dropping us of at Ngurah Rai Airport about five. This would give us plenty of time to get our plane home. First, and as it turned out, last stop was the cultural park a few kilometres away. The Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park was opened by President Joko Widodo only eighteen months earlier.

Markay was very helpful, parked at the bottom and jumped on the shuttle with us to make sure we bought the right tickets to get to the top. This cost Rp125,000 each but before we left the ticket booth he suggested we get the Rp30,000 golf buggy to the top and walk back down, which we did. With this he told us he would meet us down at the carpark when we were finished.

Garuda Wisnu Kencana statue

Rising above Bali's Bukit Peninsula, the statue depicts the Hindu god, Lord Wisnu, the protector of the universe. He is riding the mythical eagle and national emblem, Garuda who represents loyalty and selfless devotion. Kencana represents the crown of gold mosaic

The tower had only two floors available to the public, the ninth floor where we were given the story of the myth and the twenty third floor where we could get to a reasonable view from a few large portholes in the eagle's back or at Wisnu's shoulders. There were small glass floors showing the steel work below and information boards on the wall all explaining the construction's technique. There was not much to photograph, further suggesting that the restrictions on cameras were a rort.

After elevating back to ground floor and collecting our stuff we were soon back out the front of the tower and heading back down the hill. The park was constructed within an old limestone quarry with large and tall swathes of limestone left amongst the voids where it was taken. These voids became the access roads, some leading to other temples and displays. Just down from the tower and to the right was a replica of Garuda overlooking Lotus Park. It was quite large and clearly showed the finished product and technique of attaching the triangular copper sections to the frame, fusion welded and patina. To the side of this was a large representation of Wisnu, overlooking his plaza.

Wisnu Plaza. A sarong had to be put on when entering this site.

It was all downhill from there. To the shuttle bus and car park that is. It was not long after four but we had had enough and told our drive to take us to the airport where we settled in with a couple of cups of tea until our check in opened. At Bali the large suit cases were scanned before check in, not after, so we had to time it right.

We passed this guy numerous times on our journeys. I Gusti Ngurah Rai, the national war hero who led the Balinese armed forces following the Indonesian Declaration of Independence due to the subjugation by the Dutch. He and all of his troops were killed in battle after he ordered a paputan (fight to the death) during the Battle of Margarana

Joining the queue, we thought that there was an unusually large number of old people, explained once Jo noticed the Viking Cruises tags on their bags. It seems that the Viking Princess had been denied docking somewhere in Java due to caronavirus and had sailed to Bali who also denied them docking. After sitting off the coast for a while, Bali sent health specialists out to test them all and they all tested negative. They were then tendered into shore and the ones that had had a gut full were flying to Brisbane and then home. The ship then headed to Colombo, probably almost empty.

Once on the plane we got a pleasant surprise: We had jagged the emergency exit seats with plenty of leg room. Yippee!! Down side was in the event of an emergency landing it was our responsibility to open the emergency hatch which was above the wing and assist people to evacuate. The rest of the flight was a doddle.

We were twenty five minutes late for take off thanks to all the passengers from the cruise and their 3 check in suitcases each. If it wasn’t for them the plane would have been half empty and left on time. The pilot made good time though as we landed in Brisbane ten minutes early. Not being too sure what the procedure would be on landing in Brisbane with changing from international to domestic flight, we had declared our timber/shell items and were directed to a customs officer to ask what we had. Lollies, biscuits and instruments made from coconut shells was our answer. Okay, thanks for declaring now keep on moving. Gee he didn't even look at our gear. Anyway, once out of the secure area we had to head to the Virgin Domestic transfer desk. Our luggage was reweighed and sent through to loading. We got straight on a shuttle bus and straight to the domestic terminal, giving us two hours before our flight to Newcastle was to leave. So much for thinking time would be tight.

In transit for the final time

Jo was excited to be having the window seat on last leg but was soon to discover it was a windowless seat. For some reason it was a wall. Again, the flight was easy and in no time we were touching down at Newcastle airport. She had arranged for Eve to pick us up with the plan to park nearby and wait for a phone call once we had collected our luggage to save on parking fees. While waiting near the luggage carousel Jo noticed Eve and our almost year old grandson Mason standing waiting for us. She flew over and tried to get Mason to walk as he had just done for the first time a few days earlier. He wasn’t going to oblige so he got scooped up and smothered in kisses. Oops, sorry Eve, hello sweetheart and a kiss for her too.

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