Our last full day in Bali. It's been great to be here, and the fact that friends and family were here too made it even more fun. One highlight today was the innaugural Anyar Olympics. There were five events (football, targetted ball throwing, swimming, rock retrieval from the bottom of the pool and diving) five competitors ( Ben, Carys, Andy, Keita and Nick) and two judges (Anna-Marie and Sandra). Competition was incredibly intense and ended with Ben taking the gold while Carys and Andy tied for silver. Well done to all three kids! In the early evening Andy, Anna and Keita all headed off for the airport just as the sun was setting over the paddy field behind our house. The lovely evening was a great farewell backdrop for them. We also jumped in a taxi ... read more

Success is a beautiful thing, and I am feeling very good about our shared success today in meeting our goal of lazing around by the pool. Job done! The downside however is that I don't have much to report. So we'll try a different kind of material today. First up a couple of quotes we've come across on the trip and liked. The first was St. Augustine who apparently said, "The world is a book and those who don't travel read only one page." Obviously I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to travel and to travel for a long time. But this quote makes so much sense to me. I feel like I've learned a lot on the trip and I hope that the kids will look back at this some day realize that ... read more

Just a short note today as it has been a travel day. We flew out of Singapore to the Indonesian island of Bali around noon and the change was huge! We've gone from the very modern city, back in time to more chaotic roads and to a very laid back villa among paddy fields where we will be staying for the next five nights. This leg of our trip was designed to be the least active. We plan on a tourist day tomorrow, Thursday, to Ubud but after that we'll get lazy! Anna arrives Thursday and then Andy and a Cargill friend, Keita Miyamoto, arrive on Friday. The kids were in the pool minutes after we arrived. A very promising start!... read more

After a bit of a slow start we took a taxi down to the center of town to go on the Singapore Flyer which is the world's biggest Ferris wheel. At 540ft it's a full 100ft higher than the London Eye, and gave us great views of the city. I was especially entertained by the fact that it sits right above the pit lane and start/finish line for the Formula One race track, but apparently I was the only one in the family who cared. The ride took about 30 minutes for one full revolution. From there we walked over the bridge to the Marina Bay Sands complex. Three towers that are 57 floors high with a ship sitting on top of the buildings. Quite bizzarre sight. And on the "ship" are bars, restaurants and a ... read more

Last night after dinner by the river Ping, we went to the night market. There was lots of stuff on offer aimed at tourists, including a group of lady boys in bright colored feathery costumes! We explained to the kids that those ladies were not ladies, but I'm not sure they believed us. And frankly I'm not surprised! We had time this morning, Saturday, for a little more walking around Chiang Mai. We took one of the local taxis into town. They're red pickup trucks with a topper over the back and two benches inside. I can't recall the Thai name but it means two rows. They pick up other people along the way who are going in roughly the same direction. So riding in the taxi becomes a social occasion where you may or may ... read more