Our Travelations

If there’s something strange
in your neighborhood
Who ya gonna call?
GHOSTBUSTERS

If there’s something weird
and it don’t look good
Who ya gonna call?
GHOSTBUSTERS

~ Ghostbusters, Ray Parker Jr

Remember that song? It’s the theme song to that classic cartoon J and I (and I’m sure many of you) grew up with. The cartoon is not so much scary as it was funny. The theme song is such a fun one that we remember it till this day, many years on. So catchy, don’t you think?

Well, I sure felt like singing it last weekend – at the Night Safari Halloween Horrors! The whole park will be turned into some sort of a gruesome Halloween wonderland every weekend (Friday and Saturday, and the last Sunday of the month) in October, with a climax on Halloween itself. Actually, it’s more like monster-land for us humans but certainly a wonderland for ghosts!

Here are some we encountered at the Haunted Village:

Erm, the Chain Man?

A serving of severed human head, anyone?

Brave woman!

More scary experiences followed during the Train of Terror ride on the tram. At one point, while meandering through darkened areas lined with thick bushes, we were suddenly set upon by a man with blood dripping down his face. He thrust an object into the cabin in front of ours and it was followed by shrill screams – turned out it was a severed head! Then, there was a long-haired woman, wearing white, with a pale face and blood red lips. As the tram conveniently slowed down, she just stood there by the side of the road and peered right into our cabin, straight into this girl’s eyes! (Actually, I think the girl’s boyfriend was enjoying the entire ride, because she would hug him tight when she got scared. And let me tell you, she was scared pretty easily! Haha!)

Check out Our Travelations facebook page for a video of what I mean – see it to believe it!

Then, there were the amazing props and sets, including a Chinese ghost wedding set up and a Malay wayang kulit stage complete with an automated show.

Of course, there were the animals too, but our photos didn’t turn out that great as we couldn’t use the flash. Here’s one of arty flamingos:

Arty flamingos

After the tram ride, we wanted to go for the animal show, but unfortunately, the queue was an hour long and we were seriously hungry by then. But before we left, we did manage to see one more animal in action – the Garra rufa or as I call it, the fish spa fish. Check them out, man:

Attack!

This experience certainly isn’t for the faint-hearted, but most people would enjoy it. Many visitors that night really got into the spirit of the occasion, donning headbands with glowing ‘Devil’ ears and witch’s hats. We certainly had a lot of fun, even though some parts were scary and adrenaline-inducing. It was definitely a creative way to experience the Night Safari.

Overall, we were very impressed with the effort put into making this such an authentic experience for visitors. Kudos to Night Safari for a job very well done!

And many thanks to ICON for the invite

Esther

ADVERTORIAL

Okay guys, remember the last time I posted about the Citibank Credit Card that’s probably the most suitable for travellers – the Citi PremierMiles Card?

Well, you can find out for yourself whether it (and other Citibank Credit Cards) suits you at Citibank’s pretty nifty Citibank Credit Cards recommender.

I tried it out and it’s seriously as simple as answering a few easy questions.

For me, it was a total of only three questions, as such:

1. Age

How old are you?

2. Income

How do you make a living?

3. Do you prefer receiving

(a) Cash back up to 5%

(b) Reward items up to 5X

(c) Miles for travel

What benefits do you want?

Of course I chose option (c)! Actually, I would like the other two options too but the beauty of this recommender is that it ‘forces’ you to make a choice and to prioritise.

At the end of the process, it recommended two Citibank Credit Cards for me:

Voila!

Try out the Citibank Credit Card recommender for yourself today. And if you are applying for a Citibank Credit Card, head to this Citibank Credit Cards/Ready Credit page, where you can enjoy a $40 Tangs voucher if you successfully apply for both a Citibank Credit Card and Citibank Ready Credit. If you successfully apply for either a Citibank Credit Card or Citibank Ready Credit, you’ll enjoy a $20 TANGS shopping voucher.

Comparatively, offline sign-ups will not receive any vouchers. Online sign-ups not using the link above will receive only a $20 Marina Bay Sands voucher.

Now, I have a confession to make… I haven’t actually gotten round to applying for my Citi PremierMiles Card! I should really go do it NOW as those miles are running away from me seeing as I’m travelling a lot from now until the end of the year.

Well, let me know which card you’re applying for and how it goes for you, ya? I’m off to grab mine now!

Esther

ADVERTORIAL

If there’s one thing we always make sure to bring with us during our travels, it’s our credit cards. No, it’s not for any luxurious purchases or anything (well, if Jeff wants to indulge me now and then, I won’t mind!), but rather, it’s for emergencies. And sometimes, it’s just easier and safer to pay with a credit card than risk carrying wads of cash around.

Some cards also give travel-related privileges that, as avid travelers, we really, really like. Jeff has one that allows him to convert his spending into miles that can be used to redeem flights on a much sought after airline. I don’t have such a credit card, but I have two frequent flier cards. Anyway, we both thought we were sorted when it came to smart spending for our travelling needs.

Well, we were wrong – luckily, we can now remedy that, thanks to a very informative dinner session with Citibank recently.

During the sharing session, we were ‘educated’ on their suite of credit cards, which includes the one we think is most suitable for avid travelers, the Citibank Citi PremierMiles Card.

Citibank presentation session. It was very useful - check out J paying attention at the top of the table!

While our current travel related reward cards allow us to claim miles for flights, this one lets us claim our accumulated miles for just about anything that is travel related.

And being independent travelers (fortunately, we do sometimes enjoy full-fare flights and hotels as part of our work), we fly a lot on budget airlines and stay frequently at guesthouses and hostels. So, being able to claim for these is just great!

Citi PremierMiles Card

Features/benefits of the Citi PremierMiles Card include:

• Up to 2 Citi Miles with every $1 spend
• Annual bonus of up to 20,000 Citi Miles
• Citi Miles are redeemable on most airlines or any travel-related spend (you have to make the travel-related purchase using your Citi PremierMiles Card)
• Citi Miles never expire

Honestly, travelling is a major part of our lives – it’s part of our work, it takes up a big chunk of our leisure time and needless to say, our relationship is strengthened through shared experiences while travelling – so this card would really help us make the best of our travelling budget. Hey, who doesn’t want a free 5-star hotel stay, eh?

Well, we’re both going to sign-up for one.

If you would like one too, head to this Citibank Credit Cards/Ready Credit page, where you can enjoy a $40 Tangs voucher if you successfully apply for both a Citibank Credit Card and Citibank Ready Credit. If you successfully apply for either a Citibank Credit Card or Citibank Ready Credit, you’ll enjoy a $20 TANGS shopping voucher.

[Comparatively, offline sign-ups will not receive any vouchers. Online sign-ups not using the link above will receive only a $20 Wisma Atria voucher.]

Besides this, all holders of Citibank Credit Cards can participate in the Citibank Gourmet Pleasures programme, something which I think would be right up our alley (and yours too!). I think there’s a foodie in every true-blue traveler – I recently had a great discussion with a group of travel writers and we came to the fantastic conclusion that food, travel and culture are very natural bedfellows.

Here’s evidence that the Citibank folks really know their food – we were treated to a very delicious feast at Coriander Leaf that night:

A very interesting starter: Eggplant with a pomegranate salsa

Crab cakes, the second starter and my number 1 dish that night

My main: Codfish with a miso dressing

J's main dish: Roasted rack of lamb with a balsamic dressing

Anyway, I’ll do a reveal of my card, and hopefully, what I spent my miles on, soon.

Thanks Citibank & 24seven for a fun and informative session (and a yummy dinner)! We also met many new friends and fellow bloggers

Esther

A lot of backlog, people. Bear with us. And yes, many apologies!

First up, let me tell you about Green School Bali, which I had the privilege of finally visiting in April.

I had known about Green School since last year in my previous job, but only recently did I manage to visit. We were hosted by the warm and friendly Ron Stones, Green School’s consultant director.

With its tagline, “Equipping Children for 2025″, this school is seriously a school for the future. It is almost entirely made of bamboo and is such an interesting, inspiring place to learn. Famed Canadian jeweller John Hardy and his wife, Cynthia, built this school because they wanted to teach children about sustainable living – they also built what could possibly be the world’s largest bamboo building, the Heart of School, a grand, imposing, three-storey structure, located within the school grounds.

Miniature model of Heart of School, made out of bamboo

Besides teaching the standard International Baccalaureate (IB) and International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) syllabus, there is also a Green Studies programme, which includes topics like carbon footprint analysis, water studies and even, organic farming and gardening.

Within the Creative Arts and physical education programmes, students delve into yoga and batik painting using natural dyes made from vegetation on site, and martial arts, with the Balinese traditional art of Mepantingan being an important component. Students, aged between three and 15, learn by doing, with each child tending to their very own vegetable patch.

I wrote about the Green School at the SE Forum site, so feel free to click on the link to find out more.

Jeff wasn’t with me on this trip – oh, how I wished he could have seen the school with his own eyes – so, this post is as much for him as it is for you, dear readers! Enjoy!

Part of Heart of School, entirely made of bamboo

School football field

The students' tomato patch

Students are encouraged to use reusable water bottles to collect the spring water that is made conveniently available from water points within the school compound. Do not use plastic. Make a choice.

Hydro-energy harnessed from the fast flowing Ayung River which divides the school

View from the bridge at the entrance of the school

A beautiful set of photos (not taken by me) of the school can be found here.

*****

• Green School Bali is located at Jalan Raya Sibang Kaja, Banjar Saren, Abiansemal, Badung, Bali 80352, Indonesia.

*****

Esther

Its so serene at the Bayon temple of Siem Reap in Cambodia in 2007

The Bayon temple within the Angkor Thom complex in Siem Reap vies with Angkor Wat as the most favourite attraction in Siem Reap. Over 2,000 large faces carved on 54 towers give this temple its majestic character. Built nearly 100 years after Angkor Wat, Bayon was built in the late 12th century to early 13th century, by the King Jayavarman VII, and it was dedicated to Buddhism.

This smaller, more intimate temple was certainly one of our favourites and we visited twice, just to soak up the calming and peaceful atmosphere of the place. This temple is also situated along the running route of the annual Angkor Half-Marathon, and as a running enthusiast, I hope to run the race and gaze at the temple as I pass.

~ Esther

Esther