Grateful for Having Finished Editing Max' Photos

Day 72 of 365 grateful days project:

"I'm grateful to have finished editing Max' photos that I took last month."

Actually it was already done almost instantly after the photo session. But I only focused on the few chosen ones now since the files were saved in the PC (not the laptop) and we hadn't fixed a place for the PC until just before Vincent left for Thailand. :P

But I'm happy it's done. I posted some on Facebook and some others in my photoblog.

Here's some for this blog. :)

Grateful for the Song "Sexy and I Know It"

Day 71 of 365 grateful days project:

"I'm grateful that I found this funny song."



You've gotta love this song!!! Not only that finally men seem to be subjected to skin-revealing sexy objects (or subjects) instead of women, but the way it is expressed really appeals to my humour. It makes me smile every single time I watch it.

Grateful that the Manager is Very Helpful

Day 70 of 365 grateful days project:

"I'm grateful that the manager of the villa is very accommodating and helpful."

I suppose it's already his job description to be accommodating and helpful, but I've lived in Bali long enough to have met the so-called managers who simply can't care less.

But Wayan is nothing like that. He's young, polite, helpful and he can do many things, too. As a manager, he's not as diplomatic - as in giving much selling value of this very villa - because he's too honest to the clients (us). But that makes me respect him, despite the so many daily problems we encounter in this new place. Instead of defending the villa for its other good qualities, he admits its shortcomings and tries to fix the problems.

If only the other Balinese/Indonesians were like that. :P

Grateful that Annerie and Laura Already Left When There Was Water Problem

Day 69 of 365 grateful days project:

"I'm grateful that Annerie and Laura already left the house when the water problem struck."

Every new place has its own problem, no matter how comfortable it looked the first time you saw it. So does my house. After the leaks in both bedrooms were temporarily closed, now the water was not coming out. We'd find that in the middle of doing dishes, taking a shower and doing some private toilet stuff. Alas, for the latter business since we couldn't help not having it, we'd have to take a pail  - sometimes two or three - of water from the jacuzzi. Hah! If someone ever asked me again what the jacuzzi was for, I'd happily provide them with this fact that it supplied emergency toilet water if your only water source wasn't coming out.

Anyway, it happened in the evening and I was already tired from entertaining my guests this morning and working on my articles afterwards. I just SMS-ed the manager about it and I'll just see what he's going to do about it tomorrow. But it was good that it only happened after the girls left. It would have been so embarrassing if it happened before.

Grateful to Have Annerie Staying Over

Day 68 of 365 grateful days project:

"I'm grateful to have Annerie staying over for a night with her friend, Laura."

It's time for a girl's day (and night) again!!! Annerie pays a visit today bringing over Laura, one of her close friends to the south. They're staying the night at my place today and leaving tomorrow back to Candidasa. With the sad windy, rainy, stormy weather the past three days, I thought it would be nice to be surrounded with nice people (Annerie, Laura and my sister Ita).

So we dined, we shopped (this one allocated waaaaay much more than the other activities), we gossiped, we karaoked (can never escape from this as long as you're with Annerie) and we drank champagne! Yes, Annerie brought a bottle of champagne and the three of us (my sister not joining) toasted for 3 different celebrations - based on what each of us was grateful of at the moment. Swell!

As if Mother Earth knew that these girls wanted to go out too, she stopped the rain and the scary wind and brought a bit of sun back to us. The view at our parking place was so gorgeous today I just had to stop and photographed it.

It's a beautiful day.

Grateful that I Haven't Made a Ceremony for Mouche's Ashes

Day 67 of 365 grateful days project:

"I'm grateful that I haven't done the ceremony I wanted to do for Mouche."

Not sure why. But Vincent's absence makes me keep thinking about Mouche. How I wanted her to move with us here. How she would be happy to finally have her real garden to play. There is another stray cat here that seems to be comfortable staying in our place. The thing is, it's a stray cat. It steals food and it poops everywhere.  I wish it was Mouche.

We were planning to make a little ceremony for Mouche, keeping half of her ashes at home and the other half spread onto the sea. But we haven't got around to do it, due to the so many things we had to do. Travelling and moving taking place in the same month is a real work, I tell you. So, this is what I do every morning and afternoon: burning an incense with lavender smell next to Mouche's ash pot. I never really got it what was the importance of burning incense. But it calms me down and hopefully her too, wherever she is.

I still miss her heaps. Even more when my only distraction - Vincent - is not here.

Grateful that Food Photography is More Easily Done Now

Day 66 of 365 grateful days project:

"I'm grateful that I have an open kitchen and living room now, that making food photographs with natural light is not an issue anymore."

I'm not a sweet tooth. But today I wanted brownies so bad. And guess what, my new place is strategically located near Bali Buddha, which allows me to buy some baking stuffs or ready-made fresh baguettes! So I gave it the first visit today and found some cashew nuts offered in very reasonable price. I took a pack and went back home to make my most-savoured brownies.

I found it really fun to cook in this house! The kitchen is freaking small, but since it's in the same room with the living room/dining room, overlooking the garden, it didn't feel that small. What's great too is that I can make nice photographs with the abundance of light coming in from the garden. Look at some of the photos below I made on the making of the brownies.

Not bad, right? In my other houses, I would be very, very lucky if I could get photos that weren't blurred. The other way to do it was by using flash, but I personally don't like it. It'd just make the photos go bleh...

Anyhoo, if you're interested in trying out this brownies a la Carla, check out the recipe here.