We had such a smooth and easy transition out of Hong Kong that I feel the need to go over the details – it isn’t often that air travel is that exciting, but this day was! Jennie dropped us off at the Airport Express which is basically an extension of the airport but located at a train station in downtown Hong Kong. We dropped off our luggage where it was tagged and sent away, and we then hopped on a very fast and clean train to the airport. How handy is that?! Brilliant.

We arrived at the airport so quickly and efficiently that we had lots of time to shop in the interesting little stores and then have a delicious ramen lunch. We are kind of addicted to ramen, what can I say. To cap off the noodle deliciousness the kids got fancy fruit drinks that were extremely pretty and beyond tasty. Watching them being made was like watching art – for Chloë’s drink the girl actually cut a watermelon in half and used a spoon to get all of the fruit out of it. She then added it to ice in a blender and poured the mixture on top of aloe gel, followed by some other clear stuff that we couldn’t figure out. It was fresh, delicious and had a great texture. Julia’s had mango, crystal jelly, and coconut milk and was equally tasty. They certainly know what they are doing in the drink department!

We flew Dragonair and it was a very pleasant 4.5 hours in the sky. The flight attendants were very nice, the food was great, and they made a refreshing gin and tonic. They had a huge selection of movies in English which was a nice surprise, and the view out the window was spectacular! As you can tell, we had a very enjoyable experience.

Arriving in to Bali was a bit more chaotic; we first had to line up for an entrance visa and then line up for customs. Unfortunately we seemed to choose the wrong line up both times, but what else do we have to do while on vacation? A driver from our hotel was supposed to meet us, but unfortunately we couldn’t find him when we left customs so Jeff went to the information booth to figure things out while the kids and I went to buy water and sushi flavoured potato chips. Yes, you read that correctly. Julia and I quite enjoyed them but Jeff and Chloe didn’t find them particularly pleasurable.

The driver eventually showed up (with much apologies!) and we enjoyed an interesting ride to the hotel with a very chatty and enthusiastic man. The hotel is fantastic and all of the staff are friendly without being over the top. We were greeted with a delicious lime and ginger drink and then taken up to our room, and we were not disappointed! The room was exactly as it looked online which is always good, and it actually exceeded my expectations which is even more exciting. By the time we were all settled it was quite late and we were starving, so we went to the on-site Japanese restaurant where we were treated to a delicious teppanyaki dinner cooked by a fun guy who entertained us with fire and flying bits of egg. (Jeff caught two in his mouth, I caught one, and the kids bounced a bunch off of their foreheads and noses.) It was lots of fun and a great introduction to the hotel. We were exhausted after dinner and collapsed in to our very comfy beds with sweet dreams of the days to come.