Happy Chinese New Year

We wanted to wish everyone a happy lunar new year. In case you missed it, last week (Jan 25 to be exact) marked the first day of the "Year of the Ox". We hope you ushered in the new year with some "lucky" foods like steamed dumplings, oranges, whole fish, long noodles, and even some algae (mmmm ... nothing says happy new year like a big bowl of algae.)

In order to celebrate the lunar new year (and because the fireworks here in Shanghai truly make you feel like you're in a war zone,) Juliet, Annie, and Scott headed out on a little vacation. We spent five days in Bali (a tropical island in Indonesia ... don't worry we had no idea where it was either until 18 months ago) and then three days in Singapore (the only place we know of that is not just a city, but also its own country.)

Here are a few pictures from the Bali portion of the trip:

The grounds and main pool of the resort where we stayed:


We had our own plunge pool in the backyard of our villa at the resort:


Annie and Juliet posing before dinner:


Scott and Juliet posing right after:


Annie being hounded by kids trying to sell her "high quality" bracelets and fans:


Waterfall (we had to buy some fans from the kids above in order to get this view):


The only active volcano on the island ... however Juliet says it doesn't work because it's old:


Storm clouds trying to cover up our view of the sunset:


Sunset on the western coast of the island:


Views from above the rice terraces:




No, Scott didn't pick a dress to match Juliet's shirt ... 90% of Bali is Hindu so we had to wear sarongs while visiting this temple: