Bday away...

I just turned a year older last March 24, Saturday. And for the first time, I somehow celebrated it not in my home country. I was on this day in the island of Bali. Oh yes, Bali. The Bali that was years ago bombed by terrorists, experienced tsunami, featured in Eat, Pray, Love. It is a place full packed of stories - wild, crazy, serene, festive...

I celebrated my bday with not much fancy which is almost always the case. The day was spent with a day tour in Ubud which we had booked. The surprise thing there was that we spent this day with two new found friends who are Malaysian-Chinese-Canadian. They are a vacationing couple who are originally from Malaysia but of Chinese descent and now currently hold Canadian passports. They're very nice. They're very friendly and they have the same travel principle as ours - do everything cheap if you can! So on this trip we were able to save quite a good deal. =)

Of course, my bday was not complete without hearing mass. My friend and I found this Catholic church in Bali - St Francis Xavier. We attended the 6pm mass and (unlucky us) it was said in Bahasa (Indonesia's official language). Despite not understanding a word, we just tried to relate it to the holy masses we were used to.

In the evening, we didn't go to clubs or bars, we just had a simple Indonesian dinner paired with Bintang beer. I treated myself to a cheap foot massage, while my friend had a foot scrub. Then off we were to packing our stuffs as we had to leave early the next day for our flight to Jakarta. To save money again, we shared taxi with the Malaysian-Chinese-Canadian couple who also an early flight to catch the next day.

The day after my birthday was spent in Jakarta. We were able to make Indonesian friends during our trip to Cambodia last year thus on this day, we had decided to see them. Unfortunately, not all of them could meet us. But two were able to spare time for us. One accompanied us the whole day and was our tour guide. :))

The most surprising and heartwarming part of this day was when my friend and the Indonesians gave me a surprise bday cake =). We were having coffee at this posh place in downtown Jakarta called Cafe Batavia when my friend connived with the Indonesians for a surprise bday cake. I went to the restroom to take a leak and when I came back some few minutes after the waitress came with my bday cake slice! :)) I was so touched of the gesture. To have spent this special day with them and in a foreign country, I felt so much at home. I realized that wherever you go as long as you have the people who genuinely care for you, you will never feel alone. I felt the love of my family on that day despite them being away from me.

Happy 31st bday to me!