The hunters

So turns out the Hunters we're also in town from Singapore. Although I haven't been posting too many things on facebook I did notice that he had and was in Japan. So after a little messaging we arranged to meet up for coffee at the Mori art space. My favorite thing about building iris has to be the people I've met along the way - so it was really nice to see Grant, Caroline and the kids. We hung out for a few hours and then said goodbye and headed off to the Science and Nature Museum (after the kids looked around a lego store!)

Funny who you bump into...

Art

Whales

Back on the subway and into the museum. Any place involving dinosaurs and animals is usually hit with the boys. The place wan't that big, and we got there quite late, but the boys had good fun.  Also found it quite funny that they played Auld Lang Syne when they wanted you to leave the place. ON the way back to the hotel we had dinner at a cool Yakatori place we found online.

Walking Tokyo

We started the day with a train ride over to Yanaka to explore the old cemetery and the old shopping area. It was quite nice not having a massive plan for the day, we just wondered about looking at sites, temples shrines and shops. Also popped into a little Sake bar and had a little intro in the different flavors and tastes - which turns out is pretty similar to wine of the grape kind. We then went over to the electrical part of the city to explore - wasn't as crazy as I was expecting, but good to see. Finished the day off with some fancy sushi at a place our guide had recommended the day before. Had to make a reservation to get in and order the set menu - which came with a few surprises that wasn't to everyones taste - but still a great experience.

Buddha

Must have been a important dude

Shopping

Sake

Sarah

Exploring the city

We started the day being treated by our guide for the day. We're finding that having a guide for that initial day in a new city is working out really well. It eases you into a place, allows you to ask all those stupid questions while also allowing you to find your feet. With all that in mind we got a quick crash course on the Tokyo subway and got our tickets for the next few days. First stop was the Tokyo fish and fruit market. Amazing place and van more amazing was the cleanliness and how organized it was. From there we walked to Hama-Rikyu Teien gardens and had our first taste of green tea in an amazing setting. After tea and a sweet we headed off to catch a boat up the Sumida River to Asakusa. A Nice, different way to see the city. We then explored various shrines before stopping for some really nice Ramen, and discovered how to order via the weird vending machine (another good reason for the guide). More Shinto shrines before saying goodbye to our guide while we wondered around some of the street and shops in the Harajuku area before having dinner at a Tempura place.

Hello Tokyo

Been looking forward to this part of the trip ever since we booked it, as it's one place I'd never been and always wanted too. Also happened to be our 15th wedding anniversary. Most of the day was spent traveling through airports from Borneo, but eventually we made it to our centrally located hotel, dumped our bags and headed out for the night. We booked the robot restaurant (which certainly wasn't a restaurant) so we headed over that way - which also happened to be the red light area of Tokyo - which certainly had some eye opening sights for the boys! We grabbed some dumplings in a local spot and got a taste of the language barriers we'd have to deal with.  Then we strolled around looking at some of the strange sights while looking for the robot restaurant. It was certainly loud and weird, but memorable - best way to describe it was like being in a episode of power rangers crossed with some weird circus. Not the most romantic place to spend an anniversary - but fun none the less... 

Next stop Japan

Bit of a lazy day by the beach and the pool. The pool was great for the boys as it had a big water slide which kept them occupied for most of the day, without any fighting! Had a stroll on the beach before a room service dinner while we got ready for Japan.

Sunset stroll on the beach

Back in town

An early start as we transfer from the jungle to the airport via boat. On shore, we had lunch and went to a local market in Shandankin for a few hours before catching our plane.  When we landed  we got a car to our overnight hotel, before our flight to Japan tomorrow. Hotel turned out to be quite nice. Didn't have much time when we arrived to do anything but eat - which was the biggest buffet we'd ever seen. (which was very exciting for Sid). There was even a little fire show while we ate.

Airport farewells

Fish Market

Fire show

Bit of local dancing at dinner

Tree planting

Early morning boat trip and saw lots of machack monkeys, orangoutangs, amazing birds all in the beautiful wild.
Breakfast before heading out again to take part in the tree planting scheme - lets hope those little plantings make it! We also got to see a local village with a population of around 200 people. So interesting to see and always amazes me when I see real villages like this that are a hundred miles or more away from a town and manage to pretty much survive in their own community. Not sure about the local porto-cabin toilet suspended over the river was a good idea, but no sewerage system.

Kinabatangan River Adventure

Morning departure to Sandakan dock to board a boat to head along the Kinabatangan River. En-route we saw Proboscis monkeys and a family of otters which helped keep the boys interested! 
After a little rest at our new home for the night ‘Abai Jungle Lodge’ we jump on the boat again for a night tour and saw Proboscis monkeys , baby crocodile and the most amazing display by fire flies that lit up like a Christmas tree!
After a delicious buffet dinner we went on the night jungle tour and saw a ton of insects and birds, even a cicada shedding it’s skin which was very cool.
Slept like a baby to the chorus of the jungle.

Update on 2016-10-25 11:16 by Sean Reynolds

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Sepilock Orangutang Sanctuary

9am, 10 minute drive to Sepilock Orangutang Sanctuary. We headed to the nursery area first to see the babies come out for their morning feed. Cute how they’d grab their food and then take it off to eat on their own hanging from a rope! Adorable. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see any come in to the main feeding area which can be common at fruiting time of year as they are off finding their own food in the jungle which is great news as they’re learning how to survive.

We then went across the road to the Sun Bear sanctuary which was also great as it had been closed the previous days after one had escaped and then found. Lots of Sun Bears and so cool seeing how easily they climb trees!

Afternoon chilling back at the hotel, swim and more flying squirrels.

Update

on 2016-10-25 10:50 by Sean Reynolds

Borneo Jungle adventure begins

Lazy morning packing before out 1pm boat departure from hotel and short drive to the Kota Kinabalu Airport. Flight at 3pm to Sandakan to start our wildlife and lodging adventure…. 

Car for 45 minutes to the ‘My Nature Resort’ for our first two nights.

We were told to meet at the terrace to witness the flying squirrels which of course the boys knew all about, and I’d never heard of. So after a walk around we headed for the terrace. Looking through the binoculars you could see the squirrels hop out of their homes and along the branches and then take a gracious glide across to a neighboring tree to eat the fruits. It was so peaceful sitting and watching, waiting for them to take their dive.

We decided to watch the new Jungle book movie in bed, to get us all in the mood for our upcoming jungle adventure.

Update

on 2016-10-22 03:09 by Sean Reynolds

Happy?

Another day, another plane

Waiting for the ellusive flying squirre 

Fancy Japanese

I had a morning yoga session at the hotel. So great!

Day by the beach and pool reading and catching up on blog.

We booked dinner at the ‘Japanese restaurant’ at the hotel which turned out to be a full on multiple course tasting menu. Thank goodness the kids love Japanese food and up for giving everything a go - it could have been an expensive mistake. It was a great experience.

Update

on 2016-10-21 16:15 by Sean Reynolds

While sarah was at yoga, me and the boys went for guided a hike across the island. But we saw lots of lizards and bugs and lean't quite a bit about the habitat - which the boys loved. I was more interested in getting back for a coffee and a cooling swim - as it was early and bloody hot! More kayaking in the afternoon with Sid...

The view from the top

Lets hike!

Kayak Sid

Thats Sid and our room up there somewhere

Hogs & Monitor Lizard

The hotel had a boat to take you to another beach on the island. Nice quiet little beach with Monitor lizard, hogs and tons of monkeys! Nice picnic lunch on the beach was delicious. We spent the day snorkeling and saw a turtle. Very cool.

Back on the boat for a little bit of pool time, buffet restaurant dinner and bed.

Update

on 2016-10-21 15:59 by Sean Reynolds

Think we were a little spoilt by Bali and some of the amazing accomadation. This hotel, although very nice, felt a bit big and flash. Pretended to be 5 star (with 5 star prices) but was a bit rough around the edges. It was still nice - just not really our thing. Surprised to see it was a SLHW - although not sure they will keep that status if they didn't sort out a few bits like the pool...

Stroll along the beach

Not something you see on every beach

Nice view from the private beach

Sid going solo in his own kayak

Bali - KL - Kota Kinabalu

Breakfast at villa before departure to airport. Car to the airport.
Today’s flight to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, with a quick transfer at Kuala Lumpa, which unfortunately meant our baggage didn’t make the connection.
Just a short 10 minutes by car to the dock and 10 minutes across to Gaya Island. Our home for 3 nights. Our luggage made it to the resort by midnight, so no big deal - very happy!

Update on 2016-10-21 15:48 by Sean Reynolds

I've now lost count of the flights - but inevitable we'd lose a bag somewhere. We joked before the flight that the bags might mot make it, seeing as we almost didn't. But fair play to the airline - they approached us at the baggage claim and told us it didn't make it, and were on the next flight and in our room by midnight.

Relaxation

Chilling in the villa all day - heaven on earth! Great wifi for us to reply to emails, check schedules online and just not go anywhere! I sneaked in a much needed wax and reflexology session which was amazing and Sean had a massage. Oh how I wish I’d booked an extra night! Dinner at a local restaurant and another early night

Update

on 2016-10-21 15:24 by Sean Reynolds

Boys free foot rub in our outside lounge

The Reynolds Pool

Afternoon dip

Back to Bali

Civilized wake up for breakfast and to pack ready for our boat to take us back to Bajo Labuan and the airport for our flight back to Denpasar Bali. A car was waiting to take us to our next hotel, The Pavilions. Wowzers - a two bedroom vill a with our own pool is like a dream and just what we need for our last couple of nights to catch up on some laundry, emailing and down family time. I wanted to stay forever! We found a restaurant called ‘Sands’ on the beach for dinner with live music and then an early night.

Update

on 2016-10-21 03:38 by Sean Reynolds

Bali Bound

The Reynolds villa

Trigger fish & Flying foxes

A much needed quiet morning on the beach with a little snorkeling to see multiple fish including the resident lion fish that happen to hang at our hotel! Then off on another boat trip with our new Spanish friends from yesterday.

First to a great snorkel spot with the best coral we’ve seen by far. With a surprise visit from the trigger fish that decided to bite my bum! We were warned about them being protective over their nests but, wow! I was not prepared - firstly they kept tarting towards my mask and then I suddenly felt the bite! I of course screamed followed by the giggles - some quick flipper action to get me out of the way! Still worth it to see the spectacular coral/fish.

The captain, Igor then took us on to a sandbank island to watch the sunset. We were the only ones on it! Magical.

As soon as the sun set we had to jump back on the boat to be taken to see the flying foxes. The setting was stunning. We viewed the mangrove covered island with the orange sky behind from the boat. We sat quietly for a short time and then we started to see bats flying off of the island out towards the boat. As they flew overhead we really begun to see how large they were and just how many! There were thousands. Quite spectacular and way more captivating than I expected. Funny to think that earlier in the day I had considered sitting it out to get some quiet time alone - so glad I hadn’t. Turned out to be a highlight.

We stayed on the top deck for star gazing on our way back to the hotel. Beautiful star lit black sky with absolutely no light pollution. Beautiful.

Update on 2016-10-17 02:01 by Sean Reynolds

A few pictures from our day in Bali...

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And the amazing flying foxes...

Komodo!!

Early buffet breakfast and hop on to the boat for the day.
Our first stop was 'Manta Point' to snorkel with manta rays. It was a little choppy so not the best expereince - I found the current too strong so didn't last long and had a huge panic as I could see happily snorkelling off in the opposite direction! The manta's did not seem that big, compared at least with those we saw on the Ninglaoo Reef, Australia in 2000. At least the kids got a quick glimpse, but I was happy to have everyone back on board as quickly as possible!
We continued on then to Komodo Island to see the Komodo Dragons, something the boys were were very excited to do! Walking along the pier onto the island we saw a turtle - added bonus!
We had prepared ourselves for the possibility of not seeing any dragons, so we were pleasantly suprised to hear Oliver shout (quietly) "there's one!" as soon as we set foot on the island!
The island is part of a National Park so the admin staff were a little off to say the least but it turned out we got allocated two nice guides to escort us around. They lead us along the beach first and had multiple Komodo sightings. We were just 10 feet away from them, with no barrier - crazy!
We also saw multiple deer that were happy to see us and not a dragon! We headed off on an hour trek with our rangers but unfortunately no more dragons - everyone was happy though.
We did see an injured baby deer on our walk back, so torn to know what the best thing to do was. The ranger decided he wanted to take it back to the office instead of leaving  it to the hog that had injured it and ready we assume to eat it. I actually think, after the fact, that we should have left nature toke its casue. At the end of the day, it's not a zoo, it's a natural environment where animals eat each other to survice. But seeing that helpless baby deer against a huge hog I was ready to bring it home with us! The poor muma was making noises, it was so upsetting. We had to leave but the ranger took the baby to the office to help it....
Back to the boat, another island for lunch and snorkel, another attempt at manta snorkelling and then back to hotel, quick shower, dinner, bed. 

Update on 2016-09-08 14:52 by Sean Reynolds

A few pics from our day around Komono and surrouding Islands...

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Indonesian Island Paradise!

6.30am wake up to be ready for our 8am pick up from hotel back to the airport - domestic flight this time to Labuan Bajo, just an hour and 20 minutes hop to our Indonesian beach and snorkel haven for a a few nights and hopefully some time to catch up on downloading pictures, a new book and playing some cards with the boys!….

Serraya Hotel & Resort is on it's own island with amazing snorkelling and food. On arriving we just slept on the beach and planned our days there. Oliver managed to sleep from 5pm till the next day! Obviously some much needed relaxation time. Sidney and I climbed up to the sunset look out which was pretty spectacular. Then some food - buffet - much to Sidney's delight and off to bed. Early night for everyone after our early start. 

Update

on 2016-09-08 14:47 by Sean Reynolds

Flight number 12 (I think)...

And then a boat

Not a bad view to wake up too

Sunset point

Cooking & Carving

Update on 2016-09-08 15:04 by Sidney

Today we are going to and going to cook food. We wake up at 7:45 to start our day. Another yummy breakfast we leave to a house in baliand was the priest told us are fortune we then got blessed and got wet with holy water.Next we cook and it was good then wood carving oli enjoyed it we go to a wood carving shop were I bought a Komodo.

A few pictures to support Sidneys post...

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Bali - Day 1

Update

on 2016-09-06 12:16 by Sarah

Early 7am start in paradise with a lovely breakfast, ready for our 8.30am pick up at hotel to meet our guide and get fitted out with bicycles for our tour around Ubud today. We really had no idea of how the day would pan out….

On we hopped with Lucky, our guide, and out on to the crazy Bali roads! A little tense but happy to see Lucky turn off down a back street fairly quickly. 

We rode through streets of residential houses, temples, artists studios and furniture makers - so cool to see people randomly at work. After a few twists and turns we turned a corner and all we could see was rice fields. Confession - I actually got a little teary, realizing this was exactly the experience I was hoping for the boys and that they were taking in the beauty of this very special place.

Lucky taught us all about how the rice grows, the irrigation and how the land is being sold off to foreigners to build villas. Very sad.

We stopped by a local house and were told about how thee houses are strategically planned with the specific areas for playing, cooking, sleeping etc. A great way to live.The boys discovered their new favorite local snack of banana and coconut. 

Another stop to sample animal pooh coffee - Lawak. Not my thing but apparently a bit of a delicacy and a hit. The animal eats the coffee beans, poops them out and the they use those beans to make the coffee. Goodness knows how they discovered this?!

A nice buffet lunch before being taken back to the hotel for pool time, massages and 'cultural night' at the hotel.

Update

on 2016-09-08 14:46 by Sean Reynolds

(This one's for you Dad) Bit of Duck herding...