Selamat Datang di Bali…and to 2013♡

♥LOVE TIP – Saturday January 19, 2013

“The time has come,” the Walrus said,
“To talk of many things:
Of shoes — and ships — and sealing-wax —
Of cabbages — and kings —
And why the sea is boiling hot —
And whether pigs have wings”………

Translated that means it’s time for me to say a BIG Hello and Welcome – Selamat Datang as the Indonesians say – and start writing again here on the blog after my unannounced month-off ……

And what a month it has been!
….Of adventures – and journeyings – and travelling,
Of discovering – and uncovering – and re-covering,
Of saying Goodbye to the Old Year and Welcoming in the New….

Beginning 1st January 2013 flying to the magical world of BALI…
Firstly to lead the courageous Group of Inner Explorers…….on our inaugural wonderful week-long New Year- New You Retreat at the Bali EcoVillage nestled in an isolated valley in the remote Bali jungle up near Kintamani….a timeless and freeing environment…. so much so we easily forget what day it is…….and everyone contributing in their own unique way to creating it to be a special heart-opening and soul-awakening experience… uncovering and remembering, connecting and supporting, ♡LOVE-ing, risking, inspiring, enthusing……growing and practising the new Tools and habits and basking in the new ways of being and ♡LOVE-ing in our Zone of Zero Negativity….unforgettable!……and life-changing!……

A place to turn wounds into wisdom……..♡

And totally indulged and delighted were we…… and nourished and nurtured…… by the remarkably creative and scrumptious raw food meals thanks to our A-M-A-Z-I-N-G chefs ♡Ben Richards and ♡Sayuri Tanaka – www.facebook.com/theseedsoflife – such wonderful creations! Yum! Yum! And Yum again! Coming to meals was an adventure.!!!! We detoxed at breakfast, lunch and dinner and yet got to eat Chocolate, Chocolate and more Chocolate – CHOCOLATE!! YES that’s right!! Chocolate! Are you intrigued?….can you believe everyone was Chocolate-d out!!!…. 🙂

Amongst many memorable Adventures was the trek down the steep-steep and somewhat make-shift stairs, often slippery and slidey….sometimes muddy…. down deep into the valley to the waterfall….followed by some of the more hardy Adventurers skinny dipping under the pounding water……was exhilarating I am told…..and I can well imagine it….I ♡LOVE how much inspiration and permission one person doing something gives to others….and how other people’s confidence and success and positivity is contagious………. ……Hope you all get to experience such a magical and transformational place and group sharing one day……soon♡….

After bidding them farewell it was time for my lovely ♡Shelton and I for having FuN playing and spoiling ourselves and each other….exploring and more exploring, seeing the sights…….
….time for sheer indulgence and pampering and discovering and immersing ourselves into the beautiful Delights of Ubud...
And for us the most delightful is the FOOD, especially THE RAW FOOD, relishing the food, savouring the food….we are stoked!
We take such pleasure in, appreciating, adoring, mmmmmmmmmmm…….
We feel so indulgent to the max with many gastronomic options….so much so that we decide to go on a P-R-O-G-R-E-S-S-I-V-E Feast.
Did you ever do progressive dinners where you go from place to place and eat a different course at each place?
Well that was The Plan – absolutely decadently-scrumptiously-deliciously-indulgently going from Cafe to Cafe 🙂 It was A Magnificent Plan. We had so much FuN!!….and as Ubud is such a friendly sharing place we just couldn’t stop meeting & bumping into people!!

Our first stop was Juice Ja Cafe in Dewi Sita St and who do we meet there? The beautiful ♡Sayuri OF COURSE who we just needed to chat with re planning our future Retreats….and our first course…I just LOVE such serendipity!
Bye to ♡Sayuri and onto our next stop which is the Down To Earth Cafe in Jl Gotama Selatan……for our main course we choose the Dragon’s Bowl recommended by ♡Sayuri – a mix of raw veges + avocado + sizzled tempeh + soba noodles with toasted sesame dressing & shredded nori AND we couldn’t resist the yummie apple pie slathered with cashew cream to follow….well I bet you couldn’t either!!……and then followed by cappuccino and chai latte with cashew milk at our favourite Clear Cafe in Jl Hanoman. We went and had a look at Kafe down the same street but decided we were too full!
Well almost too full!!! 🙂 – Those who know ♡Shelton will know you can’t walk past a Chocolaterie without tasting….another serendipitous find called Kue Simply Delicious Bakery & Cafe in Jl Raya Ubud which had marzipan truffles and yummie muffins and the rest……
Oh and to end off the night on the way back to our hotel just a few shops away a very wonderful foot massage we did have!….

And many more days of walking, walking, walking and more walking…..and wandering
finding Treasures and Trinkets and Treats…
being seduced by narrow passageways piled high with towers of goods of all types and colours and shapes and sizes….
finding delights and charms and gems and gifts….
I’m grateful for the smiles in the streets and the marketplace,
for the playfulness and easy-ness….
for the creativity and talent and the richness of the Arts and Crafts….. and most of all for The Beauty just everywhere…
for Bali generally oozing an environment of Abundance and Generosity
for the sense of Lightness and being so in the NOW and steeped in history all at the same time….

And grateful for opening me up to a long neglected-‘forgotten’ past of mine…
Re-awakening in me memories and stories from visits and adventures from long ago….
I am grateful for ALL!

We’ve decided we could live right here for a very l-o-n-g time and have an enormously good time and a lot of FuN. We are putting out the word that we are planning lots of wonderful Retreat adventures in Bali and hope to share them with many of you. You will be over the moon!!!!

Some of you will have been following my Facebook pages where I post if I am short of time [or am ‘Internet-challenged’ as did happen in Bali] and will have seen bits and pieces of my sharings above…..just making a Note of that here as well as extending a cordial invitation to you to come join us there too if you haven’t – especially if you are missing me 🙂 – Institute for Relationship Development and ♡LOVE LIFE Retreats 

Bali was about many new beginnings. For us there are many new creations on the horizon. We have been asking:  What is our Vision for this new year both personally and professionally? What do we include as we move forward? Very soon we will be inviting you take a short survey to help guide us so that we can best serve you….. We want you to tell us what you like about our work and what you would like to see more of as we move forward in creating this New Year, this New World. What is important to you?  We are seeking your input, ideas, suggestions.

All is supremely well, ♡LOVE and Blessings, Susie♡