So, it's been about a week or so that we have moved to our new place in Canggu. We'll be here for roughly 6 weeks, before a quick trip to Singapore for A's birthday.
The place we're in is one of about 6 villas in a little garden with a shared pool. We seem to have the largest villa, as it has two rooms as opposed to one. All the villas have an ensuite bathroom and an open kitchen/dining area. It's funny how, as I sit here while the boys sleep, I realise how much my perspective has changed. Let me explain.
I love space. Love. Space.
All the apartments I have lived in, in Singapore were quite spacious and coming from Australia there's lots of space (in the 'burbs). In my childhood, I would often find myself in different nooks and crannies around the house. I loved my house, even if everyone was home you wouldn't know because there was enough space to feel like you were on your own. An introvert's dream. Yet, I look around here and I think, Wow, this is all I need. There are two rooms, which I feel are rather large (an average Australian master bedroom size), both have space for a bed, side tables, armchair and a little desk. Though we don't really use the second room much, it is nice to have because I do still need that space away from others and Chris uses it to work in sometimes too.
I never ever would have thought I would be happy here. My parents were not rich, but growing up I never really wanted for anything. I didn't realise I had gotten used to a certain level of comfort in my life until I met my husband, who would often try to convince me to live more simply. I remember when he was trying to convince me of this lifestyle change he said that I would be surprised at how little we would actually need. Well. Here I am actually realising it. When I put aside my preconceived notions and the voices (which we all probably have) of those non-existent people who would judge us. I realise I am content.
But wait! As I wrote somewhere on this blog...I'm writing warts and all. It's not all sunshine. As the title of this piece would have you believe I want to write about ants.
Yes. Ants...So, so many ants.
When we first moved into our place there were a lot of dead ants I swept out, I thought it must have been a while since someone had stayed here...nope. Every day the ants and I dance our futile dance; I should say my futile dance because the ants win every time! I wake up and sweep them out of the outdoor living space, out of the kitchen, Chris would hose down the bathtub etc. Almost immediately more would return. Then I discovered they didn't like cinnamon so I sprinkled and little here and there...(warts and all, right? Fine) I dumped so much cinnamon on our benchtop,
not even I could use the space! But it worked...well until I needed to move the cinnamon to use the space. It turns out that our villa has a design flaw. The builders didn’t build the way most Balinese do, they put in a flat ceiling with a slanted roof. This, as I’m sure you might have already guessed, meant there was a space in the roof for things to nest...like ants! We as short term tenants, can’t really do anything about this but our neighbour said he is considering taking down his ceiling to try to fix the problem. Good luck to him.
It is probably partly due to the ants, but also due to the size and location of the kitchen that I’m also not a huge fan of it. I was pretty spoiled in my childhood with a lovely kitchen. My mum redesigned it so you could basically cook anything you’d ever want in it! You name it, I’m pretty sure she’d have it.
My kitchen now, by comparison, doesn’t. It has a small fridge (with 1 shelf being the freezer space), 4 pans, 7 mugs, roughly 7 plates, cutlery, a tiny chopping board, knife, glass bowl, 2 burner gas stove, tiny bench space and sink. This has been tricky because my son loves to cook. In Singapore, we would cook at every opportunity we had, often what we would cook required blender, mixer, food processor, oven or even just more bench space. Here we haven’t really cooked all that much. So far we have made breakfast (banana, cinnamon or apple, cinnamon oats and french toast with berry compote), burritos, cookies ‘baked’ in a pan, watermelon ice lollies and play dough. We will be making pancakes tomorrow. I’ll add what we have cooked to the Eat section when I get a chance. It’s not really the most comfortable place to cook, but now that I look at the list of things we have made, perhaps I should put my preconceived notions about cooking aside too and just dive in. Watch this space I guess.
So, really apart from the ants and tiny outdoor kitchen...okay warts and all - and the inconsistent water flow in the taps. It’s not too bad. The mossies aren’t as bad as I thought they would be and really it could be much worse. They aren’t termites right?!
The boys are happy, we’re at the beach 2-3 times a week. I’m waiting for my mum to tell me how dark the boys and I are (Asian mum thing). A and M have a daily ritual of picking up flowers for us in the morning to place behind our ears (CV, if you’re reading this, this little act always reminds me of you). The children have adopted the neighbour's dog as their own. This works perfectly for me because I love having a dog to play with, without the responsibility of actually having a dog. Must be what being a grandparent is like!! We also go down to the park nearby, which allows the boys to do gross motor play and our garden is a great place for sensory play. On Chris's day off (Friday) we try to head somewhere new in Bali. This week we went to Jimbaran (post to come) and next week we're checking out the waterfalls around Ubud. On Sundays, Chris tries to spend time with the boys without me; to give me a much needed break (who would've have thought I could handle a whole classroom of children and be fine, but my own kids drive me nuts sometimes?!) and so he can bond a bit more with them. We have developed a little routine and life seems slower, simpler and in short: good (ants and all) much to my surprise.
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