Sambolo 2010

Feb. 14th was both Valentine's Dan AND Imlek, Chinese New Year, and we celebrated the long weekend at our favorite place in Java, Sambolo!

We shared a bungalow with our good friends, Valentina and Kornelius, and their two sons.

Tia, Sara, Justin, and Luka were out the back door and onto the beach the minute we arrived. Our bungalow, #29, was situated right in front of "the best waves" so many hours were spent boogie-boarding. Of course and we all enjoyed swimming in the warm sea.

The boys ventured to the neighboring seaside town, Labuan, to buy some fresh seafood. They are both wonderful cooks and almost every meal we were spoiled with fresh calamari, BBQ fish, and prawns big enough to be small lobsters. Yum!

Relaxing on the Sambolo beach is fantastic but sometimes frustrating. As with any beach in Indonesia, Sambolo has it's own group of vendors selling colorful sarongs, ceramic pottery, and "massages". Their persistance may be admirable but we found ourselves getting annoyed with repeating our "Tida mau" mantra to explain that we still didn't want to buy the item they'd presended not 5 minutes earlier. One interesting vendor is an old weathered man who sells live octopus he catches with his long bamboo fishing pole. We bought two and the kids played with their pets for several days.

Kicking back around the bonfire in the evening was a treat we've missed from living in Alaska. The kids were extra pleased with the fireworks. Thank you Valentina and Kornelius for providing the sparklers!

Our friends, Steve and Lila and their two kids arrived in a neighboring bungalow so we ALL enjoyed visiting around the bonfire and playing in the sea.

Great friends, great food, great sand, surf, and sun. What a wonderful weekend!