Live Aqua, Cancun

 

It's lifestyles of the Rich and Famous at Live Aqua, Cancun.  From the moment you step inside, your senses are met with aromas of spa therapy. They definitely achieve the spa feel they strife for; pots of aromatherapy are plugged in everywhere. You always feel relaxed and at ease. All the rooms have this great view of the pools and the Caribbean Sea. It's amazing to wake up to the view and the sounds of the waves.  I'm sitting in the Club level on floor five; it's a great VIP type room to relax, have a drink and small bites before dinner. All the servings of food and unique and very small, very European. We women love the small dainty portions and how refined they make us feel, but men just don't get it.

 

Below is an example of some of the art work the resort employees make with coffee beans, rice, and Ocean weed....and they also welcome different groups by writing with Ocean weed on the beach. I watched the workers craft a welcome early in the morning on the beach. Neat!

 

We had dinner one night at the lobster restaurant; the resort is all inclusive, but this restaurant has a $30.00 cover charge. It's worth it. The lobster dinner we had was to die for, and the atmosphere was five star cozy like a French cafe.

 

There are five different pools to chose from and a hot tub. Plenty of seating for everyone at the resort and on the beach. 

Several bars, a taco bar, Azure restaurant, an Italian cafe, the lobster dinner place and a Thai place called the hidden garden is outdoor as well. All inclusive except for lobster.  You can eat at a different place on the resort every night. There is also an outdoor grill and food station set up between all the pools. All you have to do is follow your nose and ears to the smell and sound of grilling chicken, ribs, beef, and charizo sausage. In addition to all this, there are hotdog and hamburger carts spread around the pool. The canopy beds can be rented and/or reserved during a busy time of year.  The picture on the right is on the canal over in the plaza across the street. There is a Martini bar, called La Madonna; My boyfriend and I, went there for after dinner drinks and let me tell you I enjoyed the most amazing chocolate martini of my life while sailing away to la la land.

 

There is a very high end shopping mall right across the street, 20 feet from the front door of the resort. Most people are not looking to high end shop, but on the other end of the mall, there are fun authentic Mexico Mart where you can get all your trinkets and sundresses etc........ Great place to check out if it rains or you want to grab your souvenirs.

 

My friend, Kwana, there are several of these guys that roam the resort. Here I am catching a yoga class in the morning, a great way to start your day in the resort garden area. Listening to the sounds of nature.

 Its good to catch a few dinners/meals off the resort to see what Cancun has to offer. A few miles down the road is Lorenzillos. I have never seen anything like it. the detail of the decor and the atmosphere is so unique. You feel like you are on a ship and the menu is seafood a la wonderful! 

I would love to go back to this resort, in addition to everything else I've mentioned, there is the main dinning in the resort itself as well as two other all inclusive restaurants, bars and nightclub. The gym is well equipped with state of the arc equipment. Soak up and enjoy the spa feeling with a plethora of spa and salon offerings. 

Bali, Part Two

The Four Seasons in Bali

Posted on December 31, 1969 by agirlandherpinkpiano

The infinity pool by the beach. The building in the background houses, two bars, fine dining, a spa, a daycare, and a cooking school guests can go to.

 

This is our personal plunge pool, garden and veranda in our suite. Each suite is completely private, so I def did some skinny dipping at night.

 

The view from our outdoor space was beautiful!  We also have our own private temple. Each personal temple has clothing like we would wear, it’s respectful. The workers put clothes on your temple and bring it a fresh flower offering every day.

 

Our living room was outdoor, but there are blinds you can pull down. The thatched roof catches all the rain, so it’s fun to sit out there at night and in the rain. I loved having coffee in our outdoor space every morning. You can see from our outdoor space, how detailed and lush the foliage is everywhere you look.  It’s literally the closest you could get to an Indiana Jones and the temple of doom experience.

 

there are mosquito nets over the bed, but you don’t need them, I was not bitten once. Our bedroom, consisted of a huge closet for his and hers, luggage storage, over sized tub, his and her sinks, with separate shower area, vaulted ceilings, and also an outdoor shower area in a rock garden.

When at any four seasons, you are treated like royalty. These guys played their pianos for us every morning, and every staff member would address you by name. I’m practicing my bow in this picture, as that was the way to say thank you. So let me just say the food was amazing, there is so much to chose from. There is a station for everything, fruit, carbs, proteins, breads and pastries, etc..outside you put in your coffee or espresso order and they bring it to your table as a work of art. I thought most of the cultural fruit was bland, but I literally had a hard time deciding to have one thing so come with an appetite.

 

I can’t say enough about the four seasons in Bali, it was amazing. I can’t wait to go back someday!

Bali, part one

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THE SOPHISTICATED TRAVELER

Bali; part 1

Posted on November 15, 2014 by agirlandherpinkpiano

 So here we are in a temple in Bali, Indonesia. We were here on a week vacation this past summer, many people from Australia come here to surf and enjoy all the beaches. I know a few people who have lived here all summer or for a whole year. Although it is a third world country, there is so much beauty to see. The people are beautiful and the culture is still very grounded in their spiritual practices and beliefs. You can see this in their temples, festivals and dances. When you go into the temple, your knees must be covered, so there is always a temple worker on hand to tie your sarong on.

There is a temple nearly everywhere you look. Some are beautifully kept and new and some are hundreds of years  old and falling apart. No matter, they are just so intricately  made and very ornate. I had a lot of fun fighting my way through the cobwebs and dust to play the temple instruments in one of the old temples. There were larger than life xylophones, gondolas, and a whole mini orchestra of percussion instruments.  All the temples are open air of course, but no one ever messes with the temple dance head dresses, costumes and instruments that are left out in the open.

In addition to temples being everywhere, you can also see a lot of rice fields in Ubud esp. They are built into flat land and also in the side of mountains and ravines. This field is already harvest, but the grid pattern is so artistic. It’s like living art. We did walk through a flat rice field. I had no idea though, so you should have seen me walk through a rice field in my flimsy little sandals. I was a good trooper about it, but I’m the sophisticated traveler. I cut my foot on a piece of sharp dried grass.

  this is the beach that was in the film, eat pray love!  I love that movie and who wouldn’t want to travel for a year. It’s def a go to movie of mine.  There are two ways to get down to this beach, a  steep tunnel carved out of the side of the rock on one side and then this stair case on the other side. This picture only shows half of the staircase.  This beach became very popular after the movie, the dock the producers built and  used in the moved is sitting piled up by the side of the mountain. I don’t think anyone wants to have to go through the pain to remove the stack of lumber.

Put In Bay part Three

THE SOPHISTICATED TRAVELER

Birthday in Put In Bay part three

Posted on September 25, 2014 by agirlandherpinkpiano

Saturday, was the last full day we were there and Mr Worldwide was still sick. So I hit the boardwalk and walked everywhere. The Bakery had some amazing yum yum Buckeyes, and you cannot go to Ohio without eating a buckeye. I also snatched some Oh henry, whatchamacallit bars and cracker jacks to relive the candy eating days of my youth. I still have them sitting in my cheat stash at home for when I actually save up enough calories to eat them. so far no good!  There was a high school band playing there and a parade that day so I checked that out. There was also a art fair going complete with paintings, metal works, basket weaving, and tons and tons of jewelry. I went supper nuts with the shopping again. After the arts fair, I headed back to the hotel for reading and lunch. There is no napping, when there is too much to do. That weekend there was 1200 boy scout camping on the island.  You can actually see reenactments of war soldiers from the 1800s and take an elevator up to the top of the monument. After walking around and enjoying all the island has to offer for hours on Saturday I headed to the bars for live entertainment and happy hour. The older bars on the square were a great historic experience and by Saturday night it was def a little wild with youngsters.

That was the night I had the yuck yuck Italian so I comforted myself with ice cream afterward. The weekend ended with a symphony on the monument steps. The Toledo Symphony Orchestra played a complete concert featuring John Williams, west side story and some patriotic selections.

All in all, I would recommend Put In Bay and just be mindful of when you book it for whatever you are looking for, whether it’s a girl’s gone wild weekend or a weekend of art and culture. Whatever you choose, cheers and enjoy it!

Put In Bay Part Two

           

After exhausting myself biking all around the island and the square. I pulled into the island dairy and had the most amazing soft serve ice cream to recharge. Next on the agenda was to SHOP at every island store. Since it was the weekend after labor day, I hit the jackpot at the shops. T-shirts were $5.00 sandals were $6;00 Let’s just say everything was on clearance and sale. I bought several fun things that were not related to the island tourist theme, but to prove I had been there I at least did buy one t-shirt to say been there, done that.  There are over a dozen shops and boutiques and a nostalgic candy shop. The restaurants include several bars, ice creamery’s, bakery, Italian, grills,  breakfast dinners and a small grocery store.   When you google, Put In Bay. There are really no pictures that do it justice. It is was cute and quaint during the day and I can also totally see how its like spring break during the summer. There are over 400 full time residents that live on the island.

My favorite restaurants were old forge for breakfast where I had the most amazing eggs Benedict. The boardwalk and the lake front restaurants were the most amazing for fine dinning. I would def recommend staying away from the Italian restaurant. I had the most disgusting Italian meal there ever. Complete with gnats flying around my table.

After a day, of biking, shopping, and eating. I relaxed at the pool with a book. The hotel we stayed at had the only pools on the island.

Put In Bay Ohio

   

My birthday is the weekend after labor day, so the island had a family weekend kind of theme.  Originally, when my boyfriend told me we were going to Put In Bay, I had always thought of it as “girls gone wild” so I was like who’s birthday is it anyway?

It ended up being great. Upon arrival we check into the only hotel on the island. There are several bed and breakfast place of course that look quite lovely and quaint. Our hotel was very nice as well, off the beaten path of the square. Our room had a huge bathtub and a great view of the lake. It’s not the four seasons, but it’s very comfortable! Our room overlooked the two pools and Lake Erie. If you are looking for a beach weekend get away, this is not the place. Although it is a boat and water front community, there are no beaches.  You would not want to swim in the currents lol.   So for my birthday dinner, it was lobster tail at the boardwalk restaurant. I also ordered the lobster bisque. It was out of this world amazing and once you taste this world famous soup, you won’t want to eat it anywhere else.  It was soooooooooooo creamy and chunk full of lobster meat. I slept all fat and happy on my b-day.  We got there Thursday night so we virtually had the island all to ourselves.

The next day, Mr. Worldwide was sick. So I set out on my own to enjoy a day on the island. I started with renting a bike and biking around the island for two hours. It could not have been any more sunny and peaceful and beautiful.

Singapore

      

Singapore is one of the most amazing, modern cities of the world. Some of these pictures are just a glimpse of the beautiful sky views from the top of Marina Bay Sands resort. It’s the shipping capitol of the world, it’s said that a cargo ship either docks or leaves every three minutes. It’s also the shopping capitol of the world. We stayed at the Marriott on Orchard street which is in the heart of the city. Orchard street is home to over 40 shopping malls including and especially all the major name brands. It’s a shoppers paradise! The city truly is a work of art.

According to our tour guide, only 20% of the population can afford to have cars. Most people walk and/or take public transportation or taxis. Singapore is the most clean city you will ever find. The government is obsessed with keeping the city a pristine showpiece. There are always people picking up the street, washing windows, and cleaning. There is no gum chewing unless you have a prescription from the doctor and actually get the gum from a pharmacy.

The high rise with the boat on top is the Marina Bay Sands; its near the port on the outskirts of the island. There is something new and exciting to see where ever the eye turns from atop that building. I want to return to Singapore some day and stay in that resort. More about that later………

The exchange rate is great, but Singapore is not an inexpensive place to live. For example, we walked to starbucks the first morning for coffee and a pastry. One coffee, one tea, and one breakfast wrap cost $15.00. Lunch buffets start at $50.00 per person.  As far as dinner goes, I don’t even want to know…….Most people live in high rises consisting of 800 sp. ft.that cost 200K. To own a car, you will first have to get a permit which cost 10K to 50K just to own it. If you ever sell the car, you sell the permit with it. The wealthy are the ones who really can afford to own a car, so most cars you see are at least 75 to 100K

Orchard street, Green apple ice cream, Green tea kit kats, are a few of the things you’ll find in my next post.