A blessed day

Sometines luck comes in small ways. Due to a flight cancellation by Tigers Airway, we had to shorten our trip at Lombok, Indonesia to a 2-night stay. I was quite pissed to fly more than 2 hours for such a short trip. So we planned to do everything on the only full day we have which was a Saturday . After a super early breakfast we took  a walk to another beach. The rain overnight had cooled the otherwise intensely hot and humid weather (worse than Singapore) and a rainbow overhead promised a good start. The unspoilt southern tip of Lombok is really quite remote and looks very much like Trengganu 20 years ago. Cows are seen grazing everywhere and there is hardly any traffic. Back at the hotel by 10am the cloudy sky was superb for canoeing. It is always a battle when comes to canoeing with my husband on a double seater. He always insists to venture far out into the open sea but hello the high waves at these beaches are best for surfing! Nevertheless whilst watching out for the incoming waves we  spotted a one meter sea creature jumping up and disappearing into the sea. In a flash, the gray creature with white underside looked like a dolpin with a long rope attached to its tail. What a bonus! On further thought it was more likely a sting ray with a long tail and not a rope. Hmmm... sighting a rainbow and a jumping sting ray in one morning gladdens the heart.

In the early afternoon with ginger oil and pulp spread all over my whole body and my husband's quiet hissing snore from the nearby massage bed, I drifted into a trance. I wonder why I never get this effect with masseuse in Singapore, but very often these Indonesian or Thai masseuse, especially the matronly ones with their warm thick palms, make me feel so comfortable and at ease that I never fail to associate those healing touches with basic motherly love and care. "Yes a perfect mother is one who comforts and soothes away your troubles, that's all there is to it".

Some reviewer in Tripadvisor has strongly recommended a trip to Tanjung Aan (TA) which is near to Novotel where we stayed. We almost missed it because one hotel staff misinformed us that it was just a 20 minute walk away and we thought we could leave it to Sunday morning before the return flight home. Luck was on our side and we found out quite accidentally that the hotel does organise a trek to TA every Saturday afternoon. So we and another couple found ourselves in a small van bumping its way over unpaved and steep country roads to TA which took 25 minutes. A magnificent panoramic scene awaits us at the top of the hillock looking down at a heart shaped bay, cows grazing on soft hills and foaming white waves in the distant sea, all stunningly beautiful amidst  the golden glow of the setting sun. Yet another blessing on a perfect day.