September 20, 2025
Another travel day! A few months ago, we learned our direct flight from Kota Kinabalu to Denpasar was cancelled so we had to rebook connecting flights through Singapore. Though each flight is just about 2 hours long, we’re leaving our hotel in Malaysia at 10am and plan to arrive at our Bali hotel close to 10pm.
Kyle was up early to get to the gym before a long travel day. Once he was back, I left to go for a walk and while out, I saw rustling near a trash can and was surprised to see a huge lizard! I wasn’t sure if it was a komodo dragon or monitor lizard but I kept my distance and watched it for close to 15 minutes thinking that I wish the kids were with me. (Our guide later told us it was a monitor lizard!) I also saw a fallen coconut— the first from our time in Malaysia and considered bringing it back for the boys and their ‘coconut points’ game but decided against it not wanting a fight to break out this morning.
We got to the Kota Kinabalu airport with plenty of time before our first flight of the day to Singapore. We set up in the airport Starbucks so the kids could use the internet and try to download some shows for the plane ride. Before boarding the plane, we were surprised to learn we had to go through security again and that we weren’t allowed to bring on any of the water we had just purchased at the airport shop.
The flight to Singapore and the layover were thankfully uneventful. When walking off the ramp, we looked at Ollie and asked where his Springboks hat was. (The boys are responsible for their water bottles and hats while Kyle and I manage the rest of the stuff.) Ollie again realized he left his hat on the plane so we walked down the ramp back to the plane to learn we weren’t allowed to reboard to look for it but shortly a flight attendant came back with his hat! When walking to meet back up with Kyle and Len, the pilot walked past and told us, “Hey since I’m the South African I was hoping I could keep that hat!” It gave Ollie a good chuckle and he called himself “the luckiest boy in the world” to keep finding his lost hats.
We had hoped to pick up real food to eat at the airport but we didn’t have time with our tight layover timing. We ended up getting the kids cup-o-noodles on the flight which Ollie loved but Len was not a fan.
When we landed in Bali, Ollie was thrilled to see a Johnny Rockets– one of his favorite restaurants in Hoboken! When we did the food tour in Beijing, he told our guide that if he ever came to Hoboken he would have to eat;
Benny Tudinos pizza
Oysters
Johnny Rockets– a hot dog, onion rings and a milkshake
While waiting for our Johnny Rockets order, Ollie got philosophical with me and asked, “I always wondered what death is like. Is it like sleeping without waking up?” I’m guessing this was prompted from someone dying in a Marvel movie he watched on the plane.
The van had 3 rows of seating, Len goes, ‘This row is the restaurant row (my row), the middle row is the game row and the last row is the chill row.” After seeing my face he goes, “Wait, every row can be the chill row Mama!!”
In the van on the way to our hotel, the guide told us that the island of Bali is 99% safe and 1% unsafe. Ollie goes, “ooooh I really like those odds! Those are good odds.” The ride was nearly 2 hours from Denpasar to Sideman and the kids fell asleep about halfway through the ride. When we arrived at the hotel, it was really hard to wake them up. I woke up Ollie and he walked out of the van, took a lap around the van and then walked right back inside to flop down on the seat to go back to sleep. The driver and guide both found this hilarious and couldn’t stop laughing.
