A Tahitian Birthday

Today is TJ’s birthday so Jen is going to give him the day off and do the journal entry for today. :) So today started with a yummy breakfast of chambert cheese and bread and fresh pineapple (that TJ carved with his pocket knife) and bananas….really good! Then we went for a swim in the lagoon outside of our deck and (after convincing TJ to leave his bathing suit on) Jen let him dive off of the deck into the water. Jen joined him and we floated around a bit in the water just lounging and watching the sun finish coming up and this little island waking up.

We got out of the lagoon and relaxed on our deck for a bit (Jen kept studying for the dive test); then we headed over to the spa for our 10am appointments. We started with a rinse off in the outdoor shower that was made of bamboo and had flowers and shell beads everywhere – we are definitely going to try to recreate this as an outdoor shower at our house (if/when we get one!) The shower was awesome then we headed into the room where we were having our couples massage for 50 minutes (TJ sprung for the extra 10 minutes, and we were so thankful after the massage that we got that!) it was a little different only because there are no bathrobes, just small pieces of sheet like material that we wrap around ourselves and tie…TJ was a bit apprehensive at first, but he got his working! :)

Our massages were awesome – at first I thought it was a bit strange that there was none of that fake music being piped in, then I realized that the windows were open and the sounds of the birds and other natural activity were better than any relaxation CD could be. After 50 glorious minutes, we then floated (it felt like at least) to a private jacuzzi that was full of minerals and oils and we sat in there for another 20 minutes, letting the jacuzzi jets work out any tension that was left in us – which was basically none at this point! The back wall of the Jacuzzi room was open and we just stared out at beautiful scenery and the mountain ahead and all the tropical flowers. It was incredible.

After the bath – we were hungry and had 2 hours until Jen had to be at the pool to dive. We inquired about a snack shop we had seen and heard great things about, but we knew it was too far to walk to be back in time and the trolley didn’t run for another half hour. The concierge felt bad for us so allowed us to rent bicycles 2-4-1 and we pedaled off to eat at the snack shop, Snack Mansion, I think it was called (this was the sign Jen knocked over our first day). Well, as TJ correctly pointed out, these bikes will never be in the tour de france, they were old and rusty and very difficult to maneuver up the steep hills, but we got to the snack shop eventually, a bit hot and sweaty, but we didn’t really notice because we were still so relaxed from the spa.

Food, as always it seems here, was SO good – TJ had ginger honey chicken and Jen had homemade tagleries (pasta) carbonara, in cream sauce with bacon – REALLY good! Only thing that kind of sucked was that the restaurant just opened so it didn’t have a liquor license yet – so TJ had to wait a bit longer for his first cocktail to celebrate his birthday.

After lunch, we hoped back on the bikes and headed home, making the prerequisite stop to by more bananas. We got back to the hotel and jumped in our lagoon to cool down and relax a bit. By then, it was 2pm and Jen headed off to the dive shop for her first lesson. TJ headed to the pool (where Jen would eventually be) and was able to get his first birthday cocktail. :) Yeah! :) Although we did have a causality - Jen "blew our her flip flop"...

Jen eventually arrived at the pool – her instructor and SCUBA gear in tow. The pool was probably the most crowded it has been since we got here, so TJ was a bit apprehensive for Jen, especially considering there were lots of kids jumping in the pool right where Jen was being trained. Jen told him after the dive that her first few minutes down there she absolutely hated and was trying to figure out how to get out of the remaining sessions and not let TJ down too much. But by the end, once she was more comfortable with the underwater breathing (there was only 1 panic attack that the instructor handled right away) and the little kids stopped jumping on top of her, she was actually looking forward to diving in the ocean, especially because TJ was going to dive with her.

After the dive, we went back to our lagoon and TJ swam a bit and Jen gave TJ his birthday cards – Happy Birthday to my HUSBAND!!! :) We then headed out to sunset at the beach and grabbed some wine and pistachios and copped a squat in perfect view of the sun. As if a gift to TJ, the clouds were a bit higher tonight and we were able to see the sun dip into the water for a gorgeous sunset. It (and the wine) must have slightly intoxicated us because as we finally got up to go back to our room to get ready for dinner at Aito’s (restaurant we read about and heard good things about) we decided to check in at the front desk to see when the shuttle was coming to get us – we couldn’t remember if it was 7:30 or 8pm. Good thing we checked because the shuttle was already there and was supposed to leave at 6pm…it was 5:55pm…YIKES! Two other couples were waiting, so we ran to the room, quickly showered and made it back to the lobby at 6:07pm and headed to Aito’s.

Restaurant was really eclectic, and it had a curvy palm tree that reminded us of the tree TJ proposed by, so we quickly grabed a table for 2 right next to it on the beach. There was a band playing that we thought was a mix between Michael McCloud, irish folksongs and island music. We ended up buying a CD, and they were quite entertaining. We had an appetizer of shrimp in spicy butter and a yummy bottle of white wine. For TJ’s birthday dinner, he had lobster cooked natural style w/drawn butter and Jen asked for a recommendation and was told the best meal was God Salmon in Sea Urchin Sauce. If it hadn’t been recommended, Jen never would have ordered it, but we are so glad she did because it was delicious! It started to rain a bit, so we had our second bottle of wine and dessert (crepe with 3 types of ice cream and chocolate and whip cream) on the deck where the band was playing. Jen had whispered to the lead singer that it was TJ’s birthday, so they sang to him and the restaurant joined in. Then we headed home, saw a pirate looking ship in Cook’s Bay (AAARRRRRR) and right before we hit the sack, we were able to see the Southern Cross again. Happy Birthday, Baby!! :)

(note from T.J. - I highly recommend Tahiti for your birthday. Forget watches, socks, and ice cream cake, and just book a couple of tickets on Air Tahiti Nui.)