Indonesia: Bali & Ubud

To kick our holiday off in style, James and I splurged on a business class flight from Melbourne to Bali. It was only a few hundred dollars more expensive than economy, and totally worth it.

You can’t really tell from the photo but the chairs fully reclined (which we took advantage of later on for super comfortable naps).

When we arrived we were not prepared for the horrible humidity – it was like being inside someone’s warm, wet mouth. We’ve been spoiled by the temperate climate in Seattle and San Francisco and anything outside of that has us flailing around in a panic. In every photo you see, just picture me quietly dying from the humidity.

We got to catch up with all our friends which was great. =) My favourite activity (“activity”) by far was getting spa treatments. They were so cheap – something like $15 for 2 hour scrub/massage treatments. Massages every day – living the dream.

There was a restaurant down the street that we quite liked, so went there a couple of times for Balinese feasts.

They also had these lemon iced teas that were so refreshing. James said he didn’t like the drinks in Indonesia because they were too sweet, which probably explains why I liked them so much.

We also had suckling pig! It was delicious but enormous (you had to reserve the whole pig in advance rather than ordering a la carte). We had to gather a giant group to eat the pig together and we only just managed it. I think it was pretty much my favourite meal in Indonesia; good food, good friends – what’s not to love?

The day of the wedding was a bit of a worry because it was bucketing down in the morning. Thankfully it cleared up and the humidity even dropped down a bit for a gorgeous ceremony. =)

Afterwards while family photos were being taken, we all nicked off to explore the beach and take our own fun photos and pre-game before dinner.

The reception was lovely – right by the beach! We ate, drank, danced and sang lots of karaoke.

The next day Chi Kai had organised a group tour of Ubud, which was super thoughtful of him. We all piled into a van that drove us to all the tourist attractions, including …

Monkey Forest

Admittedly touristy trappy, but it was quite nice walking around the shaded forest looking at monkeys. This one kept trying to groom her kid, who was not having any of it and kept trying to run off. Ubud Market

I think only the girls ended up buying stuff here! Madeleine picked up some singlets, Quincy bought a handheld fan (smart), and I picked up a metallic saarong. I bargained it down from ~$20 to under $4, which I’m sure means I still got ripped off, but it’s $4 – how much cheaper could it possibly have gotten?Tegalalang Rice Terrace

We just stopped briefly here for photos.
We also had lunch overlooking a volcano which was pretty cool.

Kopi Luwak Plantation

The next stop was a coffee plantation to check out kopi luwak, where the beans are harvested from civet poo. That stuff sells for like, $30 a cup in the US, so $5 is a comparative bargain.

They gave us a brief tour and showed us the harvesting and roasting process. Here James is, roasting some beans and earning his keep.

They also had generous samples of other teas and coffees for free. They were very sweet though, so James didn’t really enjoy them.And as for the super expensive kopi luwak …

Bleh.

I thought it was super sour and was not a fan at all (though I don’t like regular coffee so I am a poor judge). James didn’t really like it either, but he thought maybe it was how they prepared it so he bought some beans to take home and experiment with.

We also went to see a temple and finished the long day with a seafood dinner at Jimbaran Beach. You’re really paying for the ambiance, but seafood on the beach is pretty cool.The next day I went for one last massage while James packed (I know, what a sweetheart). After the previous day driving around in a van it was heavenly and it felt like she worked out every knot in my body. Here is a dramatic reenactment:

We said goodbye to our friends and took a flight to Labuan Bajo, ready to begin our Komodo Island adventure. As an aside, I am sooo daunted at the prospect of sorting through my Komodo Island videos photos. We had 4 days and 3 nights of gorgeous hikes, snorkeling and wildlife – it is definitely going to be a media-heavy post and I’m scared I won’t do justice to how utterly gorgeous everything was!