Kuta, Seminyak & Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia

I’m a bit behind on posts, but here we go for Part 1 of Bali: Kuta, Seminyak and Nusa Dua.

Our first stop was one night in Kuta. Kuta seems exciting at first, but it’s a shit show. Tons of very young ridiculously drunk Aussies (wanting to “jiggy jig” all night), a must experience but one night is more than enough. Being around 16 year olds made me feel quite old. Gili T was much more fun to go out at night.

The Balinese were very sweet people. Part of our day in Kuta was getting some rays on Kuta Beach and luckily I caught a few waves with a borrowed board (as I said people are so nice! Although being a single blonde could have helped in that).  While relaxing on the beach, we did get bombarded with kids practicing English by asking us a survey, but we were happy to help. It was nice to see the future of the country becoming bi-lingual.

Overall we were blown away at how inexpensive EVERYTHING was - $2 pedi, $4 massage, 80 cent veggie soup or $1.50 chicken curry. If you’re in Kuta go to our favorite spot – Bamboo Restaurant on Poppies Lane 1 I believe.  Poppies Lane 1 and 2 are chalked full of souvenirs, restaurants, massage shops and guesthouses. The markets have lots of inexpensive and cheap goods (if you’re willing to barter it out). Be wary though, I did say cheap - already a few things I bought fell apart. Wait until Ubud to do the shopping if you want anything to last.

Kuta Beach, Bali

Kuta Nightlife

Petrol for Sale...Initially I thought this was Sun Tea haha

Seminyak and Nusa Dua are commercialized resort areas. At both resorts it was nice to just relax, have aircon and a hot shower. Neither of these spots were very eventful since we were trying to make use of the luxuries of the room. Nusa Dua is family oriented, gated and very pricey. I would recommend avoiding Nusa Dua unless you don’t want to experience Indonesia and feel like you’re on a resort in Hawaii.

In Seminyak we were in awe of the W hotel and how ridiculously nice it was. As a backpacker staying at the W, definitely made me feel out of place - too pretentious even if it was stunning. Seriously, music underwater? Retractable roof in our NYC apartment sized bathroom? Bose speakers? $20 breakfast ah!  Although, eating free pizza with a DJ spinning at happy hour while watching the sunset was fantastic.

Seminyak, Bali

Adrian and I rented a couple surf boards one afternoon, only to get our asses kicked. We did get another, more relaxing, sunset surf session in while in Nusa Dua. Amazing just to be out on the water.

While the boys went shopping in Denspar (funny right?), I headed up to Coggnigi to Desa Seni. I highly recommend spending an afternoon here. I was in heaven finally having a nutritious organic meal, yum! All of the produce is grown right there on the grounds. I was so excited to practice Yoga in Indonesia. It truly was wonderful to have a class outside in the “gazebo” studio. 

Desa Seni

Another highlight was Uluwatu temple at sunset.  You could easily do a half-day trip from Sanur or Kuta. Monkeying around as the sun goes down:

If you'd like to see the rest of my photos, check them out on picasa:

Kuta, Seminyak & Nusa Dua, Bali

สุขสันต์วันคริสมาสต์

& A Beachey Ho Ho Ho!

Merry Christmas from Chicken Island, Krabi, Thailand! Sending all our love -David, Sarah, Bri Bri and Adrian 

Gili T, Lombok, Indonesia

Just a short 2 hour boat ride from Bali and bam - Gili Trawangan (Gili T)! My first step on this island and I was reminiscing to Caye Caulker Belize where Sarah S & I were Open Water Scuba Certified.

Gili T is one of three small islands off of the Northwest coast of Lombok.  No Cars, No motorbikes, only horse carts, bicycles or your own two feet.  Very refreshing after experiencing the insanity of Kuta, Bali (Bali will be another post). You can bike around the whole island in about 30 minutes. Now this is island life! I loved it - adorable bungalows, my type of chill nightlife, everybody was friendly and helpful. We finally met tons of great travelers like us. Good memories and great advice for countries to come. It was inspiring talking to year- long travelers and even some living abroad. The scheming begins in my head….

Our Home for 3 nights - Big Bubble Bungalow

Happy Hour at Sama Sama Reggae Bar

This trip was all about diving for me.  Tons of great dive shops (we were staying at one) and with the Similan Island dive trip ahead I decide to get Advanced Open Water certified so I can dive too deeper depths. Thanks Pablo!  5 dives with skill tests within two days was intense! Many many underwater pictures J

Lionfish during my Night Dive

Nemo Aka Clown Anemonfish

Tips for anybody who may be headed to Gili T:

How to get there – Fast boat is well worth it, 2 hours with a snack. We talked them down to $50/per person for a roundtrip including pick up and drop off at the hotel

Places to Stay – Pesona or Big Bubble

Places to Eat – Scallywags

Places to Dive – Big Bubble with Pablo (dive and snorkel trip prices are fixed on the island)

3 days on this amazing island was not enough for me. Who’s coming back with me? 17k more islands to explore!

Here are all the Gili T pictures on Picasa:

Gili Trawangan - Lombok

Java, Indonesia

After a red eye from Tokyo to Singapore, David (Adrian's friend from UT) and I met up in the Singapore airport for our flight to Yogyakarta, Indonesia.  Funny how we just met a few days ago and after spending non-stop time together you seem as if you've known each other for much longer. Eventually we (Adrian, David & I) all met up and took over the Sheraton, literally. The club lounge for free meals, our personal lagoon, shuttle buses - everybody there was so hospital and awesome.

We explored the city of Yogyakarta where we encountered batik art form, street food and our first of many Bintang (local flavor of beer). The one thing that really struck me and was hard to see -  the blind beggars singing karaoke. It was really sad, reminded me of Slum Dog Millionaire.

Yogyakarta, Indonesia

The island of Java has so much to see, it was hard to choose. The three of us dwindled it down to Borobudur (sneak peak post) and Dieng Plateau.

We hired our ~60 year old ex-gymnast/military taxi driver, Hendrik.  Boy can this guy drive, like a bat out of hell! I don't think words can describe his driving - The horn was the most important part of the vehicle, "warning" all (motorbikes, pedestrians, trucks you name it) that he was passing your ass. He came within inches from other motorbikes many times. I have no idea how there are not accidents every two seconds, the roads are horrible, a gazillion motorbikes and no rules - U-turn anytime you want!  Even in front of three lanes of traffic, nuts!

Hendrik & Me at "Lunch"

3am wake up call for our adventure with Hendrik.  We set out in the pitch black to make it to Borobudur to watch the sunrise. Breathe taking. Don't you agree?

Off to Dieng Plateu. Crazy bumpy drive, no way we were getting much of a nap in.  Lunch at 9am was interesting - especially Indonesian food that early. Another ridiculous food moment, that we were laughed at for, was eating raw cassava chips. Who sells chips that need to be fried still? Overall, it was a really stunning drive and great sights.  At a few of the temples we all said  AAAAAUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM together.

A – Fire, U – Water, M - Oxygen

This day was definitely the most we've all done before noon. 12 hours in a car and this is what you can see:

We all decided to scratch Mt. Bromo and the two 10 hour bus rides that would be required to get us there and then onto Bali. A last minute $50 flight straight to Bali made that decision pretty easy. Java I will be back!


To view the entire album on Picasa:

Java, Indonesia

Look up. Look down. Look around.

Eye-opener:
Borders, mas borders
The Mission is crisscrossed by myriad borders,
Invisible and overt: porous and dangerous.
The border between South and North America
Old and New San Francisco
The border between Valencia and Mission
Between the documented and undocumented
Between bohemia and neglect
Between club life and church life
Between bookstores and gun shops
The border between high and low art
High and low religion
High and low desire
Stop!
The murals command
Look in the corners, look beyond the obvious.
Look up.
Look down. Look around.
-Guillermo Gómez-Peña


Although this is from a book about Murals in San Francisco's mission district, I really loved it. Maybe because it reminded me of home :) I think it's a good reminder to really appreciate the details all around you. Ms. Julia Marino should have a copy in her hot little hands of Street Art San Francisco: Mission Muralismo by Annice Jacoby and Carlos Santana. Enjoy!


Art in Indonesia.
While in Java and throughout Indonesia we have came across Indonesian Batik art form. It's quite wonderful. Below are two photographs of our experience with Batik. The first is when one of the artist's was explaining all about the Batik art form - very fascinating; all natural dye, wax or coconut oil are used. The second are a few pieces in the gallery, I was suckered into purchasing two pieces. Honestly I couldn't take my eyes off the paintings of the local woman, so colorful and beautiful. Luckily easy to pack too!

Incredible Indonesia (Sneak Peek)

One of many to come!

Sunrise from Borobudur Temple in Java, Indonesia

Japan – Kobe Steak, Temples, Sake, Bustling Shops, Fish Market --> Best Sushi EVER & Yu Tando!!

My absolute favorite shot in Japan. Two Maiko's (Apprentice Geishas) in Kyoto.

A lot has happened in the last 6 days. I spent most of my time exploring Tokyo and then a short trip to Kyoto. Thank you so much Yu Tando for everything – you made my Japan trip amazing. It was great meeting Yu’s friends (Yuhei & Kaori) and catching up with David Smith.

One thing I quickly learned about myself – I am not an introvert. One day wandering around solo made me realize how much more I enjoy experiencing something with others. Even if I just met the person that same day, having a travel partner makes me slow down, take in what’s around me and enjoy my surroundings even more. With that said, very excited for new friends I make along the way and friends meeting up – Adrian Freeberg, David Greeson, Sarah Saul, Jason Hardy, Faham.…I hope I can add more of you to this list!

Here are a few of my thoughts on Japan:

I loved & will miss…warm toilet seats, Kobe Beef (Thanks Henrik!!), Dancing for hours & being entranced by the “lady gagaish” dance crew, Sake tasting, beautiful fall colors and Yu Tando!!

I will not miss…seaweed surprises in my food and the Yen - Japan truly is as expensive as everybody says it is!

What made me laugh…Everybody running in the train stations (even girls with ridiculous heels), the absurd amount of vending machines and “love” hotels in Shibuya ;-)

What I hope makes you laugh....

Apparently I can fly in Tokyo (Yu was laughing at this for days)

Having Fun With Yu in Harajuku in True Japanese Style

Here are some more photographs that should paint the picture of my time in Japan:

Tokyo, Japan

Can I say delicious?

Kyoto,  Japan

Check out all my Japan photos on Picasa:

Tokyo

Tokyo

Kyoto