Bali

At the last minute and under much duress, I booked a flight to Bali to escape the drudgery that is summer in Taipei. What a wonderful decision! My vacation was relaxing, luxurious and indulgent (while still very affordable). Here is a quick story of my time for Mom, Dad, Carole, the cousins and anyone else who's interested!

Like a lot of people, I love to visit the zoo. Actually I think I enjoy it more as an adult than I did as a child; I have patience for observation. And, like most people, I love to watch monkeys. All kinds of monkeys except for the really, really ugly ones. Singapore Zoo is world famous and has the most primates. I had two days in Singapore: one for the zoo and one for shopping!

How do you choose a hotel on vacation, especially on an island where there are so many options and they all look stunning on the website pictures? For me, the answer is online reviews (Trip Advisor is a great site). My first hotel was Ellie's and it was #1 in that beach area on Trip Advisor. I too loved it. It was quite small and hidden away from the main tourist area. There were very few quests (like 4 or 5 total) and I had a lot of time to read under an umbrella at the pool. Best feature? A DVD player and huge DVD library. Especially when I am traveling alone, I like to stay in and just relax at night, so a great DVD is perfect. Now, I know this is strange and probably slightly pathetic, but I even take my cross-stich project with me for nights in on vacation!

At Carole's suggestion, I had to stay one night at Villa Balquisse. It was stunning, luxurious and close to my favorite beach, Jimbaren. The beach was one of the few really empty beaches I visited and the sand was packed enough that I could walk easily (I never realized how hard it is to walk when the sand is so soft you sink with every step!) Jimbaren is famous for seafood, so I figured I should try some. The waiter made me walk all the way to the back of the shop and the chef opened iceboxes and started pulling out huge red fish. Yikes! I'm not a fish person at all: dead, alive or for dinner, but it actually was pretty good grilled over coconut shells and covered in spices.

These room pictures are mostly for Carole. Each room of the villa has a unique color and decorating theme. This burgundy and mulberry room suited me perfectly and is by far the most beautiful room I have ever slept in.

One afternoon I hired a driver to take me to a famous temple, Ulu Watu on Bali's southern coast. This temple is over 1,000 years old and very sacred in Balinese Hinduism. My guide explained a lot about religion in Bali and temple traditions. He also insisted I remove all jewelry and glasses so the sacred monkeys wouldn't grab them. It was ironic to be walking around such a beautiful site and not really be able to see anything! The monkeys were really smart and slightly scary, though. They are "holy" monkeys and no one is allowed to touch them (or get stolen hats back from them!)
You can see the temple itself on the very edge of the cliff (the main part looks like a big tree in this picture).

At Ulu Watu they performed a traditional Balinese dance at sunset. Instead of instruments, there was a 70 man "choir" who chanted to different beats. The story told about a stolen princess and a magical white monkey who defeated the fire (by kicking it around) when they try to burn him alive. Interesting to say the least.

This is one of the very traditional "offerings" that I found everywhere in Bali (on beaches, in front of homes and businesses). Beautiful.

This is the surfer beach "Dreamland." It was interesting to watch, but I didn't go near the water.

This was my hotel in Kuta. It was a clean, simple and fun kind of resort. I decided to try a surfing class! I've never been that excited about surfing but I really enjoyed the challenge of learning something new and trying to improve. The instructor was a laid back surfer and not at all a natural teacher. It made me realize how frustrating it is to try and learn when you are not well taught. I did get up three times and came back with very sore muscles, torn up knees and a great sense of accomplishment.

Learning to make silver jewelry was one of the activities I really wanted to try in Bali. I had to hire a driver and go to the "arts city", Ubud, about an hour and a half north. I spent three hours making this coral ring. Inside I stamped "Bali 2006". I would love to try again and do something more complex, but, again, I had a very confusing "teacher" and I'm glad I finished anything at all! The bottom picture is all of the souvenirs I bought (I love that oil painting, but it was a pain to get home on buses and airplanes).