On our last leg....

It's the last few days of what I initially dubbed "mega trip" and we are in Singapore, spending our time wandering about before coming home. We are in Asia's shopping mecca, blessed by an almighty Australian dollar... and cursed by overfilled bags and no real need for anything.

I wrote a lovely post about our final day in Bali, but the Internet gods decided not to publish it - twice. And my patience for typing the same thing out a third time vanished. But I can tell you that our last day in Bali was really lovely. We had one last breakfast at Warung Ocha (Phil had his favourite burger), went for a swim, a walk and a massage. No last sunset on the beach because it was pouring with rain, but I had insisted on three beach sunset evenings during our last week, just in case we missed the last one. Actually the whole last week in Bali felt very relaxing - like a good wind down to the trip.

It seemed fitting that in rained non-stop on our last day in Bali. Today, while sitting in the Marina Bay Sands shopping mall, drinking a coffee, the strap of my (fairly new and really nice) Havianas broke. I was seriously just sitting in a booth, not moving when *ping* - I was suddenly wearing broken footwear. It's as though the universe was saying, "you no longer need thongs, Bali is over and it's time to go back to the real world where people wear proper shoes". I was briefly barefoot, hobbling around the mall, but soon found some black Melbourne-appropriate shoes. You could wear them to work, Phil said. It's true, I could - but I haven't thought about what to wear to work in a while.

I was definitely a bit sad to be leaving Bali, or more to be ending this trip. But I'm happy to be coming home. I missed stuff - my place, friends, family, the cat (will she know who we are??). I think if this trip has shown me anything, it's that no amount of time away is ever truly enough. But I don't think the answer is going away for longer. I would be happy to come home and find everything just as we left it, which is a good thing, I think.

We haven't got much planned for Singapore - just wandering around a bit. Yesterday we went to Orchard rd and looked at shops and watched a movie called Safe House - unsurprisingly not up for Oscar contention. Although, while we're on that topic - Bradd Pitt nominated for Moneyball??? WTF - did they actually watch that movie - ugh...

Tomorrow we might walk to Little India and look around. Maybe go to Clarke Quay for some seafood for dinner?? Singapore always feels like a place you end up in again and again, so I never feel like I need to see much here. Perhaps some inspiration will strike tomorrow??

Location:Kallang Rd,Singapore,Singapore

Tropical island crisp

In the last post, we had just arrived on idyllic Nusa Lembongan after a non-eventful boat ride from Bali.

On our second day on Nusa Lembongan, we arranged to head out for a day of snorkeling with a local fisherman/ tour guide. There are a few spots around Nusa Lembongan and the neighboring island, Nusa Penida, which have fantastic snorkeling.

It was an amazing day - beautiful weather, sailing around the islands - our first stop was Crystal Bay on the coast of Nusa Penida. You jump straight off the boat into the water, so the water is deep, absolutely crystal clear and filled with bright colorful fish. It's a pretty popular spot, so there were many other snorkelers around. We paddled around for 45 minutes or so and then reboarded for our next stop.

We were lucky in our second location to be the only ones there and surrounded by hundreds of different kinds of fish. Especially since our well-meaning captain threw bread in the water once we were submerged, attracting a huge species of fish with big teeth which scared the crap out of the other fish... And me. Phil was cracking up in the water as I attempted to 'hide' from the giant mutant fish in the water behind him, only to realise that there were others coming from all directions!

Once a few other groups turned up, we went to our last destination and saw more amazing fish (including a pink and yellow fluoro fish, dubbed 80s fish by me) and coral. On our way back, our tour guide's day was made when we passed huge stunned fish floating in the water. He grabbed it with his bare hands, unceremoniously dropped it in the bottom of the boat and continued on with a huge smile on his face - that was his dinner sorted.

It was a fantastic day and we finished it off with a sunset dinner at a place called Sandy Bay. Very tropical island, no?

Well, that was pretty much all we did on Nusa Lembongan for the whole trip because by dinner, I'd realized that both Phil and I were burnt to a crisp. Especially me. Oh my god. Soooo sore. Sooooo dumb! We did sunscreen at the start of the day, but clearly not enough. It was THREE nights before I could lay down on my back at all. So there was a lot of sitting around for the next few days... But it was lovely and relaxing despite how little I did! That being said, I'm still all red :(

And now we're back in Bali for three more days. This morning we had 'one last' Babi Guling (suckling pig) for breakfast (yup, breakfast). The last two nights have been spent on the beach on huge beanbags to watch the sunset. I never get sick of it.

It's almost impossible not to feel sad that the adventure is almost up, but it is... We actually thought we might be stuck here this week. We had given our passport to a visa agent to get an extension on our 30 day visas three weeks ago and were promised they would be returned on the Friday before we left for Nusa Lembongan. But they weren't ready on Friday or Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. By Thursday we were starting to panic. Especially when they told us that we wouldn't get it until Friday because immigration would not release the passports.

Phil thought quickly and told them that while we understood that dealing with Indonesian immigration was difficult, if we didn't have the passport by 5pm, we would need to report it to the embassy and police, otherwise we'd be stuck in Indonesia. We had the passports back by 4.30pm. Go Phil!

Hopefully the only challenge remaining is how many massages I can fit into the remaining three days in Bali. I'll keep you posted.

Nusa Lembongan

We have arrived in Nusa Lembongan after a 2 hour trip (car - boat - car) and checked into our accommodation for the next few days. We're staying at a place called Nanuks Bungalows, which I chose because it looked peaceful and the reviews said the staff were lovely.

First impressions of the place (both the island and the bungalows) are fab. Despite my distaste for travel by sea, the boat ride was a mere 25 minutes as promised and we couldn't have got a nicer, sunnier, calmer day. It's all blue skies and gentle winds. This is the view we got when the boat first arrived:




Nice, huh? We then got into a very rusty, rickety old tray-truck for a ride to the bungalows.



It was so bumpy, this was the best shot I could get.

Our place has eight two storied bungalows with thatched bamboo roofs.




The ground floor has an outdoor bathroom




And a lovely bedroom up a steep set of stairs. My favourite feature are the day bed areas underneath each bedroom, which are fully outdoors, but shaded.



It isn't a huge place, but there's a nice saltwater pool and lovely gardens filled with birdbaths.








All I can hear are birds and the occasional boat motor from the sea which is less than 200m away. Nice.

I think today will be a low-key relaxation sort of day. Tomorrow we're thinking of a three hour snorkeling trip, if the weather is good. Unlike the Gili islands, you can't just wander into the ocean here and stumble across sea turtles.

Today is also a festival day in Bali called Kuningan, which is tied to the festival of Galungan which was last week. On Galungan, the family ancestors come to earth and stay for ten days until Kuningan, when they return to heaven. During the ten days between Galungan and Kuningan, there is a tradition of young boys grouping together with a couple dressing as a dragon and the rest playing instruments or wearing masks. They walk the streets doing mini performances and then collect donations. They've been fun to watch and Phil and I have caught a couple on our walks. Here's a kid in one of the masks:


And a couple more with their donation basket.



And the dragon:



On our way to Sanur to catch the boat, it seemed that every Balinese person was dressed for temple to celebrate. And apparently this afternoon we can walk to a village temple ten or fifteen minutes away and watch a big ceremony with a baring dance. Should be interesting!

**Sadly both the kindle and the Ricoh camera have died since we arrived in Bali in January, so it's going to be mobile phone pics from here on in.

Enjoy the weekend wherever you are!

The end is nigh...

I am referring to the end of the trip, of course. I haven't joined some doomsday cult in the last few weeks. Phil on the other hand... I'd ask him to contribute to this post, but he's chanting in the corner...

We're a mere two weeks from hitting Australian soil. Where did the last 5 and a half months go??? Seriously, it feels like it's just evaporated. I'm really glad I kept the blog, or I would have no idea where the time actually went for all those weeks and months. 

I met a ex-Sydneysider the other day who now runs a shop in Bali called Enfants de Paradis and we were talking about longer stays in Bali. She asked me whether having months away from work and everyone and everything has made me see the world in a new light. I think it has and it hasn't. A little cryptic? What I mean is that, sitting here, typing this, I don't feel like me or my world view has drastically changed. I mean I feel oodles more rested and energised, but not altered.  I thought I might get inspired by a more eastern approach - you know, yoga and meditation and such, but no, it just didn't take. 

But, in the past, each longer trip I've taken has changed my outlook in various ways and I think this trip will be the same. I guess I'm convinced that I will have fundamentally changed somewhat for having done this trip, but right now I'm not sure how... 

...

As is the case at the end of every single overseas trip I've ever done, I'm really looking forward to going home to cook. This week I've downloaded Jamie Oliver's app, the sustainable seafood guide and something called 'Ask the butcher'. This desire for home cooking usually lasts about a week after I get home and then it's back to status normal (ie. I will only contemplate cooking food that takes less than 15 minutes of active participation by me - prepping and/ or cooking). But this time will definitely be different - so she says now.... In the meantime, Phil and I have been eating out as usual... it's a little hard to cook in Bali since we have no oven or stovetop, so it's either go out to eat or eat sandwiches at home (which we also do a bit).

Since we came back from the Europe leg, we've been mostly vegetarian and eating mostly... veggies. The best places for veggie-heavy meals are Warung Ocha and Zula's vegetarian paradise (my new favourite. Oh it is so good - they make this pita with avocado, cherry tomatoes, olives and a healthy dose of zataar - it could kill you with goodness). So we've pretty much condensed the "where should we eat today" conversation to "Zula or Ocha" over the past few weeks. The two places are literally 30m away from each other, so no need to rush that vital decision... Come to think of it we should find some more creative way to choose between the two like a special vegetable divining stick made of carrot. I digress...

On 7 February, it was our 2.5 year anniversary (awww...) so we decided to try a more upmarket lunch than usual and headed out to what i think is a newish place called Mama San, a pan-Asian lounge/bar restaurant with a very funky wine display and super lush aged leather couches as chairs. It's a place that would be right at home in Melbourne, except in Melbourne there would be lines of people waiting to get in, even on a random Wednesday lunchtime whereas here we pretty much had the place to ourselves. 

It reminded me of a way upmarket Miss Chu in Exhibition St for those who know it. The food was great - we had some small bites of dim sum, steamed barramundi, steamed snapper dumplings followed by a roast duck salad and a turmeric fish salad (would you believe there was not one single friggin vegetarian dish on the menu - ah well, ce la vie, it was a special occasion). We had to take away an entire dish because there was too much, but it was all very delicious and reasonable (cheap for Australia, pricey for Bali). And funky. Made me feel almost like being at home - until we finished up and walked out into a searing heat and humidity that almost melted my face off!

I had thought in our last weeks here, there would be a flurry of "one last time" visits to our favourite places - shops, cafes, beaches etc. And there are one or two places that I'd like to go "one last time" - especially in the massage/facial department. But it's been fun to discover a few new places in our final weeks. Just around the corner from Mama San, we saw a cute little local warung tucked away called Bambuku (on Jl Sunset near corner of Jl Raya Kerobokan) and tried it out the next day. It was some of the best (and cheapest) Indonesian food I've ever eaten in Bali.  We went for a late breakfast and discovered that its a Padang place which means it serves food that is already prepared laid out in dishes at the front of the restaurant - like a buffet, but you pay (a small amount) per dish. I ate some salad thing with quail eggs in it that was just incredible. And the tofu "meatball" salady thing. Yummo. I can't believe it's taken until now to find this little gem. Just for the sake of reference, our two heaving plates and fresh juices equated to about 7 visits to Mama San. Sooo cheap.

And that evening we finally tried a great looking warung just around the corner from us called Bamboo. I'd wanted to try it out before as the emanating smells were often delicious, but it seemed to be take away only... that is until we uncharacteristically walked past it on the other side of the street and spied the second storey dining room. Doh! But for the second time that day, we were eating Indonesian food that made you sigh with satisfaction. It's funny what you can discover after cumulative months in a place.

I hadn't intended for this to be a foodie post - I blame my newly-refound passion for cooking. For a change of scene - and to distract us from the unaboidable lament of counting down our final Bali days (aaaarrgghhh, noooooo), we've decided to board a boat tomorrow morning and set sail for Nusa Lembongan, a small island nearby for a couple of nights of beach, sand, sun and snorkelling. I know you're thinking - more boats? She hated (and I mean HATED) the boats to and from Lombok. Yes, I did. I spent every second waiting for a deep ocean leak following by sinking and death... But this trip is only 25 minutes across and while I'm sure I'll cling onto the sides for dear life for every one of those 25 minutes, it's manageable from a psychological trauma perspective or so I tell myself now. The person one should feel sorry for is Phil, because although he may want to tell me that we're perfectly safe and to stop crying, for the love of god stop crying!!!!! He doesn't. He gets to hold my hand and smile at the other passengers so they don't think we're BOTH deranged. Ah happy days.

So anyway, from tomorrow we may be harder to reach for a few days, but rest assured we will be safe and well and hugging onto our denial that "megatrip" is almost done.

Feel the burn

Another week has gone by in Bali since the last post... Since there's so little time left (ok still a couple of weeks), Phil and I have been ticking a few things off the 'Things to do in Bali before we leave' list.

 

Last Sunday we ticked off walking to Canggu, which is a beachside suburb around the peninsula from where we're staying. It was a long walk, especially as the tide was super high the day we did it, meaning we couldn't walk along the beach, which is the direct route. Instead, we went inland and walked along the roads which added a few kms - probably about 12km all up.

 

The goal was to walk to Deus ex Machina's Temple of Enthusiasm. The what, you ask?? And rightly so. Deus ex Machina is a brand started by the founder of surfie brand Mambo and some guy from somewhere called Action motorcycles. So they sell... Surfboards and motorcycles - unbelievable, I know. They also sell clothes, bikes (not just any bikes, but fixed gear bikes with no brakes, which as everyone knows are the only bikes to have these days) and accessories. They actually make really nice bags and wallets (Phil's dad bought a great bag while he was here) and they also have a cafe at their two stores in Bali. One store is about 4km walk from our place in Seminyak and the other store is in Canggu, this being the Temple of Enthusiasm. I had heard that on Sunday nights they have live music and food and a bar, so we thought we'd walk down on Sunday and check it out. 

 

It was a great walk down the beach and then inland through streets and villages and past gorgeous rice paddies and hundreds of chickens, dogs and cows. We had lunch at a place called Desa Seni, a retreat with a focus on yoga and organic food. You can stay there in traditional village houses (which looked cute) or just go for yoga sessions, or try the cafe. Since yoga has really not been something I've leaned towards, we just went in to try the cafe and... wow. It was worth the trip. Such delicious, fresh food. I had a nasi campur which is a plate with rice and small portions of a variety of foods. It had delicious battered snapper and chilli prawns that were just divine. I'd definitely give it a try if you're in the mood for some fresh organic yumminess in a seriously gorgeous garden setting. And they didn't raise an eyebrow at our disheveled selves...

 

By the time we got to Deus itself, we'd been walking for hours and I was pretty sweaty/ exhausted/ living on borrowed time, so we just had a drink and a bite to eat and didn't end up staying for the live music, which started several hours later. But they did have an art exhibition there with some awesome artwork.

 

We couldn't resist buying a couple of unframed prints, which weren't available on the day, necessitating a need to revisit the following day. Which would have been Monday. We finally made it today, as in Friday. Impressive, no? 

 

Actually, it took us all week to get back because I wanted to wait for a day when the tide is low so we could walk the whole way along the beach. And today we did. And it was a much more civilised 8km walk. Although kind of sunny towards the end, leading to quite nasty sunburns on both of us. Ouch. So red, so sore!

 

Anyway, it was worth the trip, we got our little prints and had a nice walk by the water. Well, mostly nice. There was a washed up puffer fish on the sand at one point, which was interesting to see up close. And cows grazing(?) on the sand. I really wanted to see a big crab on the beach, but instead saw a (dead) washed up cat... It was not nice. Unsurprisingly, I squealed when I saw it. Which made Phil, who had not noticed it, turn around. And then I got in trouble for bringing it to his attention!!! 'Why do you have to be so expressive when you see something?', he asked. Truly...

 

We are now having some dinner at Zula's Vegetarian Paradise, a veggie place that has become a favourite over the last few months. And because the all-time favourite place we were planning to go to, the namesake of this blog, Warung Ocha, had broken wifi. We are so fickle...