‘travel to a foreign country with someone you just met’

If you had told me that I would do that, I would have said to you “yeah right, stop joking”. But in 2017, that was exactly what I did.

I don’t consider myself a very adventurous person because I’m always thinking of the consequences. But this time, I went #YOLO and took off to Bali, Indonesia with my new friend, Demi.

We actually came to Bali, Indonesia for a volunteer abroad project which will be discussed in a further post. Demi and I arrived a few days earlier so that we could do a little exploring before we start our project.

Where we stayed

We stayed at Nyoman and Nyoman, a home stay, right on the beachfront of Bingin Beach. We could hear the waves crashing in which helped soothe us to sleep at night and woke us for sunrise.

The views straight from our room were absolutely stunning!

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What we ate

Before we arrived, we were warned not to drink the water (but bottled & filtered water is ok!) so for the first time ever, I packed medication with me.  Hence, I bought some tylenol, motrin, and imodium. Fortunately, I did not have to take any of them. 

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Where we went and did

Uluwatu Temple
To get here, Demi used an app to call a car but because we are located toward the beach, many cars either did not show up or canceled on us. After a long wait, we finally got a ride and arrived. When entering temples, you need to wear a sarong. If you do not own one, they usually have some for rent in the front. Also be careful of your belongings as there were monkeys here. Someone had their sunglasses and phone stolen by the monkeys. The staff was able to retrieve the phone back but the sunglasses were lost.

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Snorkeling with Blue Season Bali @ Padang Bai
I am not a good swimmer. I learned to swim in elementary school but never quite learned how to float…I can dive, retrieve objects underwater, and move from one side of the pool to the other. But despite numerous efforts to help me float on my back, it was and remains impossible. Even with no floating skill whatsoever, I decided to go snorkeling with Demi. After all, this was my #YOLO trip. 

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Massage Session
After a tough snorkeling experience (well for me only 😉 ), Demi and I decided to go get a full body massage. Massages were decently priced and it was going to be inside these small huts. We thought it would be an exciting experience. We paid for our massages and led into a hut with two beds inside. …and then we had our massages! 😛 I won’t disclose too much, but what I can tell you, is that they massaged my stomach…with oil as if I was being marinated! 😂 

Here comes Marwell, Here comes Hannah

While Demi and I were in Bali, we were joined by Marwell and Hannah. We met through our work and we became friends (who also travel together)! 😀 
Demi booked our accommodation. We stayed at a cute little bamboo bird’s nest (but we call it treehouse) among the rice fields. It was quite a distance from the street to the treehouse to which we then had to climb up a ladder to our hut. Demi and I were in hut #2. I highly recommend bug spray because those yellow sheets do not block out bugs.

When in Bali, eat duck

Crispy duck was recommended to us as something we must try in Bali. So after a quick search (well sorta), we went to two different locations to eat duck. The first place we went to was called Bebek Bengil (Dirty Duck) but I do not remember the second location. The second location was pricey but it accepted credit cards. Yay to no foreign transaction fees!

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It might seem like all we did was eat..which honestly was all I remembered doing. After talking with Hannah, I was reminded of us going to the Ubud Market where you could bargain to your hearts content. Perhaps, some sightseeing occurred, as we did walk several miles a day. But life is beautiful when all you remember is food.

“First we eat, then we do everything else.” -M.F.K. Fisher

“Food is symbolic of love when words are inadequate.” -Alan D. Wolfelt