Ubud

So, I pretty much suck, and I'm exactly one day less than a month behind on my blog.  I really have no excuse other than the shittiest internet on the planet, and apathy.  Here goes.... we'll see if I can actually remember anything (because of course I have also not been writing in my journal).  Bleh.  Also, I apologize for the weird font.  On the template and on the "edit post" screen, it's normal writing with small for the captions....when I post, the writing becomes tiny, and the captions become huge.  Ah, technology.

On the morning of the 17th, Julianne and I prepared to depart Nusa Lembongan.  Mainski Resort brought us to the Scoot Ferry office, and we found out that as part of our fare, we actually will get driven on Bali to wherever we needed to go.  Score bonus for us, no taxi.  Julianne and I had a very relaxing ride on the boat, and listened to my iPod (Jose Gonzales and The Cure).  Then it was a beautiful taxi ride to Ubud.

This is a city of art and culture that sits a little ways in from the island coast.

Map of Bali, showing where Ubud is.
If you're savvy, you can find Sanur and  Nusa Lembongan too!

Another map to give you an idea oh where the heck Bali is anyway.
I love this one, because they don't even bother to label my island.  Why would anyone want to go there?

The girls and Cary were all off doing other things that day, so Julianne and I had a pretty relaxing afternoon.  We checked into a little oasis paradise, and there on our porch was a table with fruit and tea waiting for us on it.  2 chairs and a chaise lounge.  Into the room we went.  Gorgeous!  We promptly shut the wondows, and TURNED ON THE AC.  After the whole time in the heat on NL, we were ready for some relaxing cool.  Plus, the beds were AB FAB.  I think that was half of why I loved this part of the vacation so much.  I could have died in that bed.  :)

Off for a lunch.  This is another thing Ubud is just great for.  AWESOME FOOD.  Like real food.  Without bits of bone and grizzle everywhere, or other suspect ingredients.  Oh, and alcohol.  Not that I'm not actually able to drink alcohol where I live in N. Sulawesi.  Being a mainly Christian area, that's one of the big perks.  You can find bottles of "whiskey" and vodka at the supermarket.  You've seen a photo of that already, but I'm just not really that much of a drinker at home.  These were no watered down drinks either.  Gorgeous nummy concoctions with all the trimmings.  We just walked across the main street, and this is what we found.

A basil mojito, and Julianne's yummy drink.  I can't remember what it was.

Just your basic cheese stick!

Fried calamari rings.  They never have the whole ones here.
I think it's because the squid they are using are BIG!

Ayam Rica Rica - which is actually a Manadonese dish (from up where I am living).
Yes, I am aware of the irony.

The decor in the restaurant.  Pretty typical of Bali.
All paradise-y and gorgeous.

A door to nowhere.  It probably has some significance I don't know about.

 Julianne went to take some photos and walk around, but I was yet again, all about my room.  I am totally ashamed (kinda) that I took so many naps.  If you read the posts, you'll understand why I was so happy with my ability to sleep, worry free that something would attack me while sleeping.

We met up with the gang, and guess what, we went to eat!

Spring roll appetizer.  Julie Lam would be proud.  It was delish, but not as delish as hers!

A salad.  An honest to goodness salad.

This mudslide put Julianne on her ass.  What's funnier, is that another picture,
taken right after by someone else in the group, has Julianne drinking through the paper covering her straw.
To be fair, it had been a long day, and she hadn't taken a nap like me.  ;)
We were careful not to lose her on the walk home.

The gang, minus Jackie how had to be back already... :(
Julianne, Cary, Noreen, and Michaela.

A pretty kick ass flan.

Now, you may be asking yourself, "Megan, why to you keep taking and posting all these pictures of food that we can't eat.  What can I say?  When your only food options everyday are rice, various Chinese dishes cooked in suspect looking places, or ramen on your stove, good food takes on a whole new meaning in your life.   

We sat around and listened to stories of what had gone on while Julianne and I were still in Nusa Lembongan.  The group had braved a 1:30 am (if I remember correctly) wake up call to go climb a volcano.  Transport, and a rigorous hike later, they watched the sunrise.  Cary was evidently accosted by souvenir pushing locals.  They got to see the multi colored lake.  Jackie had gone to a batik making class, which Noreen had done the following day.  There was lots of yoga, and good times. 

The following day, Cary was back to Pontianak, and Noreen and Michaela went on a bike tour of the island.  With my knee acting up, it being the first morning all vacation that I didn't have to get up super early to make a dive boat, and the call of my super awesome totally comfy bed, I took a pass.  After breakfast, I lounged on pillows, yet again.  I thought maybe I would go sit by the pool, and tan while falling in and out of consciousness, but even that was too strenuous for me.  I did miss out on a cool trip though.  They rode all over, and got to see less touristy places, a traditional home compound, walk through some rice fields, and try the most expensive coffee ever.  

Evidently pretty awesome.

So, it's made from beans that this little dude has eaten, and um, "passed".
Yup, you read right.

I'm hoping that the prevailing oder of this roasting coffee is still coffee.

I met Julianne for lunch, and we went to the 3 Monkeys Cafe.  This was the first of 3 or 4 visits in the short time I was there.  We both had awesome Milano style pizza.  Even Dan Hart would have approved.

More spring rolls.  Trying to be healhty!

Julianne's pizza with pumpkin.  A recommendation from Noreen and Michaela.

My mushroom and 4 cheese pizza.  Quite possibly one of the BEST pizzas I've ever had in my life.
I did say trying to be healthy.

Hands down, the best drink I have ever had in my ENTIRE life.
This is the most awesome liquid EVER to pass through my lips, and the reason I went back to this restaurant so often.
Mint lime ice puree.  The most refreshing drink on the planet.

 Julianne did further exploring, and met up with an ETA friend from last year.  I went back and read by the pool.  Relaxing and pretty awesome.  I think it might have been raining a little that afternoon too.  Can't really remember...everything kinda blurs together.  Either that, or my brain had stopped working as a side affect from the aforementioned perfect drink.

I met up with Noreen and Michaela, and we went to see a traditional Balinese dance.  The gang had gone to a fire dance before we arrived, but the consensus was that this Legong performance was better.  

First girl on stage.  Legong is traditionally dances by girls, but for tourists, it's usually young women instead.
This woman was so tiny though, it was kinda hard to tell.
THis girl had the best Balinese dancer "crazy eyes" going on.

The best actual dancer in the bunch, I think.  Plus, her outfit was green, and I love green.
From what I read in the program, she is a queen of some kind.

This is a picture of the Barong.  It's danced by two guys together.
It's the good demon Barong, who gave 2 brothers the gift of immortality.
Little did he know it would backfire so badly.  They decide to take this power and attack all the Gods in Heaven.

One of the 2 brothers.  

The seductive goddess.  After a meeting in Heaven,  she is instructed to "distract" the 2 brothers.

Just as they are about to obtain enlightenment, they notice the gorgeous Goddess.
They then, of course, fight each other for her love.... tiring them out (because they are both immortal and invincible),
so they pass on attacking heaven. Lucky Gods.

The open air stage, and the Japanese group in front of us.  Most of them couldn't have cared less about the performance.
Too bad they had all the first 2 rows reserved.  ;)

Monkey dudes.

The first dancer again, right before she jumped on her motorbike in the misting rain.

So Balinese Legong dancers are famous for their dramatic eye movements, but I confess...
All I could think about while watching, was Nicole Sullivan's Antonia character from Mad TV.

The dances were beautiful.  There were delicate movements, and even a dance with fans, part of which was done with the dancers EYES CLOSED.  Crazy skills!  I have to say though, that these performances are very touristy.  But I don't think that's really a bad thing.  I read some stuff about them, and a lot of them were re-choreographed years ago.  I actually learned that the fire dance isn't traditional at all.  A famous "friend of Dorthy" changed the formation (into a circle), changed the outfits to loincloths and added the fire element.  Hmm.  Still pretty cool though.  Another example of Bali being a pretty GLBT friendly, I read this on one website, "The Kebya Trompong dance was made famous in the 1920s by a flamboyant dancer named Mario."  Flamboyant, huh, codeword anyone?

The next day, I hung with Michaela.  We walked all over the city/town.  We bought some DVD's and enjoyed the sights on the streets.  Michaela was especially happy to find Point Break.  I was ecstatic to find a good copy of Juno. (BTW, I have since watched it around 5 times)  Then it was off to achieve our goal of a yoga mat.   Now, I am not really one for yoga.  I'm not very flexible, nor toned.  Of course, I get the irony that if I actually did yoga, those 2 facts might change.  My floor however, is not conducive to sit-ups with the cracks all over the place, and I do love my sit-ups!  We walked all over, shared a nice muffin and cold drink at a little cafe, and found our mats.  We also went to a clothing store.  All handmade by this super cool guy.  I ended up buying 2 pairs of the most comfortable pants ever, and a t-shirt with Ganesha (or Ganesh), the Hindu Elephant God of wisdom and success.  Hopefully I will have the wisdom to work out more, and the success to lose some weight.

Then we met up with Julianne and went to the Ubud Monkey Forest.  Now, I've been to monkey sanctuaries before.  They usually just make me sad.  Over tourist populated places where people feed the animals, and they accost passersby.  My first was Uluwatu on Bali when I was here the first time in 2000.  Then in Emishan in China.  Now here.  These are Balinese macaques.  They are pretty cute, but they aren't shy about jumping on you for food.  One of them attacked a plastic bag that had books inside, and tried to eat them through the plastic.  Here's some cool photos.

Pretty cute baby.

I love the facial expression.

We walked around, but about this time my legs were being dive bombed by some sort of insect.  We'll say mosquitoes, but who really knows.  Of course, I was the only one being bitten, and yes, of course of course, I had on bug spray.  Dad would say I'm just too sweet for my own good.  Yeah right.  So, I had to go.  My legs felt like they were on fire.  I walked back to 3 Monkeys, and enjoyed 2 more of my favorite drink.  Ok, and maybe a piece of cake.  What?

That evening, Noreen, Michaela and I went to a spa.  The girls got body scrubs, and I got an hour long massage.  Pretty fabulous, but definitely more body contact than I'm used to.  Let me explain.  While rubbing my back, all of a sudden, she climbed up on the table, and straddled me.  "Um, hi there."  This is a little different.  I at least, did not have the 8 month pregnant masseuse.  Fun.  Since Michaela and Noreen had gotten a body scrub, part of their treatments they were supposed to relax in a petal infused bath.  Problem is, only enough hot water for one bath.  Ooops!  Sharing is caring.

Then it was off to dinner, where we met back up with Julianne.  The restaurant had wine!  We shared a bottle of and Australian red.  Pretty yummy.  

On the way home, we decided to go for "one more" drink.  We tried to go to the reggae bar, but it was closed already.  We ended up at a pretty cool bar.  Yay mojitos!  We also ended up making some friends.  A couple, that had gotten engaged just that day.

I would have hung out with these cool people in Chicago.

 One of the things about Ubud, is it's full of couples.  I don't even want to start of how full it is of Oprah loving, Julia Roberts wannabes, but it's also jam packed with honeymooners.  Hot guys, and girls fresh from pre-wedding diets, all walking around sarongs, sun dresses and board shorts.  Not only do I wanna slit my wrists because they all look so good, but they are all just so blissfully in love.  It just makes me wanna gag.  This couple however, was totally cool.  I wish I could remember their names.  :(  I'm sure someone in the group will.

The staff at the Okawati Hotel.

 The next morning, Julianne and I had some time to kill, so it was off to the dive shop in Sanur.  Julianne bought a dive computer, and I actually saw in real life, a BCD that I'm totally in love with.  A Zumi.  It's green, and beautiful.  I wanna marry it and have 10, 000 of it's babies.

The coolest SCUBA gear ever.

No Dad, I didn't buy it.  Aren't you proud of me.

 Then it was off to the airport.  Poor Noreen was still there, waiting for her flight.  People were just sitting around waiting for their delayed flights, eating boxes of food, while sitting on the floor.  Then they got up and left.

Indonesian trash can.

When I got home, my flight didn't land until around 11:30.  Rather than drive all the way back to Tataaran that night, I got a room at the Novotel in Manado.

Green chaise lounge and emerald jewel toned pillows?  Yes please!

Look at this rain forest shower.  Again, yes please!
Just a little bit better than the hose and bucket in my house.

 Tomorrow morning, back to the grind.

Nusa Lembongan

So, on the morning of the 8th, we relaxed in the hotel after a nice breakfast.  Jackie (Jakarta) and Julianne (Yogyakarta) were meeting us in the hotel lobby after arriving that morning.  We walked around a bit, looking for and atm/money changer and a store to buy some necessities.  Then it was back to the hotel to grab our bags for our adventure.

On our walk, we saw this Hindu offering.
I didn't know gods liked fresh breath.

All of us about to embark on our grand excursion into paradise.

We took a "fast boat" over to the island of Nusa Lembongan.  It took about 45 minutes of hitting waves, and an occasional spraying of saltwater.  A little later, we found out that the slow boats take an hour.  Big difference, huh?  Well, now we know.  

Jackie enjoying the ride.

Noreen enjoying the sun.

Our first relaxing sit at Mainski, the place we stayed on the island.
Julianne looking fabulous.

After settling into our rooms, Julianne and I ran over to World Diving so I could talk to John and Sue about finishing my Open Water Certification.  Lucky me, they had one other person who just needed to do their dives, just like me, so I could start the next day.  They were a bit busy, but Julianne found out she'd be able to dive too.  Yippie!  After that, we all walked around for a bit.  Here's some of what we saw.

This woman was just so smiley!

There were gorgeous mini temples and shrines EVERYWHERE.
Kinda made you think about how everything looked 100 years ago
back when the island was unspoiled.

Lots of them are wrapped in cloth.  Checkered ones are very popular.

Just a gorgeous door inside a house structure/compound.

The view into one of these compounds.

Beautiful temple.

 After our walk, it was time to enjoy a nice dinner.  Our hotel was right on the ocean, and to find other places to eat, all we had to do was walk up and down the beach.  The food was usually awesome, and pretty cheap.  Lobster was only 6 dollars!

Good Lord, was this tasty.

The next couple of days were full of fun, that kind of just blends together in my memory.  On Sept 9th I headed out to the dive center.  Because John had no idea about our skills (Peter, an English guy, and I finished our class together) he decided to start us off in their pool.  After taking about   a half hour to get my 5mm full body wet suit on (talk about a humbling experience-they are not really made for super curvy girls), we were ready to go.  Good times.  John was happy, and we were set to go out into the water.  Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate.  No ocean for us that day.  Instead it was decided that we'd head out the next morning, bright and early.

The other girls had gone snorkeling that afternoon.  John let me bring my wetsuit back to the hotel, so that I could put it on with shampoo the next morning.  Score!  Michaela, Noreen, Jackie and I rented bikes and rode around the island a bit.  We went down some suspect roads trying to find the mangrove trees.  We got to see some more of the island, and were hailed on the road by passersby.  A couple of us even got smacked on the ass as we rode by a 10 year old boy.  Weird, to say the least.

Part of our ride.

Jackie on the steps of a temple.

Another temple with green statue dudes.

That night, I was super happy.  There were a bunch of Aussies at our resort to surf, so the bar was packed, and joy of joys, THEY HAVE A POOL TABLE!  I got to play a couple of games, and impressed some people with my skills.  Good times.  I also taught Julianne how to play Egyptian Rat Screw.  Table slaps galore.

On the 10th, I was finally in the ocean.  We went to the house reef, and the Mangrove.  Huzzah!  2 open dives under my belt, and 2 more to go.

John and Peter.  One of the Wayans is standing in between.

Mitch and another John.  He was working on his cert too,
but was a day ahead of Peter and myself.

After my first day of diving.  Look at that smile!

That afternoon, I got back early enough to go with the girls on their second snorkeling adventure.   Julianne has an underwater camera, so as soon as I get some copies of her pictures, I'll post them here.  We traveled in the current down the coast of another island right nest to Nusa Lembongan.  It was beautiful.  Then we headed to the Mangrove.  The current was fast, and for the most part, we floated along separately.  The tide was coming out, and some parts were pretty low visibility.  It was very neat to feel the differences in temperature in the water.  Plus, some parts were so shallow with the coral, that you felt right next to everything.

Then it was back to shower, and out for happy hour drinks.

Noreen, counting how many Pina Colatas she's had so far.

Gorgeous sunset.

Ditto.

The next morning, Peter and I went out with Mitch instead of John.  John had stitches on his hand, which were reacting badly with the sea water.  Julianne came with.  She has a brand new underwater casing for her gorgeous camera.  She took just the casing down, to make sure it didn't leak.  Pity, as the conditions were perfect for her to take some macro photos.  The conditions weren't the best for tests.  There was a lot of surge and current at times.  These 2 dives were not nearly as enjoyable as the day before.  Peter and I passed everything though.   Yippie.  I was now a certified diver, and free to go out with the group the next 2 days just for fun.

That afternoon, Noreen, Jackie and Michaela rented motor bikes and braved the ride around the island to Mushroom beach and Dream beach.  Julianne and I decided that it was just a little too late to meet up with them, so we decided to save that adventure for another day.  See Noreen's blog on my list to hear about their adventures.  That night, was our last as a group for a little while.  Noreen, Jackie and Michaela were off to Ubud on the main island the next morning.  Julianne and I would stay on Nusa Lembongan and dive more, and then head to Ubud on the 14th, but (insert shedding of tear here) we would miss Jackie heading back to Jakarta that day.

The next morning, Julianne and I were out early again.  This time was my first totally enjoyable dive.  I was super scared, but our dive guide, Wayan, was very nice and patient.  I held my own, and didn't run out of air before everyone else.  The boat we were on was huge, and the group was large.  Peter and I were dive buddies, so it wasn't that stressful.  I did get kicked in the face by someone while we were doing our 5 meter 3 minute stop.  At least my mask didn't come off.  This day started me not feeling well as I surfaced though.  For at least 10 minutes after coming up to the surface, I thought I was going to puke.  After the second dive, and back on land, I actually did.  Not fun.  Also seems that maybe my wet suit has latex in it. I started getting a rash on the sides of my stomach.  Yup, I'm allergic to latex (now before you get all these ideas in your head about that...I'm not THAT allergic to latex).  After 4 days in a row of wearing it though, my skin was starting to suffer.  Yuck!

This is the life.

Julianne and I, all smiles aboard the big boat.

The gang gearing up.  Huh, no one else needs to put on
their wet suit with shampoo in the shower....go figure.

Relaxing after the second dive.

 When we got back, we decided to try and head to Dream Beach.  Julianne was a little nervous about driving a bike (much deserved), so she worked it out that she could ride on the back with an islander, and I would ride my own.  This was perfect.  We didn't waste time getting lost (we didn't have much time to spare).  We arrived at Dream beach, and ate dinner there.  We met the owner, who turned out to be Noreen's rescuer from the day before.  He was ALL about Julianne.  The resort was beautiful, and the food delish.

Julianne at Dream Beach.

We walked down this stairway, thinking we'd get to the beach, but it just abruptly ended
in a cliff about 25 feet above the beach. Good photo op though.

My version of the same photo.

Western view of the infinity pool and the edge of the beach.

Eastern view.  The pool was actually 3 different levels.  Very awesome.

A picture of the bungalows at Dream Beach.  Very cool.
They even have a huge one that's a hostel style dorm.
The bathrooms are Bali style showers...outdoors!

More views of the bungalows, and a cool looking statue dude.

My seriously tasty Bali style grilled fish.  Plus, the veggies were some of the
best I've ever had in my life.  Yum yum.

Dessert.  Crepe type Bali "cake". 

Julianne and I taking my dessert garnish for our hair.
Young naked swimmers in the background.

Aww, so purty.

Julianne and the owner.  He whispered sweet nothings into her ear right
before this picture was taken.

From there, our guide took us to Mushroom beach.  It was also a cute little resort.  Now it was getting dark though.  It was interesting to ride in the dark, but I was proud of myself for not crashing.  Plus, renting the motorcycle was actually cheaper than renting the push bike from the other day.  Who knew?

Julianne about to head off to Mushroom Beach.

Mushroom beach at dusk.

Julianne appreciating the view.

When we got back, we just relaxed.  I hung out in the now empty bar (the Aussies had all left by this time) and talked to the staff and the owner.  I drank some awesome Bali alcohol called Arak.  Drink of choice?  An Arak attack.

The next morning, we had our last 2 dives.  We went in a smaller group, and went to Manta Point and Crystal Bay.  A long gorgeous boat ride, and good diving.  I didn't see any mantas, but I did see some pretty cool things.  Picts from Julianne to come soon.  The highlight for me was a cuttlefish.  No good pict, but it was big, and just floats, looking like an alien.  After everyone else floated away, I lingered for a moment, and was rewarded with it changing colors right before my eyes.  Surreal.  I also made friends/enemies with a clown fish.  After hovering/floating over a group of them hanging out in an anemone, one followed me, and kept swimming right in front of my mask.  It was so cool.  Then we saw a shrimp.  It was huge, and looked more like a lobster to me.

Heading to the surface, I again felt sick.  One of the other girls on the boat, Alexa, said I looked white as a sheet.  Another girl gave me some seasickness meds, which I took after a doctor who was on the boat happened to say it was OK.    Alexa gave me some mint gum, which really did the trick.

Alexa and Jenska.

The future cover jacket photo for Julianne's
 book on underwater photography.

My savior, the doctor.

The last dive was also great.  We didn't see any Mola Mola, which are these HUGE fish, and the reason that we had come to the island in the first place.  I did however, dive deeper than I have so far, down to 19 meters (don't tell PADI...I'm only supposed to go to 18).  Upon surfacing, Alexa plopped a piece of gum in my mouth while I was still in the water, and I was just fine.  That's a little trick I know now.  It will never be absent from my dive bag.  Julianne even suggested I put one in a plastic baggie in my BCD, so I can chew it as soon as I reach the surface.  We relaxed on the boatride back, and all was good in the world.

One of the Wayans, Julianne and I back at the dive center.

John and Julianne looking at a book to identify a crab she got a great picture of.

After dinner that night, Julianne and I relaxed in the bar together, and made some surfer friends who are also teachers, working in Jakarta.   We all decided that it would be fun to go night snorkeling.  Julianne and I grabbed our underwater flashlights, and we were set.  Not much to see, but I got my first view of luminescent plankton.  After shining the light for a bit in the water, you could turn it off, move your hand about, and see little light green specks everywhere.  It was like swimming with stars.  It was just such a magical thing to see.

The next morning, Julianne and I packed up and headed by boat back to Bali mainland.  But that's the next blog entry.....