Birthday Bali

After our day of diving and scooting around Kuta, we headed back to the villa for a very special pre-birthday dinner for Marc. We had ordered a candlelit dinner to be prepared at our villa and when we walked in, they had already set up:

At exactly 9 o'clock, the chef came in with food and a bottle of wine. The huge platter of typical Balinese cuisine included a whole roast chicken, fish sticks, satays, rice, and some other stuff that I didn't recognize but were very tasty. Some of the food was a little bit spicy but even I had to concede that the flavor was very good. My motto may be "Food shouldn't make my mouth hurt," but I'll try just about anything that looks normal. I leave the weird duck beaks and fish eyes to my better half over sitting next to me.

The next day was Marc's actual birthday and even though we'd been celebrating for a week, I still had some surprises up my sleeve. After yet another tasty breakfast, we hired a taxi to take us back to Ubud. We had read about the Ubud Monkey Forest Sanctuary and wanted to go check it out. The tour book warned us not to bring food into the sanctuary, even if the food was in a zipped up book bag but nothing would have prepared us for what we were about to see.

Even before we walked into the forest, monkeys were walking in the street like tiny little humans walking on their hands and feet. O-kay, so they don't believe in cages here like the good folks in the Shanghai Zoo. OSHA's jurisdiction doesn't quite reach Asia Pacific. We bought some bananas from a lovely old Balinese woman at the entrance to the park and walked in.

IMMEDIATELY, monkeys were on us, like white on rice, trying to get to the bananas. Those monkeys were FIERCE! I realized a bit too late that reading the brochure for the sanctuary would have been a good idea BEFORE we walked in. The sanctuary doesn't mind if you feed the monkeys bananas, but they suggest holding your hand up over your head so that the monkeys can climb up your body and grab the food. Then, they use their little 5-fingered hands to peel the bananas and eat them, just like we do! If at any time, a monkey starts hissing at you, that means she or he is being aggressive and the best policy is to drop the banana and walk away slowly. Again, would have been nice to know before we went in, as Marc seemed to be attracting the aggressive monkeys. Eventually we got the hang of it:

Marc got in on the action as well, keep your eye on the monkey on the right.

After the sneaky monkey got the banana, Marc pointed to the older, fat monkey and called him stupid for letting the other guy steal his food, like the monkey could understand him.

My favorite monkey was this little guy, sucking his thumb just like a little human baby. He was only a few inches tall so I had to zoom way in:

In the middle of the park, we came across a temple and, like all temples in Bali, we were required to wear sarongs to cover our legs. Marc looked quite handsome in his:

On our way out of the temple, we found a monkey who had made a new friend. This little guy climbed on this man's head and was licking his bald spot! He even picked at the man's remaining hairs like monkeys do in the wild - he actually thought the man was another monkey!

After playing with the monkeys for a while, we went into town and shopped to our hearts' content. We bought a tall, skinny mask to add to our collection, as well as plenty of souvenirs. Marc bought a large abstract painting from an art gallery and even got to meet the artist who had been working upstairs from the gallery.

Later in the afternoon, we reluctantly went back to our villa to get ready for dinner that night. We had a reservation at the cool place to see and be seen, Kudeta. Everyone that we had talked to who had been to Bali had recommended this hip beachfront bar/restaurant whose claim to fame was its unhindered view of the beautiful Bali sunsets. We got there just in time for the show and boy were we in for a treat:

We sipped cool fruity drinks, soaked in the ambiance and took pictures of the sunset. Everyone on the island who was young and beautiful seemed to be there and the surfers came in straight off the beach for a drink. After the sun set, we sat for dinner and enjoyed a seafood feast. I had arranged for a special birthday dessert to be brought out for Marc and the waiters came out singing Happy Birthday in English and Balinese. They laughed when Marc claimed he was turning 29 which made my night. All in all, it was a wonderful birthday until I got the check. That is the first and last time I sign on the dotted line for a $1,265,110 dinner,* but it was well worth it.

Happy Birthday Marc from your Sugar Mama Fiancee!

*$1 U.S. Dollar = $9,344 Indonesia Rupiahs, but STILL nothing prepares you for a million dollar dinner bill!

We're Going Back to Bali, Back to Bali, Back to Bali

Place: Bali, Indonesia

Language: Balinese

Hello: Om swastyastu (om swastiastu)

Thank you: Terima kasih (terima kasee)

Man, are we spoiled. I go to China for my birthday and get a shopping spree of counterfeit goods, Marc's birthday comes along and we go to Bali.

Now, for those of you wondering if we took a page out of that Philadelphia couple's book, the modern day "Bonnie and Clyde" who stole credit card numbers from their apartment neighbors, let me assure you all, friends, family, FBI officials, that we finance all of our vacations ourselves and it helps that we go to some really cheap places. And Bali just so happens to be the cheapest of them all. No wonder the U.N. decided to hold its climate change conference there! Coincidentally, we were there during the conference although we didn't see any luminaries like Al Gore.

Our villa - wow, what can I say about our own private villa with our own plunge pool and chef? Well, since a picture is worth 1000 words and I only have a limited amount of time, I uploaded a video to YouTube because the video was too long to post on this blogsite. You can view the video by clicking here.

No, you didn't mishear Marc, our villa really was about 2,300 square feet. Leave it to us to stay in a place roughly 3 times the size of our apartment - we crave space! And yes, that is me trying to act all suave and sophisticated swimming laps in the pool and failing miserably. (No Mom, I didn't drown, don't worry.)

I'm not sure what part of the villa was my favorite but pretty close to the top of the list was our breakfast chef. Every evening, we would fill out our breakfast card and ring the front desk to place our order and request a time for breakfast the next day. Then, about 15 minutes before our breakfast was supposed to be ready, a Balinese chef would knock on our door in the morning with a basket of breakfast ingredients. Marc and I would slowly wake up while the smells of breakfast wafted over the wall to the outdoor bathroom area. Then, as quickly as s/he came in, our chef would leave our villa, leaving on the dining table our steaming hot breakfast, just blended smoothies and a huge platter of fruit. All this for about $140/night, can you believe it???!?!?! This place was 150% better than the place we stayed in Thailand and you know how much I liked THAT place. 'Nuff said.

By now you should know that we like to try at least one new and different thing every place we visit and Bali was no exception. We attempted to learn how to surf, dude. I got this little 40-year-old Indonesian man to give me a lesson while Marc decided he would try to learn on his own. Fearing another Vail-wrist-breaking incident, I took all of my surfing guru's instruction, including renting a surfboard that was easily 3 times taller than me. Here I am taking a quick lesson next to my PINK surfboard in the surf shop before we hit the waves:

Marc, on the other hand, rented a short slippery wily board even though he had never surfed before. Mmmmhmmm, so guess who got up first? I wish I had photographic evidence but we had to use a disposable waterproof camera so our pictures aren't of the digital variety. Never fear though, I got Marc a waterproof casing for our camera, so you will no longer be in the dark about our water activities. Instead of the typical 400 land-based pictures and videos, you will now be assaulted with 800 land and water pictures and videos. I know, I know, you and your retinas can't wait.

Eventually, Marc also managed to get up on his board and he did really well until the waves totally died on us. I got a little frustrated because I had just gotten the hang of it when the waves decided to stop coming and we couldn't keep practicing. Oh well, we'll just have to find some other fantastic exotic locale with some killer waves to do some more surfing, bro.

After surfing, we went back to the villa for a quick dip in the pool and a shower before we headed to a town called Ubud located about an hour away. Ubud is the heart of Bali, located close to the middle of the island and considered to be an artist's mecca. Art galleries and shops filled with beautiful hand-crafted sculptures and wood carvings line the 2 main streets and most visitors could spend days popping in and out of the shops, buying unique curios for mere dollars. We went back a few days later to do just that (you know us, we can't pass us some cheap bargains on local schlock), but the first night we had a Balinese dinner and took in a traditional Balinese dance show.

The show, called the Kecak Fire and Trance Dance, was exceptional. About 100 men sat in concentric circles doing a chant while ladies in traditional Balinese costumes danced around the men and told a story. I had read about the traditional dances in Lonely Planet but seeing it in person was magical:

The next day we spent the day underwater, diving off of a nearby island called Nusa Lembongan. The diving was spectacular, even though the waters getting to our dive sites were really choppy. I spent most of our boat time trying not to hurl our specially prepared breakfast overboard. It should be noted that I've only been dive certified for about 10 months, but I'm probably the most spoilt diver in the entire world. I've now dived in Turks and Caicos, Thailand, Bali and even did a shark-feeding dive in the Bahamas. And to make it worse, we're going to the undisputed diver's paradise, Palau in Micronesia, in February for Chinese New Year. Nope, in case you are wondering, it does not suck to be me.

Near the docks, Marc found some funny looking spider boats that could be cousins to the Thai long-tail boats we saw in Ko Tao. Must. Take. Picture.
After a day at sea, I was ready to be on land again but not ready to be stationary, so Marc and I rented a moped and explored the areas around our resort. Bali is a HUGE island, bigger than I expected and each little area has its own flavor and attitude. Kuta is the main party area of the island and where the waves are best for learning to surf. Seminyak, where we stayed, is full of cute boutiques and upscale restaurants. Ubud, as I mentioned, is the artist haven in the center of the island. There are dozens of other villages that we didn't even get to see with landscapes as varied as the villages. There are beaches (duh), rice paddies, mountains, even a volcano. We could have easily spent another week in Bali and not run out of things to do and see.

The people of Bali are really interesting too. If you've read Eat Pray Love (which if you haven't, you should, right now, go out and buy it here), then you'll know the Balinese are very proud of their heritage and have many festivals to preserve their culture. There are temples everywhere, even this one inside the SCUBA shop:You can find offerings, those little palm leaf trays of flowers and bits of food (below the chins of the gargoyle-looking statutes on the picture) everywhere on the island, especially on the ground in front of stores. Consequently, you have to be careful where you walk lest you kick one of them and destroy the good ju-ju the store owners are trying to bring in. The Balinese truly believe that good and evil sort out all the troubles in the world, but in 2003 and 2005, forces out of their control rocked their island. In 2004, a terrorist group set off 2 bombs in the densely packed area of Kuta in the middle of a strip of packed nightclubs. Over 200 people died, including many Australian, British and American tourists. In 2005, 2 suicide bombers killed 20 people in Kuta and Jimbaran (the peninsula jutting out the southern part of the island). Since then, the economy and tourism has been in struggling to recover, hence why everything is so cheap. Store-keepers and taxi drivers talk about the bombings and there are constant reminders, including memorials to those who died everywhere you look. In the middle of Kuta, about 30 meters from where the first bomb detonated, is a memorial with all the names of the victims. It was a sobering sight:


Despite their obstacles, the Balinese remain a friendly group and you find yourself in conversations with just about everyone you meet. They all want to know where you are from and where you are going, where you are staying and how long you will be there, whether you are married and where you are eating dinner that night. Talk to them long enough and they will invite you to their restaurant or help you find a driver for the day. It is inspiring to know that they do not live in fear and still embrace foreigners.

Well, I'm starting to get the beginning stages of carpal tunnel, so I better stop for now, but stay tuned for Part II of our Balinese adventure and more importantly, Marc's multiple birthday celebrations.