Bali: Believe the Hype!

HNC gives us a week off for Thanksgiving but no break for Christmas or New Years. Go figure. So Gene and I took advantage of the school's creative scheduling and went down to Bali for a low-season vacay and free ourselves from Dirty China for just a bit.

It was my first time in the Southern Hemisphere! Cookie? :)

We stayed in Kuta Beach, which was your go-to area for cash-strapped beach bums -- there are a lot of what I can only describe as packs of Australian frat brothers roaming the streets, all wearing Bintang Beer tank tops and sporting tattoos. Perhaps Kuta is to Australia as Cancun is to the United States. Although we contemplated skipping around different parts of the island like Ubud, we ended up anchoring here for the whole week out of pure laziness (which is allowed in a real vacation!). Bali is also a pretty big island, and it takes about 3-4 hours just to drive from Kuta (in the south) to the northern shore. We spent most of the time by the beach just relaxing, but we also did three days of exploring/adventuring -- biking, diving, and just cultural touring. I really like Bali's community structure and spiritual devotion... it probably explains why I feel the people I met there are the warmest and most open group of people I've encountered so far throughout my travels.

Hawkers were quite aggressive at Kuta Beach, but Gene was really good-natured about chatting them up and allowing to employ their trade skillz.

Don't get used to it, buddy. :p

A pineapple lollipop for 20,000 Rp (~$2 USD)

Hindu cleansing ceremony by the beach.

Bali supposedly has 20,000+ temples on the island. Each village has 3 community temples , and each household compound has their own temple as well!

If you stay at the beach for an entire day you'll notice that Westerners dominate the scene during the daytime, sunning and surfing away. Once the sun starts to set, these people leave to grab dinner or hit the bars. By this time, all the Indonesians come out because it's not as hot and sunny out (they don't like dark skin, like all other Asian groups)... and before you know it you're the only one still sporting a bikini on the beach. And you feel strangely indecent. :p

After 3 days of pure vegetating, Gene and I went on a bike tour through Bali's lush mountainous countryside. It was a FANTASTIC experience, and got to learn a lot of about the Balinese culture... and drink poop coffee. Haha yes, Kopi Luwak, aka Coffee Made Out of Civet Poop (that normally costs $10+ a cup).

Caged civet.

You'd be pretty bummed too if all you had to eat was coffee beans all day. Poor dude must be so wired, which is probably why he was still up during the day (they're nocturnal). :(

The top two baskets are Civet Poop coffee beans (unroasted/roasted). You can see that compared to the bottom two baskets the Kopi Luwak beans look superior. Their explanation was that the civets are really choosy and only consume the top-notch beans, and then as these super alpha beans become even more awesome as they are broken down through the civets' digestive system.

Cocoa drink, Kopi Luwak, Balinese coffee, Ginger tea, Lemongrass tea.

I paid 30,000 Rp (~$3 USD) to try out the Kopi Luwak, which honestly was O.K. for all the hype.

Harvesting rice.

Rice paddies are everywhere in Bali, but none of the harvest is exported. Apparently most families cultivate their own fields purely for their own personal consumption, and take other jobs on the side as well in order to support themselves.

We did 2 wreck dives off the shore of Tulamben, which was soooo cool! So cool. ^_^ The wreck was the USS Liberty, a US Army Transport ship torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in 1942. The whole skeleton of the ship was covered with all sorts of coral and wildlife, it's amazing how fast an ecosystem can grow under the right conditions. :) The first dive we just skirted around the ship, but the second dive we got to swim through the hull... I thought the whole thing was quite worthwhile even though it took 3 hours to drive from Kuta Beach to Tulamben.

Brushed by some fire coral. That stuff hurts. :( Next time I'm wearing gloves.

Earl Grey Martini at Ku de Ta. Posh place.

We spent another day just touring the eastern section of the island with a private tour guide, stopping by the Bat Temple, Elephant Temple, Central Ubud, the Monkey Sanctuary, and Jimboran Bay.

The only time you'll see Gene in a sarong (which is why I'm posting this online, muhahaha!), only because it's required in Hindu temples.

Hello cousin!

We actually came back to Jimboran Bay for dinner twice in one week because the seafood was so freaking delicious. I usually find it distasteful to manually disassemble crustaceans, but I totally shred my Jumbo Crab into little pieces with my bare hands like a Neanderthal. It was so nice to sit on a nicely assembled dinner table right on the beach, enjoying a beautiful sunset and delectable food. The service was amazing. It doesn't take much to live a luxurious life here in Bali....

Final lazy days at Kuta Beach -- life is good.

Yes, life is very good. :)