Bali Part 1: Jeff and Sophia’s Wedding (July 19 – 25)

I’m finally on my way to Bali. I knew I was coming to Bali for Jeff and Sophia’s wedding in July and when I decided to extend my trip for three months this summer, SE Asia was a perfect spot. It has now been 6 weeks of traveling, and I’m finally in route to the wedding.

I met up with Joanna and her two young kids in the Bali immigration lines at the airport. I arrived a little earlier and was looking for her so she could cut in line with me, as I figured she may need a hand after a very long journey with the kids. She was traveling with them on her own as her husband couldn’t make the trip, and I could only imagine how tired they all would be (not to mention the jet lag for the kids). We originally thought Joanna’s mom Pat would be at the villa already, but due to some passport issues Pat had, she was stuck in Bangkok for a few more days. So Joanna, her son Liam and her daughter Pippa and I had the run of the villa for the next three days.

Villa Jambalu

Villa Jambalu was home for the next two weeks and it was a beautiful 4 bedroom villa with a pool overlooking Jimbaran Bay. It was a spectacular spot to watch the sunset each night as the skyline came alive with colors each night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This villa came with an amazing staff of four (Chef, house manager, assistant manager and housekeeper) and these were all lovely and we had a driver on call for whenever we needed him.   When Joanna and I arrived at the villa, the chef and house manager needed us to make decisions on meals and grocery shopping and Joanna was so tired and didn’t care. She asked me if I could just figure it out and anything would be fine. So I just started to take charge and then this just became my role for the next two week. Every morning I would menu plan with the chef, decide what was needed for food and drinks and sort out what money was needed to purchase the food. Then the chef would then go purchase it all and cook the most tasty meals. Pat later called me the CFO of the household as I just did all the financial management with the villa staff – so I felt like I had a job for two weeks and was being productive again.

Exploring Jimbaran Bay

Once Joanna and the kids were a little more used to the time difference, Liam and I went on a “detective mission” to go explore Jimbaran Bay. Our mission was to find the beach, find an ATM (as we still didn’t have any local money) and maybe a store that sold DVD’s. So we left Joanna and Pippa at the villa for nap time and Liam and I were off to explore. We didn’t know what we would find, but Liam thought this was a fun adventure to go out with me on. It’s very much what I do in every city when I travel, but this was a big thing for him and he was the perfect detective to go out with. We finally found the beach, and some local restaurants and after it got hot and we had been walking for a bit, Liam asked if we could stop for a “mocktail”. Liam was very into mocktails in fun glasses, so I said sure and we ducked into the next nice looking beach hotel with a beachside bar. We ended up finding the InterContinental Hotel which was beautiful. So Liam and I sat down at the bar and Liam was excited to sit there as normally kids can not sit at the bar area, but since it was 12:00 noon, the bartenders didn’t mind. So Liam ordered his mocktail and I asked him what I should get. He told me a beer. I asked him if I should get a small or large beer and he responded, “a big beer…as that is what my dad would order”. It was very cute, so I followed his ordered and got a large Bintang Beer. At one point, Liam wanted to race and finish our drinks and see who could do it first (Joanna and Phil – be careful with this kid and boat races later in life!) I told him it’s not fun to drink our fancy beverages fast and we should enjoy them by the ocean. He said ok and enjoyed our drinks slowly.

 

Liam and I liked the InterContinental so much and raved it about it when we got back to the villa, the hotel became our home away from the villa.   We came down many times over the two weeks to have lunch, cocktails and allow the kids to play in the ocean while the adults enjoyed the beach bar area. It was wonderful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sightseeing in Bali

Since I was just in Bali for 10 days in October 2013 with my friend Jenny Crist, I didn’t plan to do much sightseeing on this trip. Jenny Crist and I really planned a great trip last year to see Bali as we stayed in Seminyak, Gilli Islands and Ubud and then I stayed longer to see Sanur.

So this trip to Bali in 2014 was intended for the wedding and a little rest and relaxing to recharge since it marked the halfway point on my summer adventures through SE Asia. So these sights were more of things I missed the first time around or things I joined others on, but there is so much more to do in Bali…I just did it 9 months prior and enjoyed it thoroughly!

Tanah Lot – The Temple on the Sea

When Jenny Crist and I were here last year, we were debating going to Tanah Lot or Uluwatu Temple. Both were said to be great at sunset and in the end…last year we choose Uluwatu at sunset so we could stop at Jimbaran Bay for the fresh fish BBQ dinner which was wonderful!

So on this trip, Joanna and I wanted to get the kids out of the villa and see something, and I suggested Tahah Lot as I hadn’t seen it and we could plan a fun day out with the temple, beach and lunch. So we called for a driver and were off for the day.

The temple is one of seven sea temples around the Balinese coast. Each of the sea temples was established within eyesight of the next to form a chain along the south-western coast. I have only been to two of them, Uluwatu was last year, and now Tanah Lot. I guess I have to come back again to visit the other 5 temples in the future…

When we entered the ticketed gates of Tanah Lot, I was surprised as there were so many stalls selling local stuff. What was more surprising was there were a couple bricks and mortar stores (Polo and Crocs) along the local stalls. This was surprising as this is a sacred temple and the stores sorta took away from the temple experience. So we kept walking and finally reached the gates to the temple and no more stores.

Once we reached this point, it was quite nice. We entered the gates and the temple is on a large rock right in the sea. So Joanna, Liam, Pippa and I walked around the area. We saw a sign for the “Holy Snake” and Liam wanted to go see it. So I took Liam and Pippa in as I don’t mind snakes but Joanna wasn’t a big fan. Of course, there were locals that were minding the holy snake and asking for a donation to see and touch the snake. Liam and I touched the snake and felt all the holy power of it. Pippa didn’t want to touch it and stayed back to only look. What’s funny is later when we were walking around Tanah Lot, Pippa asked me if I would take her back to see the “Hake” – I didn’t understand but then realized she can’t say her “S’s” yet.   So I took Pippa to see the “Holy Hake”. She didn’t want to touch it, but wanted to get closer to see it and look longer. It was very cute. Pippa also wanted to go see the temple closer with me, so we walked a little further up and climbed the stairs on the side of the temple.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tanah Lot was a beautiful setting for a temple and I’m glad I we went to see it as it was a fun day trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the drive there, we passed some pretty rice fields, and we stopped for some photos. So here are some shots including Liam smiling right on cue for the shot. I asked him to get out and take some photos that we could send back to his dad to show what we were seeing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ku de Ta Beach Club

At this point, it was time for the beach and lunch, so I suggested going to the beach club called Ku de Ta in Seminyak. Jenny Crist and I spent an entire day here last fall, and this time, we wanted the kids to have time to play in the ocean and a nice lunch at the beach. It ended up being the perfect spot for both. Joanna said she could come back here for hours and just read and relax and I said that was the idea, but sadly we never had the time to come back, as it was far from our villa.

At lunch, Liam and Pippa really wanted milkshakes, so trying to be fun, I quietly asked the waiter if he could bring the milkshake in a martini glass for Liam, as that is how James Bond drinks his drinks. When it arrived Liam was very excited as that was a fun drink. Joanna, Liam and Pippa were all having a lot of fun at lunch so I think Ku de Ta was a success.

Finally the other villa guests arrived. Pat and Dave arrived on Tuesday right when we got back from Ku de Ta, along with a surprise guest – Malu from Mexico. Pat brought Malu as a surprise for Jeff as Jeff stayed with her in Mexico when he was a teenager and hasn’t seen her in years so this should be a nice wedding surprise. Then the last villa guest was Scotti who arrived Wednesday from England, and she arrived an hour before we left for the welcome dinner. We were impressed she rallied and got dressed and joined for the welcome dinner.  So the villa was full now.

Wedding Events:

The next three days were full of wedding events from the welcome dinner at Sophia’s parents’ house in the city of Sanur, which was the beach town I stayed in last year. The next day we went to the rehearsal dinner and finally the wonderful wedding on Friday.

Here are some of my favorite photos from the wedding:

The lovely Bride Sophia and Groom Jeff and me

Jenny and Joanna and their kids

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The wedding “cheese cake”

As Sophia is Dutch and they love cheese, they had a special cake make of different delicious cheese. As I have been traveling in Asia for 6 weeks (where there is very little cheese and what you find is really quite boring), this cheese cake was ever a better treat than a normal day at home. It was heaven!

The wedding venue after sunset

Now that the wedding is over, it’s time for everyone to relax a little more. The second week in Bali was going to be dedicated to just that. Shopping, relaxing and time at the beach. More to come later….