Bali Part 2: Relaxing, Shopping and Being a Beach Bum (July 26 – August 3)

Jeff and Sophia’s wedding was so much fun, I stayed till the last bus left at midnight and Malu and Scotti stayed as well. So the three of us took the bus back to town and then a taxi back to the villa and I think I was in bed around 1:30am.

First Trip to Ubud With Malu

Malu was all set to go shopping in Ubud with Pat the morning after the wedding as she only had one full day left and this was the one excursion she really wanted to make. After the wedding, I was planning on sleeping in and having a lazy day…but since Pat wasn’t feeling well the night before, I told Malu that if Pat wasn’t well in the morning, to wake me up and I would go with her so she didn’t have to go on her own. So at 8:00am, I had a knock at my door and Malu asked me to go shopping with her. So still half asleep, I rallied to go have an adventure in Ubud with Malu.

So our driver Ketut, Malu and I were off to shop in Ubud for the day. I didn’t really have anything I wanted to shop for, but it’s always fun to look and I know part of the process in Bali is negotiating the price which I knew I could help at. It was interesting as many shop owners would quote us in US Dollars, and I know it’s best to negotiate in local currency (as easier to get a better deal) and then I had to convert to Mexican Pesos for Malu so she could decide if it was a price she wanted to pay. So I was really happy to have the XE.com app on my phone as this helped with the conversions quickly.

Along the way, Malu wanted to stop and see a temple so we stopped at one and walked around a bit.  All the women had to have our ankles covered, so we were given these really stylish wraps to wear as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While we were at the temple, we were lucky to see a ceremony going on. There were young children playing music and even this cute dad and young son playing the drums.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We filled the rest of our day in Ubud wandering the streets in Ubud and shopping at the markets. It was a fun day and Malu was able to get all the items she wanted for her home and gifts. Malu and I had a lovely lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Second Excursion to Ubud with Pat, Joanna and Scotti

As Pat and others missed the first trip to Ubud for different reasons, a second excursion to Ubud was organized, and I figured I would go and see what new adventures we would get into. This time around it was a different type of shopping and the traffic was much worse than when Malu and I went a few days earlier due to the day being a local holiday.

We returned to one of the same stores that Malu and I went to and this was the main store that you have to negotiate for every item. So we went in with a plan of attack. Pat would select what she wanted and the store employee helping us put it all on a table. I would get the price (as nothing had a price on it – just a code). I would call this the starting price as it was ridiculous high. Once Pat had everything she wanted, I showed her the list of starting prices, told her where I think I could negotiate the price to and then asked what she really wanted to pay as well as the highest to understand what she really wanted vs a nice to have. So once I had my info, I went at it with the guy and he kept telling me no….too low.   So I said no to the item and moved on and he would then come back to it. He said he would ask the big boss and I told him to go ask as my offer is firm and nothing more. On the second of ten items, the price wasn’t going any lower, which was fine so we said no and moved on so he knew that we weren’t going to take everything. So in the end….I calculated that I saved 62% of the original price and Pat got nine out of the 10 items she wanted and the item she didn’t get was just too expensive for what it was and not worth it. So we walked away happy and it was a much quicker process as we weren’t going to go back and forth haggling.

So at one point, Ketut took some side street to try to avoid downtown Ubud which helped, but in the end, we had a great day.

Luwak Coffee

After lunch, we stopped at one of the coffee plantations where they have the Luwak coffee and luwak animals. Luwak coffee is the most expensive coffee in the world as it’s quite a process to get the beans. The simple process is the luwak animal, which is like a mongoose, eats the coffee bean whole, digests its and then poops it out. By the time the bean has been pooped out, it has gone through quite a fermentation process during digestion which changes the taste in the coffee.

So we took the quick tour of the grounds, saw some of the luwaks that were in cages sleeping, as they sleep during the day and then are active at night. So here are a few of the sleeping luwaks and some just waking up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I tried the luwak coffee last year and enjoyed it, I decided to order a cup. One cup is $5 US which for a cup of coffee is still 2.5 times the price of Starbucks, but this is much better. The woman brewed the cup in this special brewing system for me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also, at this plantation, they had a young baby luwak and I heard you could hold this luwak and take a photo with him. So what I expected was an animal like a cat that I would hold and take photo. What I found was a very active animal that kept crawling all over my arms, shoulders, chest and was very active. I was almost dancing trying to keep the luwak from falling off me…but he was really cute!

 

Ketut’s Art Gallery and Home

We learned that Ketut decided to become a freelance driver for the villa as that would allow him more time to devote to his passion of painting. He has been painting for many years and wanted more time to paint. We asked if he sold any of his painting and he said he has a gallery at his home. We asked if we could come see and he said he would bring us.

So it was really a treat to come to his home and see both his beautiful paintings and also how his family lives.   Here are a few pictures of his home and front garden patio which we loved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

His paintings were really amazing and his masterpiece is this red one that we asked him to take a photo in front of.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After looking at all of them, I found one painting of Koi fish that was similar to the koi fish that Pat has in her pond in California, and she ended up buying that painting and Malu ended up commissioning a special painting that he is going to make and send to her in Mexico. So a successful day for all.

Secret Beach

After leaving Ketut’s home, he asked if we wanted to drive to another nearby beach which was nice and we were up for the outing. Ketut said this beach is called “Secret Beach” but it’s no longer much of a secret as many people know of it, but it’s still fairly unknown. It was really pretty and more of the locals were there and it wasn’t developed yet like other areas, but I figure in a few years….it will be as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turtle Releasing

While we were enjoying the sunset at the InterContinental one afternoon, we noticed a large crowd nearby, but didn’t know what has happening. As we soon realized, they were all there to release baby turtles. There was a large turtle conservatory in Bali and they rescue the eggs, let them hatch and then release them into the ocean. So I quickly got up and started to watch, as I’ve tried to do this a few times but every time I’ve gone to release, the weather has been too rough to release. So I followed a family that bought a turtle to release (or made a donation to the conservatory) and watched them release the turtle.

Then we learned they were going to release turtles later in the week. Scotti said this was one of the things on her bucket list and she has always wanted to release and shepherd a turtle to the sea. So she got all the details on when and where and we all made sure to come watch.  I brought my waterproof camera (just in case) and was able to get photos and video for all. Jenny’s daughter Marie really wanted to release one as well so there were two turtles in our group. I really planned to videos them both, but Marie was very excited to let her turtle go and released her turtle before I got there to video it, but I’m sure her turtle is off swimming well in the ocean with Scotti’s turtle names “Grey Shadow”.

So here are two video’s of the turtles. The first turtle took a lot longer to get off safely into the ocean as he kept getting washed back, but I followed him. Scotti’s turtle had an easier journey to the sea.

Click on the links below or copy into a new browser:

First Turtle I helped to release – with other family on Sunday (http://youtu.be/NLmmnlzRI84)

Scotti’s Turtle Release – Grey Shadow’s voyage on Wednesday (http://youtu.be/r_q0JYv9DwQ)

Here are a few of the turtle photos as everyone joined in the fun in some way

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are a few more of my favorite shots from the post Turtle release and times at the beach:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scuba Diving

I wanted one day of scuba diving in Bali since last year I did all my diving in the Gilli Islands off Lompok. I remember Sophia told me about the islands of Nusa Lembongan and after doing some research that sounds great for many reasons. So I selected as The Bali Diving Academy for my dive shop, based off all the great reviews on Trip Advisor….my new best friend on this trip, and I was off. I was going to be a full day with an early morning pick up, fast boat to Nusa Lembongan, two dives, lunch and then return to the mainland.

At this time of the year, Manta Rays were my goal. There was one dive spot I was hoping to go to called Manta Point and when I spoke to the dive center, they confirmed they were planning to go there, sea conditions permitting. So once I was in the smaller boat on my way to the dive site, I should have known the sea conditions weren’t great. The swells were really big and we were getting drenched in the boat with every wave. So as we got closer to Manta Point, the captain told the dive master that we could not go to Manta Point as too dangerous. So I was bummed, but safety first always.   So we were off to what was supposed to be our second dive spot and we would start here.

So during this first dive, it was actually pretty amazing. The fish were huge and plentiful and the corals were really amazing and so large. When I turned around and looked away from the reef and “into the deep blue” I saw a giant Manta Ray swimming right towards us which was great. I had my camera ready and you can see the white outline of the underside of the ray surrounded by fish. Then as I was watching him, a second Giant Manta Ray swam by as well. It was such a lucky surprise and I got to see two giant Manta Rays!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The second dive was even more amazing…but before we even got in the water, a pod of wild dolphins swam by us. Our dive master said this is fairly rare and fun to see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once we got in the water for the second dive, we were told this was a drift dive, but a gentle drift. So we were able to float by with very little effort and just watch all the fish and marine life swim by. It was like underwater aquarium TV with some of the largest fish every.

Here are some of the other favorite photos from the dives:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall, these were two of the better dives I’ve done in a long time and I’m really glad I made the long trek to this island Nusa Lembongan.

 

Lunch at Cuca

So cousin Marty and his wife Genesis came to the wedding and decided to stay in Bali a little longer and originally were going to stay at Villa Jambalu for one night before moving on elsewhere, but that one night turned to two, three and then they were just part of the crew which was fun. When we were talking to them, they told us about a great place they went for dinner as one of Genesis’s clients recommended it and they were raving about it. So one night Jenny and Charlie went there for a date night when we watched the kids and they came back and raved about it. Then Pat and Dave went for lunch and came back raving. So Scotti and I had to go for lunch on my last day as well. And like everyone else, it was an amazing meal, experience, presentation and I’m so glad we went. Every dish was beautifully presented and very tasty. I’m not normally someone that takes photos of food, but this was one of the occasions that I had to so here goes:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Indonesia Flag and Bintang Beer at Sunset from our Villa

 

Sadly it’s time to say goodby to Bali. It was a wonderful two weeks. Watching Jeff and Sophia get married, spending lots of time with all the Rose family that I grew up next door was very fun. Now it’s time to pack and get ready for my 3:30am pick up as I have a 6:30am flight and a very long travel day ahead of me to get to Vietnam.

Logistics:

• Restaurant: Cuca – Amazing Restaurant for lunch or dinner (near Jimbaran Bay) www.cucaflavor.com
• Scuba Diving: Bali Diving Academy Lembongan – www.scubali.com
• Guide and Driver: If you are ever in Bali and want to hire a private driver and a great guide for a day, multiple days, airport pickups or whatever, please call Ketut as he is a freelance driver and guide, knows Bali well and speaks great English.  He was absolutely wonderful.
  • Ketut Sunama
    Mobile: +62 (0) 81237 609 611
  • Email: [email protected]