And just like that, our trip begins! Honestly when were planning this big adventure, the day we were going to leave was this abstract thing that was far off in the future. Well, the day came and after all sorts of last minute packing and planning, we were whisked off to SFO thanks to Linda and Andrew. But no matter how many times you take a pan-pacific flight, that sucker is LONG, and our flight to Bali took only 26 hours! 🙁
And wouldn’t ya know it, but Tiff caught a really nasty fever that showed up halfway through our flight. Making our connection in Taipei was a true adventure but we were able to make it to Bali safely and our first stop- the city of Seminyak.
What do you think of Bali? You might think of beaches, maybe jungles filled with temples and errant monkeys right? Seminyak is your typical bustling south east Asian city that just happens to be right on the beach. You’ve got billions of scooters sharing two lanes of road (that are actually really 5 lanes) with cars, pedestrians and the errant cow. The people are SUPER friendly and they always wanted to talk. Most people know English and they love to share their experiences with you. They’re easily one of the most smiley groups of people I’ve ever met.
The architecture of the houses is really cool with a style that totally Balinese. Each house has their own temple to ensure the right spirits protect the house and its inhabitants. Little altars seems to be hidden everywhere and little offerings are burnt each morning.
An altar in front of a store
The food is delicious and super cheap (at least compared to San Francisco, but that’s probably not saying much). Our neighbors ran a small Warung (restaurant) and showed me how to make their fried rice dishes like Nasi Goreng. Nasi Campur is like an epic mix platter of Balinese treats ranging from wok fired tofu to stewed pork. Most of the meals here seem to be either rice or noodle based so its definitely all the carby goodness here 🙂 One of the cool things that really made a difference was this service called Go-Jek. Its like a combination of Uber, a food delivery service and Instacart. We used it a ton to deliver food to Tiffany when she was sick. It also made taking cabs super easy and we had a flat rate every time. I also got a pizza delivered that definitely would rival a lot of pizza in SF.
Nasi Goreng being prepped… 
…and Nasi Goreng ready to be eaten!
In terms of restaurants, beyond just local Warungs, we wen’t to a delicious French restaurant for date night called Rev bistro who made one of the best French onion soups I’ve ever had. Sisterfields is a Aussie joint that made an amazing burger (I totally broke down and needed one) and even made deconstructed avocado toast for Tiffany (her tummy was hurting). Across the board we’ve loved almost every meal we’ve had here.
In the city itself, there’s not a ton to do outside of chill at your place, maybe take some yoga classes or stop at the fancy beach clubs like Potato Head. It’s definitely pretty scene-y (which I wasn’t expecting) but the drinks were damn good. It’s kinda like Miami- with a ton more Aussies strutting around. Oh! Drinks are comparatively really expensive because Indonesia being a Muslim country, alcohol imports and taxed heavily. That being said, there’s still places to party. We went out to La Favela which is a…well….favela themed club that’s 3 levels big with AC, cracking DJ’s and candelabras that flash to the beat (its apparently a thing). If you’re looking to shake your ass, we highly recommend it.
Speaking of yoga and self care, Tiff loved her yoga class at Yoga Shala and together we got a couples massage and salt scrub at The Care spa for roughly 55 dollars total which is a complete steal. They even put rose petals and candles every (so romantical).
While Tiff recovered from her cold in the Villa, I got my scuba certification! After so many years of punting it off, I finally was able to stay long enough in one place to get it. The dive crew of adventure scuba diving Bali rocked and they took us to dive at the wreck of the USAT Liberty which is now home to a teeming world of corals, colorful fish and a few sea turtles. To be able to swim up to a wreck like that in real life was mind-blowing and it definitely has given me the scuba bug.
Now that Tiff is back at full strength, we’re off to Ubud- the spiritual center of Bali that we hear so much about. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us!
