HEADING NORTH TO LOVINA, BALI

After Ubud, we hit the road for a big trip up to the North of Bali.

Within 10 minutes we got a flat tire. Luckily, Bali is the kind of place where you can walk your scooter down the road, mime to the nearest local that you got a flat and for the equivalent of $4 USD he'll whip off his shirt and change it, right then and there. 

After a few hours of driving we got to the top of a mountain and encountered a make-shift strawberry field with a road stop restaurant that only sold all things strawberry. We got a strawberry pizza which sounds wrong but may actually have been the best things I ate in Bali. 

Loaded up with our bags and surfboards, we looked very out of place driving through the (green, lush and chilly!) mountains of northern Bali. Winding through tiny mountain villages (where I'm pretty sure they don't see many tourists), the locals wave from their windows and little kids run outside yelling "Hallo!" excited to see gringos. It was very much like that scene in Beauty and the Beast ("Bonjour! Bonjour!") but with chicken satay instead of baguettes. 

Around Danau Bratan Lake we haggled for beetroot chips at the road side markets and atop the Buyan and Tamblingan crater lakes we dodged road side monkeys. 

Road side monkeys. The one on the left looks like a cute old man while the one on the right is less adorable: showing it's teeth, showing me who's boss.

Global Citizen's Kafe in Lovina. 

View from the deck at Tepe Villa Lux

Once we arrived, we learned Lovina sounds much lovelier than it actually is. However, it was worth it just for the trip through the mountains. And the strawberry pizza. 

AROUND THE INTERNET

An Ubud home temple, all dressed up for a ceremony. 

For me, working on a computer leads to the inevitable: screwing around online. If you happen to run out of internet and need new distractions, here's a few:

If you like Chance the Rapper (you should), Busta Rhymes (he produced it!) or just good music that makes you think of your Grandma while wanting to dance at the same time, you ought to check out this album by Donnie Trumpet. Specifically this song. 

I can't wait to see this and this and this as soon as I'm back in a place that has a proper movie theater or fast enough internet that I can watch them on Popcorn Time, which is like a free version of Netflix. And an absolute god send. 

A video that utilizes video footage, photo stills and sound effects in THE most perfect way. Plus, this dude -- "Somehow we walk through life intellectually knowing the vastness and uselessness of existence... and on a micro-scale, really giving a shit about tiny small things."  The video was created by the fellow who runs Like Knows Like, which is rarely updated anymore but is still one of my favorites. 

After the Paris attacks, the coverage about of ISIS/Daesh seemed a little too black and white, good vs. archaic religious nuts. This article added more context and is worth a read. 

I loved this interview. 

My work-life balance has been in a risky and experimental state of flux for over a year now (more life, less work) so this article was particularly interesting: "Once upon a time, it was taken for granted that the wealthier classes enjoyed a life of leisure on the backs of the proletariat. Today it is people in skilled trades who can most find reasonable hours coupled with good pay; the American professional is among those subject to humiliation and driven like a beast of burden."

Piecaken. WHY IS THIS BEING UNVEILED WHILE I'M ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD. And where are these "underground dessert eating circles"? How does one get involved in such circles?

Yoga in Bali incorporated a little more meditation than usual. I downloaded the Headspace App to keep it up outside of class and it's great. It has beautiful animations and is narrated with a charming British accent. 

My homegirl Jenny started a darling global goods online shop, called Pip's Marche. It's worth checking out for the product descriptions alone and also may be perfect for your holiday shopping list. 

Lastly! I hope everyone had a lovely and piecaken filled Thanksgiving. 

10 STEP GUIDE TO BEING A TOURIST IN UBUD

Because of it's Eat Pray Love fame, Ubud conjures up images of peaceful rice paddy fields and conversations with friendly fortune telling locals. But also because of Eat Pray Love fame, in reality, Ubud is kind of crowded and loud, and while it's an upgrade from Kuta, it's a full-on tourist magnet. When you're in a place like that, you have to just embrace it and go into full tourist mode yourself.

Here's a 10 Step Guide. 

1. Arrive in Ubud with no plans or accommodation booked. Dismount your scooter and walk with your giant backpack and surfboard until you can walk no more. Last about 10 minutes. Book a night at the first homestay you see. Pay $5 USD a night for a villa with a full kitchen and cringe thinking about how you once paid $35 a night to sleep in a 14 bunk bed dorm room in Auckland. Continue to cringe thinking about how at the same hostel the kid in the bunk above you snored like a congested freight train while holding a smoothie in his hand, which he later spilled all over the floor next to you in his sleep. Think about how much you hated him. Now think about how much you love your private villa. 

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Our landlord.

2. Visit Goa Gajah Temple. Dodge aggressive Balinese ladies who foolishly try to sell you a sarong to cover up your knees, unaware that you're actually a bit of a temple pro who knows full well you get a free one upon admittance. Be psyched about your new accessory for the day, as you've been wearing the same dress 3 times a week for the past month. Tour Goa Gajah Temple which takes 30 seconds as it's the size of a generous walk-in closet. Walk up many steps that eventually lead to a dead end, walk down many steps and sum that up as your cardio for the day. 

3. Visit the Tegallalang Rice Terraces. Put your boyfriend to work. 

4. Stop in at at Clear Cafe which has the philosophy "eat the food you wish to be" yet does not have Carvel ice cream cake on the menu. Settle for a berry smoothie and lavender infused water. Notice all of the lone women there working on their laptops. Blame Elizabeth Gilbert.  Appreciate the pastel walls and your traveling companions willingness to stand in front of them. 

5. Take a yoga class at the giant yoga mecca that is Yoga Barn. Be slightly intimidated by the very cold German instructor who is very strict about the mats being lined up but very amused by the dreaded and tattooed hippies, braiding each others hair while holding their love children outside class. 

6. Sleep well until a trio of roosters start crowing hours before sunrise, like disgruntled employees purposefully screwing up their ONE JOB. After 3 nights of this, march outside and try to level with them. Consider yourself a rooster whisperer when they miraculously cease their squawking after your stern talk. Make a mental note to eat chicken that day when they resume 15 minutes later.  

7. Take another yoga class at Yoga Barn, this time with an American teacher with a terrible attitude. In you downward dog, think about how humans have made an entire industry out of stretching, breathing and sitting quietly and how absurd it is. Laugh on your mat as teacher gets called out during class for being a bully. You will take many yoga classes in Bali, but this will be your most scandalous. Only to be rivaled by one where monkeys attacked the teacher. 

9. Go to a spa/gelato shop (hey why not) and get a hot stone massage, facial, manicure and pedicure for $22 USD total. Leave a massive tip because anyone who spends 4 hours touching your dirty backpacker-y self deserves it and now your toes look hella cute. Emerge feeling like a new woman. 

9. Make your way up a hidden, steep and rocky hill to a beautiful green rice field that completely lives up to the serenity-now stereotype of Ubud that you were promised. Eat breakfast at Sari Organik, enjoying poached eggs (to spite the roosters), a banana pancake and coconut water over a quiet, gorgeous field. 

10. Start to understand how this really would be a lovely setting for a movie.   

LAST OF CANGGU

As work currently consists of staring at a screen for hours at a time, Canggu was a good place to ease into the Balinese work-life balance. It had a colorful creative hustle to it to keep me motivated and cafes to keep me caffeinated but also the ocean down the street for when it got to that point in the day when my left shoulder started to stiffen and I wanted to throw my laptop at a wall. 

An American gal in front of a painting of a Dutch artist by an Australian street artist, on an Indonesian island. 

Sunset at Echo Beach. 

Morning light over the local school. 

Zali + Scott. Zali ran the villa we stayed at and we could often find him and his friends smoking cigarettes and playing Guns N Roses covers out by the entrance. You haven't lived until you've heard the Indonesian acoustic version of "November Rain"

Indonesian version of a Party Bus.

Acroyoga over Old Mans Beach. 

Surfing in Canggu was a challenge as the waves were consistently packed. It's stressful enough just trying to stay afloat/alive in these powerful waves so having to worry about colliding into someone added a whole other level of concern. Fortunately, that only happened to me once. Unfortunately, that someone was Scott. He got the brunt of the collision as my board went straight into his shin and left QUITE the gash. While he dramatically assumed he'd have to get his leg amputated, he was fiiiiiine and I was eventually allowed back into the water. 

While my favorite day of the week was Wednesday for Movie Night at Deus, Scott preferred Sundays for the Sunday Market at Samadi. We'd walk down our street (which was a rare occurrence, it's easy to get lazy here and scooter everywhere) and stock up on peanut butter while trying to dodge the packs of chatty British children running around.

Polaroids at Crate Cafe. 

A few firsts were also had in Canggu, including experiencing geckos outside of car insurance commercials (they make very peculiar sounds which are extremely startling in your bedroom in the middle of the night) and trying dragonfruit, snakefruit and one of the most expensive coffees in the world, Kopi Luwak (which is essentially cat shit coffee), which kinda just tastes like coffee but is worth it for the anecdote.

Canggu was a real trip. 

ALL GREEN EVERYTHING

I was surprised to discover this little girl hamming it up for the camera after I took the photo.

An offering in the field.

Fruit stand stop. 

Artist workspace with a rice paddy view. 

View from the motorbike cut through. 

The rice paddies of Canggu range from faded burnt to a nearly fluorescent green. It was a lovely landscape to have as a temporary backyard. 

SHOTS FROM THE BACK OF THE SCOOTER: CANGGU

KECAK FIRE DANCE

After sunset at the Tanah Lot Temple, we watched a traditional Kecak Fire dance.

It was the classic story of Prince and Princess being banished to live in demon filled forest, demon planting trick deer that Princess would surely want as a pet, Prince trying to catch aforementioned deer for Princess only to have Princess be kidnapped while he way away hunting. A war is waged, a monkey is involved and to be honest, I had little to no idea what was actually going on but was thoroughly entertained nonetheless. 

There's extravagant costumes, pyrotechnics and no music besides a chorus of shirtless men who sway and hit their thighs while doing something that can only be described as a mixture of percussive chanting and beat boxing. The beat was actually really impressive and I recorded the audio here so I would never forget it: 

And of course, Scott insisted on a photo with the Prince afterwards.

TANAH LOT TEMPLE

We took a trip to visit the Tanah Lot Temple, which was built in the 16th century and is protected by venomous sea snakes. 

After being #blessed with holy water and white rice to the forehead.

For most of this past year I've been traveling alone and it was a rare and marvelous experience, that I highly recommend. That said, having Scott around the last couple months has been a wildly different but equally as worthwhile adventure.

Particularly in Bali where everyday life is somehow easier and more difficult at the same time, it's been nice to have someone bounce questions off of, such as "What is it exactly that I'm eating right now?".  He's got my number one traveling companion requirement down: he'll oblige me when I tell him to stand in front of things so I can take a photo. (As seen above.) Plus, he can even pull off a traditionally Balinese look: the frangipani flower behind the ear. 

KITE FLYERS + SPECTATORS

Flying kites is a past time the Balinese take very seriously.

I'm always excited to see (what I refer to as) "kite gangs!": rowdy (by Balinese standards that is, they're a rather quiet and refined people from what I've seen) groups of teams racing down the road in pick-up trucks and motorbikes carrying their massive kites to the beach. It seems to be a male dominated activity with a very elaborate flying system. Spectators come to check out the action too. Here's a few photos of the kite teams and their spectators, at Echo Beach: 

AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD + BEST FOOD IN CANGGU

For three and a half weeks we settled into Canggu and fancied ourselves locals. We got a membership to Dojo Bali, a co-working space for fast wifi to work on a few projects (internet is of course, rather 3rd world-y here) and spent the rest of our time at the beach, exploring the neighborhood, memorizing rice paddy field shortcuts and attempting to speak Indonesian. 

These 2 chickadees look like they're about to drop the dopest rap album of 2015. 

Kids here go to school 6 days a week with only Sundays off. Many classes are in two shifts, morning and afternoon sessions, so throughout the day you see uniformed kids hopping on the back (or front) of their parents bikes and heading to and from school. 

We rented villa (about $18 total a night) at the Taman Dayu villas near Echo Beach and I thoroughly enjoyed walking into our temple-like lodging each day. I never actually used the pool (because why use a pool when the ocean is right down the road?) but I appreciated the view, nonetheless. 

There's a joke in here somewhere.

Scott at Machinery - a colorful cafe owned by a cute Indonesian-Australian couple. 

Iced cappuccino at Koi. 

Crate Cafe.

Even though I found out I can happily eat Nasi Goreng (fried rice) every night without getting sick of it, we certainly sampled the extensive (and cheap!) dining options. Here's the best food in Canggu:

BETEL NUT CAFE: For fresh giant salads and perfect smoothies.

CRATE: Best (and cheapest!) place for early morning takeaway coffees before you ride to the beach to check the surf. Also best banana bread I've ever had in my life. 

KOI: Cute cafe with smiley staff and solid iced cappuccinos.

COFFEE N OVEN: European style bakery with straight out of the oven fresh croissants and killerrrr mango jam. 

CANTEEN: Delicious lunches with a retro surf style decor. 

BOOTSTRAP: Beautifully designed cold brew coffee brand. They do a white brew made with coconut nectar which needs to be exported to the USA ASAP. 

Big Betelnut Salad (4 different salads in 1) at Betelnut Cafe. 

Sunset at Old Man's beach.

The entrance to Dojo, the only office I've ever worked in where you leave your shoes at the door. 

Note the peace sign. 

My Indonesian hasn't gotten much further than simple greetings and exclamations ("bagus!" = "great!") ... which is about the same as my Spanish, Italian and Latin even after 2 solid years of studying each of those. Indonesian has been a super interesting language to learn about though. Since it evolved to enable negotiation in marketplaces (within the various islands of Indonesia that all had their own language) the unified "Indonesian" language is a simple one:

-there's no plurals, you just double the noun. "anak" = child, "anak anak" = children

-there are no tenses, so they stick time words into sentences to indicate past, present or future: i.e. "I pay you yesterday", "I pay you tomorrow" 

-words can be very vague, "besok" which means "tomorrow" can mean the day after today or sometime in the near future. Walking down the street here, when you get hassled for a "taksi" ride and politely decline, there's an immediate follow-up of "maybe tomorrow?!" which made a lot more sense after I learned this quirk. 

Hearing Indonesians speak English made me think they weren't translating well (like the way I massacred the Italian language in Naples, asking "please I have pizza?") but many of their direct translations might actually be spot on to how they speak Indonesian. Makes me think Indonesian might be the language I could excel at, without having to bother with those pesky plurals and tenses. 

CANGGU

Over a year ago, I watched a video about Dustin Humphrey on one of my favorite websites and made a mental note that, were I ever to find myself in Bali, I would check out Deus Ex Machina Canggu as anywhere named "The Temple of Enthusiasm" is probably worth a visit. 

So after Uluwatu, we packed up our scooter and headed off Canggu knowing only what we saw in the video. And that it was on the coast.

We liked it so much that we stayed for three and half weeks. 

Canggu's fruit shops began a morning tradition of giant bowls of fresh fruit, muesli and yogurt.

One of my favorite food finds in Bali has been the Snake Fruit. Once you pick off the scaly brown outside, the meat of the fruit (the flesh of the fruit? the fruit? what do you call the inside of a fruit?) is shaped like a cashew crossed with a garlic clove but tastes like an apple. It's delicious. 

We stayed at the beautiful Rio's Guest House the first few days and took advantage of the shared open air kitchen outside. 

Purple gated entrance which has ruined me because now I want all of my future homes to have purple gated entrances. 

Canggu has the best of of both (Bali) worlds with black sand beaches and sprawling green rice paddies. It has a growing creative ex-pat population, so street art pops up around every corner as well as great shops and restaurants. Along with the Indonesian street food and warungs, there's many Australian/European style cafes which means very, very good coffee. Traditional "Bali coffee" is instant coffee sludge so good espresso is (for me) a very exciting find.  

A very serious 8 year old shop keeper. You should've seen him chop up my coconut with a machete. Seriously. 

Although we weren't in the market for custom motorbikes or surfboards, we of course checked out Deus ex Machina. The Temple of Enthusiasm was a bit fancier than I expected but it was a cool kind of community meeting place for travelers, resident ex-pats and Indonesians alike. With the shop, restaurant, movie nights, art gallery and barber shop it had something for everyone. 

We returned there every Wednesday night for Movie Night where they projected films outside and everyone lays around on bean bag chairs, enjoying the free popcorn. My favorite was Cool Hand Luke. I looked forward to Wednesday every week because apparently even if you put me in an exotic, tropical environment I still secretly just want to go to the movies. 

BITS OF BALI

Indonesian flag over Ulutwau.

They're serious about their 2 minute noodles here. 

Monkeys looking after one another. 

Sunset corn on the cob. 

PURA LUHUR ULUWATU

Bali has over 20,000 temples and Pura Luhur Uluwatu was my first. There, we learned that it is one of the six holiest places in Bali and that Scott looks surprisingly good in a sarong. 

Mandatory temple garb. Gotta cover up those gams. 

The belt was also mandatory temple wear. Not a quirky accessory.

Not a great photo... but look at that baby monkey!

Built in the 11th century, the sea temple is on a giant cliff that overlooks the Indian Ocean. It's dedicated to the supreme Hindu God Acintya (their main, #1 God), but in his manifestation as Rudra, a storm God who is known as the "the mightiest of the mighty" which is now what I would like written on my grave stone. 

FUN FACT: After the Indonesian War of Independence, the country adopted a political philosophy that allowed for freedom of religion but the religions had to be monotheistic (one God only). Hinduism is a religion with a whole lotta Gods, so from what I understand, to comply with regulation, Balinese Hindus emphasize the monotheistic worship of Acintya, but he takes on various manifestations of their OG Gods (goddess of rice, god of mountains, etc). Balinese Hinduism in general is a bit of smorgasbord of Indian religions and animist (the belief that plants, animals and objects possess a spiritual essence) customs that go way way back.

This makes for many rituals, colorful surroundings and the near-constant smell of incense, everywhere you go. 

SHOTS FROM THE BACK OF THE SCOOTER

Renting a scooter is hands down, the best way to see Bali. We've taken ours on highways, dirt roads, city streets and up mountains. It's bananas maneuvering it in busy areas, as other bikers weave every which way like swarms of bees through traffic, including up onto sidewalks. Luckily, Scott had his motorbike license back in New Zealand so he has the quick instincts needed to drive it so I can just direct him via Google Maps and hold on for dear life. I've also been taking photos as we cruise around, so below are a few I took from the back of the bike if you'd like to see...

Side of the road chicken satay. 

Side of the road sticker stand. 

FACTS + COLORS OF BALI

1. When Indonesia's founding fathers declared independence from Dutch colonists in 1945, the official declaration stated: "We, the people of Indonesia, hereby declare the independence of Indonesia. Matters relating to transfer of power etc. will be executed carefully as soon as possible." That was it. That was the entire thing. (For comparison, the USA's was a bit more long winded.) 

2. I'm currently reading the book "Indonesia etc.: Exploring the Improbable Nation" that explains how Indonesia's been working on that "etc" part ever since. Just roving around Bali, it's obvious that Indonesia is still figuring things out. It's an incredibly diverse country with all of the islands, ethnic groups and languages but those different groups are actually living at different points in human history, all at the same time. Some parts of the country (urbanites in big city Java) are hyper modern. Other folks in mountainous rural areas, exists in much the same way their ancestors did. As the author, Elizabeth Pisoni explains, "Often, the more-or-less ancient and relatively modern co-exist in the same space; farmers get to their rice-field on a motorbike, villagers film a ritual sacrifice on their mobile phones". 

3. Given that ancient and modern Indonesia co-exist, the government has the daunting task of sorting out which Indonesia they should make laws for. For example, on the island of Sumba (a world away from Bali), traditionally people used machetes to slaughter animals, slice open coconuts and sharpen pencils. But occasionally, they would use those machetes to commit terrible human massacres. In an attempt to reduce the latter from happening, machetes were banned from use in town or at traditional ceremonies. Most of the people of Sumba found other tools to do the job of the household machetes (like pencil sharpeners). This makes sense, because, as Pisoni explains "modern life erodes even the legitimate uses that still make machetes indispensable in rural Sumba". The parallel between this and America's issues with gun control is pretty obvious. Sure, guns were a major part of the national culture in the US when we hunted wild animals and fought tribes. But now, we go to Stop and Shop and argue in courts of law (or on Twitter). In many ways, the Americans who assert their Second Amendment rights are equivalent to the people in Sumba who cling to their freedom to use a machete. For context, these are the same people who, when arranging marriages, kill a dog chosen by the brides family, and then have a priest from each side "read the dog's heart to see if the pair are well suited."

4. In Bali, people only name their children (male or female) one of 4 names: Wayan (first born), Made (second born), Nyoman (third born) and Ketut (fourth born). If there's a 5th, they just start over again with Wayan.  Before we knew this fun fact, we asked a mechanic if he "knew a guy named Wayan" when we were trying to find the fellow who rented us our motorbike. We got laughed at.