Bali, Indonesia

Friday we left Thailand and moved on to Indonesia. We had a 6 hr layover in Singapore and decided since the visa was free to hop out of the airport for a nanosecond to see what all the hype was about.

I have to say, Singapore was just a big huge tray of assorted caviar in comparison  to the cluster of crap that had been flung at us in the days before. We all patched up our bruised and beaten scars, lathered our bodies in after sun burn spray and calamine lotion, got our rabies shots out of the way and reveled in exuberance for a half a day. Singapore was by far the most beautiful, well planned (you heard me irvine), most architecturally sound city I've ever seen. Every building was oddly shaped and decorated in an abundance of metal art installations and up-kept flowers and plants. I kept looking for one piece of trash and one little flurry of tackiness but I was at a loss. We asked our taxi driver for his advice on where to go and he said the Marina Bay Sands resort. I had not a clue where we were headed, and if you can believe it, when we approached I actually recognized the hotel from an email with photos my grandpa had sent me years ago. The email was a forward that highlighted the extremities of this hotel. 

It looked as though a arched cruise ship was plastered atop three buildings. I still can't figure out of the thing doesn't topple over. We were too frugal to invest in the $20 hike to the top because you could only walk around in a very small area. However, if you google it you'll see theres actually an infinity pool that trickles off the side of the high-rise. We walked around in the shops and checked out the casino (which was $100 to get into!) and I have to say, everything was rodeo drive X 5000. The mall had an indoor mini venice that ran through the interior, and there was an ice skating rink with faux ice (I don't even understand how it worked). We've been used to our $5/meal luxury, so a $19 veggie burger and fries was a bit of a shock. Nonetheless, I am so glad we decided to venture out and wander around the elegant city. My sister and brother used to think that I enjoyed checking out restrooms on road trips as a child when in actuality I just really had a small bladder. Maybe they were right about my fascination because I tend to find myself referencing restrooms quite a bit here. Compared to the bathrooms here that charge you according to whether you "urine", "motion", or "bathe" in a fly infested dung hole, the free and very swanky restrooms in Singapore were very impressive with their touch screen survey at the end asking to rate my experience (which was always of the highest caliber).

We finally got to Bali and were welcomed at our incredible hostel, the Island Hotel. It's adorably decorated and very welcoming. I'm currently on the top bunk of a 12 person unisex dorm room. I've never shared a hostel room with guys before and I have to say, waking up to intense eye contact coming from the bloke across my bunk space was weird and uncomfortable. I have to sleep in my chones because it's 100 degrees out and our A/C broke, so hopefully I'm not awkwarding anyone out. Sharing a bathroom with boys is also sort of weird, and I have become quite the germaphobe. I'm glad I didn't pack my blacklight.

Yesterday we hit up the local beach in Kuta where we're staying. Someone we met at our hostel overheard us talking about wanting to rent surfboards and told us he's been here a million times and has a friend who would lend us some. We followed his directions (left, right, left, straight) which were typical for Thailand, Lao, Cambodia, and Bali now as no street is really properly labeled. Miraculously we finally found Sam, a tan curly haired toehead indonesian who probably sleeps in kelp at night, that's how much he lives for surf. I immediately fell in love with the beach because it reminded me of the beach I grew up on every weekend in Newport. The water temp was perfect, the swell was beautiful, and the beaches were plentiful. We barely got out of the water the entire day.

I was sitting in the water where the waves were breaking, drinking a beer and zoning out when all of a sudden I looked down the way and saw a huge group of 12 year old kids on a field trip. I thought I was imagining things when I saw a few boys posing for photos behind me, until their teacher approached me and asked if it would be okay if I posed for a photo with the little boys. Immediately I felt like a slut and felt pretty weird about it. Drinking is not really kosher here due to the strict Hindu religion, nor is immodesty. Since we were on a surfer beach I didn't feel weird about being in my bathing suit. I knew they were wanting to take photos with me because I looked like the the big western ho they had seen in the movies, but that didn't stop me from throwing out my peace signs and pretending I was a celebrity for 5 minutes. Before I knew it I was posing with the entire middle school, plus all the teachers asked me if they could get one with me as well. Awkward while standing next to the lady in the burka! :)

At the end of the day when our skin was crispy and the sky was purple, we said our goodbyes to Sam, who asked us what we were up to the next day. We told him we wanted to go to Ubud, the countryside, for the day. "Perfect, I know just the person who can take you", he said in broken up english, and introduced us to "Bang Bang", the custom sunglass seller we had been trying to avoid on the beach all day. Bang Bang handed us his business card (which really did say "Bang Bang" on it) and told us he would be at our hostel at 930 am. They're very punctual on this side of the world and were here on the dot to pick us up. Our late night dancing and sweaty lack of sleep made it a difficult task to arise in the morning, but alas we were off to (do I dare say it again?) one of the top 5 most beautiful places I've ever been.

We stopped at an oasis of colorful terraced rice patties with surrounding palm trees, and then moved on to taste luwak coffee. On my flight over to Thailand I was watching a special on Indonesia and Luwak Coffee was highlighted so I already knew all about it. Luwaks are like a opossum mixed with a mongoose and they eat only the good coffee beans as well as other fruits in the area. They then rid themselves of the coffee that is collected by workers in the area. They look like little nutrageous bars and the coffee beans are not digested. They are peeled, cleaned, and roasted, then finely chopped by a stone and mortar. The amount of work that goes into the process was impressive. We taste tested the coffee and it was really good. I feel weird about calling poo coffee robust but it was very robust.

Sam and Bang Bang took us then to the mountains to a restaurant that overlooked a panoramic view of a volcano and more rice terraces on the horizon. We ate an all you can eat buffet of greasy delicious food and then headed to Tanah Lot which is a Hindu temple carved out of rock right on the beach. It was very therapeutic and relaxing to be there, and we drank and splashed holy water on our faces while the monk's blessed us by adorning our temple with pieces of rice and a plumeria bud behind our ear. 

Today we will try to find some good snorkeling and shop one last time before Lauren heads home tonight. She's bringing some of my stuff home so I'll have a lighter load on this trip. I'm really sad to see her go. Everyone questioned our ability to get along well for a month, and I think she and I chose eachother as friends back in junior high because we both were so drama free and couldn't handle the catty pre-pubescent teens that surrounded us. We have really worked really well together and my idea that I can't spend every waking breath with someone for more than a week has been shot. It's been over 730 hours where she has been in my vicinity and to be honest I love her more than ever! She has really put things in perspective for me and has helped me sift out my negative thoughts about myself and my future.  I'm learning that friendships and relationships are what you put into it...and having the faith that I have had to not just make this trip work, but to keep her as my best friend forever has made me forgive the stupid small stuff that isn't worth arguing over. 

In a couple days I'm moving on to Sydney and I'm excited to be able to see this awesome country but also I'm really excited to cook. I've eaten every meal out for over a month and I just want a home cooked meal! I'm staying with a friend from college, Meghan Long, who moved there after school. She was so gracious to let me stay there and I can't wait to see her.