After the wedding, we stop by at Bali for a few days before coming back to Japan. We enjoyed the beach, the art, the food, the people, and of course the relaxing atmosphere. In this article, I would like to share stories from our visit in Bali.

We first stayed at Discovery Kartika Plaza Hotel and explored the famous Kuta. Since it was our first time to Bali, and we nearly did not prepare anything for this trip, we just walked around this area with the newest edition of Lonely Planet in the bag. We have heard of reminders, but still we were surprised to see the many aggressive tour guides in exactly every corner. But they were only trying to make their living, so we decided to enjoy this hospitality anyways.

After some short walks around the beach and the art market in Kuta in the first day, we decided to have a short trip to Ubud to enjoy more art for the second day. Instead of the museums, our guide took us to several art galleries. In the first gallery, we found an interesting painting of a temple. The artist used thick paint to make a three-dimensional effect of the temple’s carving. For me, this was the most attraction of this 2x2m wide painting. According to the gallery owner, the artist was still young and the picture was his first big piece. We did not understand much about art, but the painting was just enjoyable.

We also stopped by at a silver showroom in Celuk, and here we found an adorable cicak (house gecko) brooch (!). The showroom was big and finely managed, but still the service could have been better (taking off the price tag and provide a different paper bag for a gift is definitely 当たり前 for me…).

On our way back to Kuta, we managed to visit the famous Pura Luhur Ulu Watu. It was as thrilling as in the pictures, but the sky was too cloudy for the sunset to be enjoyed. Anyways, we did enjoy the great view and waves there.

The next day we headed once more to Ubud, and this time we got the chance to have our portion of Babi Guling (Balinese-style roast suckling pig) in Warung Bu Oka. Both our guide and the Lonely Planet gave very high recommendation for this place, and we are pleased to say that the meal was very delicious. During lunch hour, the place is very crowded mostly with tourists, but that day we arrived there quite early so we did not have to queue at all. The only line we saw was several calm dogs waiting for their share of leftovers.

Again we went to several galleries, and this day we learned the differences of ‘traditional style’ and ‘Ubud style’ painting After purchasing my choice of painting (fidens did not get his because what he wanted was a huge surrealist painting which would suit no where in our apartment ), we headed south to Dreamland to touch the white sand and blue sea. There our lust for a picturesque beach with surfers on the waves was finally met. The sand was white and soft, the sea was bright blue, and there were surfers. Too bad none of them are as good as in the television.

Our guide that day was very friendly (and he speak some Japanese too ^-^), so friendly that he made friends with a nice couple from Germany who did not have a ride back to the city (the beach was miles away from the city, and the only taxi in that area offered them an outraging price). So for those of you who are planning to go to this beach, please do not take a taxi there, because it will not wait for you (it was the beach’s rule), unless you are ready to pay whatever price for your ride home. There is no other means of transportation except for the high rate taxi. The safest way is to drive your own car or, if you don’t know the way, rent a car with a driver for the whole day.

After dinner in Legian (was it?) with a dear friend whom we haven’t met for two years, we went to our next lodge in Sanur: the Puri Stana Gopa, a midrange hotel recommended by another friend. It has traditional Balinese architecture and we found it quite comfortable.

The next day, we tried out some water-sport activities in Tanjung Benoa. My first diving experience was very exciting, but Fidens liked parasailing better. We also went to Pulau Penyu (this is probably not the real name of the island) by boat and foot because the tides went out so the boat could go near the beach. There we visited a small turtle conservation spot which also has a collection of several other animals like iguana, snake, bat (as in the picture), etc.

We had a late lunch at a ‘Surya’ seafood restaurant, privately recommended by my brother. The lobster was big and tasty, the clams were yummy, and the shrimp was good. Tired, full but content, we went back to the hotel and spent the evening walking around Jl. Danau Tamblingan in Sanur.

In our last day, Fidens had this craving to fly a kite, so off we went to a windy beach. We found a bird-model kite and while waiting for the wind, we saw boats coming from Nusa Lembongan (the beach was a mod est port) and had one plate of kupat tahu, not long after our hamburger lunch. He finally managed to fly the kite and after flying it 30 minutes or so, we left the beach and gave the kite to an old man for his grandson.

We then went back to Jl. Danau Tamblingan to try out a package at Natural Spa. We had a nice warm bubbly bath, 15-min-long-but-felt-like-forever sauna (sorry, but i really can’t stand the heat), massage using Cendana-oil, lulur, and finally mandi kembang (just like in the brochures!) in a private room for couples (^-^). We went to a small shop nearby tried to look for brem (and we found them!), and we also found a small Japanese warung for our last dinner in Bali. We then head to the airport for our midnight flight back to Japan.

All in all we had a great time, and will definitely be back when we have the chance. Hopefully next time we would have enough time to join a full diving course to obtain a beginner’s certificate. いつになるのかなー