1st Day in Bali

Well we are on day 3 of our Bali adventure so let me do a little recapping to what Lacey and I have been up to the last couple of days…

Day 1…

First full day in Benoa. We woke up still a tad jet lagged at the Conrad Hotel in Benoa. We pulled ourselves together and walked down to the terrace where a huge feast was waiting for us. The buffet had the most random foods you would think of for breakfast. You had the option of the standard toast and fruit and egg selections, but then you also had the option to have things like, fried rice, miso soup, squid salads, shrimp cakes and other local foods. We stuck with what we knew and ordered omelets. Well little did we know, and when I say little I mean pun intended…our omelets were the size of golf balls and the sausages were an inch long. People here actually understand what portion control is! So we finished up our munchkin meals and headed for the beach. We laid ourselves down on two lounge chairs just feet from the clear blue water. We soaked up the sun and relaxed our tired bodies until it was time to find where we were going to stay next, as we only booked one night at the Conrad. So we enlisted the help of the concierge…and it became her mission to help us find our next destination (I know we should have done some prior planning…) first our concierge said to go just down the beach.. “just very close down the beach” we would see one hotel that had availability. Well just down the beach turned into a 4 mile power-walk which was fine but we were exhausted and in need of a local bintang beer by the time we arrived…oh and the hotel was nothing great. So we headed back to find a new place, maybe even one closer to our friend Steve. After about 45 calls to a variety of different resorts, hotels and inns we found availability. We arrived at our hotel and they had two options for us. 1) A nice, larger suite with a large bathroom and mini kitchen about 30 yards from the beach and steps away from a large, beautiful pool. Then option 2) “well we have an apartment”…hmmmm an apartment??? We said, “suite?” They said, “apartment”…so we decided to take a look…about 500 yards from the pool and far from the beach…up two stories, dark and stinky they open a door to a room with a purple mini couch and a chair and two twin beds that were half the size of a normal, American twin, oh and it really smelled…Lacey and I look at each other and say, “Suite Please!” so there you have it…we have the nice room, that still smells like my grandmother’s house, but it will suffice. The price is actually half of what it says it goes for online…it is pretty suite..and Lacey, damn she is a bargainer. so we talked them down for a good price..and a great location…9 nights here we come…We throw our things down and start to explore. We walked around, found the good spots to each, sat on the beach, then it was time to do something in town…and by that I mean..4 dollar massages…our friends Kevin and Hank came back from a weekend surf trip and met up with Steve, Lacey and I and we all jumped in a cab..which by the way…is cents is rather than dollars and we headed to our massage parlor *steve’s recommendation*…we go inside and there is a glass window with about 35 girls’ pictures on the wall. They ask you “hard, medium or soft” I laugh..just because you know why…and we all take our pick of girls. I sadly said medium thinking it would be a good work out for my sore back after 24 hours of traveling..um I was so wrong…the point that she started walking on my back and ankles was the point I started tearing up…it hurt so much and when I asked to go softer…her feet dug deeper…I guess I insulted “Kiki” as her picture called her. Lacey asked for it “soft” and her lady “Karin,” gave her a lovely breast and gyno exam..oh for just 4 dollars. We felt violated…but it was hilarious..it was that time we needed like 8 more bintangs...so instead of going to a bar, we asked the cabbie to take us to a market. We walked into the local Batang Market in Legian and almost fainted from the “stink stink" fruit which is a Indonesian fruit that reeks like a dead animal. We grabbed bintangs, waters, Pringles, mentos candies and diet cokes and booked it. We cabbed it home and when we walked into the room I realized my camera and the room key were still in the cab that had driven away. Anyone who knows me knows I started to cry and freak out and cuss the world to everyone around me…to which Lacey had to do major MAJOR damage control because I happened to say F*#$ too many times on the phone with the front desk and then hang up..then slam the phone…twice. Wait…three times…The security desk came to the room and asked me if I wanted to look at the security tapes so we could get the cab number…I said absolutely…I go to a little room, with 5 security guards to watch their 1 camera tape…I get there and I see that something is not right…um..they were streaming me the live video of what was happening right now in the hotel…I tried to explain that what we were watching was happening as we spoke but they couldn’t comprehend…I kept saying “17:40 to 18:00 not present” but they kept telling me to watch…in my state I was in I got beyond frustrated…so I took the mouse and tried to figure out their security systems on my own..all I could figure out was how to change the color of the backdrop…I got frustrated..cussed some more and stormed out…I needed a drink so we got dressed and walked down to the “sunset dream bar.” I have never seen so many ugly people at one bar (which by the way only has 10 stools) in my life…they were all drunk and tank-topped with sleeve tattoos…and yes this was our outdoor hotel bar. We downed our “vodka sodas” and by that I mean bali sodas and headed to Lanai Bar/Grill…now let’s talk about the food here..every restaurant is like a Cheesecake Factory…they have everything from pizza, pasta, hamburgers, tacos, fried rice, gelato to weird local foods that I wouldn’t know how to spell…they have books as menus…we meet up with Hank, Kevin and Steve and some of Steve’s local friends and enjoy a nice American meal…after a couple capharina’s…I had forgotten about my lost camera…Lacey and I were still struggling with jet lag so we called it a night after dinner..when we walked back we noticed a security guard lingering outside our room…he goes “camera?” I go “YEEEEEAH!!!” he goes “come with me” I walk to the lobby and see the cab that we had taken back from the market…the cab driver had been waiting for 3 hours for us to return from dinner…he handed me my camera with the most sincere smile. His genuine respect for me made me tear up. This just hints to type of people that live here…everyone is beyond generous and sweet and caring to the foreigners that invade their towns. He shook both my hands as I repeated my thank yous…I gave him 20 dollars as a thank you but he deserved more…he wouldn’t accept anything else…to put it in perspective..the locals make around 10 dollars a day in high season…but they wouldn’t even accept a tip as a thank you.

This place is paradise for many reasons..and I know that by only being here a day…

Tomorrow we head to Ulu Watu to see the white sand beaches and soak in the surfer lifestyle….of to bed…