Bali, Bintang, & Barnacles

Bali Bali Bali! It was more of the EAT part of Eat Pray Love for us, but it was sure scrumptious indeed! Sooooo great to be with my mom and brother, and I loved all the Hindu temples and cultural quarks, but maybe I am a lil biased… the beaches in the Philippines are better! And sooooo much less crowded. The amount of tourist and traffic was suffocating, really not what we expected, but overall it was another amazing adventure. We stayed on Lembongan Island for the first 3 days, it really felt like the Philippines because it is still fairly underdeveloped and rural. Matthew and I surfed with Agus Frimanto there, who was a pro junior surfer in Hawaii, same age as Matthew. Next, we went scuba diving with some puffers, triggerfish, and crazy currents. Of course, we also got in a good fix of trashy Honey Boo Boo and Bondi Vet air-conditioned TV time... which just might have been what I was looking forward to most about the trip.

Our meal experiences were the highlight. We ate at a beautiful restaurant called Panorama on Lembongan that looked over the whole island. Bali has 2 main cheap beers, Bali Hai and Bintang, both of which are exponentially better than all the San Mig products here in the Philippines! We then stayed on Sanur Beach in Bali for the next few days, it was very nice, and we stumbled upon a wonderland of religious statues, orchids, and loaded aussies who were staying at this snazzy place. We had a lovely seafood dinner under the sunset on Jimbaran beach, and one of the best meals of my life at Three Monkeys in Sanur, funny as it would have it, everything we ate at most of the places turned out to be vegetarian… toasted ricotta ravioli, pumpkin feta bruschetta, marinated olives, hazelnut salad, pumpkin ravioli, and to drink: ginger margarita (mom), passion fruit cocktail (me), and matt with his 21^st birthday absinth. (He did not seem affected by it much besides unconsciously stomping on all of the street offering baskets as per usual… typical. We watched a spectacular Barong Show at one of the temples, acting out one of the Hindu stories of good and evil. It was so awesomely weird and wonderful, just as expected. Ubud was the coolest town, where the most famous Monkey Forest is.

Barong Show

The Monkey Forest was a debacle within itself, of course the crazy monkeys would sniff out the most vulnerable of our group… my innocent momma. Before she knew what had hit her, a monkey was on her shoulders stealing her Maui Jim shades. I felt just as much worried concern as amusement, but we should have seen that coming, good thing there were human monkey guards lurking around just for these very situations, and she got the glasses back, but not without a fight. All over Bali were really cool silver making places, wood carving, and paintings. A very artsy place indeed. We also went to visit one of the farms where they make “kopi luwak,” the coffee made with civet (wild cat) poop. It is one of the most expensive coffees in the world. We gave it a try… not bad! The most exciting part of that tour though might have been petting the GIANT bat... then watching it lick its own giant bat balls… Disgusting yet fascinating. The next day,  Matt and I attempted to go surfing again on Kuta beach, the world-famous surfing place, but the waves were too big for us and smashed all of the confidence and pride that we had gained from doing so well on Lembongan. Our last meal was the most delightful. It was actually the partner resto of our favorite Three Monkeys, but it was in another city, that Ubud. It took a lot of searching to find it and just at the point when we were most ravished and grumpy, we stumbled upon it. It was totally secluded and so cute. We drank sauvignon blanc and ate eggplant parmesan, four cheese pizza, gnocci, and watched cute ducks chase each other in a lovely quiet nook right next to the hectic streets of Ubud. My kinda perfect meal!!! Fabulous. The whole trip could have only been better if we had our adored Faja with us!

Making Kopi Luwak!

Yikes!

No Biggie.

The Dreamer.

Panorama at Lembongan

Jimbaran Beach

The Last Lovely Lunch!

Since Mom and Matt were leaving at midnight and my flight was not until 8 AM, I stayed one more night at a cheaper but clean looking place… and get this… woke up to a cockroach sneaking down my pants. Not a pleasant wake up, but a very fitting wake-up call back into the reality of my Peace Corps volunteer life. Now it is back to the grind of 10-hour sweat-drenched school days. I have lost most all of my patience and motivation, but I am trying to stay positive in this home stretch. BUTTT another short vacation has saved my sanity! It was Philippines Independence Day last Friday, so some friends and I went to the island of Boracay for the long weekend. It was amazinggg white sand, gorgeous water, full of foreigners and new cool friends! We listened to the best reggae I have ever heard while smoking hookah on the beach, so magical. We stayed in a 10 person strong house with other Australian volunteers from the north of the Philippines (one bathroom, no mirror, no flush (tabo only) toilet… yea we are still in the Philippines, thanks for the reminder) but it was really fun to have a big group. Staying in a house with a lot of people is the only way we could afford this place! One of the nights we went to a “Full Moon Party” at this place called Area 51. So so weird. Can’t really put it into writing… too many people on drugs… too much techno… and too many schwarzenegger Austrian/Russian types dancing shirtless on bars. Needless to say, that was a one-time only needed experience!

It rained every afternoon, but it was even more fun swimming in the waves and the storm, and it would clear up and be sunny within an hour. Windsurfing is really big in Boracay and we really really wanted to try, but it took hours of training and was way too expensive anyways. BUT! While Karla, Meli, and I were swimming, the best wind surfer on the island rode by us trying to show-off.  Meli told me to joke and ask if we could get a ride, and sure enough, he said, “Ok, let’s give it a try!” Then, one by one, we each piggy backed him while he steered the kite to lift us up and flyyyyy up up and awayyy. Sometimes it pays to be a girl, haha. It was soooo fun, and didn’t cost us a thing!!! Well, except maybe our dignity, we probably looked completely ridiculous… I know I looked like a tarsier hanging on for dear life, but so worth it. That weekend was another perfect break from the tedious month of school stressful teaching reality, more reasons why I am so grateful to have been placed in the Philippines were these tropical vacation escapes are possible.

The Daily Storm

Mason Jar Long Islands!

DAUIN NIPA HUT UPDATE: My pup, Pepper, had her own puppies!!! I am not even biased, they are the cutest puppies ever.

The Dweebs.

It is my 25^th birthday next week. So weird and happening toooo fast. I found the coolest rainbow layered cake in the city though, so my PC friends are in for a treat, and we will all retreat to "Koo Koo's Nest" for the weekend.. Then in July I will be doing resource volunteer work, in August is our Close of Service Conference, then I make my way home on September 17^th… can’t believe it, bring on the finale Philippines! Cheers!