So Bali, to be completely frank, the first impression was a big disappointment. The drive from the airport to our first hotel in Seminyak had alot to do with this impression. Coming from China, I should be used to bad driving, but somehow, I was still not prepared enough for Bali driving. The streets are tiny, dirt paved, and filled with mopeds. At any given moment it felt like our car might hit someone or vise versa. Yet, everyone else seemed perfectly happy with weaving in and out of the road chaos.
Trash was another big problem in Bali. This beautiful island is covered with trash. It’s sad, and its not right! The entire island is lush and green, even in most parts of busy cities. But for every inch of green, there’s probably also a piece of candy wrapper or chip bag near by. For the entire two weeks spent in Bali, I haven’t noticed any official garbage collection system. The only apparent way for disposing trash is individually initiated burning. First I thought the fire and smoke was a part of some cultural ritual, but later realized that it was the daily ritual of trash disposal. Usually this happened in the morning or at dusk. Luckily Bali is a island, otherwise, the air quality will probably also suffer greatly from the trash issue. Anyhow, the stuff that actually get burned are what people bothered to sweep into a pile, but 80% of the stuff on the ground do not get swept. And that is what covers most of this beautiful island. One ‘funny’ story about this is that one time Alex and I were hiking in a jungle outside of a traditional village in Tenangan, in Southeast Bali, at one point, we fell off the suggested trail by our tour book, basically we were kinda lost in the jungle. But thanks to the candy wrapper trail, it eventually lead us to the only mountain side warung (store) in the entire area which also happened to be one of the stops on the tour guide trial. Not to mention, the magnificent rice paddy view the same wrapper trail had opened our eyes to. It was truly a breath-taking view. So I guess, even trash has its useful moments.
Where there’s candy wrapper, there is civilization near by!
- Uluwato beach view from the Villa Istana
Starting a post with a negative note is usually not my style, and really there are still a lot of beauty here! The ocean here is amazing!!!! One of the most beautiful spots was actually in Uluwatu, where Mel and Kevin got married. Uluwatu is the far South tip of Bali, away and away from the touristy Kuta and Seminyak, it is almost all natural beauty that surely took my break away. I say almost because Villa Istansa, where the wedding reception took place, was also THE most stunning, open-aired, clean-designed, well-situated, place both Alex and I have ever seen. It is the ultimate house, villa, whatever you want to call it, place to live, to own, to build, to see, to have a wedding in…. The waves in Uluwatu are also among the most impressive that we’ve seen. Not that I’m a wave expert myself, but the real ones are all hanging out right there below the cliff of Villa Istana. In fact, there was no beach in some of the areas, the determined surfers had to paddle out there on their boards.
- Rice paddies amidst a jungle near Tenganan
The rice paddies in the remote mountains are breathtaking. I hate using the same word over and over again, but it’s fitting, and you’ll agree with me if you saw what I saw. These massive paddies are especially incredible when you find them unexpectedly, like most good things in life. As mentioned earlier, we were lost in the jungle for a bit, although it was definitely not the worst thing that can happen to you to be temporarily lost in a beautiful and sacred Balinese jungle, but when we finally popped out, all we can see was endless tiers of rice paddies peacefully laying in the heart of two jungles. Can you imagine how that looks and feels? All green and manicured to perfection, in the middle of no where… It was beautiful, and felt like finding an oasis in the dessert, hopeful and refreshing!
- A chicken dish from the best restaurant in Ubud, right in the middle of rice paddies and organic, Restaurant Bodag Maliah (Sari Organik)
Prior to Bali, friends have warned us that the food may be bland. Not sure what they were talking about, cuz most of the food we’ve had here have been quite flavorful and delicious for the most part. But of course, by now, after 14 days of eating the same stuff, being the spoiled Berkeleyans that we are, a break from Indonesian food sounds great. All joking aside, Alex and I embraced Mie Goreng (Indonesia fried noodle) for at least the first 7 days of our trip here straight. I’m serious, we literally had it for breakfast, lunch and dinner for a few days… It was that good! Finally when we traveled around more, we still held to our unfailing policy, when in doubt, Mie Goreng…. 
K, there are so much more to write about our experiences in Bali. But I have a feeling this post is getting a little too long for an one-serving reading… I’ll try to do some short addition posts on Bali later…
For now, the adventure goes on… In 3 more hours, Alex will experience his first EVER paid body massage at the, again, breathtaking Hyatt spa, Kriya, in the, what I call, Bali Disneyland resort compound in Nusa Dua….
