Add More Colour: Kuta

Hi guys!

Just a short update cause I need to catch my flight soon ;). It's my last day in Bali! I'm flying to Singapore in couple of hours. The last two nights I've stayed in Legian. As soon as I arrived here I met some lovely girls and had an awesome party in Kuta (I recommend Alley cats for pre-party and the fancy Sky Garden for later ;) ). Yesterday we went for drinks in Seminyak. There are lots of beach bars with comfy chairs and live music. It was sooo chilled and nice. It's moments like that when I'm just thinking how lucky I am to be here!

While I was in Ubud I did the sunrise hike at Mount Batur, an active volcano nearby. I needed to get up at 2am and we started hiking at 3am. It took us about two hours to get to the top. We were served some breakfast there (they cooked the eggs by using the steam from the volcano!) and watched the sunrise. The view was amazing!

Between Ubud and Legian I also spent two nights at Nusa Lembongan. Its an island in the east of Bali. The beach was beautiful and snorkeling there was amazing! Saw so many fish and beautiful corals, It's quite quiet island, popular for couples... a perfect place to chill. It's quite expensive though compared to Bali so I wouldn't stay there longer than two nights. Apparently it's a popular spot for weddings.

Hi guys!

A week in Indonesia has passed!

As I had expected, coming from safe, organized and clean Tokyo straight to the main street of Kuta in Bali was quite a sudden change. I hid in my room for the rest of the night :D. Next day I chilled by the pool and met some Aussies. There's plenty of them in Kuta! We had a nice little pool party but I had to have an early night because the next morning I was picked up from the hostel to go to Gili islands by a speedboat. Met a nice older American man who seemed to have just as restless spirit as I have. He also had lived in many different countries, currently in China, He seeded this idea in my head that I have to go to Shanghai. Apparently I'd love it there.

I stayed three days in Gili Trawangan and during that time slept altogether only five hours... The Island was beautiful, you just have to go and see it yourself. It's insane. Very good parties in Gili T! Met loads of fun people again and had a blast! It also seems that on this side of the globe I don't get hangovers. I went snorkeling (didn't see the turtles tho) and biked around the island. I could've definitely stayed longer but I had to catch a boat back to Bali to head to my yoga retreat in Ubud (I made a quick stop in Kuta though to have a mini party).

It's my third day in Ubud and just today morning I allowed myself to enjoy the non-partyness! I was so restless the first days cause I had gotten used to the crazy nights. I have a two-hour yoga session twice a day, at 6am and at 4pm. In between I get to do whatever the hell I want! Yesterday I went sightseeing with Dianne who contacted me through couchsurfing site, we had a good time getting lost in the streets of Ubud with our bikes (do NOT rent bikes to go around Ubud...) I'm sharing a room with five lovely girls who are mostly doing volunteer work with children or turtles. I'm living a couple of kilometers from the city center by the rice fields. The locals are very kind and helpful, especially my yoga instructor who has a sixth sense :D. He always knows whats going on in my mind! Regardless of my "closed heart"(his words, not mine) he offered me a job as a yoga instructor... I guess I have to go to India to get my license then.

Lots of randomness has also happened, here's few:

Tried to buy a local sim card in Kuta from a kiosk. The guy said they are sold out but I should follow him cause his friend has one. So I did, thinking we are going to his friend's kiosk. He took me to some narrow streets and made some phone calls. I decided to calmly make my exit, haha. Could've been fine, but better safe than sorry ;).

Casually sitting on a sunbed at night after a party when a local guy comes over and starts to chat. After a while he suddenly licks my shoulder. Whaaaaaat! I kindly asked him to leave. Somebody made a good explanation for it though. Some locals use mushrooms at Gilis so perhaps he suddenly saw me as a massive ice cream and needed to have a taste. Just speculating.

I needed a ride to a monkey forest. I couldn't find any taxis so I went to some random grandpa and asked if he could take me there on his scooter. He couldn't but his brother was more than happy to do it by his car. He played Venga Boys -Greatest Hits from his USB stick. My alter ego now has a husband who's too sick in the hotel room to join me for the sightseeing...

At the monkey forest one of the monkeys took my Hello Kitty key ring and ATE it! Piece by piece. It was ugly anyways.

There's more... But just to give you an idea, haha.

I haven't taken many pictures here. At Gili T it was too sandy to carry a camera around.

I do have a few though ;).

From Gili T: