Seminyak, Bali: Surfing, Sun and Sand (In My Bikini!)

Right out our door at Blue Ocean...
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It was supposed to be a short little stopover in Singapore enroute to Bali, but of course things couldn't have gone as easily as planned, could they? In line at the check-in counter for Garuda Indonesia, Kevin and I found that we were not going to be allowed on the flight because, no... Kevin didn't get caught smuggling his cherished 15-year old Swiss Army knife onto another plane... but that our pages were full in our passports (being the little jet-setters we are...). We tried to talk our way out of it - Kevin's passport has been full since Africa - "But every other country has let us in!..." to no avail. They said that if they let us on the plane then Indonesia would just send us right back. DENIED. So off to the US Embassy it was for us... in a mad rush to get back in time for the flight, as we were pretty early for the flight. Slamming ourselves against the Embassy gate at 3:35 in the afternoon, we found that the passport section closes at 3:30. DENIED again. So, it was back to the cab and back to the airport to get our refund from Garuda (an airline which we just so happened to learn to be on a Level 2 Security Warning - we discovered at the US Embassy - meaning it has shoddy inspections and basically is more likely to go down than most airlines - good luck Chris and Ian!). A little all-you-can-eat sushi for three hours in the airport to collect ourselves and we sent Chris and Ian off, as we searched for a place to stay for the night. Dilemma #3... BIG convention in Singapore. Translation: Absolutely no hotels for us to stay in. Really, I'm not exaggerating. After two more hours of searching, we had a choice between an expensive hotel we didn't want to pay for or a sleazy room with a communal bathroom in the red light district. We chose the latter... sharing a bathroom with hookers can't be that bad... but it only took a quick phone call for us to realize it was booked! Orchard Hotel <sigh> here we come. Less than impressive and out of our budget at the point. But we got our pages in our passports the next morning and were on a flight later that afternoon, lucking out on a cheaper flight on Singapore Air. Our favorite! Our destinies would not be met with Garuda this time round. Phew!

Brotherly paddle ball.
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And then there was Bali there to greet us. :) And me leaving my wallet in the cab, but we won't mention that now, will we? Alright! I got it back untouched. Very happy about that. We met up with Chris and Ian at the Blue Ocean Bungalows in Seminyak, which is a part of the Kuta region in Southern Bali, but nothing like Kuta, which is basically Cancun, Mexico during Spring Break. Yuck! Seminyak is the best shopping and dining district in Southern Bali and great surfing to boot. We got the boards out the next morning to take a brutal pounding by the Indian Ocean. These waves are nothing to mess with, although I believe Chris, Kevin and Ian had a death wish the whole time we were there. They would take boogey boards out and just get absolutely torn apart by the waves that would break full force right on top of them. It was a good day when there were only about three open wounds on exposed skin coming out of the water. But don't worry... nobody got seriously injured, although I did experience the fun experience of what it may feel like to drown to death! So, that's what drowning feels like! Those waves will keep you down, and having your hair in your face to obstruct a big breath of air when you submerge doesn't seem to help the cause. Two broken sand-filled bikinis later, I managed to make it out of the water.

Two broken, sand-filled bikinis later, I managed to make it out of the water.

Our little beach helper - only the friendliest guy in the world.
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We checked out another big surfing beach nearby called Dreamland. Beautiful place. I highly recommend going! But I guess you really have to be a surfer to go there. The waves are ridiculous. Ian went out and I feared for his life the whole time. Chris and Kev had a go at bogey boarding, but they didn't get out past the first break, so I wasn't too nervous. Ha ha. They didn't have flippers, so they have an excuse... I guess. Hey, I didn't even go in the water, so who am I to talk?

Sunset in Seminyak.
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Seminyak is the place to wind down from our world-wide adventure. The four of us would roll ourselves out of bed and mak our way to the beach, which would consist of 1. surfing or boogey boarding - a.k.a. suicide... 2. checking out all the topless people 3. reading books (mainly Vince Flynn for the boys, of course) 4. paddle ball 5. massages in the beach chair... because why get up? :)

We took a day trip up to Ubud, where we went and visited the Monkey Forest to visit our beloved macaques. Kevin and I have gotten to know them in places like Phnom Phen, where we saw a girl get attacked by one and steal her scarf. We should have known... those mischievous little creatures. Kevin brought a Gatorade into the sanctuary. A rather large, sharp-toothed macaque came and started trying to swipe it out of Kevin's hands within minutes. Kevin actually tried to fight back, as we all know Kevin loves his Gatorade, which has been pretty hard to find for the past 5 months. Well, Kevin lost miserably, as you will see in the pictures and the macaque tormented him by guzzling his whole bottle of Gatorade in the closest tree he could find.

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Good times in Seminyak... where hours turn into days and days quickly into weeks. We ended up staying shacked up in Blue Ocean for about two weeks until Chris and Ian had to head home and we missed them, so we needed a change of scenery - off to Ubud and Northern Bali! Oh, and we found out that our little vacation is being extended. I mean, why go home when you go to Scotland to visit your sister and Norway to meet up with your parents and family friends?! We couldn't resist, of course. :)

Rolling out of bed for a snack.
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A few tips for Seminyak, Bali:

1) La Vida Loca, although has great live music... can get a little loca, if you catch what I'm throwin', and I wouldn't put it past the bouncers to jump you if you're not looking. I think we met about 10 people that this happened to.

2) Seaside Restaurant has great tacos, but I'm pretty sure the pool tournament is rigged. Just when you think you're safe, they'll send in some local ringers to put you in your place. Also, playing against 13-year olds can be very intimidating. And I guess it is true. The drunkest always wins. Right... Chris?

Nice face, Chris-Dog.
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3) Get your shopping done here, although it will most likely end your trip early. As it is doing with us!

4) Avoid diving into trees (cough- KEVIN) at the bungalow where you're staying. I don't think the owners appreciate re-potting early in the AM.