After an amazing Wedding (best day of our lives!), we were off to our first stop on our honeymoon – Bali!  There are no direct flights to Bali from LAX, so we were in for a lot of travel time.  After 20+ hours we finally arrived to our destination and took a cab straight to our resort – Amana Villas (which has now since changed its name to Equilibria) in Seminyak

Once we exited the cab, we were escorted straight to our room. The whole staff already knew who we were and that we were due to arrive that afternoon.  Our private butler checked us in inside our private villa and showed us around.  It was so beautiful, I have such fond memories just thinking about it.  It really feels like your own paradise being in your own villa.

Minh mentioned that we were there for our honeymoon and they also set our room up with flower petals everywhere. So pretty! Such great customer service for them to even take the time to do that. Notice how each flower is carefully placed and color coordinated on the bed? Major attention to detail at this place, I am very impressed.

 We grabbed dinner that night and had an early night as we were still pretty jet-lagged.

The next morning, our butler rang the doorbell and set up our breakfast and then opened up the panes so that it was opened up to the outside, so it’s like you’re having a nice picnic outside, without actually having to sit outside!  Love this place so much!

You get to pick between an Asian or “Western” breakfast.  I went for the Western breakfast just cuz I love breakfast food, and most of the Indonesian options were fried like Nasi Goreng or Mie Goreng.  That, of course, meant Minh got the Indonesian option.  You also get to pick your juice, that was my favorite, it was so good and refreshing. I got the refresh: carrot, apple, orange, ginger blend.  They seem to put a lot of ginger in stuff in Bali.  Especially in their juices and drinks, it’s like a huge knock of ginger in your mouth after you finish your sip.  It’s not too bad, just takes some getting used to.

After breakfast, it was off to a couple’s massage that Minh pre-booked for us.  After our massage we grabbed lunch at a burger place called Wacko Burger.  We tried looking for Indonesian/local food, but there weren’t any!

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For dinner, we went to a restaurant called Scratch, which is owned by an American. He had a bunch of American memorabilia everywhere and was playing a bunch of American radio hits. Minh ordered some fruit drink again, and I felt really dehydrated so I stuck with water. So far at every restaurant, they have served us bottled water. This time, the waitress is serving water from an iced jug. I’m kind of second guessing if I should drink the water, but I figure, this guy is an American, so it should be ok, the water is probably filtered or something. (Spoiler Alert: I was definitely not adapted to the water and got Bali Belly the next day!)

After dinner, we stopped by the convenience store to buy snacks to bring home as souvenirs for everyone.  They have a lot of Tim Tams there, and remembered everyone liked eating those so we probably bought about 6+ packages.  In the checkout line, there are two Australian ladies behind us and she keeps repeating “Wow, somebody loves Tim Tams!” And keeps talking about how much somebody loves Tim Tams to her friend.  I look over at Minh and say, “I don’t think they know we understand English” I try to say it loud enough so she’ll hear me say it to Minh, but he’s distracted paying for everything and I tell him the story as we walk out the door.

We knocked out pretty early that night again.  I don’t know if it’s partially because we are so exhausted and jet lagged, but those beds were sooooo comfortable.  Amana Villas is dedicated to being “green” and eco friendly, so the sheets are made of bamboo and are super soft.  You’re actually able to buy a set of sheets from the hotel to take home.  I really regret not buying it, because it’s hard to find and expensive here in the US.  Will definitely get some next time we go back!

We had an early morning bike tour scheduled in Ubud with Bali Eco Tours. While on our way out of Seminyak, everyone was in their way into the city on their mopeds.  Traffic in Bali is pretty intense and people on their mopeds go really fast.

First stop on the tour was breakfast overlooking a lake/volcano.

While enjoying our breakfast on the outdoor terrace, we hear a bunch of chopping and slapping noises down below.  We look down and see this lady preparing the fish (on a rock in the dirt), that is being served to everyone at breakfast. The fish are all flopping around and there’s a bunch of flies circling the batch of fish.  Hm, is that sanitary?  At least you know the fish is prepared fresh! Haha.

Onto the bike tour!  First stop:  A typical Bali compound in Ubud.

The tour guide explains that each compound has a sign out on the front that lists how many people live there and their last names. We go inside and he explains more about their way of life and shows us their living quarters.  He explains that all the compounds their company work with get a cut of the money they make from the tours, thus, allowing people like us to come in and take a look. We head toward the back and see there’s a bunch of pigs and farm animals!

Riding through the villages, little kids and old ladies would wave from over the wall really excitedly.  They seemed less excited to wave at me and Minh though, we’re not as exotic looking since we’re Asian.  Some of that biking terrain was really tough and scary. Especially going up and down that unpaved bridge/hill.

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The biking portion of our tour is over…all of us are super sweaty and exhausted (it’s humid and hot on top of everything!).  Our tour loads up into the car (10 of us), but before we take off, one of the Australian ladies in our tour group starts looking at some sarongs that a local woman is selling.  She decides she doesn’t want to buy it and the local woman basically comes into the car being aggressive about making a deal.  The Australian lady comes back just as aggressive and tells her “No, we agreed on X for both, not for 1! We’re done! We’re done!”  And then the local lady finally agrees to the Australian lady’s price.  The tour guide even comments that she is tough. Another Australian guy in our tour jokes and asks if she can go with him next time he goes shopping. I, myself, am very impressed.  Wish I could negotiate like that too.

Last stop: Coffee Plantation! Apparently Bali has the most expensive coffee in the world, called Kopi Luwak, produced by this animal – a Civet. Civets eat the coffee berries and their digestive system ferments the coffee bean (very flavor-ly) and then poops it out whole. The coffee plantation then collects the whole bean and roasts it. Or in other words, Civet poop coffee! Minh ordered a cup to try it, it tasted really bitter, but I don’t drink coffee to begin with, so I can’t tell if it’s actually good or not.