Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Bali Part One

I've been too busy recovering from the most amazing vacation ever to post, but now I'm ready to relive some of the incredible moments from this fantastic time. (Please excuse any redundance in adjectives, as my vocabulary isn't large enough to come up with that many effusively positive words, haha)

So the vacation began, as they do nowdays, in the Incheon International Airport. It just so happened there were 6 of us that knew each other, all on the same flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, so the wait was far from boring :)

Waiting to board (and showing off my blonde locks, hee hee):


Our supervisor made us promise to wear our masks, so we wouldn't get swine flu (for more on why masks are ridiculous for preventing ANYTHING on flights, e-mail me), so here's our proof picture:


The flight to Kuala Lumpur was about 6 hours, but I was able to sleep a bit and read a lot. We had about 24 hours in KL, so Stacy, Steve, and I had booked an evening tour, including a Hindu Temple and a buffet dinner showcasing Malaysian and Indonesian food and talented dancers.

Statue in the temple:


The Petronas Towers, as seen from our restaurant (I was supposed to take another tour in the morning to visit these, but was too sleepy and living it up taking baths!)


Some of the dancing:


For the tour, we were picked up by a very excited and talkative Malaysian man. He taught us how to properly pronounce vowels and was constantly answering one or the other of his cell phones. Plural. I hadn't realized before we got there that in Malaysia they drive on the left side of the road. Actually, I didn't realize until I was trying to get in the front seat and the driver kept saying "You, front seat, you front seat!" (with me all the while thinking "THAT'S WHAT I'M TRYING TO DO!") I realized my mistake when I saw the steering wheel right in front of the seat I was trying to sit in, hahaha.

After the tour, we were pooped, so we went back to our hotel and went to bed. This king-sized bed is part of the reason I missed my morning tour:


The next day I caught my flight to Bali... it was maybe another 2-3 hours. I was excited to see, when I exchanged my money, that their currency was way prettier than the US or Korea. The driver, Bagus, from our hotel in Jimbaran (The Puri Bambu), picked me up and kept apologizing for his bad English while I tried to talk to him.

When I got to the Puri Bambu, I sighed heavily, and was pretty sure I was in Eden. The reception area, the restaurant, all were open air. I had never before been anywhere where good weather was such a guarantee, they didn't even build walls! Our room was sparse, but nice, and had a great private patio in front:



The grounds near the pool:


I couldn't shake the feeling of peace and happiness that had sunk in. I knew already it was going to be a fantastic vacation. I went to the restaurant and had some dinner, brought a cocktail back to my patio, and waited with a smile for Audra to arrive.

That's all for tonight, folks. But enjoy this preview picture of part two:

Audra with Monkeys


Love you all!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Man, I SO WISH I COULD'VE GONE!!! You are WAY blonde young lady! And those damn peace signs! I'm a fan of the thumbs up, as I'm sure you know. Old school, I guess! Love the pics so far. Keep 'em coming, hot stuff!

audra said...

We need to coordinate our foursome...vacation that is, even if it is to Branson!