Islands Part 2
The start of a new decade always signifies a big change, and turning 30 is what I would consider a major life event. To some, it may just be another birthday, but to me it is a turning point. When I was younger, I used to say I will know myself and be more comfortable in my own skin when I reach 30. And I kept telling myself, I will be successful in whatever I do by the time I'm 30.
I had made my decision to have kids after I reach 30. I think no one really knows of this, because I never really verbalized it, but that was what I wanted.
But if you know how life works, things don't always go as how you had it planned.
I celebrated my 30th birthday this year, in July. A few months before that I was dreading turning 30, because within a couple of months, I was husbandless, I was childless and I was not living the life I wanted nor was I doing what I was passionate about for a living. Nothing is more wretched to the soul than a broken dream I must say, but as someone very dear to me said: Life is a marathon, you gotta keep running (or something to that effect). So here I am, still running, still breathing.
Bali and Gili Trawangan
For my 30th birthday, the quarter took me to the island that I have been wanting to go to for aaaages, Gili Trawangan. I have been hearing about this place from friends and looking at their pictures and wanting to go so badly. And what better occasion than going there to celebrate a new decade of my life?
Since there weren't any direct flights to Lombok at that time from KL (now Air Asia has direct routes to Lombok, AFTER I went, gee thanks Tony!), we had to fly to Bali. I did not want to go to Bali actually, because of some superstition I had the bad luck to know of (something about unmarried couples shouldn't go there, blablabla) but we had to as the boats only leave from Bali.
So we flew to Bali and spent a night there. Now I haven't been to Bali for a few years, the last time I went it was with the ex when we were living in Indonesia and the accommodation was sponsored by a client as a gift to us, and it was directly across Kuta Beach.
I got my geography a little confused and booked a place that I thought was close to Kuta Beach but it wasn't. Now I understand, me and maps will never be best friends. Bali looks so different, it felt quieter, and although I see tourists everywhere, it just feels like there weren't many people visiting. And this is in July, a month where I thought there would be a lot of people holidaying (especially Australians since it's winter there).
We had a nice lunch at a cafe that was quite charming but was practically empty and decided to walk around, and maybe shop if anything caught our fancy. We also wanted to get henna tattoos at Kuta Beach. So we headed in that direction, because we thought it was just around the corner.
We took a cab eventually. And got stuck in traffic. We decided to jump out and walk, and along the way we stopped and got me a sundress from one of the local boutiques and got him a t-shirt from Hard Rock Cafe. Now this part I don't understand, why would anyone want a tee from a chain hotel / restaurant? For me, if you travel, you get something local, something unique. And I don't mean touristy souvenirs. Maybe local paintings, local music, local fashion. I digress. Anyway, I think getting a Hard Rock tee is an Asian thing that I would never figure out. (Good thing his tee had a line from a Beatles song, so it's not too bad).
After much walking, where I thought I would've lost 10 kilos and looked great in my bikini the next day, we reached Kuta Beach. Immediately we were swamped by local peddlers - accessories, paintings, drugs, henna tattoos, drugs. Kidding. Not sure about the drugs thing. He haggled with this guy about the price for the henna tattoos. I wanted to tell him to let me haggle because I can speak Indonesian (I think, though I haven't had much practice for years), but he was enthusiastic, so I let him be.
We settled on a price and chose our designs. I wanted a scorpion with some tribal design as its wings on the low of my back, and he decided on a tribal design on his upper arms. I was offended that the tattooist wanted me to pick a butterfly design. Why? Because I'm a girl?
Kuta Beach was packed that day, and I flashed my underwear to half of it while getting the tatt done on my lower back. Thank God I don't know anyone there. And while I was waiting for his to be done, there were some tourists who came and stood by me to take their pics with me. That was fucking weird. I don't know if they thought I was a local tourist attraction or they mistook me for a sinetron actress, but that was fucking weird (I don't like having my picture taken by strangers).
We walked a short length of the beach taking pictures afterwards. As it was sunset and the day was clear, the silhouettes were beautiful. A little messy as there were too many people, but beautiful nonetheless. At the same time I got to practice my photography skills using his camera. Unfortunately for me, because I work with photographers, that didn't translate to me being exceptional at it. However, some of the images were really breathtaking. There is nothing like a beautiful sunset to inspire the most artistic outcome out of everyone.
We had dinner at a restaurant not far from the hotel as we were exhausted and had to rest as our pick-up to the jetty was early in the morning.
The next morning, after breakfast we made our way to the jetty to catch our boat to Gili. It was to be a 3 hour bumpy ride. During the ride I had to endure watching this entire gwailoh family get seasick and puke in various places. It was disgusting. Thank God I plugged my ears with music and didn't hear any of it.
We finally arrived and oh my god, it was amazing. We snapped some pics while waiting for our bags, and one that I will remember is the gay couple who immediately posed by the beach. I remember them because the quarter was saying that their bodies were so toned. They were like really fit, lean models. Also because we were trying to guess if they were gay, and we were right.
We took a little pony cart to our hotel, The Hotel Vila Ombak (there were no motorized vehicles on Gili Trawangan). Apparently it was the largest hotel / resort on the island. We couldn't get a beach front cottage for our first night, so we had to stay at a garden / pool front room. The room was huge, my only complaint about the hotel was that the water was saline. They provided fresh water in a large clay bucket, but you know, saline water ruins your hair. I had to brush my teeth with mineral water too.
Anyway, on the first afternoon, we chilled out by the beach. To the uninitiated, Gili Trawangan hotels although it says beachfront, do not have their own private beaches. The hotels would face the beach, but the beach is actually across the main road. And the beach is very short, about 7 loungers and two steps long. It's also littered with dead corals / pebbles thus making it hard to stroll barefoot at the edge, and the waters were choppy and deep, so you hardly see swimmers.
It was, however, undeniably beautiful. You could see the mountains from Lombok and the other two gilis (gili means island by the way) nearby. The whole stretch just makes for a perfect picture.
It got chilly by the beach near sunset, so we decided to jump into one of the saline water pools facing our room. Now the great thing about saline water pools is that, it doesn't hurt my eyes (I wear contact lenses you see, and the usual chlorine pools would make them stuck and dry).
That night, the eve of my birthday, we went out for dinner along one of the hotel front restaurants that filled up the main road of Gili Trawangan. Now I remember the name of this place because we liked the ambience - Scallywags. It was a cosy black and white and earthy toned place. The food was fantastic as well. We had a lobster, which wasn't filling and costs a bomb but delicious. The seafood was fresh, and I am glad to say, didn't cause me any sickness (I get violently sick from seafood that is not fresh). On our way back we walked along the quiet beach, and sat under the moonlight. It was lovely, but freezing. I have to say, Gili's weather was perfect at that time. Sunny but not too hot during the day, and chilly at night. Perfect for resting.
That night when we were asleep I heard thumping dance music all the way until 6am. Now if it wasn't a holiday, I would be pissed. And if I wasn't tired from the traveling, I would've gotten up to look for the source and join the party. But I was tired, so I continued to sleep.
The next morning we found out the source of the music. There was a full moon party! Would have been amazing if we stayed up and joined them. Maybe next time.
We spent the day at the beach, taking pictures and just relaxing. I read American Gods by Neil Gaiman, an amazing book that marries mythology with fantasy and adventure. He read some self-help book (that I would never touch hahaha). Later in the afternoon, we decided to rent a bicycle to cycle around the island.
This experience was hilarious. I haven't cycled in approximately 21 years and I spent the day of my 30th birthday learning again. It was a nightmare to balance on that thing, and I almost fell a few times. It was so embarrassing. Again, thank God I don't know anyone there. We cycled for our late lunch somewhere further down the main road, and then further on til the road stops and there were just rocks and the beach. We pushed our bicycle around it, and found some smaller divers resorts and cafes by the beach. We went further and found a cafe where everyone was sitting facing the evening sun. We parked our bikes and sat at one of the tables near the front, and ordered our drinks, waiting for the sun to set.
While waiting I made friends with the local stray cat. It was a black cat, and that cat reminded me so much of one of the cats at my former MIL's place named Dee Dee. That cat also had the eyes on one of her cats Kiki. So the gili cat posed for some silhouette pictures with me, until he / she got bored of my face and walked off. Typical.
And then came the sunset. It was amazing, and it moved really fast. We got some amazing shots...and quickly headed back to the hotel for a shower and dinner.
That night we had another seafood dinner at the restaurant nearby Scallywags called The Beach House. The sauces for the ikan bakar were amazeballs. I never felt happier stuffing myself silly like that. After dinner we decided to maybe hang out at one of the noisier bars along the main road.
We found ourselves at Tir Na Nog, the one and only Irish bar at the island. It was also the noisiest, rivaling the bar at Beach House nearby. However, despite the loud music, it was boring. People were just standing around and talking. We found ourselves a table, hung out for a bit and then left.
From our cottage (oh I forgot to mention that we moved to the beach front cottage earlier in the day), we took some pictures of the full moon; well he did, I sat around and replied happy birthday messages on Facebook and Twitter. Overall, it as a fantastic day for my birthday.
The next day we hung out at the beach again and went off to get lunch and massage at one of the massage centres / spas along the main road. I have to say, two days of cycling on an uneven dirt road really hurt my ass. I don't know how cyclists do it. They must have thick behinds.
Anyway, the massage was brilliant. For the first time in my life during a massage, I actually fell asleep. Now I don't fall asleep easily, especially face down. Usually I just close my eyes during a massage. But I did fall asleep and oh my god, it was so relaxing. I hope to experience that kind of relaxed feeling again, where you can just let go while some strange woman is touching your body.
On our last evening we decided to have dinner at Scallywags again, but we sat at the area facing the beach. While we were eating, I saw a bright flickering light from behind what I thought was the mountains across the sea. I told the quarter about it, and he saw it too. Soon, other people who were sitting near us saw it too and started taking pictures. We didn't know what it was. The quarter and I were speculating, could it be fireworks? A fire? A UFO? A bomb explosion? A VOLCANIC ERUPTION?
All those exciting, dramatic questions was solved as we asked the waitress. She nonchalantly told us, oh that's the moon, coming out from behind the clouds. All together now: Doh!
Just as she finished explaining, we saw what I must describe as the most dramatic entrance I've ever seen in my life. It was breathtaking. The wonders of God's nature and what it can show you is simply beautiful. The moon, slowly, seductively rose up from behind the clouds (silly me, I thought it was mountains) and presented itself, that large torch in the sky, it's reflection clear and glimmering on the sea waters.
Everyone there was so excited. I was extremely excited, you know, me and moons. I just have a thing for it.
The next day, our traveling day home, we had the morning to chill out at the beach. I decided to sit under the hot sun because I wasn't getting a much of a tan from the previous days and because I am ridiculous, it is not a beach holiday if I don't get proper tan lines and having to change my makeup foundation to a shade or two darker. So sit in the sun I did, like the pasty white English girls nearby. The quarter thought I was crazy, and opted to sit in the shade.
That afternoon we packed up and headed to the boat by another pony cart. I feel really sorry for the ponies actually but I don't think it's my place to say anything. Maybe they are happy that their life purpose is to ferry tourists around? Poor things.
On our boat ride back to Bali, the quarter slept the entire way, I nodded off for a bit, but I can never sleep on a chair, and definitely not on a bumpy chair. Good news though for this ride home, that same gwailoh family did not puke on the boat. Nobody did, so it was alright.
When we arrived at the jetty, we were driven off straight to the airport to catch our flight. We waited for a couple of hours before checking in and then waited an extra hour because Air Asia was delayed (what's new eh?). We flew home, and rested before our third island getaway (Penang, for my friend's wedding, he met my school friends).
Anyway, I have to say, the quarter gave me the bestest birthday gift I could ever ask for - an experience. He also gave me a pair of supercool Super shades, so I could wear it during that experience. :)
I love this man.
I had made my decision to have kids after I reach 30. I think no one really knows of this, because I never really verbalized it, but that was what I wanted.
But if you know how life works, things don't always go as how you had it planned.
I celebrated my 30th birthday this year, in July. A few months before that I was dreading turning 30, because within a couple of months, I was husbandless, I was childless and I was not living the life I wanted nor was I doing what I was passionate about for a living. Nothing is more wretched to the soul than a broken dream I must say, but as someone very dear to me said: Life is a marathon, you gotta keep running (or something to that effect). So here I am, still running, still breathing.
Bali and Gili Trawangan
For my 30th birthday, the quarter took me to the island that I have been wanting to go to for aaaages, Gili Trawangan. I have been hearing about this place from friends and looking at their pictures and wanting to go so badly. And what better occasion than going there to celebrate a new decade of my life?
Since there weren't any direct flights to Lombok at that time from KL (now Air Asia has direct routes to Lombok, AFTER I went, gee thanks Tony!), we had to fly to Bali. I did not want to go to Bali actually, because of some superstition I had the bad luck to know of (something about unmarried couples shouldn't go there, blablabla) but we had to as the boats only leave from Bali.
So we flew to Bali and spent a night there. Now I haven't been to Bali for a few years, the last time I went it was with the ex when we were living in Indonesia and the accommodation was sponsored by a client as a gift to us, and it was directly across Kuta Beach.
I got my geography a little confused and booked a place that I thought was close to Kuta Beach but it wasn't. Now I understand, me and maps will never be best friends. Bali looks so different, it felt quieter, and although I see tourists everywhere, it just feels like there weren't many people visiting. And this is in July, a month where I thought there would be a lot of people holidaying (especially Australians since it's winter there).
We had a nice lunch at a cafe that was quite charming but was practically empty and decided to walk around, and maybe shop if anything caught our fancy. We also wanted to get henna tattoos at Kuta Beach. So we headed in that direction, because we thought it was just around the corner.
We took a cab eventually. And got stuck in traffic. We decided to jump out and walk, and along the way we stopped and got me a sundress from one of the local boutiques and got him a t-shirt from Hard Rock Cafe. Now this part I don't understand, why would anyone want a tee from a chain hotel / restaurant? For me, if you travel, you get something local, something unique. And I don't mean touristy souvenirs. Maybe local paintings, local music, local fashion. I digress. Anyway, I think getting a Hard Rock tee is an Asian thing that I would never figure out. (Good thing his tee had a line from a Beatles song, so it's not too bad).
After much walking, where I thought I would've lost 10 kilos and looked great in my bikini the next day, we reached Kuta Beach. Immediately we were swamped by local peddlers - accessories, paintings, drugs, henna tattoos, drugs. Kidding. Not sure about the drugs thing. He haggled with this guy about the price for the henna tattoos. I wanted to tell him to let me haggle because I can speak Indonesian (I think, though I haven't had much practice for years), but he was enthusiastic, so I let him be.
We settled on a price and chose our designs. I wanted a scorpion with some tribal design as its wings on the low of my back, and he decided on a tribal design on his upper arms. I was offended that the tattooist wanted me to pick a butterfly design. Why? Because I'm a girl?
Kuta Beach was packed that day, and I flashed my underwear to half of it while getting the tatt done on my lower back. Thank God I don't know anyone there. And while I was waiting for his to be done, there were some tourists who came and stood by me to take their pics with me. That was fucking weird. I don't know if they thought I was a local tourist attraction or they mistook me for a sinetron actress, but that was fucking weird (I don't like having my picture taken by strangers).
We walked a short length of the beach taking pictures afterwards. As it was sunset and the day was clear, the silhouettes were beautiful. A little messy as there were too many people, but beautiful nonetheless. At the same time I got to practice my photography skills using his camera. Unfortunately for me, because I work with photographers, that didn't translate to me being exceptional at it. However, some of the images were really breathtaking. There is nothing like a beautiful sunset to inspire the most artistic outcome out of everyone.
We had dinner at a restaurant not far from the hotel as we were exhausted and had to rest as our pick-up to the jetty was early in the morning.
The next morning, after breakfast we made our way to the jetty to catch our boat to Gili. It was to be a 3 hour bumpy ride. During the ride I had to endure watching this entire gwailoh family get seasick and puke in various places. It was disgusting. Thank God I plugged my ears with music and didn't hear any of it.
We finally arrived and oh my god, it was amazing. We snapped some pics while waiting for our bags, and one that I will remember is the gay couple who immediately posed by the beach. I remember them because the quarter was saying that their bodies were so toned. They were like really fit, lean models. Also because we were trying to guess if they were gay, and we were right.
We took a little pony cart to our hotel, The Hotel Vila Ombak (there were no motorized vehicles on Gili Trawangan). Apparently it was the largest hotel / resort on the island. We couldn't get a beach front cottage for our first night, so we had to stay at a garden / pool front room. The room was huge, my only complaint about the hotel was that the water was saline. They provided fresh water in a large clay bucket, but you know, saline water ruins your hair. I had to brush my teeth with mineral water too.
Anyway, on the first afternoon, we chilled out by the beach. To the uninitiated, Gili Trawangan hotels although it says beachfront, do not have their own private beaches. The hotels would face the beach, but the beach is actually across the main road. And the beach is very short, about 7 loungers and two steps long. It's also littered with dead corals / pebbles thus making it hard to stroll barefoot at the edge, and the waters were choppy and deep, so you hardly see swimmers.
It was, however, undeniably beautiful. You could see the mountains from Lombok and the other two gilis (gili means island by the way) nearby. The whole stretch just makes for a perfect picture.
It got chilly by the beach near sunset, so we decided to jump into one of the saline water pools facing our room. Now the great thing about saline water pools is that, it doesn't hurt my eyes (I wear contact lenses you see, and the usual chlorine pools would make them stuck and dry).
That night, the eve of my birthday, we went out for dinner along one of the hotel front restaurants that filled up the main road of Gili Trawangan. Now I remember the name of this place because we liked the ambience - Scallywags. It was a cosy black and white and earthy toned place. The food was fantastic as well. We had a lobster, which wasn't filling and costs a bomb but delicious. The seafood was fresh, and I am glad to say, didn't cause me any sickness (I get violently sick from seafood that is not fresh). On our way back we walked along the quiet beach, and sat under the moonlight. It was lovely, but freezing. I have to say, Gili's weather was perfect at that time. Sunny but not too hot during the day, and chilly at night. Perfect for resting.
That night when we were asleep I heard thumping dance music all the way until 6am. Now if it wasn't a holiday, I would be pissed. And if I wasn't tired from the traveling, I would've gotten up to look for the source and join the party. But I was tired, so I continued to sleep.
The next morning we found out the source of the music. There was a full moon party! Would have been amazing if we stayed up and joined them. Maybe next time.
We spent the day at the beach, taking pictures and just relaxing. I read American Gods by Neil Gaiman, an amazing book that marries mythology with fantasy and adventure. He read some self-help book (that I would never touch hahaha). Later in the afternoon, we decided to rent a bicycle to cycle around the island.
This experience was hilarious. I haven't cycled in approximately 21 years and I spent the day of my 30th birthday learning again. It was a nightmare to balance on that thing, and I almost fell a few times. It was so embarrassing. Again, thank God I don't know anyone there. We cycled for our late lunch somewhere further down the main road, and then further on til the road stops and there were just rocks and the beach. We pushed our bicycle around it, and found some smaller divers resorts and cafes by the beach. We went further and found a cafe where everyone was sitting facing the evening sun. We parked our bikes and sat at one of the tables near the front, and ordered our drinks, waiting for the sun to set.
While waiting I made friends with the local stray cat. It was a black cat, and that cat reminded me so much of one of the cats at my former MIL's place named Dee Dee. That cat also had the eyes on one of her cats Kiki. So the gili cat posed for some silhouette pictures with me, until he / she got bored of my face and walked off. Typical.
And then came the sunset. It was amazing, and it moved really fast. We got some amazing shots...and quickly headed back to the hotel for a shower and dinner.
That night we had another seafood dinner at the restaurant nearby Scallywags called The Beach House. The sauces for the ikan bakar were amazeballs. I never felt happier stuffing myself silly like that. After dinner we decided to maybe hang out at one of the noisier bars along the main road.
We found ourselves at Tir Na Nog, the one and only Irish bar at the island. It was also the noisiest, rivaling the bar at Beach House nearby. However, despite the loud music, it was boring. People were just standing around and talking. We found ourselves a table, hung out for a bit and then left.
From our cottage (oh I forgot to mention that we moved to the beach front cottage earlier in the day), we took some pictures of the full moon; well he did, I sat around and replied happy birthday messages on Facebook and Twitter. Overall, it as a fantastic day for my birthday.
The next day we hung out at the beach again and went off to get lunch and massage at one of the massage centres / spas along the main road. I have to say, two days of cycling on an uneven dirt road really hurt my ass. I don't know how cyclists do it. They must have thick behinds.
Anyway, the massage was brilliant. For the first time in my life during a massage, I actually fell asleep. Now I don't fall asleep easily, especially face down. Usually I just close my eyes during a massage. But I did fall asleep and oh my god, it was so relaxing. I hope to experience that kind of relaxed feeling again, where you can just let go while some strange woman is touching your body.
On our last evening we decided to have dinner at Scallywags again, but we sat at the area facing the beach. While we were eating, I saw a bright flickering light from behind what I thought was the mountains across the sea. I told the quarter about it, and he saw it too. Soon, other people who were sitting near us saw it too and started taking pictures. We didn't know what it was. The quarter and I were speculating, could it be fireworks? A fire? A UFO? A bomb explosion? A VOLCANIC ERUPTION?
All those exciting, dramatic questions was solved as we asked the waitress. She nonchalantly told us, oh that's the moon, coming out from behind the clouds. All together now: Doh!
Just as she finished explaining, we saw what I must describe as the most dramatic entrance I've ever seen in my life. It was breathtaking. The wonders of God's nature and what it can show you is simply beautiful. The moon, slowly, seductively rose up from behind the clouds (silly me, I thought it was mountains) and presented itself, that large torch in the sky, it's reflection clear and glimmering on the sea waters.
Everyone there was so excited. I was extremely excited, you know, me and moons. I just have a thing for it.
The next day, our traveling day home, we had the morning to chill out at the beach. I decided to sit under the hot sun because I wasn't getting a much of a tan from the previous days and because I am ridiculous, it is not a beach holiday if I don't get proper tan lines and having to change my makeup foundation to a shade or two darker. So sit in the sun I did, like the pasty white English girls nearby. The quarter thought I was crazy, and opted to sit in the shade.
That afternoon we packed up and headed to the boat by another pony cart. I feel really sorry for the ponies actually but I don't think it's my place to say anything. Maybe they are happy that their life purpose is to ferry tourists around? Poor things.
On our boat ride back to Bali, the quarter slept the entire way, I nodded off for a bit, but I can never sleep on a chair, and definitely not on a bumpy chair. Good news though for this ride home, that same gwailoh family did not puke on the boat. Nobody did, so it was alright.
When we arrived at the jetty, we were driven off straight to the airport to catch our flight. We waited for a couple of hours before checking in and then waited an extra hour because Air Asia was delayed (what's new eh?). We flew home, and rested before our third island getaway (Penang, for my friend's wedding, he met my school friends).
Anyway, I have to say, the quarter gave me the bestest birthday gift I could ever ask for - an experience. He also gave me a pair of supercool Super shades, so I could wear it during that experience. :)
I love this man.
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