I have had the most relaxing weekend in Bali with Mikey. Landing late on Thursday night Mikey was there waiting to greet me at our resort. The Breezes Resort and Spa, Seminyak. After a few hours catching up (I can't believe it's been 7 months already since the last time we saw each other!) and a great nights sleep I woke up Friday morning and was blown away. Our room opens out onto a private deck which ends where the pool starts! Bliss!
Since the last time we saw each other in Singapore it seems Mikey and I have so much to chat about. We spend the morning chilling by the pool, sat in the pool at the bar and lounging by the pool in the sun. Just what I needed after a busy (shortish) week in work. As the day gets on we decide to go for a stroll to have a few drinks and dinner. Seminyak beach isn't the most amazing beach in terms of sand that I've ever seen but it is so vibrant and colourful! A perfect opportunity to take some nice shots! There are loads of children playing football and plenty of local women selling their handmade bracelets and jewellery. As I wander along the beach I find it hard to get my head around the fact that I am on a long weekend break...in Bali! Literally 2 hours 20 mins from Singapore. The same time it used to take me to drive from Windsor to Wales. Mad!
We perch outside a bar that has a stage set up ready for what we hope is going to be some great live music. And that is exactly what we got. We literally spend the next 4 hours slumped on bean bags on the sand, watching the sunset and listening to live music. The sunset is beautiful. It's something I certainly don't see everyday in Singapore which makes it extra special. To eat, we decide to wander back towards the hotel where we stumble across a restaurant called Lucky Day. It was extremely busy but the host was happy to seat us, and we discovered later that actually we were sat amongst a wedding party. The food, a selection of both Western and Indonesian, is delicious. Local seasoned snapper wrapped in a banana leaf and served with rice and vegetables. Yummy. My highlight - the toilets. This might sound like a bizarre thing to say, but they were incredible. Adorned with hundreds of frangipanis, the natural smell of flowers filled the room instead of normal toilet fresheners. A lovely touch! An earlyish night ready for our adventure to see the monkeys the following day!
Saturday we hired a driver to take us South of Seminyak to Uluwatu Temple. One of Bali's nine key temples. The entrance fee is Rp. 6,000 (approx. 50p) and you need to be dressed properly to enter, so Mikey and I are given purple sarongs to cover our legs. The temple is inhabited by a huge amount of monkeys. Very cheeky monkeys! You have to keep all your belongings very close to you as they will snatch anything off you including flip flops which you then have to exchange back for fruit. The monkeys certainly give the temple a lot of character and provide a lot of entertainment. I'm so glad that I invested in a long distance lens for my camera. I managed to get some great shots of the monkeys without having to get too close. I was ever so slightly scared to be honest!
We ask the driver to recommend somewhere nice for us to have seafood for lunch and we head to Jimbaran, a fishing village with a white sand beach and seafood restaurants on the beach. We choose "Blue Marlin" and sit on the beach eating king prawns and red snapper. Bliss!
Back to the resort and another evening perched on bean bags on the beach listening to live music. A lie in on Sunday morning and a few hours in the sun by the pool before my flight home to Singapore at 5pm. Sad to say goodbye to Mikey but I am totally relaxed, and whilst I write this five days after coming back I still feel totally relaxed! Bali is a great place and I am already thinking about my next trip back there, possibly with Amanda when she visits in January. It was amazing to catch up with Mikey and create even more great memories. Am really looking forward to hearing about how the rest of his trip has been.
And for me...a quiet weekend this weekend. Afternoon tea with the girls tomorrow and a day of rugby on Sunday. The Welsh match is on at 11.30am on Sunday followed by the England game. Next weekend is Formula 1 weekend! So there is a lot of hype surrounding that at the moment. Last year was a fab weekend so hopefully this year will be equally as great. My next trip away will be to Penang in October followed by a trip to Sydney in November and then my trip home in December! My passport is certainly filling up fast!
