Cebu, Philippines

Ohhhh man, what a ride. Cebu was our second to last stop on this adventure and it certainly tested us. From expensive flights to flight times in the middle of the night or early early morning to 3+ hour bus rides, we definitely were feeling the strain of traveling at this point. However, the things we saw and did in Cebu were so beyond cool, it made it pretty worthwhile.

We arrived at 1am on the 31st and hopped in a cab to our airbnb in Cebu City where we immediately fell asleep. We didn’t wake up until the next day at 11am, when we checked out and grabbed another taxi to the mall to get breakfast and to figure out how to get to Oslob, our first stop. The mall was massive and had so many stores and fast food joints that were very unfamiliar. I grabbed a muffin and Nishaan decided to try Jollibee, a popular Philippino fast food restaurant. It was definitely interesting (not very good). After getting ourselves sorted with sim cards and snacks, we headed out to catch our bus to Oslob. We decided to try to catch a local bus to the main bus station and were surprised to find that the local buses (called jeepeys) are much more like trucks with benches on the bed. There’s no listed ticket price; everyone just seems to hand change to the driver who then randomly hands some change back to certain people. However we managed to make it to the bus terminal and with some help from the locals, we found an air conditioned bus going to Oslob via Bato. Unfortunately for us, we were the last people to board so we were stuck sitting on the bus stairs and the seat at the very front. 2 hours into the journey some people got off and we finally were able to move back.

By the time we made it to Tanawan, Oslob, it was dark out. We met our airbnb host, Doug, who used to live in Richmond and he took us down the road for dinner. We met a couple on the way who were super friendly and they joined us. Over dinner Doug was very chatty and had a variety of topics he covered, from climate change to AI to his life journey. He was definitely a character. After dinner we headed back to our room to attempt to sleep (it didn’t go so well).

The next morning we woke up nice and early to go to Tumalog Falls. We got a ride up to the top and then walked down to the falls which were quite nice. The water however, was freezing.

After the falls we went back to the airbnb and got a bag together for whale shark watching. We grabbed breakfast on our way down and then headed to the whale shark centre. We got registered quite quickly and then we were on a boat, ready to jump in with the whales. They were enormous, so much bigger than I expected, but very slow so it wasn’t too scary. That being said, I have an intense fear & overactive imagination when it comes to sharks, the open ocean and large sea creatures, so this whole event was a bit terrifying.

After getting out of the water, we walked back to the airbnb, packed up our stuff and headed out to catch the bus to our next stop: Badian. We caught the bus pretty easily but it only went to the southernmost point of the island, and then we had to switch buses. We ended up having to wait for quite awhile before the bus showed up but once it did we were headed on our way yet again. We arrived in Badian while it was still light out and got to our airbnb easily. The wifi worked really well so we took advantage of that and tried to figure out our plan for the next couple days. By the time we were hungry, it was getting dark out. We wandered around for a bit before realizing that Badian had 0 restaurants so we grabbed instant noodles for dinner and found a food stall selling half a chicken. We went to bed pretty early so we could get up early the next morning.

The next morning we got up early, rented a scooter from the lady running our airbnb and headed out to Kawasan Falls. We got a bit turned around with our directions but eventually made it there. The falls were gorgeous and there were a few levels of falls that we walked around. We decided to rent lifejackets and jump into the falls as well.

After Kawasan Falls, we were thinking of hiking Osmeña Peak but it was looking a bit cloudy so we decided to bike around the island and see what we could find. We ended up getting a flat tire near Samboan but luckily some friendly locals pointed us in the direction of a vulcanizing shop. After we got the tire sorted out we continued on our journey. We came across a couple of falls but all of them required renting a guide and we didn’t want to pay for that (especially not after paying for the tire). Finally we ended up at Lambug beach in Badian. We hung out there for a bit before headed back to the airbnb to check out.

Our next stop was Moalboal, not far up the road. We got to our room and quickly freshened up before heading out for dinner. After dinner it began to rain so we quickly headed home.

The next morning we woke up and decided to try our luck at the beach. We got a trike there but it was too overcast and windy to really hang out. We walked around for about an hour before calling it quits and going to find a bus back to Cebu City.

Before hopping on the bus we decided to grab a snack from 7-11. They had a special on ice cream cones so we asked what their flavours were. They only had one: mango & chocolate, so we decided to go for it. Nish says it’s the best ice cream he’s ever had.

We got back to Cebu City around 4pm, walked to our hotel room, hung out briefly and then walked to a market. We got some fried mango and then walked to the mall to find dinner. We had some ramen and got dessert from Starbucks before heading back to our room where we passed out early in preparation for our early flight the next morning.

Overall Cebu was a cool adventure for sure but if the weather had been just a bit better, we would have loved it that much more.

Obama, Dragon’s Bay & Vans

At 1:45am on the 27th, our flight landed at the Hanoi airport. By 2:30am we made it to our airbnb, where we promptly passed out. We didn’t wake up until noon the next day. When we finally got ourselves sorted and prepared for the day, we headed out to Lifted Cafe for brunch. It was decent for the price but had some strange combinations. My grilled cheese came with sriracha mayo on it, which sounds pretty good but doesn’t taste all that great when all you’ve been craving is a good, old-fashion grilled cheese. We hung out there for a while before continuing our walk into town. Neither of us had researched anything in Hanoi so we wandered around aimlessly for a bit until we came upon the lake in the middle of old town. We crossed the red bridge and then crossed again when we realized we had to pay an entrance fee to continue.

We walked to the Opera house where we spotted some cute cafes and got some cheap mochi ice cream (it wasn’t very good at all). While we wandered, it began to rain heavily so we sought out shelter in the Starbucks across the road. While we waited out the downpour we brainstormed what we could do for the rest of the day, especially if it remained rainy. It did, so we went searching for a movie theatre. It took us some time but we finally found one playing Mamma Mia 2. It was us and about 8 other people in this theatre at 6pm on a Friday. Thankfully, the movie was phenomenal. We both loved it and I cried about 5 times in the movie (out of joy mostly). The whole walk home we were both singing Super Trouper. We walked through the weekend night market as we headed home but we were disappointed that we couldn’t find much food. Instead of food however, I found cheap knockoff vans that were exactly the shoes I’d been thinking about getting at home. Obviously I had to buy them even if I was already dead broke and my bag was going to explode. Finally, we stumbled across a small roadside restaurant that served cheap pho. After eating, we continued walking home, stopping briefly to grab groceries for breakfast. Once we got home, we each packed our bag for the next day and fell asleep early.

We woke up early the next day, ready to get picked up for our Ha Long Bay tour. We were picked up by 7:30 and then we started the 4h bus ride to Ha Long Bay. When we got to Ha Long Bay we learned that there was only 6 of us on this tour. The other 4 were 2 groups: 1 group of 2 Norwegian girls and 1 group of 2 German girls. Both groups were about our age so it was easy to make friends. Once we boarded our boat, we began sailing out of the harbour and in between the islands. Our guide told us that Ha Long Bay is Dragons Bay in Vietnamese and its name comes from a folklore story of dragons coming down to protect the Vietnamese people.

We were given lunch which was a massive spread of seafood, rice and veggies. After lunch our boat anchored in a bay and we got out on kayaks. We kayaked to Man Cave and then to Lady Cave where we explored the caves and the views. As we were kayaking, the skies opened up and the downpour began. We were soaked in a matter of seconds. Luckily it was pretty warm out so it was actually enjoyable. We kayaked around for close to 2h before boarding the boat again. We showered, changed and then had dinner, which was another massive spread. The 6 of us chatted and hung out for a while after dinner and then I headed to the room because I was exhausted. Unfortunately, the combo of a loud (& very cold) A/C unit, pounding rain and a small bed didn’t make it very easy to sleep.

Regardless, we were up at 6:30 the next morning to have breakfast. By 7:30 we were at the largest cave in Ha Long Bay. We got off the boat and walked through the cave with our guide. He was very talkative, often repeating points and emphasizing how romantic Ha Long Bay was (relevant to none of his groups). The cave was massive and the stalagmites and stalactites within the cave were amazing.

After about an hour of exploring, we boarded the boat again, this time heading to Titop Island. We got there very quickly and got off the boat again. Titop Island is famous for its view of Ha Long Bay. We climbed 445 stairs up to the top for this view which was slightly affected by the clouds and rain. When we came back down the stairs, we were given some time to go swimming along the beach on the island. N and I went in briefly but it wasn’t very warm. However, when we waited outside the water, I kept getting bitten by bugs (N didn’t even get 1 bite). It was kind of a lose-lose for me but it didn’t take long for our guide to call us over to get back onto the boat. Onboard we got lunch while we sailed towards the harbour. It took just over an hour to sail back and it was beautiful.

Once we got back, we had a 3h bus ride ahead of us back to Hanoi. By the time we got back it was roughly 4pm and we were both pretty gassed. We took catnaps and just hung out until our stomachs started to grumble. I had looked into food spots in Hanoi and really wanted to go to Bun Cha Huong Lien, the bun cha restaurant that Obama and Anthony Bourdain ate at. So we walked for almost 40 minutes to find this hole-in-a-wall restaurant where they only serve 3 things. We eat had bun cha and it was soooo good. N said it was the best meal he had had in Vietnam. After dinner we walked back to a grocery store we had passed earlier where we saw some “Western” snacks. We loaded up on chocolate and Nature Valley granola bars for the next few days. Then we headed home to pack up and get ready for our flight the next day.

I think we would have really loved exploring Hanoi if it weren’t for the rainy weather. I’m not sure if we’ll be back for more, but we had a good time discovering Ha Long Bay.

hoi an

Good morning Vietnam!!! – would have been what I said when we landed if it had actually been a good morning but it hadn’t. We had an overnight layover in Bangkok so slept on airport benches and then had a rough flight squished into potentially the smallest airline seat known to mankind. So we weren’t feeling too happy when we landed. Luckily, we made it to our homestay without any problems and our host was so sweet it definitely helped improve our moods. Once we had unwound & unpacked a bit, we took a walk around.

We went down towards the water and grabbed a bite at Morning Glory which wasn’t that great. After lunch, we wandered into a few tailor shops to see what kinds of deals we could get for the items we were thinking of getting. Hoi An is quite famous for tailor-made clothing and the quality of silk used. Obviously at the cheaper shops the quality is cheap as well but for the most part, it seemed that the quality was good for the prices we were paying. From the tailors we walked around for a while, baking in the heat until it became too much and we walked back to the homestay.

After the sun went down we decided to find some dinner somewhere so we walked down to the night market. It was filled with touristy items as well as some handmade goods. The bartering was hilarious as it seemed that sellers were desperate to sell. My gaze lingered on a purse for a second too long and I had a vendor on my back offering 250k dong for it (roughly $14). I shook my head (because I didn’t really want it) and he quickly dropped to 200k. I laughed and began to walk away and he dropped to 150k & at this point I was starting to wonder if it was smarter to just buy the purse when it was only $8.50 (I didn’t because I have 0 space for it but I would have if I did!!). We went to a small hole in the wall spot for dinner where we sat next to a British family that stared at us in a not-so-discreet way all through dinner. However, the dinner spot (The Red Gecko) serves some great mango milkshakes so I wasn’t bothered. After dinner we made our way back to the homestay and crashed pretty early.

The next morning we woke up early with the intention of biking to the beach. However we awoke to the sound of rain drops pounding against the windows and roof. Instead we took our time having breakfast and facetimed the parental units (hi mom, hi dad) which was nice since I hadn’t seen their faces in about two weeks. By the time we hung up, the rain had slowed down so we decided to go ahead with the bike ride. It was actually really nice to do while it was overcast because it wasn’t too hot. We made it to the beach and discovered that lots of other people had also made it! It was clearly a popular beach but we didn’t mind too much as we both immediately fell into naps. After a while, N decided to go for a run and I began planning the next few days of our journey.

Around 1pm we hopped back onto the bikes and started our 30 minute journey back home. Unfortunately for us, the sun had decided to come out at this point and we were COOKIN’ on the ride home. The only small saving grace was the mild wind blowing as we biked. Regardless, we were both basically completely soaked with sweat when we came back so we showered quickly before we headed off to our respective fittings with our tailors.

Once we finished with that, we met back at the homestay and ended up spending a good portion of the late afternoon in the room, relaxing, resting and researching the next stops (this part was just me) (obviously). Once I had come up with 3 plans of action (complete with flight options and price range options), we narrowed it down and booked a flight out of Hoi An for the next night. Finally, our grumbling tummies forced us out of the room and we went off to dinner at Hola Taco where we had some truly DELISH nachos and enchiladas (I am seriously missing La Tacqueria, Tacofino and Las Margaritas). We came back and crashed; probably into food comas.

The next morning, N went to his fitting and I had a bit of a lazy morning. I took my time getting ready and then went to my own fitting. After that I was craving a smoothie bowl so I biked over to Hoi An Smoothies which served up some mango goodness that I was craving. I was also lucky enough to overhear the conversation of the two girls sitting a few tables away from me: “I just don’t think my instagram is really reflecting my true self right now. I’m in a really spiritual place right now but I’m not sure people are seeing that, you know?” “Oh my god, I tooootally feel you! I definitely need more motivational quotes on my page so my followers know that’s what I’m into right now.” “Yes, exactly! No more bullshit, just my spiritual goddess from now on!” etc. etc.

After my enlightening meal and eavesdropping, I hopped on the bike again and headed out towards the beach. Instead of going straight to the beach, I biked around the massive rice fields that surround Hoi An. I saw plenty of water buffalo and a few scarecrows. When I finally made it to the beach, I got a text from N inviting me to meet him at a restaurant with poutine. I kicked it into high gear on the bike ride back and made it back quite quickly (which showed when I arrived covered in sweat). After eating some mediocre poutine (I miss Fritz), we both went home to cool off for a bit and then we each had our final fittings. We packed up our bags and headed out for a final dinner, where we had beef pho & white rose (some sort of dumpling). By then it was almost 8pm so we headed back to the homestay to get on the shuttle to the airport.

elephants pt. 2

Phuket again! But a different part & it passed by so quick it’s almost not worth mentioning. But I will, only because our experiences at the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary & the Sunday market were unreal.

We got in pretty late on our first night and went straight to bed. We woke up the next morning, took the bike into town to grab breakfast and then biked back in time to hop in the back of the EJS truck and make our way to the sanctuary. The sanctuary experience was amazing. For one, this sanctuary only hosts elephants who have been rescued from trekking or circus groups. On top of that, none of the elephants were forced to remain in the main area while we fed and interacted with them; the guides were totally relaxed when it came to them wandering away or up into the hills. We met some super friendly people while doing the tour, including a mom and son from the States and a woman from Calgary! Bathing the elephants was lots of fun because it was so hot out. After bathing them, we got fed dinner which was delicious and then we headed back to the trucks to go home.

After EJS we were pretty tuckered out so we both showered and napped for a bit. That evening we headed into Phuket Town for the Sunday market which was amazing. It’s a long stretch of the road in the old town area that they close off to cars and fill with booths of food and jewellery and clothes and anything else you can think of. We had fresh spring rolls, bbq ribs, mochi ice cream, a burger, bubble tea and sushi for dinner for around $10. It was a delicious experience. After walking around for ages we headed back home to sleep.

The next morning we slept in nice and long before waking up and heading back to the old area of town for breakfast & to walk around. I loved the colourful buildings and the architecture in Phuket Town. We didn’t have long before we had to head back to the airbnb to return the bike. After we returned the bike we laid out by the pool in our condo and relaxed until it started to rain. Luckily it only rained briefly before we had to head to the airport to catch our flight.

SINGAPORE

OH. BABY.

From lush greenery to dazzling skyscrapers, from old temples to riverside bars, Singapore offered it all. We were also so, so lucky to stay with a family friend the whole time which made the stay that much sweeter. We arrived on a Tuesday night, got picked up from the airport (thank you Hass) and went straight to bed basically.

The next morning we woke up, had breakfast and planned out areas and things we needed to see (thank you Hass). Then we headed out to start exploring. First we hit up Orchard Road briefly, where there are malls upon malls, all filled with luxury brands like Céline, Gucci, Prada and Chanel. From there we hopped on the metro to Arab Street. Before we actually walked through Arab Street, we walked around Bugis Street where the stalls are all filled with an assortment of clothes, electronics and food (very asian street market-esque). Then we walked through Bugis mall which had a Bershka (my favourite store from exchange) and a W. H. Smith and a Pull & Bear (very european shopping street-esque). We finally made our way to Arab Street where we saw the Masjid Sultan mosque.

The old buildings around the area were beautifully preserved and painted colourfully. After Arab Street, we wandered into Little India which reminded me of Main Street in Vancouver. The streets were lined with shops for Indian spices, Indian suits and dresses and Indian restaurants. N and I had a bite at Komala Vilas; our first Indian meal of the trip. From there we met up with Hass at Mustapha Centre which is this enormous “store” that spans two blocks and contains literally anything you could think of. I bought an envelope & deodorant and N almost bought a pair of sandals and cologne and we could have bought an army vest or a cell phone or groceries or a dishwasher. It was so disorienting because every corner you turned there was more of the stuff you saw three floors below. Hass took us for some street dim sum around the corner which was so tasty (thank you Hass). They gave tea with condensed milk in it and it’s delicious (I may start making it at home). We stopped by a bar owned by a friend of Hass’ on our way home and he invited us to come out to a club he manages that night. We went back home with Hass and hung out with the kids for a bit before we decided to go out exploring at night.

We started at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel & shops which were very posh. We had some difficulty getting to the Gardens by the Bay where we walked through the lit up trees. From there we walked around the Gardens and got to the Helix bridge. From the Helix bridge we got a great view of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and the Artscience Museum. We continued walking along the water all the way to Clarke Quay. Clark Quay was hustling, with plenty of bars and restaurant filled with young people. The layout was quite nice with four blocks of bars/restaurants all laid around a central area. We wandered around for a while until we stopped for a bite to eat. After we ate, we decided we would hit up the bar Manu had invited us to so we got in touch with the manager who took care of us as soon as we stepped in. She greeted us at the door and took us on a tour of the club which had 3 rooms. One was all EDM music, one was more of a bar than a club and the last one played some good hip hop. She got us a table on the edge of the dance floor in the hip hop room and brought over beers. We sipped as we watched the other club-goers dance. Not a lot of them looked old enough to be at the club and fewer still had any clue how to dance. Regardless, we got up and danced for a few songs before calling it a night & heading home.

The next morning I woke up earlier than N and started getting ready. When he still wasn’t awake after I was fully ready I decided to ditch him and get my day started. I took the train to the Botanical Gardens. The gardens are so beautiful and ENORMOUS. I walked around for approximately 3 hours and still didn’t see nearly everything. The famous orchid garden was so beautiful, even for someone who doesn’t care about flowers. It was such a nice walk & I definitely was happy to do it on my own.

Once my stomach started grumbling I knew I had to move on to an area where I could get lunch so I hopped on the metro and went down to Chinatown. I went to the Maxwell hawker centre and got the famous Tian Tian chicken and rice for lunch. It was so much better than I expected. I definitely didn’t think there was much to be done with a plate of rice and some chicken breast but wow was I wrong. N met me at the hawker centre and also grabbed a plate of chicken and rice. After we ate we got some bubble tea (FINALLY) and walked over to the Singapore City Gallery. It had a super cool miniature replica of Singapore that gives you a good idea of where everything is, how big Singapore is and what areas are most populated. From there we walked around Chinatown where we saw plenty of market stalls and more food. Chinatown definitely had a more “typical” asian feel than the rest of Singapore.

Then we hopped on the metro and headed to the National Museum of Singapore. It does a really great job of detailing the history of Singapore and the architecture of the building itself is beautiful. From there we headed back home to get ready for the evening. Hass & Sarah got home from work and the four of us went to Newton hawker centre for dinner. It was DELICIOUS. We had fried rice, stingray, traditional Singaporean wraps (will have to look up what this is really called) & chicken satay (thank you Hass & Sarah). By the time we finished eating I was stuffed. N & I hopped on the metro to head to the Singapore Zoo where we were going on the night safari. The night safari was a bit underwhelming as many of the animals we were supposed to see weren’t in the areas we drove by. Despite that, we still saw a few elephants, a couple of tapirs and a rhino, which was pretty cool. We finished the night safari around 11pm and I was determined to go downtown because I was told the club on top of Marina Bay Sands had free cover on Thursday nights. So we hopped on the metro again to head down. N got annoyed with me before we got off & began to follow from 100m behind. Once we hopped off we had to walk through the Marina Bay Towers to get to the Ce La Vi elevator. Right before the elevator I ducked into the bathroom and when I came out, N was nowhere to be found. I figured he had gone up so I went up but couldn’t find him. However, I made a few friends pretty much right away so when N finally messaged me to meet up, I decided to just give him the key and stick around. I’m so glad I did that because the club was so fun. The music was a great mix of new and old hip hop, the people I was with were tons of fun & the view was phenomenal. I ended up dancing until 2am & finally got home and into bed at 3am.

The next day I still woke up before N (someone needs to teach this kid that sleeping in is a waste of time on vacation 🙄) so decided to go to Orchard and maybe run some errands. I went to a bookstore to buy books for Hass & Sarah’s kids and discovered a few books for my own bookshelf. Then I went to a post office to try to finally mail my hair for donation but when I got to the post office, the lady asked what was inside the envelope so I had to reply “my hair” without looking like a weirdo. She didn’t even bat an eye and just told me that there were only three locations that would accept hair and gave me the addresses. I was getting a bit peckish so I messaged Hass asking if he knew of any good cafes near Orchard Road. He suggested PS Cafe but recommended looking at their cake selection first, which I obviously did (have you seen the size of my sweet tooth??). But I was not anticipating the cake that arrived at my table. It was massive, probably the size of my head, and a deep, dark chocolate colour. It was dense and I could tell the icing was going to be dense as well. To top it all off there, was a massive scoop of ice cream sitting on it, just taunting me. I dug in but was quickly defeated by the sugar.

After eating, I went home to see what N was up to (nothing) and then decided to go to the Gardens by the Bay to see the domes (at this point I had well exceeded my budget so who cares anymore right?). I’m not sure I would say the domes were worth the price paid but they were certainly beautiful and definitely met my expectations. The cloud dome was cooler because you get to walk up to the top of the dome and see everything from multiple perspectives.

However, one of my favourite moments in Singapore came right after I left the Gardens. I decided to walk the same route we had done a couple of nights ago, towards Clark Quay, but this time, the sun was just starting to set. I got to see the view of downtown, Marina Bay Sands, the Artscience museum and the Helix bridge all within the golden light of sunset. I stopped for a bit before I reached the Merlion, a statue of the symbol of Singapore along the river, and read as the sun went down.

Then I walked through downtown to Raffles One Place which was great to see with all the lights on. As I headed back home, I messaged Hass to see if N had connected with him, which he had. They were just around the corner from Orchard Road at Overeasy, so I decided to jog there. I got there very sticky/sweaty but cooled down after a drink. Sarah & two of their friends were also there and we shared a bunch of appies, had a couple of drinks & enjoyed the music. One of their friends was in the fashion industry and also had done some traveling to Vietnam and the Philippines (both on our list) so it was easy to chat with him. The DJ was playing some great music (a good remix of The Chain by Fleetwood Mac came up once) and we hung out for quite a while. Upon arriving home, we put on a movie and just vegged out until we went to sleep.

The next day was our last day in Singapore and also a Saturday so Hass & Sarah were off from work & the kids didn’t have school. I ran out in the late morning to run a couple errands (like returning metro cards, getting free samples of Lush face wash to last the rest of the trip, picking up chocolate). Once I got back, N and I hopped in the car with Hass and his daughter and we drove to a post office that would actually accept my hair (yay!) and then to lunch in Chinatown. We met Sarah and the boys at a restaurant that only served Nasi Lemak. It’s a dish that consists of coconut rice, crispy chicken, peanuts, dried anchovies, a fried egg and cucumber.

It was so, so, so yummy but at the same time, very odd combinations. I loved the rice and the chicken and the peanuts but the egg wasn’t my favourite. We also tried some Singaporean drinks; I had calamansi with sour plum and N had lemongrass drink. Overall the meal was incredible (thank you Hass & Sarah) and I would eat it again in a heartbeat. After lunch, N & I finally watched Incredibles 2 with Hass & his daughter. It’s a great movie, especially if you loved the first one as much as we did. By the time we got home from the movie, it was time to pack up and get to the airport.

Unsurprisingly, I’ve fallen in love with Singapore and will definitely be coming back for more one day.

t-rex beach

Bali pt 3

Kuta

Our first stop upon arriving back on the mainland was Kuta. It’s a town along the coast, known for being a bit touristy and next to some popular surf spots. On our first day there we rented bikes and drove to Cafe Organic Bali for breakfast where I had a divine stack of pancakes.

After breakfast we drove on to Echo beach which was a black sand beach. It was quite an overcast day so not perfect beach weather but we got to see lots of surfing happening. That evening, L & I went to hair studios to get our hair chopped off. I went from this:

To this:

And yes, I am donating the hair that was chopped (provided I can find a post office soon).

We went for dinner at a fancy Italian place and then called it a night. L & I only kind of called it a night: we decided to do a sunrise hike at Mt. Batur the following morning, meaning we were due to get picked up at 1:40am.

We slept for about 2h before we had to get up and go. The drive there took about an hour and a half which gave us a bit more time to sleep. Once we arrived, we met our guide, a young man named Diana, and we were off. The hike took about 2h to go up and it was definitely a challenge. We ended up getting up to the summit with about an hour and a half to chill before the sunrise, which sounds quite nice but it was freezing at the summit so we froze while waiting. We were a bit unlucky with the actually sunrise as fog began to roll in 10 minutes before the sun was due to rise. However, we still got some amazing views on the hike down.

Once we got back to the airbnb, L & I both napped for about an hour and then all four of us headed to Seminyak to spend the afternoon. We had lunch/brunch at a place called Kimsoo which was delicious & also beautiful. After brunch the boys headed to the beach and L & I walked around the shops for a while, putting another dent in our budgets 🙈 In the evening we headed back to the airbnb so A could pack up and head to the airport. We said our goodbyes and then L, N and I headed back to Seminyak for dinner. We went to Sisterfields which was amaaaaaazing. L & I both got breakfast for dinner & I got chocolate french toast which was basically a dessert. It was so yummy and came so quickly (which is very uncommon for Bali). After dinner we headed back to the airbnb so L could pack up & head to the airport. We said goodbye and wished her safe travels & then there were two!

Nusa Penida

The next day, N & I headed to Nusa Penida, another island off the coast of Bali. We had a much easier journey getting to this island than Gili which was nice. Once we arrived and dropped off our bags at our accommodation, we rented a bike and went for lunch at Vegan Soul Food (where N refused to get a meal because it was vegan food 🙄) and it was delicious. After lunch we went to Crystal Bay. The beach was really nice & the waves were small enough that we could swim if we wanted but the area was a bit busier than we had wanted. So we decided to head to Broken Beach & see if it was any better. The ride to Broken Beach was by far the worst ride & road I’ve seen on this trip and maybe in my life. It was filled with potholes when it was paved and when it wasn’t paved it was rocky and gravelly, with sand and dirt all over the place, making the back end slide out from under us constantly. We ended up with a few cuts and bruises by the time we made it to Broken Beach about an hour and a half later. Broken Beach itself was actually pretty cool and right next to it was Angel’s Billabong, which is a natural infinity pool. We walked around until it was almost dark and then started the trek back. Once we got back, we grabbed a bite at a nearby warung and then had a pretty early night. I was asleep by 10:30 that night but N stayed up to watch the soccer match.

The next day we split up and I took the hike to head to Kelingking Beach. I was worried the path there would be similar to the night before but I was pleasantly surprised to find it paved for about 90% of the ride. I got to Kelingking Beach & was immediately happy I’d made the effort to come. The view from the top was unreal (even if there were tons of tourists all packed in to get a photo). I decided to do the hike all the way down and as I started it, all I could think of was the way back up. The hike was incredibly steep, more like climbing a cliff face than doing a hike, and the railing was made of bamboo tied together with string.

It was definitely a struggle but so worth it once I got down. The beach was beautiful and not many people made the trek all the way down. The waves were enormous so I didn’t go swimming but they were so cool to watch. I hung out down there for just over an hour before attempting the trek up. It was definitely tough but it was nice that it’s such a narrow path because I had to frequently stop to let people going down pass, giving me built-in breaks. Once I got to the top I was sweaty and out of breath but quite proud of myself. I drove to a warung to meet N for lunch & then we spent the rest of the day lounging at our accommodation. That night we went for Italian food & then later that night N puked it all up (plus some).

Gili T

Bali pt 2:

Gili Trawangan

Our trip to Gili Trawangan was a loooong one. We got picked up from our airbnb at 9:30am, made it to the harbour by 12 for our 1:30 boat and then ended up waiting until 3:30 to board our boat. We didn’t make it to Gili T until about 6pm but when we did, we were greeted by our lovely airbnb hosts, Tina and Terry who are both from the UK. Our villa was very cute & spacious and we were given plenty of recommendations from Terry. They also own a couple of hotels on the island so we were told that we could use the hotel pools as we liked. That evening we went to Pituq Watung for dinner & it was delicious. It was all vegan food & even the boys loved it (A claimed he would eat vegan more often if it tasted like that). They had an amazing jackfruit green curry & an incredible crispy cauliflower dish. From there we walked down the main strip along the beach and saw plenty of bars & cute shops.

The next morning we woke up a bit late, got our stuff together and rolled out towards the beach on our bikes (regular bikes, not motorbikes this time). We had breakfast at The Banyan Tree which was very good. Then we biked up to Bale Sambucan, one of Terry & Tina’s properties where we laid out on the beach for a few hours. The water was super calm but colder than expected so it was quite refreshing. We continued to bike around the island (doing the entire perimeter of the island takes about 45 minutes) and stopped when we saw hammocks on the beach. L & I laid around in those for a bit while the boys explored. Then we played a quick game of beach volleyball (we tied) before continuing our bike ride. L & I got fro yo from a cute little shop along the way.

We stopped at Gili Teak, another one of Tina & Terry’s properties, where we used the pool & the outdoor shower before we settled down on the beach to watch the sunset. After sunset, we quickly ran back to the airbnb to get changed and then headed to dinner at Tiki Grove. The restaurant was owned by two Vancouverites who moved out there about 4 years ago. We chatted with them for a bit & had delicious tacos for dinner. Then we decided to go out along the main strip. The boys ran off to a bar while L & I walked and shopped. Eventually we met the boys at Jiggy Bar where the music was loud but good and the boys had unlimited drinks. We danced for hours until it was 2am and the music had stopped.

The next day we had a snorkelling trip booked which was a bit tough for the boys to wake up for (incredibly tough for A who ended up not coming). We hopped on a small boat with 20 other people and were given some fins & a mask each. We stopped off of Gili T first, where L & I were the last to jump in because it looked pretty cold. However, we were rewarded for our hesitation because we saw a turtle immediately! From there we went over to Gili Meno where we snorkelled near underwater statues and then to Gili Air where we saw tons of fish & some of an old shipwreck. We saw one more turtle and then had lunch at Gili Air. After lunch we hopped back on the boat and made our way back to Gili T.

We got back to the villa to find A alive and well again. The four of us headed out to Casa Vintage to watch the sunset & have dinner. The food took forever to arrive but it was really good food. After dinner we were all too pooped to do anything exciting so we popped in a movie (we watched The Accountant 😎).

Gili T is such a small island, I could never imagine living there, but it is a gorgeous oasis. I would have liked to stay for a few more days and try diving but we were on to the next!

eat pray love

Long time no post (oops) but that just means 2-3 posts back to back! (yay)

Welcome to Bali pt. 1:

Ubud

Our first stop in Bali was Ubud: well known from Eat Pray Love (apparently), it’s a town nestled in between lush forests and spanning rice fields. We arrived quite late on our first night after a day of traveling and we were excited to finally crash. Unfortunately for us, the roosters living behind us had other plans for the night. They clearly had no clue when dawn was and proceeded to squawk and shriek all night. So not a great night for anyone. On top of that, I woke up to a text from Nishaan saying the airline agents weren’t letting him on his flight because he didn’t have a flight booked out of Indonesia. This text was followed by many panicked texts from my parents along with some texts from N that provided little to no clarity as to the resolution of the problem. Then, I couldn’t get ahold of him for 3 hours but still had panicked parents on my hands who couldn’t figure out where there son was. So overall a great morning.

Luckily, I got ahold of N eventually, figured out our solution and got going with the day. A, L and I walked to a cafe called the Ubudian for breakfast. L & I got smoothie bowls because what else would we get in Bali? After breakfast we walked to the Sacred Monkey Forest. We discovered that monkeys are aggressive and mean and that L and I hate them. A still loves them 🤷🏽‍♀️

After the Monkey Forest, we walked back to our airbnb where I headed out to pick up N from the airport. I hopped on the back of GrabBike and proceeded to hold on for dear life as we swerved through Ubud & many other towns to arrive at the airport. N & I hopped in a cab and began the long drive back to Ubud. The four of us rented motorbikes & headed to Taco Casa for some Mexican food.

The next day we woke up & went to KAFE for breakfast which was DELISH. L & I both got cinnamon french toast which was super yummy. After breakfast we biked to a walk that took us through the forest & gave us a view of some rice fields. Then we went to the local market where we discovered that phallic carvings are verrrry popular. Before we left town we stopped at Clear Cafe which was yummy and also had an insanely cool hobbit hole door.

Once we got back to the airbnb it was time to call a Grab and make our way down south to Uluwatu

Uluwatu

So the drive to Uluwatu was supposed to take an hour and a half. It ended up taking over three hours 🙃 However we fiiiiinally arrived at our airbnb at The View (would recommend) and then headed out to grab a bite before bed.

Our first morning in Uluwatu we biked to Padang beach. It’s accessible only by rocky stairs that seem to go down forever but the beach itself is quite nice. Quiet and small but the water is calm enough to go swimming. After a few hours at Padang, we decided to head to Bingin beach. It’s also accessible by a long stairway. This beach was much rockier, with very little sand. There are lots of warungs though (little restaurant/cafe type things) because it’s a super popular surfing beach. L, N & I got lunch at Kelly’s Warung. The smoothies were delicious and the view was even better. We laid around, baking in the sun for a few more hours before we made our way back to the airbnb to use the pool. Once the sun had gone down we drove down the road to a restaurant called Noodlehead. The food was good, nothing to write home about but the helpings were enormous.

The next morning we went to Bukit cafe (super super good) where L got the most incredible banana pancakes with vanilla cream. After breakfast we decided to walk around the shops for a bit. L and I fell in love with the many cute swimsuit shops. We ended up doing a bit of shopping and the boys left on one of the bikes to head to the beach. We met the boys at Nyang Nyang beach which was quite a bit of a hike down to get to but totally worth it. It was one of the quietest beaches we’ve been to on this trip and quite long as well.

After chillaxing at the beach for a while we decided to hike back up so that we could get somewhere in time for the sunset. We ended up going to El Kabron’s terrace where we hung out until the sun went down. Then we went around the corner where a food truck was operating at the top of a cliff. We grabbed a quick bite and got to watch the stars slowly come out. Once it was dark we hopped back on the bikes and made it back to the airbnb. I spent some time out by the pool watching the stars before bed. The stars in Bali are like nothing I’ve ever seen before; clusters and constellations everywhere.

Well that’s 2 areas of Bali down, just a few more to go 😉

Holy Phuuuuk(et)

There were a couple of things that made me say “Holy Phuket” during our stay in this beach town. I’ll mention them all in due time but first: where we stayed during our longest time in one “city.” We spent 2 nights in Rawai, a sleepy beach area, and 3 nights in Patong, a loud and busy party area. Rawai was super quiet, with only 1 main road in and out of the “town,” and not a whole lot to do. On our first night there we went for dinner & then had an early night, watching the game from our room. On our first day we walked down the street for breakfast and then walked to Yanui beach.

The beach was gorgeous with very clear water but it was also pretty small & busy. So we decided to continue walking to Nai Harn beach which was a LONG walk. It was very uphill, with very minimal shade and a VERY hot day. But the beach made it worth it. It was significantly bigger and had plenty of space. The day was beautiful for the most part except for 10 minutes of rain. We got coconut smoothies and spent most of our day at the beach.

We walked back towards Yanui and Rawai a bit before sunset & stopped at the windmill lookout point to watch the sunset. It was absolutely stunning (1st time I said “Holy Phuket”) but the bugs there were vicious. We saw 3 wedding photoshoots happen while we watched the sunset & one bride ripped her dress on the sticks laying around.

After sunset we walked back to our airbnb, showered and walked down to street to a restaurant called Costa where we got pizza! Finally! For the first time in 4 weeks! It was delicious & we absolutely inhaled it. We watched the France v Argentina game next to a French family which was entertaining. We called it a night after the game and walked back to our place.

The next day we were checking out of our airbnb & going to Patong. We took advantage of the pool at the airbnb in the morning and then around 2pm we headed to Patong. We got to our hotel where it took them 20 minutes to find our booking and then another 15 to organize our room. We went out for a walk & it was HOT out. We had to come back to recover and use the A/C for a bit before we went out again. We went out and discovered a mini food market right around the corner from our place. We walked down the road and found the mall which was enormous and had lots of familiar stores. L & I shared a massive ice cream brownie sundae for dinner. We walked through Bangla Road which is the main road where most of the bars and clubs are (2nd time I said “Holy Phuket”). The road is closed to cars after a certain time so the street is absolutely filled with people; some tourists, some locals. While we walked, we were constantly approached by employees of the bars, trying to get us to come in & have a few drinks. We were also approached by many, many people trying to get us to go to ping pong shows (don’t google that) (3rd time I said “Holy Phuket”) and ladyboy shows. After walking for a while we found a bar along the beach where we watched the Spain vs. Russia game (WHAT THE HECK SPAIN).

The next day, L & I got banana pancakes for breakfast, then Andy rented a motorbike & we all piled on to go to Kata and Karon beaches. We got to Kata beach and it was nice for about 15 minutes and then it started raining. So we got back on the bike and drove to a little coffee shop along the main road. It was also a dessert shop & the front of it was super cute. We spent about 30 minutes there, reading and drinking coffee while we waited for the weather to improve. When it did, we walked across the road to Karon beach and hung out for a while. We came back to Patong, got dinner at the market next to our place & went back to Bangla road to watch the game at a bar. The bar we were at was called St. Tropez and had quite a few Brazil fans already gathered. We were well entertained while watching the game & were pretty happy with the result. We decided to continue walking and stop at a few more bars for a couple of drinks. We met some Scottish folks who said Canadians were the biggest party animals they knew (not exactly true for our crowd but that’s ok) & a guy from New Zealand. The bars played some awesome music which made it even more fun. We thought we’d try out one of the clubs along the strip so we went to Illuzion. It was pretty full of people but the music was all EDM and it didn’t seem like many people were keen to dance. We dipped out of there pretty quickly. At this point it was close to 3am so we called it a night and headed back to our place.

We slept in pretty late the next day, recovering from our late night the night before. We woke up and walked to breakfast (where L & I had banana pancakes again) and then walked to the mall to explore for a bit. When A met up with us we got on his bike again and went up north of Patong. A did some work in a coffee shop while L & I found another beach. I finished reading Beartown by Fredrik Backman which was an incredibly moving book. After a few hours of lounging, A picked us up again and we went back to the hotel to shower. We went to the market again for food & had amazing fried chicken and Tom Yum soup with dumplings (4th time I said “Holy Phuket”). I ran off to the beach to catch the last bit of the sunset while A & L walked to the mall to buy movie tickets. I met them at the mall and we had some time to kill before our movie started so L got some food and I got my ears pierced. Then we watched Oceans 8 (good movie) & called it a night.

Full Moon Party

Since we’re on this side of the world, it only seemed appropriate to go to a full moon party, so that is what we did. We left Krabi early on the 27th and made it to Ko Phangan around 7pm that day. We got to our accommodation, changed/got ready (with all 2 makeup items we brought) and went out. Before we started drinking I made sure to grab a burger (“always have some form of protein before drinking” – my mum) and carbed up with some extra bread. We walked as we ate and saw all sorts of people along the strip. There were young couples, boys on a lads trip, a few hen parties and even some families carrying around their six year-olds. It was crazy busy along the street and we weren’t even at the beach yet. Before we headed to the beach we bought a bucket (aka a large mixed drink in a bucket) of Thai whiskey and Coke with a splash of Red Bull. Seeing as there was an entire mickey of whiskey and only one can of Coke, it was a pretty strong drink.

A grabbed a few large beers for the road and we slowly started walking towards the beach. When we got to the beach we were pretty overwhelmed by how many people were out there already partying. As far as the eye could see, the beach was covered with bodies dancing. We hung out at a bar on the edge of the beach for a while, milking our bucket and watching the Mexico v. Sweden game (awesome game).

After finishing our drinks we headed into the crowd and we’re surprised to find that it didn’t feel as packed as it looked. It was definitely insanely busy but because it’s all along a beach, there’s plenty of space for people to dance and move as they please. There’s quite a few bars along the beach that blast music into the crowd so whenever we were sick of one song or type of music, we could just move along to the next bar.

There were plenty of old school throwback songs played which made it lots of fun to dance. People were super friendly which made it even better and easier to dance/make friends. At once point, we ended up walking back in the direction of our hotel and I bumped into Devon on the way! We stayed out for hours until we were absolutely exhausted, sweaty and starving.

I grabbed some fried chicken on the way home, munched it pretty quick, took a quick shower and then passed out instantly.

The next day we woke up at noon and rolled out of bed to grab breakfast. After breakfast we decided to head to the beach and stopped by our hotel pool on our way. It had a beautiful view (which we would come back to later) but was a bit busy for our liking. We got to the beach and it was pretty clear everyone else on the beach was feeling just as rough as us. Devon was leaving the island that afternoon so I ran to catch him before he got on his ferry.

The day was beautiful and sunny. We spent the day relaxing and then caught some of the sunset from the pool before heading to dinner.

Ko Phangan is definitely party central but it is well worth it for the party of a lifetime!