Seminyak - Bali - Indonesia 9/9

I've always been interested in architecture and in particular, the modern styles. Squared edges, the use of big windows, minimalistic designs and open floor plans has always been the kinds I'm drawn to. I've also been looking at magazine and online pictures for years and have always assumed that all of these buildings are too expensive for me to ever live in. Unless maybe some day, when I'm old and about to retire, I'd be able to save up enough money for one. I even looked at a vacation house rental in Portugal, but it was still too expensive. So you can imagine what a dream come true it is for me to be able to rent this awesome villa at the grand price of $125 per night, and little did I know, that Bali was filled with modern villas like this!

The Pool

The villa is a brand new build, tucked away in Jl. Bidadari, with an approximately 4 meter long pool (1.5 meter deep). There are 2 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, 1 in each of the bedrooms and 1 small guest toilet by the kitchen. The main bathroom has some trees, an open skylight, and the bath tub overlooks the pool. The main bathroom also has a double sink and a window that looks out the back of the villa into the rice fields. The bed frames in the 2 bedrooms are made by concrete and is molded to a divider closet so that the first half of the room is the bed, and the closet area feels like a walk in. The second bathroom also comes with a double sink but does not contain a bath tub.

Main Bathroom

The 2 bedrooms lay side-by-side, overlooking the pool, and the living/dining area is on the West side of the villa. The living/dining area is connected to the open kitchen and there are many beautiful artwork displayed all over the house. There was cable TV, a large sectional, some counters, and a table with 4 chairs. The stove/cabinets were also built-in and made with concrete. Along the far West wall is where most of the art work is displayed, and if you look up, there are skylights right above it. There are glass put in though, so the interior doesn't get wet when it rains.

Living/Dining Area

Further South along the far West wall is our entrance. It is a large wooden door with metallic handles, and in front of the door, is a pond with wooden platforms over it.

Front Entrance

There were plenty of plants all around the villa and even inside the main bathroom. My favorite of all, during this entire trip, is the Plumeria flower. They are so amazingly beautiful, especially the white and yellow ones where the pedals slightly overlaps each other. These flowers grow on trees and can be seen literally everywhere in Bali. There was one Plumeria tree in our villa right beside the pool and every morning we were accompanied by a half a dozen or so Plumeria flowers that ever so gently accents the water while we cool down in our pool.

Home Made Canang with Beautiful Plumeria Flowers

There were a gazillion lights built into this villa and at night, we'd turn on the longest row of light switches I've ever seen and the entire villa would light up like a Christmas tree. There were lights on ceilings, on the deck, in the pool, and even behind the plants.

The deepest end of the pool was about 1.5 meters. It's just over the tip of my nose, but still under Keith's chin. It's just deep enough to force him to swim, but shallow enough so he's not afraid he'll drown. I've taken him swimming back home a few times but he learned way more floating in our pool (mostly because it's too hot during the day) in Bali than he did in the months we went to the city gym.

We rented a scooter but the traffic was so crazy, and the scooter came with an almost empty tank of gas, so we quit after riding around the neighborhood for 15 minutes. There were some really nice restaurants in Seminyak that we went to, in addition to Bo & Bun, here are 2 that we really liked:

L'Assiette
One of the top ranking French restaurants on the island, L'Assiette is tucked away in a small street 5 minute walk from where we lived. We visited it early one afternoon and thoroughly enjoyed the restaurant interior decorations, the food, and the bill. I got the Duck Confit and Keith got a baby chicken, and both were cooked perfectly. The restaurant had a fusion feel to its decoration, with some really cool furniture and art work.

Baby Chicken from L'Asiette

Mamasan
Situated on one of the busiest streets and major intersection, Mamasan is one of the most popular restaurants for visitors. The restaurant serves pretty yummy and authentic Chinese food, and the interior design of the restaurant was very nice as well. The most representative of all, is the wall sized painting of an Asian "mama san". Bathrooms were on the seconds floor and the doors were hidden among a wall of mirrors. The price is quite expensive though, our bill ended up being roughly $75, though, we did get quite a bit of food, including some take out for our trip back home, which ended up being quite the life saver during our layover in Jakarta.

Mamasan

We booked a snorkeling lesson the day before we left through Bali Jet Set. They guys came to pick us up and we drove all the way to their beach side school in Tanjung Benoa. Honestly I don't know how Balinese businesses sustain themselves, let me explain. We made a reservation to have a private instructor teach us how to snorkel and also rented their under water camera, this was $80 combined, with no deposit necessary. This included a driver picking us up and dropping us off (45 min drive one way), a manager also came along for the ride and explained the process of the lesson to us. They had to pay a toll each way while driving us, which was also included. The school had it's own showers and equipment, so all you need to bring is your bathing suit. They provided towels and shampoo/soap. Then they boated us out into the waters (yes we had a private boat), taught us how to snorkel, then guided us around the boat a little. We then ventured a bit further out and continued to snorkel as the instructor took pictures of us. After we were boated in, we showered, changed, and they served us some tea while we wait for the pictures to be burned onto a CD. There was even a picture of us on the CD cover, and this was all for $80!!!

Nemo by Tanjung Benoa Ship Wreck

The snorkeling was quite the experience for both of us. I was quite terrified of all the fish (and other living beings) under the ocean while Keith was afraid of drowning (as he can't swim, but we had life vests on).To see all the fish though, after I've acclimatized, was pretty amazing. There were also these tiny jelly fish that stun me a little, but the stingy feeling (mostly itchiness) went away really quickly (within 15 minutes). After about 45 minutes in open waters,  I started to get a little dizzy, so we headed back. Wouldn't say I'm a huge fan of snorkeling, but we definitely both appreciated the experience, and the patience of the instructor. (Keith also appreciated being alive after swallowing big gulps of water within the first 15 minutes, it was quite dramatic, with hands waving in the air and all)

The last day in Bali, we just went to Carrefour to buy some souvenirs, ate lunch at Mamasan, and headed to the airport. Our driver took us to a fixed price souvenir store "Krisna" but we actually didn't see anything we liked there. Our flight stops in Jakarta for 5 hours, and we booked a cheap hotel room to freshen up and rest a bit. It sounds convenient and quick, but was actually quite the trip. First, we didn't know how to get the hotel to come pick us up, then we didn't know where to meet the driver. Among a sea of taxi drivers pandering, for some odd reason, the hotel driver actually eventually found us. But then he had to circle back to 2 other terminals to pick other people up, then it was another 20 minutes before we got to the hotel. We had but a total of an hour and a half at the hotel, then we were back to the airport again.

We had a scare while checking in at the airport too as the airline personnel found an issues with our ticket. They told us that out ticket had been canceled, and they had to get the managers involved before things were finally straightened out. This was the first time I've ever booked tickets through Expedia for TD and it was the worst experience I've ever had in my life. This was also the first time I've flown with US Airline and there were moments when I thought we were totally screwed. In the future, I don't know if I'd take US Airline again, I mean, I definitely won't use Expedia for TD anymore, but US Airline's price is pretty unbeatable.

Right Outside the Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali

Regardless, we were back on a plane, headed back home.

This trip was definitely inspiring, exciting, and very different than what I had imagined. From the pagodas of Borobudur to the street vendors in Kuta, I'm just grateful we had the opportunity, that we got to see everything we wanted to, and made it home safely.