TOUCHDOWN: BALI, INDONESIA

This,by far my favorite out-of-country trip ever. It was such an adventure! I did a lot of things for the first time, and memories like that last forever.

It was actually a bachelorette trip for one of my good friends, who's going to get married this September. Her best friend had planned this trip for a month or two, and it was all planned out all right! We had so much fun going to and from different places from day 1 until our last day—an all-day party destination on top of the Indian Ocean, a cliff-top bar, a colorful and quirky Mexican bar (yes, I kind of ripped these descriptions from Google hehe). and a whole lot more! 

Let me show you a photo blog of my adventure with six of my friends and probably upload video clips too! I just have to say that I almost forgot to write about this trip, and typing all this now takes me back to how happy this trip was!

DAY ONE 

We started our day at this very hip go-to coffee/breakfast restaurant where the best friend of the bride gave our official invitations to the bride's #BALICHELORETTE. I ordered their iced latte and it did not disappoint. Yum! Later on that day, we went to Motel Mexicola, a colorful and quirky Mexican bar and restaurant down Jalan Kayujait, and their food was mind-blowing.

Did I mention how delicious these are? Well, I'll say it again! DELICIOUUUUUUUUUUSSSSS!!!!! Instant favorites, I must say. We took a stroll after 4p.m. around our neighborhood since our villa was located near stores and restaurants. We did not have any big adventures this day since we had to wait for the maid of honor, who came from the States and arrived in Bali after midnight. 

Day two. I can't put into words how fun this day was! 

DAY TWO

Our first stop was Omnia. It was a 45-minute to an hour-long road trip to this very luxurious place on the Uluwatu cliff. When we got there, there was no line. We just waited for the confirmation of our table reservation. When we finally got inside, our jaws just dropped. This place? AMAZING!

OUR BRIDE

This place looks like it's ripped out of an action movie, where assassins will come and look for their target surrounded by bodyguards. It was such a beautiful, classy, and not to mention all-day party destination at the top of the Indian Ocean! The best friend of the bride booked a reservation beforehand, so we already had a table, and we had the chance to sunbathe and get a tan while taking a moment to breathe in and out the beauty of this place. We stayed for 4 hours and transferred to our next destination.

Our second stop for the day was at Single Fin, just a few minutes' ride from Omnia. The place was already a little bit crowded, and since we had a reservation beforehand, our table was located at one of the best sunset view spots. It was nighttime, the place started to get hyped, and the DJ played really great songs from the 90s to the 2000s. We couldn't help ourselves! We danced and even started a cipher! After a few hours, we decided to leave because we were tired and sweaty, and the aunts in us just wanted to head home. Haha. On the way home, I had a conversation with our driver Putra about street foods, and I asked him what the street foods in Bali were and he did not just tell me what they were, he brought us to a kiosk! While some of us were sleeping, my best friend and the bride's best friend experienced one of Bali's famous street foods, Nasi Jinggo! 

 This one does not have any filter! What a beauty!

 My best friend and the bride

 Sunset colors, need I say more?

NASI JINGGO!

It's basically pancit canton with rice, meat, and a lot more put together in one meal. Again, YUM!

DAY THREE

Our most touristy day! We took a boat off the coast of Seminyak to Nusa Penida, another island filled with so much beauty! The boat was too crowded; luckily, three of us had to sit on top of it. Yes, I said luckily because it was the best sit ever! I really love cruising while I get to see where we're headed, get a tan, and at the same time feel the ocean breeze! 

When we got to Nusa Penida, we had to wait for a few minutes for our ride to be finalized. We had to get two cars because the roads getting to and from the places we went were crazy rocky! They warned us about the rocky roads, but man, was it really rocky! Our driver, Putu, had to turn off the air conditioning every so often because going up these rocky roads would give our small and minivan a hard time. Despite the rocky roads, the places we went to were, as Hitch said, "sight for sore eyes!" They were really amazing.

Right at the edge of Angel Billabong

 With my best friend at Crystal Bay 

 Conversations with the bride, one of our most memorable conversations at a very memorable place.

 The bride's tribe at Kelingking Beach! We didn't get to go down since it was a 1 or 2-hour hike back and forth, and we're going to miss out on a lot if we did go down. It must have been worth it, though. 

It was my turn to sit down and just be amazed at the beauty of Broken Beach

After this tiring, crazy, rocky day trip to Nusa Penida, we went to Motel Mexicola to throw our bride her bridal shower since her sister had arrived and we were already complete. It was one for the books because I saw how this place gets filled up with such fun hearts! It felt like everybody knew everybody! It was filled with dancing, drinking, laughing, and sweat! It was such a great night!

DAY FOUR

Another day filled with firsts! I was so giddy because it was our last fun-filled adventure day! We were up so early to go to the most famous Bali Swing! I can still feel the excitement! I ended my sentences with an exclamation point because I am just so happy to remember this awesome experience.

 I swear, if you don't try this out, you're going to miss out on what it could have been like to try out the biggest swing in that place. Okay, before arriving, I thought it was just one swing and that you'd have to line up for it since we left really early for this. When we got to the place, there were actually 12 single swings, 9 cute nests, and a whole lot more! I've tried the small swings and taken lots of photos in the nests, but I was most excited for the biggest swing drop, even if I had to line up for 30-45 minutes! It was worth it.

After our trip to the Bali Swing, we passed by a coffee place called Teba Sari, located just a few minutes from the Bali Swing. Here they serve coffee made from Luwak! For those who are curious as to why it's one of the tastiest places to go, Luwak coffee is actually made from Luwak's poop. It tastes delicious, since I'm also a coffee drinker, I appreciate tasting different kinds of coffee! 

 These are all free! We got a free taste of tea and coffee! It also comes with free chocolate

After this fun day trip, we went straight to Finn's Beach Club, one of the finest places I've been to. It looked like spring break here. We weren't able to book a table but we still got a good table facing the beach. We didn't really want to get too tired since it was our day before our early flight so we just chilled, had a few  drinks and ate really good food!

We stayed here until 6 or 7p.m. just in time for a nighttime stroll or shopping. My best friend and I decided to rent a bike for the night! It was such a crazy experience since I only drove a scooter in the village in my younger days! We were laughing even when I started driving. Since the streets of Seminyak were quite busy and I had little experience driving a scooter, there was a lot more breaking than accelerating. Haha. I got the hang of driving the scooter after a few minutes since it's a go-and-stop type. So, again, checked it off my bucket list. 

Some of the ladies wanted to rest that night, but I decided to make the bride happy one last time. We went to Los Gringos, a Mexican bar alongside the other bars on the strip, and had a great night!

I am ending this post with a picture of me and my best friend on our scooter adventure on our last night, with a bit of my two cents: Never be afraid to travel, alone or with friends, because what you will experience will really remain forever. The lessons you gain from traveling to another country will make you discover a lot about the unfamiliar place, but also about yourself. So just enjoy the ride!

I hope you had fun, dear wanderer! I hope my post gave you an itch to plan, travel, and discover your own homeland or another country. If you have any comments, suggestions, or some of the things you have also done in this beautiful country, feel free to leave them below!

Until the next destination📍