A Solo Retreat

In my 27 years I have never been on holiday alone, so I utilised some extra lieu days and booked in a three night trip to Ubud in Bali.

Friday

I arrived at Villa Ubud in the afternoon and squeezed in a Yin yoga session before dinner. It was a bit strange eating alone but it appeared that nobody else was staying at the villa. Eager to make the most of my time there I signed up for a hike up Mount Batur, leaving at 2am the next morning. Unfortunately I drank a full pot of green tea after dinner - a huge mistake as before I knew it I was up for the hike without any sleep. Who knew it contained caffeine?

Saturday

I was picked up and driven over to the base for a quick breakfast and to meet the tour group, before beginning the hike up Mount Batur. Two hours of uphill scrabbling, weaving and climbing; getting wet from the clouds and fog and not knowing how far we were from the top. It was a lot more difficult than I thought! My group summited around 5am where we had our second breakfast and quietly froze against the icy wind (top tip: bring a scarf and jacket and not make the same mistake I did).

We kept getting glimpses of the sunrise until the clouds eventually lifted and we were able to see the sun creep up out from behind. IN the end, it was worth the aching legs and cold!

The downhill trek was easier and I was back at Villa Ubud for my third breakfast in no time at all. I've never achieved so much before 9am! I had a massage followed by a second yoga session. It was all I could do to stay up for dinner then fell asleep with my book. Bliss.

Sunday

I had a different yoga instructor who really pushed me. I already feel more flexible. There's something to be said for daily yoga. I might try and get up an hour earlier each morning and fit in a session back in Singapore (I wonder how long that will last..)

After breakfast I headed into Ubud town centre and shopped, had a pedicure, drank a fresh coconut and wandered aimlessly for a couple of hours. I love the little clothes shops in Bali - such a treat compared to Singapore, and cheap too. It would have been wrong of me not to buy anything ;)

After another yoga sesh I stumbled across an awesome bar called No Mas. It didn't look like much from the front but head through a mini garden path and suddenly there's a pool with beds, deck chairs and little booths all around with vibey music and great cocktails. As Ubud is a fairly quiet town, I'd recommend going there to anyone visiting who fancies a bit of night life.

Monday

My last day and my first yoga session with other humans! Five others in fact. After yoga it was sunbathing, breakfast and off to the airport.  

I feel healthier, bendier and more relaxed after the trip... however, I was disappointed that there weren't other yogis to interact with during my stay. It's definitely the kind of retreat for those who are happy with their own company, but for others (like me), I'd recommend a different style of retreat or perhaps bring a pal along for some bants.

My friends are here! Part 1.

I have had THE best long-weekend in Bali.

I flew over late on Friday night to meet two of my dearest friends from London. We spent the first day taking in the picture-perfect views of the beach from La Lucciola, followed by a long day of tanning and drinking at Potato Head. It was paradise. I don't think I will ever get bored of sun, sea and palm trees.

In the evening we spruced up and headed to Motel Mexicola for dinner. I've never been anywhere like it... kind of a split-level, indoor circus/market. It was raining so hard when we got there that water was streaming through a hole in the roof. In minutes the floor was wet up to our ankles, people were dancing on the tables and staff were pouring tequila into our mouths. 

Around midnight the done thing seemed to be for everyone to ditch Mexicola and jump into taxis over to La Favela on the main strip. I can see why. La Favela is a never-ending maze of a place with great music. We met some really cool people and continued on until morning. I don't think my feet have ever been so dirty.

I wasn't exaggerating...

We had pre-planned to go to Uluwatu for days 3 & 4 as I'd heard from a few people that it had breath taking scenery and beaches. They were definitely right about the views. We spent the first day at Uluwatu Temple taking heaps of photos...and just about avoiding the monkeys stealing our sunglasses.

We had booked ourselves in at an amazing villa called The Innpossible on Bingin beach. It was in a fairly remote location which meant we had to climb up and down 200 steps to get there - but it was totally worth it. We had the private penthouse to ourselves which overlooked the never ending-ocean filled with surfers morning, noon and night.

The view from our villa

I'm happy, can you tell|?

We had dinner and drinks at Single Fin just as the sun was setting over the ocean, before proceeding to have another long night of drinking, chatting rubbish and attempting to get back to our remote villa.

Sunset from Single Fin

Our last day in Bali was spent at Padang Padang beach (fun fact: this is where they filmed |Eat, Pray Love!). The waves were pretty angry so after two pairs of sunglasses had been lost to the sea we called it a day.

It was then BBQd fish and early bed ready for the early start to fly to Singapore the next day!

It was such an amazing holiday. One of the best. I was really sad to leave but exciting for my pals to see Singapore... maybe I can convince them to move over here too?!

Four days in beautiful Bali

This week we went to Bali. Two nights in Seminyak and two nights in Ubud. I can say without hesitation that Bali is the most beautiful place I have visited in Asia and four days was definitely not long enough. Every Balinese person we spoke to was friendly, warm and welcoming; every restaurant or bar we went to served scrumptious (and cheap) food and fun cocktails; the two villas we stayed in were perfect and both towns had this wonderful dichotomy of old art and architecture mixed with the new, trendy and modern. 

Seminyak has such cool places to eat and everywhere was buzzing at breakfast, lunch and dinner. We had three stand-out meals in Seminyak - the first was brunch at Sisterfields which a couple of friends had recommended to us, and if we had more time I'm sure we would have eaten there again.

Braised short rib, brisket and black
bean chilli @ Sisterfields

We also had a great brunch at a place called La Lucciola which had beautiful views of the ocean and the morning's local fisherman casting their rods from the shore.

Brunch with a view

The final one I have to mention is the dinner we had at La Laguna. Getting there requires a short taxi ride as its not on the main strip, but well worth heading the extra distance. Phil and I had never been to a restaurant like it - the place was right on the lagoon with lots of floor seating, old carriages, statues, bridges and rivers running through the middle. We had a great cocktail there called 'Herb & Spiced' which we need to recreate with vodka, chilli, lemongrass, basil and lime. The Balinese seem to use basil in almost everything and it's something we are definitely going to take away with us - especially as we now have a little herb garden growing on our balcony in Singapore!

We only had one full day in Seminyak which we used to lie on the beach and surf. Phil was amazing and stood up almost immediately, I on the other hand was not so good, and probably managed to stand up for about half a second in the two hours we were out at sea...

I annoyingly wacked my head whilst surfing and got a bit nauseous and headachy after that - was then very unwell when we reached Ubud the following day. Popped in to the medical centre (as now seems to be tradition whenever I'm on holiday) and was prescribed some meds to get me better. A day was wasted, but luckily I felt completely well again for our final half day in Ubud so Phil and I hired a taxi driver and went to the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary, the Tengenungan village waterfall, and the Jambe Asri coffee plantation. 

Being in the Monkey Forest felt like being in The Jungle Book. The trees and ancient statues were amazing and we are really glad we went.

The coffee plantation was also well-worth the visit. We each tried lots of local teas and coffees before having a cup of Luwak coffee. Luwak Coffee comes from beans which have first been eaten and excreted by a mongoose, before being dried, roasted and ground. Sounds a bit gross but something about the fermentation in the mongoose stomach makes great coffee, and it was one of he best cups of coffee I've had.

Luwak Coffee 

We want to spend more time in both Seminyak and Ubud, and also head to the Gili Islands and do some more diving. It's a fairly short flight from Singapore (2.5 hrs) so we are hoping to find a weekend in the next few months to pop back!

It is such a beautiful, relaxing place and there is so much more we still need to see.