Oh Bali!

So last we spoke, we were leaving Yogyakarta and heading to Bali.  The flight was less than an hour and a half.  We landed and the captain seemed to park the plane in the economy parking section because we deplaned and walked across an active tarmac.  Like, there were planes taxiing, taking off and landing around us.  It was a pretty new scene for me, but I'm so damn excited to be in Bali, ticking off a location on my bucket list, that the taxiing planes didn't even faze me.

That red plane out in the distance is our plane, parked in economy...lol

This portion of our trip has a decidedly different feel.  Even though we got to do some fun, touristy things in Yogya, Bali is and was always meant to be the holiday portion of this trip.  From our arrival in Bali, with a driver holding a sign with our name to our private villa with personal dipping pool and indoor/outdoor living space, we are definitely living our best life right now.

We arrived at our villa round noon on Saturday and almost immediately set about the neighborhood to find somewhere for lunch.  Our AirBnB hosts recommended a local place called Moonchild Cafe and the food was excellent.  We wandered back to our villa, stopping to pick up a few snacks and some water, before changing into our suits and taking a dip in the pool.  Despite the really warm temperatures here, the pool water stays pretty cool, but when you're hot and sweaty from the tropical humidity, it's incredibly refreshing.

After lounging about for a while our massage therapists, which we'd booked through AirBnB arrived and we each got a one hour Balinese massage.  You could have marked me done after that, but instead we leisurely got ourselves ready and headed out for dinner on the town.

We had a nice meal at a place called Shrimp Is followed by gelato at Riva Reno.  We wandered along the main strip and ended up at a hotel rooftop bar for a drink before finishing our night, quite accidentally, at Potato Head Beach Club.  Since we've both been feeling pretty jetlagged still and had an early morning traveling from Yogya, we were home by midnight and looking forward to sleeping to start a new day on Sunday.

Landry's amazing lobster dinner

Really cool rainbow flip-flop art installation at Potato Head

Our first glimpse of the Indian Ocean (except the view from the plane!)

Today was the definition of vacation.  We knew we wanted to go to the beach, but we weren't sure which one or what we wanted to do.  I took a look at a beach that had been recommended as nice, but not overly touristy, Canggu, and noticed there was a beach club.  Two years ago when I was in Croatia with Nisha we spent a day at a beach club and it was, by far, one of the best days I've ever had doing anything.

Breakfast delivered to our room

We booked a VIP oceanfront double day bed at Finn's Beach Club and it was some of the best $200 I've ever spent.  We arrived and were escorted to a special VIP check in table where we were offered free cool cloths and given a wristband with our account number on it.  For the $200 we spent to book the bed, we had that amount in credit to spend on food, drinks, spa services....basically anything available at the club, for the entire duration of the time we were there.

We were then escorted over to our day bed and given moisturizing face mist, should our skin become dry or parched from the sun.  The service was absolutely impeccable the entire time we were there.  We had access to a VIP infinity pool oceanfront, beach access, and there was even someone walking around offering to expertly clean your sunglasses should you need such a service.

We realized our portable charger was almost dead and asked if there was somewhere we could plug it in to charge.  Instead, we were offered a power bank, which is free to VIP folks as part of their stay.  Needless to say, we wanted for nothing all day and left full of food, drinks, and very happy vacation memories.

Young cocounut drink with lime

Lunch: Burrata salad and smoked salmon flatbread

At 3pm they offer refreshments.  Today was a cucumber and lemon drink.  I don't even like cucumber and it was amazing.

Aperol spritz was the drink of the day

Super colorful rainbow beach umbrellas, iconic on the beaches of Bali