VIDEO: Balangan Beach - Mansis Beach Shack

I figured, now that I am back home and I'm using our super-speedy appropriatedly named WiFi ("Gringos"), I should upload some of the videos I managed to film. ...before finding out my camera had broken after one crazy Kuta night... You should see the last video I had filmed with it at 1:30am (or not...).


Sorry guys for this is in Finnish...but I think you'll still get the feel of it! (:

This one is from Balangan Beach - an introduction to our humble little home - Mansis beach shack I so fell in love with. I came back to Balangan twice and stayed there each time :) By far the best accommodation of my whole "backpacking carreer" !


I love the simplicity of life and how ascetic everything was in the beach shack. And although no luxuries were present* - except for one electric socket and lamp in each room - they were not slightly missed. All I wanted was to eat Mansis Mie Goreng Special (which was the best of Bali), sleep in the most comfortable bed in the world and walked barefoot. The best thing about the beach shack was falling asleep and waking up to the sound of the waves every morning and night.

I can't even describe the sensation of the sound. It's gotta be one of the best things in the world. You just feel so relaxed. Every morning I would wake up around 5 am (to the sound of the waves), tip toe across the wooden floor to our sea view and just sit quietly and stare at the motion. And be totally mesmerized and hypnozed over the sound.

It's probably one of the things I miss the most in Bali (along the crazy traffic - yeah I know, weird!).

*=excluding our own items e.g. iPods, laptops etc.

Running away from the cops... twice

17.1.2012

Jesus, what a journey back home!!!



Woke up, Milka came to get me, and I was pretty sure I wouldn't get any of the souvenirs bought... I especially didn't have anything for my dad yet, because I had relied on the idea that I would go the Denpasar surely at one point and buy a kilo of Saffron from the local market. Well, didn't happen.

Managed to sort things though because Milka was a doll and drove me around <3 You are the best, girl! I bought my mom not-the-original, but still with-the-same-technique-made as the "most expensive coffee in the world" aka shit coffee (made in Indonesia). Original brand costs nearly 15€. And you know what the secret ingredient is? Shit. That's right. They get cats to shit and make coffee out of it... NICE.



Also, managed to sort the Saffron business... My dad can now say he is a very happy owner of Saffron worth of 4000€ ! I read on Lonely Planet, that you could buy Saffron for 230 000 rps/kilo at Denpasar's market, but actually, I managed to get it for an even better price! Milka drove me to Bintang Market and I was shocked to only find 50 gram bags of Saffron "fuuuuu i'm not gonna get my dad anything.. he won't do anything with this amount of Saffron". But then a light bulb lit in my head.. 1000g/50grams=20 bags and if one bag costs 7200rps, 7200 x 20 = 144 000 rps. I had to calculate again just to be sure - no fucking way, it's actually cheaper to buy it this way than from the market as a bulk ! I guess cause these bags are for locals and thus priced for locals... At the market I doubt I would've even got it for 230 000rps.. At least in Ubud they asked 250 000rps for _300_ grams. I was laughing  at the thought of emptying a plastic bag worth of tiny saffron bags on the table, when my dad would only be expecting a large package :D "Yeah, bought you a kilo...in 20 bags!" So yeah kids, paid less than 13€ for a kilo of Saffron.. do the math.



Anyway, we headed to the beach and I got my last share of Padang Food. I WILL MISS YOU, dear delicious Padang! Milka got her toe nails painted and when the lady asked me whether I wanted mine too, I was liek whatta hell, gotta get rid of this money anyways and I have probably 7 layers of black nail polish on my nails, which would be good to get cleaned up.



After the beach we headed to Kuta because this batini dyed singlet had been creeping in my mind for 2 weeks now so I wanted to buy it. Spent the rest of my money on those two tops and then Milka announced that we should go get my stuff from Canggu and leave to the airport. As we were driving and almost on the free way, a fucking cop tries to pull us over for me not having a helmet - we just speeded off.



When we got my stuff, and headed back towards Kuta (since the airport was that way) we get stuck in the lights. There's a line of four car ad heaps of scooter before us as I spot a cop - and a motor bike cop ! I tell Milka about this and tell her to get on the right hand side as soon as possible. It was nerve wreckingly exciting ducking behind Milka's PINK helmet so that the cop wouldn't notice my helmetlesness. What made it more exciting was that we were stuck in the lights. Just then as I am hiding behing Milka's back, I saw the neon yellow vest and the police hat shifting to the right hand side - to the side we were on. I try squinting as small as I can but the cop has noticed us and tells us to pull over with this angry expression on his face. We got off of he bike and the cop goes "You are not wearing a helmet and you ran away already once when I stopped you" - FUUUCK, it's the same cop : D



Milka had to go to his booth and I was just laughing at the thought that Mika doesn't even have a license.. Wasn't concerned though about that because I knew he Indo cops probably have no idea what the real Finnish Driver's License looks like. I was more worried about the sum we would have to pay him. I didn't have ANY money left.. I only have 150 000rps to get out of the country (airport tax). Milka returned and told me the cop wanted 200 000 rps but Milka had told him she had no money "go talk to your friend". As we were discussing what we would do (only pay the standard 50 000rps and I would pay Milka back with a back transfer) we saw the cop getting on his bike and speeding off.

"SHIIT SHIIT GET ON THE BIKE, DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE - FUCK, THIS COP WON'T LET ME GET ON MY PLANE FOR SURE IF HE CATCHES US LEAVING FOR THE _SECOND TIME_ TODAY!"



It was truly adrenalin-sparking business being driving the SAME _ONE WAY ROAD_  the cop was driving on. Not to mention that, as usual, the road was stuck with traffic and thus we could bump into him any minute. I kept my eyes open for the cops neon yellow vest as Milka drove. "STOP STOP STOP!!!!!"  Milk stopped JUST a _METER_ behind the cop ! He had pulled over some westerner and I was so amazed when the cop just took off withough noticing us.. I mean, we were so close that he should've probably seen Milka damn _pink_ helmet flashing in is rear-view mirror.



The cop took a right and we were sooo happy because the airport was on the left <3 We managed to get to the airport and I said bye and cya to my Milkyway <3 Promised her, that if she would get fined on the way back home, I would pay her back via bank transfer :D

Problems didn't end here though... oh no, not at all. As I payed my airport fee and proceeded to get my passport checked, the guy tells me
"you've overstayed your visa with one day"
"what?? noo... no, I mean I came here on the 17.12 and today's the 16th of Jan, right?" "Yeah... 31 days"
*did some counting*
"Oh nooo, what now?"
"You have to pay 200 000"
"200 000 '?!?!?! bu I don't have _ANY_ money *I show him my empty wallet thoroughly*"
"Get some from the ATM"
"But.. I don't have anything on my bank account.. Everything's on my savings account"

So I ended up having to get money out with my credit card (Thank god for Mastercard<3) and although I had to pay the same amount I payed for my whole month's visa, I was just laughing about it :) ..Although I still have no idea, whether the guy just came up with the number... I do not trust the officials in Indonesia... :D



Had my last Bintang on the airport (broke but still worth the 5€ I swipped with my Mastercard) and got on the plane to Kuala Lumpur. In Kuala Lumpur I nearly missed my flight because I was too busy reading blogs and didn't hear any announcements (there were none??). When I got to Amsterdam I felt utterly shit. All my muscles were hurting, I was chronically getting cold shivers, then again at times I felt as hot as an oven, my eyes hurt and the lights looked too bright and I felt very disoriented. I felt like crying because I knew I still had 6 hours to go before I would be home.

Now, writing this three days later, I can tell you, I apparently got TONSILLITIS. WTF. Was a bit surprised when the doc called me :D Oh well, like my mate said:

"mut mita suurempi fail sita parempi matka aina

se on sellane laki

oon huomannu tan kun oon suorittanu empiirisia tutkimuksia"

PS. Jeff told me on Facebook, that only the driver is supposed to have a helmet. But the cops just pull over westerners who don't know about the law with the hope of a bribe..

Last Days at Berawa Beach

Bored on the beach, I am...

The last days went by just chilling, laying on the beach and not doing really anything.
Fetched Milka's and my stuff from Jeff's villa  and went to stay at Putu homestay although it was really expensive for my day budget (well.. actually it WAS my whole day budget... without breakfast included... woot. too lazy and tired to care anymore). That first day I was just soo hungover that I went to the beach and fell asleep. I kinda had this race against time to get tanned. I hadn't cared to tan the whole time I was there, but at the end of my trip I kinda started feeling like I wanted to be a bit brown before heading back home to the cold...!

Taking photos of my jewerly, I am...

..And legs (DAMN Balinese Kiss!!!)
...Just Wishing I could go in the SEA. perkele. 

Anyway, when I got back from the beach I took another nap, and although I sill felt slightly hangover that evening, Jean and Jeff convinced me to go out with them. And I'm glad I went! We had such a good time. We arrived to Alley cats 25 minutes before it was closed and we just guzzled down double doubles, beers and tequila shots :D Afterwards headed to Eikon and just killed the dance floor. Had such a good time! I was really amazed that the guys where the ones who wanted to leave first - I mean, I was the one with a hangover and a sick case of lack of sleep. I actually considered that maybe I should just stay behind but fuuu, THANK GOD my drunken brain made a good decision for once! I realized that there would be no way I would get home - not even with a cab :D Try getting home in the dark in Berawa where everything looks the same and no one knows the street names 8) So yeah, got on Jeff's bike (wouldn't get to the back of Jean's no matter what! fucking mad man) and we headed to the servo to get some drunken munchiez... haha epic :D



The rest of the days went pretty much the same minus the partying.  Also Milka came the next day and we spent the whole day in my hotel room because of the sick thunderstorm. We went to have some dinner with Jeff & Jean, and me and Milka were supposed to go out with the Finnish exchange students/what not but then I started feeling suuuuuuper tired so I just went home (sorry Milka!). I was glad I went though. We had such a good time on Friday with Jean and Jeff that it would've been hard to top it ;)



On Sunday I did nothing but just wait for Milka to come and get me so that I could stay one night with her and her Finnish mates' villa but yeah, she might've had some obstacles on her way (like getting lost, going surfing with Kiwies and one guy getting into an accident...) so I never saw her that day. I felt so pissed off at myself for being so dependent of Milka and her bike... I really wanted to rent my own but I dunno... It was the nd of my trip, no one was there to teach me (Jeff had left and Jean was  busy with his own things) so I never got the courage to just rent myself one.



That evening I was going crazy cause I had eaten barely anything that day, all the shops were closed and I didn't have a scooter.. I decided to walk to Warung Satya (the place where we had brekkie with the germans and where we always ate with jeff and jean) and have some dinner. I called Jean and guess what - he was already there! He asked whether I wanted him to get me. When he arrived a minute later I got on his bike and told him I had to go to the ATM first. So we drove there and in the midst of out way Jean goes "Ohhh... so I finally got you on my scooter" "oh yeah... oh shit..." And then he started driving like crazy and aaaaa :D fuck. Thank god he didn't go on for that long.



BUT then Jean taught me to drive a scooter !!! AAAAA IT WAS AMAZING :D I only drove for like 30 seconds to the restaurant but my hands were shaking :D It was soooooo cool. Loved it. We had dinner with Jean's friends and had some beers  I really wanted to go out in Kuta (last night hey!) and I ALMOST succeeded in getting Jean on board. But I realized I didn't want to be on his bike after he had finished a bottle of wine (+ all the other booze he'd drink in Kuta) so I stopped pursuing him ;) It was a good decision though. I insisted to Jean I wanted to drive myself home on his scooter and I did. MAn I got hooked. NEXT TIME I'm gonna rent a bike from day 1. Seriously. LOVE the freedom of it! Hassle free, cheap, easy in traffic and super fun. Man. Choked, should've not been such a pussy ! No one cares anyways that you don't have a license - I mean, Milka doesn't have a license and she always just flashes her expired Finnish ID as her "driver's license" ;)

    Hähää! Mikäs sieltä muukaan kuin MUOVIPUSSI! - That's why you _keep your beaches clean!_

PS. My iPod is dead thanks for me being too hangover for my brain to think straight...

Ubud

9.1-13.1 Ubud



Woke up, had brekkie and packed. Jonas drove me and Milka to Jean’s work to get hammocks and we said bye to him. I knew I was gonna say bye to him soon but it came so quickly that luckily I had no time to get emotional :) Which is what always happens if I get attached to someone even slightly – be it a boy I like or a girl I become good friends with. Really doesn’t need a lot for me to make have to hold back my tears. I WEAR MY HEART ON MY SLEEVE – WHAT EVER!



We got Ticket to the Moon -hammocks from Jean for the price of cost ! WTF SO CHEAP. 200 000 rps/per every item we wanted to purchase. I got a king size hammock for my bro’s room (since he’s been talking about getting one now that Vipe is also moving in with us<3) and I had a hard time deciding whether I wanted the double of the kng size for myself. I decided to go with double since it is smaller (for my travels!) and they were available in cuter colors ;) haha. I’ll make my bro swear though that if I need his hammock, he’ll have to lend it to me! :D But yeah. Got them for a really good price 400 000 rps (Jean also threw in a Ticket to the Moon -bag for us) which is really sweet if you compare it to the price you get in Europe. Someone said they cost 40€ in Europe for a _single_ ? Sick.



We started driving to Ubud where I was to meet Jared ! Luckily when we asked ”Permisi, Dima na Ubud?” from a local in the traffic lights, she told us to follow her as she was going that ay anyways ! <3 I was just so happy to sit at the back of the bike and listen to my iPod. Had all these hangover realizations (yeah so.. karma strikes, didn’t have my hangover with everyone yesterday so i’ll just suffer today.. alone..). It was funny, when the woman fianlly pulled over to tell us where we’d have to drive, as she was about to go to the different direction, she told us ”If you want driving license, you come to DenPasar (etc).”  - THAT FUCKING LADY WAS A CIVILIAN POLIVE OFFICER AND I HAD BEEN SITTING ON MILKA’S BIKE THE WHOLE WAY WITHOUT A HELMET : DDDD Gotta love it.



When we finally saw the hotel Jared had booked for us it was 4pm. I was hoping he would be in his room so I could creep in and jump on him! But when I got of the bike and I was talking to the receptionist I turned around and saw someone – ”Sandra?” ”JARED!!!” I ran to hug and kiss Jared and was so happy yet confussed seeing him. Imagine meeting someone in Bali that you’ve seen the last time in Australia 14 months ago?



 

I was so stoked on my hammock that we hung it on one of the chill pads and got in with Jared in it. We just laid there talking and listening to the rain. It was so good.



That night we went to this small restaurant (only three tables!) and had yumm Indonesian food. I had this coconut curry thing, but was a bit dissapointed to find out it was a soup! I had been dreaming of my dad’s Indonesian coconut curry and was a bit bummed to notice i’d be eating another soup :D (I had a soup as an appetizer). Nevertheless it was good :)



The rest of the days went pretty similarly – Chilling and just eating. I felt a bit sick from all the Indonesian food (physically as well as mentally) so after the first night I just ate what Ubud was known for – for all its fucking delicious organic stuff!



My tummy had been feeling a bit off and I was actually getting a bit nauseous when ever I'd order Indonesian (lack of appetite) so I went on this no-Indo -diet and just ate all these delicious organic foods, freshly squeezed juices and healthy teas made from ginger and such. I felt amazing already after a couple days of this diet. :)



One day me an Milka went to see Ketut, you know, from the movie Eat, Pray, Love. It was Milka’s idea and I thought it would be a laugh to go get my palm read (”Sandra, I see no men in your palm – only 16 cats”) but once we got there I changed my mind. A poster of eat, pray, love, tourists and A WAITING NUMBER ?? How much touristier can it get. It was no suprise for me that it owuld be touristy, but when I heard the price (250 000 rps ?!?!) I told myself ”hell no”. I had a good time listening to Milka’s palm reading though (”veeery veery pretty”) although it seemed very superficial in my opinion and also like Ketut would have dementia (he kept repeating and asking a lot of the same questions). However, it was an experience (for Milka) and Ketut seemed like a sympathetic, cute old man who was missing most of his teeth.



I also went to the clinic because my burn on my leg had torn open and I had a hard time walking because it felt so nasty. Got all these cool pills (antibiotics and pain killers) and bandades and all this shit and I got told I had a second degree burn. Guess i’ll really have this Balinese Tattoo as a souvenier...



That first night that I was supposed to clean my burn with this liquid and put antiseptic cream on it, I just couldn't do it. I was so disgusted :D Instead I had a couple sips of the whisky Etcha and Paolo had given me, and let Jared do the honors!



Milka left to climb the volcano (UNFAIR i wanted to do that too ;/) and I stayed with Jared in Ubud. Jared was a babe and one day he bought as both massages! It was sooo good. Managed to drift to asleep at least seven times in that session :)

(Sorry for the possible sudden loss of appetite guys!)

  Yay! it's healing!

On the last morning that we left, I woke up with a massive hangover (kids, don’ rage drink Bintang on an empty stomach) and was GLAD to know I had heavy painkillers in my Toya Clinic –bag.

Late night drunken munchiez - gotta love Padang Food <3 (Note how i'm enjoying ;D)

As I was packing with this massive head ache, Jared went to pay for the room and when he came back, he has bought me a bracelet with thre turtles on it.. Aww! I had told him jockingly I wanted a bracelet from him so I could remember him (”because you are so forgetable”) but I had totally not seen it coming :D Thanks Jared <3



We got a taxi which drove Jared to the airport (”See you somewhere in the World”) and me to Canggu...

I Love FOOD

(Padang food)