BALI BORCHELORETTE
pt.1
prior to ppp, bali was #1 on my bucket list and h o l y it did NOT disappoint. by some stroke of luck one of my bffs Christie had her bachelorette party there (at borchy’s dad’s villa) so i got to reunite with some of my faves from home annnddd be treated like royalty. bali is everything i’d ever dreamed of (based mainly off of Eat Pray Love) - gorgeous, lush, zen, temples everywhere. nicest people, partying, beaches, shopping, nature. a dream. perfect place to #play.
jan 3 - arrive at Capsule Hostel New Seminyak, i am the happiest because they ask you for song requests at check in (havana, macklemore, drake, slow hands for me - is anyone who has ever seen my insta stories surprised?) and they played glorious and then slow hands and then good old days in the first 10 mins and i probs have never been more touched. Ash and i walk to Ku De Ta for $14 drinks (a shocker after Thailand but i’m posting this is Australia, the land of $22 cocktails sssooo..) colourful bean bag chair beach for a sunset that was a lil TOO romantic pour moi, potato head for corn on the cob and cider, golf cart home.
first impresh was that i love bali except for when there are no sidewalks. but very lush and cute and the people are SO MUCH NICER than in thailand, everyone smiles at you!! there are also offerings everywhere of flowers, rice, leaves in little boxes. the locals put them out twice a day to keep away the bad spirits.jan 4 - delish benny + smoothie down the street from Capsule, macrame shopping, then find the jackpot shopping st with la favela and basically try so hard not to buy everything. pick up christie, sarah and kaylyn at the airport, SO EXCITEDDD, the Borchelorette has begun!!!! arrive at Borchy’s dad’s Villa Teana in Jimbaran which is the nicest place i have ever stayed i am not worthy. Living Well for dins - healthy restaurant 2 mins from villa that we’re obsessed with. Kaylyn and i sharesies quesadilla and noodles every time.
i have a party itch and Ash rallies so i find “ladies night free drink upon arrival” on the Unique bar website which, we discovered upon arrival, expired in 2015.. then Rock Bar (closed) and Bosche (dead). basically taxiied our life away but we had fun so whatevsjan 5 - villa cocktails, day drunkie to Nusa Dua for frolicking on the beautiful beach and $5 caipirinhas and delish nachos at the Marriot. i said it was my favourite beach yet but i can’t remember if those were my sober thoughts too. Ash eats a dough ball from a rando on a scooter at a stoplight. we are all dyyyinggg. Bagus our driver is THE BEST so sweet and patient and always says “why not?”buffet dinner at sky garden (5 floor rooftop club) and i have the best night of my whole trip (k at least top 5) - good music, dancing living my best life on the tables, getting twirled and involuntarily flipped all night long. ash and i make so many dancing friends from korea (?), borneo, lombok .. canada ..
jan 6 - uluwatu afternoon - temples and terrifying monkeys. first one we saw was ripping a tied shoe off a kid’s foot, RELENTLESS. people ask Christie to take photos cause she’s tall, she goes “oh sure” so nonchalant lol. a monkey is coming at us with fangs out so Christie panic-surrenders her flip flops .. “guys i left my shoes” lololol. monkey sees the free shoes and is like k i guess i’ll take one?
dinner at Living Well probs and then i go meet up with Cam Monish & ecklagram at their friends house and then a speakeasy called 40 thieves or something. it was fun but i just wanna dance - get an uber for sky garden, distracted by mcdonalds on the way because i think there is all day breakfast and i haven’t had an egg mcmuffin since Bangkok airport, end up settling for a cheeseburg and going to bed. cant win em all.jan 7 - drive to ubud with a stop at the rice patties - gorg, hot, little girl following christie with a robotic little voice saying “buuuyyyy booook” on repeat. slowly but surely falling in love with Bali - its beauty is so unique.
we try to bike but it is monsooning so hard and we get caught in the rain, call it after 20 mins and have lunch. then to Blue Mango villa in Ubud town and the most amazing Yoga Barn sesh with Carlos and his sweet guitar serenading us. Ubud is the most blissful place on earth and we are all zenned out and obsessed. dinner at the delish yoga barn healthy restaurant and then sangria at Cafe du Monyet (also recommend - sooo cute!!)
jan 8 - early morning bbg sesh on balcony had to be aborted on account of a monkey invasion. still traumatized by uluwatu. but we gave it our best shot. Bagus comes back to take us back to the bike tour now that it’s sunny and it is AMAZING - through the backroads of the Balinese countryside, rice fields, locals’ homes and temples with farms of cows, pigs, puppies, and kaylyn’s favourite gigantic spiders. the bike ride is like 20km and was absolutely stunning - bali landscapes give rwanda a run for their money. every home has a gorgeous temple in front. i finally get that feeling i’ve been missing since Rwanda - these are REAL locals, not hustling to scam tourists, their homes and crops are BEAUTIFUL, little kids are excited to wave at us and say hello. it feels untained and special, which i had been missing amongst all the “play” of the last month in thailand. love love loved it.
we head to the Mason Elephant Park & Lodge to see Christie’s long lost Mona, back to shop in Ubud, then home to our sweet sweet villa.
jan 9 - 10:30am vod shots and off to Potato Head. i need a vod + pee stop so Bagus pulls over at a mini mart and we get a mini Smirnoff, take a swig, was defs methanol or something. v syrupy. don’t want to go blind so we shelve that one. Potates is a bit of a blur - caulifower and something for lunch, Kaylyn orders the cheapest shots on the menu which are disgust probs blinding tequila, Ash mixes it with her ceviche juice. Annie and her precious face come to join us, we head to their hotel next door, Alila, where she sings us “what a wonderful world” in prep for the wedding. voice of an angel. we mow down pizza and pina coladas. back to Potates for a nap.
jan 10 - shop at samasta but no dice (and by dice i mean macrames), only AMAZING doughnuts at Dough Darlings omgomg the cheesecake one. back to the villa to relax. head to Rock Bar which is the most STUNNNINGGG drinking establishment on planet earth. bars on bars on patios on cabanas on the edge of the cliff with the waves crashing against it. our drinks are $20 but they are steaming with dry ice and are delish so it’s basically worth it.
without warning a huge wave comes up and SOAKS Chris, Ash and Kaylyn - me and Sarah don’t get a drop but we are DYING laughing, along with the Aussie 50th bday party next to us.
back at the villa joined by Nelson, Annie, Nigel for Bagus’ homemade indo cooking - amazing but spicy af, my mouth is still cooling down i think. jan 11 - nusa dua for diving for me/snorkelling for the girls. diving was better than koh tao but not fab - need to go to penida!! stroll the market and stop for lunch: pizza/banana daiquiris. unbeatable combo. then our default for all rainy days: massage sesh
at night we are ready to PARTAY so we crank some “never be the same” camila cabello and embrace our inner animals. chris: gazelle.. sarah: koala.. ash: tasmanian devil.. kaylyn: cat. and then off to la favela where we defs started the d floor and danced our hearts out all night. had to screen for aussies but music was 10/10 (red red wiiiine, it’s time for africa, ja rule, ALL THE HITS). soooo fun.
jan 12 - borchy arrives, his bride welcomes him with a gangley dance. they are my fave couple. we go to Jimbaran beach for seafood where you pick out your creatures by weight (kaylyn and i obv shared calamari and prawns) and enjoy dinner on the beach with a live band serenading you and fireworks in the distance. gorg.
the ooonly con to bali is traffic. especially staying at the villa in Jimbaran, it took us like an hour to get to Seminyak or at least 45 to most places. but Uber is super cheap (like $8 for an hour car ride). the borchelorette girls were amazing, chill, fun, harious, easygoing. no other stagette will ever measure up.
also that villa was probs the nicest place i will ever stay, i loved walking out onto the pool deck in the mornings and soaking it in, and Winda brings me ice coffee and cooks us breakfast. when we arrive her and Anoos (Agus??) and crew sprint to get cold wet towels and fresh juice for us - NOT WORTHY but again, not sorry. reasons i need to come back to bali:- diving at Penida where there are manta rays- Loop Pool bar, classic infinity pool you’ve seen on insta- more la favela- more sky garden- temples up north- waterfalls- Finn’s beach club- Mt Batur sunrise hike- motel Mexicola for dinner + congo line this one’s definitely a see you later, not goodbye!!
