It's been about 4 days without Internet connection and I must say it has been nice to be disconnected for a little bit, although I have been aching to see more pictures from the wedding! Dan and I had a slow wifi signal in the restaurant we were in last night so we looked at a couple of them uploaded by my fabulous cousin Grant, but we couldn't take the 2 minute loading time so we gave up! They look great, cannot wait to see the rest.
It has been a dreamlike experience the last week and a half. Since we have arrived in Bali we have been catching up with friends and family, and it has been so so great. I loved having all of my family together - its been over 5 years since my Mum, Dad and my sister Rachael and I have all been together, and even longer since my extended family has been together. It made me realize how much I miss everyone, but also how time flies - you have conversations with people you have not seen in years and it seems like no time has passed.
Bali has changed a lot from what I had remembered it. It has become more resorty and swanky, although not it a bad way. The street hassling and poverty levels are not so confronting - you can actually walk along the beach without being offered to buy a hat. We stayed in Semingyak for the first 5 nights at the Pelangi - it was a nice hotel right on the beach with a great pool. The area along the beach there is particularly cool - lots of beach bars where you can sit on a beanbag and have a cocktail while watching sunset. Semingyak is the center of swank - so many upscale villas, shops and restaurants. I did not have the opportunity to do any shopping unfortunately, although I may have a peak on our way back through when we fly out.
We had a great day out on the beach in Nusa Dua jet-skiing and para-gliding with my cousins and friends, although we did not get to stay up in the air all that long. We were hoping there would be more opportunity to do jet-skiing in Lembongan, but alas it was all snorkeling and diving. Para-gliding was fun, although I must say I was pretty scared shitless. We had about 2 minutes of training which entailed wearing two different colored gloves that had holes in them - blue pull right, red pull left, and run on the sand to take off. Oh and no safety waivers of course :)
Massages have been the high point for me! $6-$25 (depending on the swank level) for an hour! I mean c'mon, doesnt get better than that. Gosh they are so good! The hotel Mum and Dad were staying in had a great little hut where you could get a massage for $8 where I went 3 times! Reflexology is also really big here , Dan has had quite a few foot massages, I have only had one, so need to catch up! :)
On Wednesday the official wedding festivities started with the welcome Breakfast at Legian Beach Hotel. It was AMAZING! The hotel had just been renovated so they had a brand new restaurant and a huge variety of food. Egg station, fruit, cereals, cold meats, dumplings, and a pancake and waffle station. We were then treated to a lovely sing-along by my cousins little girl Sarah (aka the flower girl) and a great photo opp as girls and boys had to stand on either side for the concert!
Wednesday night was hen's/stag's night and Rachael/Kate/Jess, Liam/Thomas did a stella job of organizing! The boys went for an afternoon of go-carting and then out to a beach bar and a bar with a pool. Us girls were treated to an afternoon of pampering - we got our hair, nails and make-up done at a swanky salon (will post photos it was super modern and over-looking a rice paddy), then we were off to Naughty Nuris where everytime you order a drink something naughty happens! Delicious BBQ food (although I stuck to my veg and rice) and potent cocktails 'Naughty on the Beach'. We then made our way to a Cuban club - unfortunately they were supposed to have salsa, but being Bali (where things get cancelled at a whim) it wasnt on, but we enjoyed our free ladies night cocktail, before hitting the gay bars. We headed to Mixwell for performances from Britney, Katy and go-go dancers and yours truely - those photos are bound to surface on facebook one of these days. We then headed to Sky Garden to meet up with the boys. Believe it or not the olds (Dad, Mum and my uncles) were still at it at 3am! Dan and I didnt make it back to the hotel until 4.30am and luckily slept until 11am before getting up to move to the wedding location hotel!
It has been a dreamlike experience the last week and a half. Since we have arrived in Bali we have been catching up with friends and family, and it has been so so great. I loved having all of my family together - its been over 5 years since my Mum, Dad and my sister Rachael and I have all been together, and even longer since my extended family has been together. It made me realize how much I miss everyone, but also how time flies - you have conversations with people you have not seen in years and it seems like no time has passed.
Bali has changed a lot from what I had remembered it. It has become more resorty and swanky, although not it a bad way. The street hassling and poverty levels are not so confronting - you can actually walk along the beach without being offered to buy a hat. We stayed in Semingyak for the first 5 nights at the Pelangi - it was a nice hotel right on the beach with a great pool. The area along the beach there is particularly cool - lots of beach bars where you can sit on a beanbag and have a cocktail while watching sunset. Semingyak is the center of swank - so many upscale villas, shops and restaurants. I did not have the opportunity to do any shopping unfortunately, although I may have a peak on our way back through when we fly out.
We had a great day out on the beach in Nusa Dua jet-skiing and para-gliding with my cousins and friends, although we did not get to stay up in the air all that long. We were hoping there would be more opportunity to do jet-skiing in Lembongan, but alas it was all snorkeling and diving. Para-gliding was fun, although I must say I was pretty scared shitless. We had about 2 minutes of training which entailed wearing two different colored gloves that had holes in them - blue pull right, red pull left, and run on the sand to take off. Oh and no safety waivers of course :)
Massages have been the high point for me! $6-$25 (depending on the swank level) for an hour! I mean c'mon, doesnt get better than that. Gosh they are so good! The hotel Mum and Dad were staying in had a great little hut where you could get a massage for $8 where I went 3 times! Reflexology is also really big here , Dan has had quite a few foot massages, I have only had one, so need to catch up! :)
On Wednesday the official wedding festivities started with the welcome Breakfast at Legian Beach Hotel. It was AMAZING! The hotel had just been renovated so they had a brand new restaurant and a huge variety of food. Egg station, fruit, cereals, cold meats, dumplings, and a pancake and waffle station. We were then treated to a lovely sing-along by my cousins little girl Sarah (aka the flower girl) and a great photo opp as girls and boys had to stand on either side for the concert!
Wednesday night was hen's/stag's night and Rachael/Kate/Jess, Liam/Thomas did a stella job of organizing! The boys went for an afternoon of go-carting and then out to a beach bar and a bar with a pool. Us girls were treated to an afternoon of pampering - we got our hair, nails and make-up done at a swanky salon (will post photos it was super modern and over-looking a rice paddy), then we were off to Naughty Nuris where everytime you order a drink something naughty happens! Delicious BBQ food (although I stuck to my veg and rice) and potent cocktails 'Naughty on the Beach'. We then made our way to a Cuban club - unfortunately they were supposed to have salsa, but being Bali (where things get cancelled at a whim) it wasnt on, but we enjoyed our free ladies night cocktail, before hitting the gay bars. We headed to Mixwell for performances from Britney, Katy and go-go dancers and yours truely - those photos are bound to surface on facebook one of these days. We then headed to Sky Garden to meet up with the boys. Believe it or not the olds (Dad, Mum and my uncles) were still at it at 3am! Dan and I didnt make it back to the hotel until 4.30am and luckily slept until 11am before getting up to move to the wedding location hotel!
