Ubud!

Made it safe and sound to Ubud, Bali. I looooove it here! It's artsy city- there are local crafts and vendors everywhere, lots of shopping and walking, and SO many amazing places to eat! I could probably be here for a month and eat at a new place every meal. Indonesian food is so delcious and a lot of it is vegetarian! I did a lot of browsing today (and a bit of shopping...) and then I went to a yoga class. It was great, the classroom was open air and the teacher was a local- he reminded me of Jackie Chan he just did all these crazy transitions, I don't think his feet ever touched the ground.
I was told I couldn't come here and not see a traditional Balinese dance and music show. I went tonight mad it was pretty cool. It was called a "Legong Dance". The orchestra were about 10 guys playing drums and ,metal instruments with mallets, and the dancers  were girls with beautiful makeup, dresses and head pieces. We got q little outline about the dances, their meanings and stuff but I still didn't really understand. It was still a cool experience, adds to the cultural/ artsy vibe of Ubud.
Happy Valentines Day also!
<3

Laundry service

I'm not sure if it was officially on my bucket list but I'll still check off Surfing in Indonesia! Just had a great day with a local named Deo who took me to some "beginner" waves. Australian and Indonesian beginner seems to be a bit different. Unlike Aus, there wasn't a beach. They drive you out in a longtail boat to the waves and then the boat waits for you. Surfing is already really tiring, it's a full body workout that takes everything out of you. And since we were just in the middle of the ocean I couldn't even rest on a beach. Its like toboggoning- the going down part is amazing, but then you're at the bottom and have to walk up, or with surfing you have to paddle. I got a lot of good waves though! I even caught some green, unbroken ones which I left off trying to do in Australia. Deo helped a lot, giving an extra push into the big ones if I couldn't paddle hard enough. He picked out the good ones for me too. He made me laugh because his English was really good so he could actually joke around. Usually it's hard to joke with someone who's first language isn't English. One of my favorites was when I paddled back after a good wipeout he asked me if I had laundry service. At first I thought it was a weird place to be marketing his laundry business but Asians never miss out on a chance to advertise. But then I realized he was talking about me in the waves. When you get crushed by a wave spins you around- I thought that was pretty clever. Despite my liberal application of sunscreen I still got burnt. It's hard to avoid because you usually sweat it off the minute you apply it, and then add ocean water and you might as well just skip it.
I was trying to decide if I should stay here one more day or head on to Ubud and I've decided to head to Ubud tomorrow morning. I would love to surf again tomorrow but I dont think I can take the sun again. I've been on a beach for almost a month which has been great but now it's time to head inland again. I'm looking forward to Ubud, I plan to do a lot of yoga and relax. Although I've really been relaxing for this entire trip! I've been trying to book my flight but it's frustrating because everytime I get close the internet goes down or some error happens. Maybe they make it hard so you never leave. Which wouldn't be terrible, everyone here is so nice! They'll offer to bring you anywhere on their scooters. been after dinner I saw one of the surf teachers and he offered me a ride.
<3

Rain and 100 degree ferries

Well Asia finally caught up with me. I was supposed to go diving yesterday but woke up feeling really sick. Typical Asia symptoms, stomach feels uneasy, headache, body aches, zero energy. Luckily I didnt have anything to do or anywhere to go so I slept all day. The place I was staying didn't have A.C. but it did have really comfy mattress so it wasn't bad.
Woke up this morning feeling a lot better!! (Woo hoo) Also woke up to RAIN! First time ive seen it in Asia. It didnt last long but it was actually nice. Now its just 100% humidity.
I was up early so I went to the morning market where there is EVERYTHING! I wish canada had markets like this. It's every morning and they have fresh fruit, vegetables, fish, chicken, eggs, spices... and then anything else you can imagine. I got something for lunch that looks amazing but I don't know what it is. Looks like rice, some sort of dumplings, some black stuff some goopy brown stuff and then it's sprinkled with coconut, and brown glaze. YUM!
Currently I'm on a ferry to Kuta, Lombok which is an island beside Bali. I was planning to go to the Gili Islands but Kuta is known for surfing and beautiful beaches and Gilis are just a party- so the beach won. I also hope to do some surfing if I'm feeling up to it.
It is HOT on this ferry... wow! Gotta be 100 degrees. There doesn't seem to be any windows. There are people selling nasi (rice), coffee, lychee, rambutan, chips, sunglasses, sarongs, peanuts, water- it's like a superstore in here. The guy in front of me is chain smoking which just adds to the ambiance. One redeeming factor is that they're playing The Eagles, Hell Freezes Over tour DVD on the speakers haha... so random.  I'm glad it's that and not the usual Asian soap operas.
I think I might move upstairs but it's also outside so sun will be an issue. Only 5 more hours to go! Kuta Lombok here I come!

Indones... uhhh

First of all, I am the new (slightly disgruntled) owner of a Galaxy Tablet. It's really cool but I hate that I had to buy it because my cellphone was stolen. Either way, I'm back online and I've made it to Indonesia- a few snags though. Of course my trip has been pretty much flawless and my first day alone I have allthese issues.
First my plane from Phuket to Jakarta was delayed but that wasn't a big deal it just meant I had less time to sleep in the airport waiting for my flight to Bali which was supposed to be at 6am. Since I didnt have my phone I only had my confirmation number- which turns out is pretty useless when the airline I booked with is now out of business. So I had to pay for another flight this morning! I haven't gotten the strength or motivation to do anything yet but I'll call the credit card company tomorrow.
So I arrived in Bali at 830am and went to Kuta which is the main tourist beach. I didn't want to stay I was just using it for the bus to Padangbai which is a town on the east coast. I was told the bus left at 9pm and got to the coast at 1230. That's when I went and bought my tablet- I figured I had all day. I just happened to look at a pamphlet/ map from the bus company that said the bus left at 130pm.. and it was 135. I went back to he bus station and the guy told me he meant 10am and that I just missed the last bus. I had aleady booked a hostel here and I didn't want to stay in Kuta so I was determined to leave.
There was a public transport bus I was told went to Padangbai as well so I went with it. I was walking downnthe street asking where the bus stop was when some man pointed to a decrepit old blue van and told me that was the bus. It reminded me of the old truck we used to drive at work. Yeah right buddy I'm not that dumb, I'm not getting in your van. Next person I asked said hed drive me on his motorbike- also declined that. The next thing I know the man and his old van drive up behind me and honked- there's other people in the van now. He says he's going where Im going. I figured if other people where in it maybe it was the bus! We had to transfer to another bus and the driver told me the public bus was going to take a long time because the route was very out of the way. Next thing know I'm on the back of a motorbike on my way to padangbai. I told the man I was very special so he should drive carefully- he even gave me a helmet! It was a beautiful ride salon he coast and I'm happy to have arrived. I was planning to head straight to Gili islands tomorrow but I'm going to dive here tomorrow instead. I may go to Lombok instead, I hear it has more to offer. For now I'm here, it's beautiful and quiet- I need a good rest after last night. There are a lot of cool people here, lots of Canadians.
Can't wait to play around with my new tablet.
♡

Flying Solo

I left Ton Sai this morning, I'm at Phuket airport right now, flying to Jakarta, Indonesia tonight and then from Jakarta to Bali in the morning. I'm really looking forward to Indonesia to do some diving, yoga and maybe surfing. I've parted from all of my friends and I'm traveling on my own. I'm excited to be alone, but have also enjoyed the comfort of traveling with other people. It's a lot harder to make decisions with 5 other people, but on a long bus ride or 2 hour delay on the boat having people there is nice. I've been lucky to been traveling with some great people, and I've met a lot of great people as well! Can't wait for the rest of my South East Asia Adventure. Missing everyone from home, especially now because I don't get to communicate as much as I'd like, will keep everyone posted if I get a new phone. <3

Ton Sai

From Krabi we got a boat to Ton Sai beach which is by far the most beautiful place I've been on this trip. It's surrounded by Limestone cliffs and the ocean. The town itself is so tiny- mostly inhabited by rock climbers and hippies. (Just my scene). The first day there we rented sea kayaks and kayaked to near by caves and the next beach over Railay Beach. It was similar to Ton Sai but more expensive and busy. We floated around on the ocean and watched the sunset even though it was a cloudy night so we didn't see much. The next day we went deep water soloing which has been on my bucket list for a while. We got boated out to a cliff along the ocean where we bouldered (rock climbed without ropes)and when you fell, you fell into the ocean. It was SO cool!!! One of the girls there said it right though, you could be really good at climbing but make sure you're equally good at jumping. I think my top height was 30ft- not the highest I've ever jumped from but it's still high enough! I'm pretty rusty because I haven't climbed in a while but I still had a lot of fun. There were some pretty great climbers in the group, some getting as high as 60/70 feet. The next day Louise and I did some top rope climbing (traditional climbing with a rope and someone belaying you). It was a lot of fun, but REALLYYYY hot!! That time out was a good combination of fun and challenge. It made me want to come home and get back into climbing. We were staying in a little rustic bungalow- we had 3 girls in one double bed, our "mattress" felt more like a box spring, it had no cushion.. and we had a little bathroom in a cement room with no sink. The power was only on from 6pm- 3am, which powered our single fan. It was nice having it to fall asleep at least. I really loved Ton Sai, I didn't want to leave- it was so relaxed and easy. <3

Diving in Koh Tao

I am a certified Open Water Diver now- which means I can dive (with a buddy) up to 18m. My week of diving was really great. I thought I'd be scared of breathing underwater, like it might feel claustrophobic but it didn't at all. It's hard to be scared when everything looks so cool! The first day was just theory, watching silly movies and then doing an "exam" which I got 100% on. Then we got 4 dives, each dive was about 45 minutes and they got deeper each time. I saw tons of fish; angel fish, banner fish, groupers, bat fish, clown fish (NEMO!!!), parrot fish, barracudas and a puffer fish. I'm not sure which one was cooler, the barracuda because I played for that hockey team for years, or the puffer fish because he was so big and had a funny looking mouth. Being underwater felt so cool, laying on your back looking up and seeing the sun through the water- it felt like being in a dream. Unfortunately I was just getting over a sinus infection which isn't good for diving and I got the WORST sinus/ pressure headaches. The air in my head compressed as I descended which felt fine but then when I was ascending it was expanding and since my sinuses were still blocked it had nowhere to go. Terrible. The diving itself was so cool it made up for the terrible headaches though. A few days into my stay in Koh Tao I lost my cellphone... I think I put it down for a second and someone picked it up and walked away with it. It makes staying in touch really difficult because now I have to find internet cafes (which on the islands cost a decent amount of $$). On top of the communication factor I'm also now missing my alarm clock, music, flashlight, notepad, one of my cameras... a shame. I'll look into getting a cheap one here so I can at least stay in touch. After Koh Tao we took a night ferry which was pretty cool. It was a big open boat with one big mattress all the way down each side. It was like a huge slumber party (with 200 strangers). Despite all the people, the ocean swaying and the heat I actually had a pretty good sleep. We took the ferry to Surat Thani and then got a bus to Krabi. We had a few epic waits for transfers between the ferry and the bus. "Soon" here means more than an hour. (I'm catching up on blogs now that I've got internet for a bit so see the next one for more adventures) <3