Week 6 - Bali Wedding Week


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February 12th 2011
Published: February 12th 2011
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La Joya ResortLa Joya ResortLa Joya Resort

Wedding week location
Bali – Week 6 – Wedding Week
Day 38, November 19th, we woke up super excited for our friends to start arriving for the wedding. We checked into La Joya and started our busy morning picking up our marriage license at the American Consilate. Then we met with our wedding planner at the Florist. Finally we headed to Immigraci to apply for our travel visa extension before we headed to the airport. We were picking up our first friends to arrive Chris & Kate Longinetti coming from Portland. While we were waiting for them we ran into Tanja and Evan from San Francisco who were heading to the Gili Islands for a few days before meeting up with the group. We took Chris and Kate back to Balangan where we all headed down to the beach for a sunset surf session. Then John went back to the airport to pick up Seth who was coming in from Switzerland. While we were waiting for them to get back we had some drinks by the pool and Natalie our good friend from San Francisco arrived. Once Seth and John returned we all had a great dinner together and then went for a late swim.

Day 39, November 20th, we all met for breakfast before heading down to the beach. We made friends with some locals that ran a warung on the beach that rented boards and beach chairs with umbrellas. The husband, wife and son where all first born so they were all named Wayan. So we nick named our hang out Wayan’s Warung and always went back to their place. Our friends rented some surf boards and we grabbed a nice group of beach chairs. We spent the morning relaxing at the beach and surfing together. It was surreal to have our great friends here to enjoy Bali with us. John and I headed to the airport to pick up Rick and Davison. When Rick came out alone he filled us in on the Davison situation. When they were going through security the agent noticed Davison’s passport would expire in 5 months and 23 days. This was a major issue because you can not travel to Indonesia unless your passport is more than 6 months out from expiration. Davison barely missed the cut off but he would have been rejected entry when he arrived in Bali so it was a good thing they caught it in the US. He was stuck In LA where luckily there was a passport office that could expidite a rush renewal in 24 hours. He had a friend run him all over town to make it happen and amazingly he got on a flight that arrived the next day. We headed back to La Joya with Rick and met the group at the beach. We surfed into moonlight then enjoyed beers at Wayan’s Warung. We had dinner at La Joya. The guys wanted motorbikes so they went to pick up from our buddy Mano. When they got back we partied into the night. We told everyone to bring a liter of booze from duty free since liquor is so expensive in Bail so we had a nice bar set up. We went to the back pool near all our bungalows and had it to ourselves. We swam and decided to try out the trapoline. We all had a blast jumping on the trapolie being silly and laughing histarically. Then watching the guys jump was even more entertaining. This was our latest party night out so far in Bali since most nights on our own were super mellow. We had a great time catching up with everyone.

Day 40, November 21st, we surfed and hung at the beach again in the morning. We headed to the airport in the afternoon to pick up the fam, Lish, Bryan and baby Lucca and hopefully Davison. Everybody arrived at the same time which was so exciting. It was great to have so many friends and family in Bali anticipating a fun week and our wedding. We headed back to the hotel where everyone got settled. Then we enjoyed a swim in the pool before heading down to the beach for an amazing sunset. We had a great dinner at La Joya (all 16 of us) then stayed up late catching up.

Day 41, November 22nd, was a great day. I spent the day with half our group at the hotel swimming and relaxing at the beach. John led the rest of our group on a dive & snorkel trip to Nusa Lembongan. They left early in the morning for Tanjung Benoa to find a boat to Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Penida. The boat was a nice two engine outboard which made the trip in less than an hour. John and Seth snorkeled while Davidson, Erin, Rick and Natalie dove. The first dive was off the coast of Nusa Penida and was really great. There was quite a current and we drifted quickly by numerous types of fish and live coral. At one point the divers all saw a large sea snake which swam by everyone. John and Seth tried to keep with the divers until they went below 40 feet. After a nice lunch on the boat they moved to Nusa Lembongan for their second dive. The location is known as Mangrove point and was filled with numerous types of live coral. They were most impressed with the blue and pink stag’s antler coral. The divers even saw a small shark. After the second dive, they headed back to Nusa Lembongan where they had a couple of drinks and some street food while they waited to meet the rest of the group for dinner. While enjoying the food and drinks they met some locals who offered to take Seth and Davidson to the local market to find some white local attire for our wedding. Our new friend found the guys a traditional Balinese wedding outfit in white for only $16. We all met up at Bambu Bali for dinner. We talked and laughed while we feasted on traditional Balinese dishes.

Day 42, November 23rd, was really hot and humid that day. a group headed for a shopping trip to Semiyak. Davison, Rick and Erin took the motorbikes and the rest of us went in our rented car. We stopped to show the group Kuta Beach and Legian along the way so they could see how busy certain parts of Bali are compared to where we were staying. The girls hit the market and started bargining for dresses, bali puffy pants and sarongs. The guys checked out a local bar. John had to pick up his custom suit he had made for the wedding from the tailor. It turned out amazing! He had asked the tailor to replicate one of his favorite emboried shirts as a wedding shirt and it came our perfect. The tailor took longer than expected so we picked up the crew and made our way back to the hotel for a quick change before heading to Uluwatu Temple. All the girls changed into traditional Balinese sarongs that we bought that day. Sarongs are the typical attire for entering Balinese temples so it was appropriate and everyone looked great. Evan and Tanya were back from the Gili islands so they joined us. We arrived to the temple an hour before sunset so we had a chance to explore before the start of the Kecak Dance. As we entered the temple we were warned to remove all jewelry, sunglasses and anything else the monkeys could grab. When we entered the temple we soon relized they weren’t kidding when we saw monkeys munching on dangle earrings, sunglasses and even a flip flop. Luckily our crew made it through without getting anything snatched. The views at the temple are amazing since it is high up on Uluwatu cliff. It is an ideal place to watch sunset before seeing the traditional Kacak fire dance. As sunset finished we headed to get seats for the dance. It was so much fun to watch everyone enjoying the dance. After the dance we headed to one of our favorite Uluwatu haunts, YeYe’s.

Day 43, November 24th, we had an early start for our full day in Ubud. We started at 7am on our volcano bike ride tour. The tour was fantastic. After they picked up the group we drove up the the mountains of Ubud where we stopped at a coffee plantation that overlooked the most amazing jungle cliff view. We tasted several coffees and teas overlooking the gorgeous view. The tour guide explained about special Poo Poo Coffee. A small raccoon like animal called a, , has a sence for selecting the best coffee beans to eat. After the beans pass through the animal they are collected from the “poo poo”, roasted and made into one of the most sought after coffees in the world. Althought the concept is difficult swallow the coffee is quite delicious. After we finished our coffee tasting we headed to the volcano. We stopped at a restaurant that overlooked the view for breakfast. That was another incredible view to enjoy. After breakfast we headed to Made’s compound where we were all fitted with mountain bikes. Made has a very smart business model going: he runs Bali Bike tours and also a cooking class. The bike tour finishes with lunch at the compound so while groups ride the cooking class prepares the food. Brilliant. We greeted the cooking class as we set out on our ride. There was a tandom mountain bike which we decided we should ride as the wedding couple. The tour started out with a mellow downhill cruise through rice fields and local villages. The guides stopped us alonge the way to talk about the Balinese culture and way of life. We had great timing riding by a few local kids and adults launching an enormous colorful kite into the sky. Also, everyone loved how friendly the people were, especially the children who would run to the side of the road with outstretched arms to slap you high five. The ride was mostly a downhill cruise until the last 40 minutes which was hilly and had some off road. The tandom bike was no worries for the down hill crusing but then we hit our first hill. John and I decided he would call out when to peddle or stop since he was in front. It was a good plan except for the fact that one of the guides rode by screaming “peddle, peddle, peddle” as we were starting the first hill. John started peddling right away and I didn’t since I was waiting for his singnal. My peddles started spinning so fast
Breakfast at Volcano Breakfast at Volcano Breakfast at Volcano

Before bike ride
I could not catch them and they ended up hitting me in the leg repeatedly before I yelled stop midway up the hill. We finished that hill and traded in our tandom for single bikes. It was a great choice since the ride intensity picked up significantly from that point on. There were hills and off road and even a shallow river to ride across. It was awesome. Everyone was having a great time. The weather was overcast all day with threatening rain clouds that never caught up. It kept us cooler. When we finished the ride we were greated with ice cold clothes and escorted to our amazing lunch. We walked into Made’s Balinese home compound and sat in tables in the courtyard. It reminded me of being in a beautiful beer garden in Germany. Made set up a special wedding table with thrown like chairs for John, myself and my parents. Everyone enjoyed an amazing buffet of delicious food and cold beer. After lunch we had a compound tour and explaination of Baliese family life. Our fun continued with a trip to the city of Ubud to visit the monkey forest, the water temple and finally the market. We arrived first at the monkey forest where the comedy began. Davison bought a bunch of bananas and had the whole thing swiped by the first monkey he saw. He bought another bunch and the handlers showed him to hold a banana over his head so the monkeys will climb him to grab it. Glad he was brave enough to do it since it was so entertaining. As we continued through the forest there were mischevious monkeys everywhere. Seth thought it would be cute to try to cuddle a baby monkey but while he was making an attempt the mama monkey bit him on the back. It didn’t break skin luckily and it was hilarious. After the antics of the monkey forest we headed to the Water Temple. It was nearing sunset so the temple and surrounding lotus pond looked especially brilliant. After the temple we went to the crazy tourist market for an hour. I call it crazy because it is overflowing with clothes and crafts being aggressively hawked by relentless locals. Only tourists shop in the market so the first price is always too high and you have to bargin back and forth to get a fair value. It can be kind of a fun process but a little exhausting after a long day. We did all have so great find and left satified with the experience. Once we were finished at the market everyone was pretty exhausted so they headed back to the hotel for dinner. I stayed behind with Lish, Bryan and Lucca since she was having a dress made for the wedding from a local tailor she met earlier in the day. It was pretty amazing that they sewed her a dress in a couple of hours. We arrived back just in time to join the group for dinner.

Day 44, November 25th, Happy Thanksgiving! We just relaxed at the hotel and beach all day. I set up a spa day with my bridesmaids girls. John and some of the guys went to Gerger to surf. We had cocktail hour in master villa while enjoying a perfect sunset. That night we headed to the white sand Jimbaran Beach for our rehearsal/Thanksgiving dinner. We enjoyed seafood feast with grilled fresh lobster, snapper, king prawns and squid. We finished the night dancing in the sand to covers of popular American songs by the Balinese “Mariachi’s”. I went to bed early to get a good night’s sleep for the wedding while the rest staying up celebrating. It was a really special Thanksgiving we will always remember.

Day 45, November 26th, wedding day! I woke up early since I was so excited. My sister Sarah had stayed with me in the private villa while John stayed in the bungalow. We met for breakfast before heading down to the Balinese Temple at the beach. We had arranged to make a hindu offering in the Temple to be respectful since we would be getting married in front of it later that day. Made, the young man who had lead the girls in prayer days earlier, was there to great us. He introduced us to his father and head temple caretaker, Made, who was to lead us today. Made had a very noble presence and positive energy. He and I had a few minutes alone when John had to run up to the hotel. We tried to have a conversation with the limited English he knew and Indonesian I knew. It was pleasant and he kept giving me a warm smile. John returned and dressed in traditional Balinese Temple attire we followed Made into the Temple and made the offering. When we finished he told us to stay kneeling and he proceeded to perform a special wedding blessing. It was really unexpected and special. Then we went back up to the hotel for a Massage to relax before getting ready. Seeing each other before the ceremony was such a cherished moment. Our feelings of joy were overwhelming. John looked amazing and his eyed were filled with so much happiness when he saw me. We were giddy while we posed for photos and kept saying it was “like a fairytale”. The ceremony on the beach was so personal stating with my mom and step dad walking me down the isle. The youngest member of the group, Lucca, my best friend’s 4th month old was an adorable ring bearer clothed in a Balinese sarong. The priest was a tiny Balinese man with a heavy accent and affinity for using the word “special”. Our family and close friends touched us with their personal readings. The ceremony finished at sunset and could not have been more perfect. We sipped on cocktails and enjoyed the Balinese Legong dancing before heading to dinner. We dined halibut and Balinese duck while listening to the loving speeches from family and friends. Then we headed to the reception area where we danced and ended the night in the pool. Best day ever!

Day 46, November 27th, the morning after the big day was far less climatic especially knowing some were leaving that afternoon. We enjoyed our final days with friends at La Joya. Thanks to all who came.




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12th February 2011

More blog back log
Finally posting the last couple Bali blog before I start Africa. I will do my best to keep up to date in Africa. Enjoy our stories and keep writing us notes.

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