I see that it was a year ago since the last time I had posted anything on this blog and it is not because I haven't travelled in a year, because oh have I ever, but rather I get lazy about blogging (and exercising but that is a whole other blog!) Not sure what inspired me because none of my other trips have, but for some reason I thought that I should blog about my time here in Bali. Actually, I do know what has inspired me - my friend John who blogs a whole lot more than I do and when I see on his little blog list on the side when the last time something was posted on a blog he follows is a year, the guilt sets in. So this is for you JB! LOL!
Unbeknownst to many, I have temporarily relocated to Kuala Lumpur for work to cover off a colleague who has gone on maternity leave. I will be there anywhere from 2-4 months, but that will be punctuated with a trip back to North America and a trip back to The Hague in February. But that isn't what this posting is about. . .it is about blissful Bali and bellybuttons. I have decided to make the most of my time in KL, as I do with most places I travel to with work, and am going to really try and explore SE Asia as much as a I can while I am here because I think the work travel well is likely to dry up once this stint is over due to low oil prices. (Don't worry JB - still working hard to keep your pension funded!). My first little jaunt is to Bali. It is a long weekend in KL this weekend (we get Monday and Tuesday off - I am only taking Monday), so I thought that I would check out Bali as it is one of those exotic places that I have always heard about, the pictures look lovely and spas are cheap!
Bali is a 3 hour flight from KL - I was surprised because everything looks so close on the map and I had a choice of 3 wonderful airlines. Air Asia, which had just crashed, Malaysian Airlines who had a plane disappear and another get shot down and Garuda which was banned in the EU for quite some time due to an abysmal safety record. I opted to go with the one where I would get the points that meant the most to me, so I went with Malaysian :-). As for hotels, I wanted a more "balinese" style experience but still wanted to stay with one my familiar brands, so I opted for a lovely room at the Fairmont Sanur Beach - tres, tres lovely!
My goal of this trip is to be as much of a spa whore as I possibly can and by that I mean, spending as much time at the spa as possible, as it is cheap, cheap, cheap here! Last night, after I had arrived, I had arranged for a 2.5 hour spa appointment to start my trip. As with much of my travel, I went on to TripAdvisor to get some advice and found a great spa called Lehela Lehala, which is located about a 5 minute drive from my hotel (they come and get you). I can't remember which package I signed up for but it was essentially a full body massage, relexology, as well as a head massage - pure bliss. . . except for the belly button. I HATE belly buttons. They gross me out. The name for this is called "omphalophobia" - fear of belly buttons and more particularly of them being touched. Well, all I can say is that my therapist yesterday crossed the line with my belly button in so many ways! Not only did she massage around it (as she was massaging my stomach) she also touched it, not once but twice. She pressed it with her finger. I damn near threw up in my mouth - it just grosses me right out! So much for my blissful Bali spa! LOL!
