Up until today my annoying little friend, Jetlag, has been knocking me out at 10pm and waking me up around 3am. Well, I told that little booger to beat it. I stayed up after midnight and woke up just before 8am today. Can I get an "Amen"?! Amen!
During the maddening dark mornings due to wake up calls from my internal clock, I was able to stroll down to the beach and catch Mr. Sun rise out of the ocean-- having lived in the west coast for the last 10years, this was truly a treat. I'd lay in the sand wait for the heat of the sun and the humidity to get me up. I walk back past the resort, towards the local grubbin' joints, bobbing my head to "Have Love, Will Travel" and grab a coconut juice. Fresh coconut juice, the tourist in me looks for the ones served in the actual coconut. If that doesn't scream tropical paradise vacation, I don't know what does! This is accompanied by a pastry (not very Bali, but give me a break). By the time I'm done putzing around the neighborhood, the humidity gets the best of me and head back to the resort to do some floating in the pool. I started contemplating a nap and it's not even noon yet! This is when it hit me, COFFEE. Since I got here, I haven't had any coffee. This was the answer to kick Jetlag in the butt! I fight the urge to nap, dry off, and venture out once again. Let me tell you how comforting it is to see the green umbrellas and awnings displayed out front of Starbucks. I know, I know... cop out. Bite me. It's hot, I'm sleepy, it's not even noon. Tall, non-fat caramel frappucino, no whip, add shot... Prease :) I sat underneath the magnificent green umbrella inhaling every drop of my beloved icy savior. Now, I realize that documenting this little event makes me look pretty ridiculous, but it felt so insanely good to find a familiar "face" while traveling alone in a foreign country where I do not know a soul! Starbucks is a 10 minute walk down the street and we have a date every morning. Sometimes, we have an early evening soiree.
Sunday, I went to a fantastic Japanese brunch at Benkay. They called it a "buffet brunch" but was more like an "all-you-can-eat". Everything was prepared when you decided you wanted it. Live walk up stations everywhere-- you order, go back to your seat and the server brings over your food. They were kind enough to seat me at a corner window looking out into the bright blue ocean. It was windy and the waves charged the cliffs with determination. I sat and ate, for over 2 hours. Oh, yes. After completely gorging myself, I walked through the resort and down to the beach area. Mid-afternoon, the white sandy beach was quiet save the rustling of the flags, pounding of the waves, and the squeaky Japanese man motioning to his wife to take a picture of him sitting on the lounge chair. Luckily it was high tide and the children were playing in the pool instead of the ocean. I stake out beach front "property"-- padded lounger, first row, no one to my left, no one to my right, umbrella for some shade, Ray Bans on, headphones in (Mozart lulling the ocean in front of me). Perfect. The skies are littered with delicate pillows of clouds, enough to make for a picturesque sky and allow the hot rays of the sun to take breaks every so often. I spent all afternoon on that lounge chair. When I finally decided to leave, as I stood up, the view of ocean wasn't as my eyes left it last when I sat down. The water was much lower. The dark spots of blue water were now brown rock-like structures protruding up toward the littered sky. People were walking across these structures, poking at it's surface, collecting what I could only imagine to be seashell to take back home, and taking pictures of each other standing in the middle of the waves. It was around 5pm when this was all going down. Instead of walking down there right there and then, I decided... It's a date! That's what I'll be doing the next day around 5, I'll let you know what I find.
*Pictures of food, sand, and surf to come. It's annoying to load them through the iPad. I'll probably just set up a photobucket or something for browsing.
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