Where is Bali

Bali is where I will spend my next 2 weeks holiday. Actually, it's way too quite for comfort here in our Phuket Spa resort, so I am voluntarily taking my vacation and return to my home-base in one of the Spa resorts in Bali.

No, I am not going to enjoy massages and la 'dolce far niente', I am just going to continue working there.

Then it will be up to the management in Phuket whether they have enough tourists to need me back or whether I can be more useful in our Bali spa resort.

So where is Bali Island?

Bali is in Indonesia. It's one of the 17,000 islands. Bali is 145 km (90 miles) long and 80 km (50 miles) wide. Bali is situated just east of the island of Java and west of Lombok.

Most of Bali's 3 million people are Hindu, which for me makes it an ideal spa destination. But that's just because I love the Hindu way of every day making small offerings to the Gods. It keeps you in sink with nature and the creation in a beautiful matter.

And it beats the Balinese dances and Gamelan orchestra performances that are so over the top made for the tourist. But hey, if you like that, then don't listen to my preferences :-)

Bali offers something for everybody, just hire a driver and a guide and get around the places you want to see.

The expensive Bali resorts and spas have a tide security, as Bali is where the Bali bombings took place years ago :-(

Category › bali , bali indonesia , where is bali

How to cool down on your tropical beach vacation

I do find it amusing when European tourists flock to Bali, Thailand or Malaysia, dive in their swimsuits, stretch themselves on the beach and look like a lobster within the hour :-)

I know Europe can be cold... But these tourists have been lying in the sun for hours (something we just don't do ourselves here, you don't want to catch a skin cancer do you?).

The biggest joke occurs when they chill out for a drink and ask:

"what, no airconditioning here?"

Anyway, if you want a cheap good cold drink in Malaysia, go for a 'Teh Ais', or tea ice if you don't speak the local language :-) It's made with hot tea, some condensed milk, lots of sugar and lots of ice.

The Tea Ice in the above picture costs about US 30 cents, that means you can drink a liter of refreshing ice cold tea for about a dollar.

Just go where the locals sit, otherwise you will pay a bomb and you do need the money to buy Aloe Vera cream to ease your sun burns :-)

It can be bought everywhere, that is in the local shop of your hotel (of yes we know you will need it), at pharmacies and tourist shops all around. It's green, you can't miss it.

Category › bali , emma watson in swimsuit , ice , Malaysia , sun bathing , Thailand , tropics

Bali bras discounted

I just got an email telling me I should hurry to buy new Bali bras discounted... And I was wondering why being in Bali myself, I still need to hear about this first in email.

Well, as a matter of fact the email was talking about Bali bras: the fashion brand Bali and not about a Bali bra as if it was manufactured in Bali.

That's good to know because when I drive along the roads in Bali, I do find clothes shops, here and there a Bali hand dye quilt fabric, artifact shops, antique Bali art shops and statue shops:

Bali topless statues...

But never did I see a bra on a Bali statue let alone a complete Bali bra shop. That's because bra's are not a typical Bali produce: nothing wrong with my eye sight :-)

Discounted shopping in Bali

A big part of Bali lives from tourism. So if lets say you want a silver Bali mens bracelet, you most likely join one of those typical Bali tours that bring you to a Bali Jewelry shop.

Once you see a mens silver Bali bracelet you find out that you can get some discount and you leave the shop happily, wondering why the salespeople in the shop are smiling even harder than you.

That's because you just walked out of a "tourist shop for westerners". Sadly but true, you could have bought your Bali silver mens bracelet for a much cheaper price at the tourist shops for the locals. That's right; you cannot expect local Indonesian tourists shopping around in the shops where prices are adjusted for the buying power of the westerners...

So how to work around that? Difficult if you don't look Indonesian... And even if you hire a driver in Bali and don't follow the tourist bus shops, you are not out of the woods yet.

Driver hire Bali is just another way where the local drivers will bring you to the more local markets where they will advice you to buy in the shop of their "sister".

First time I did that I was happy to support my driver's sister, but it becomes a bit sad when browsing around the market you can bargain for the same products for a much cheaper price...

Just be reminded: people are making a living here and the western buying power is much bigger than the buying power of a Balinese, so all in all you always buy things at a bargain in Bali ;-)

Bali Bra

So next time you see Bali bras, Bali panties and Bali underwear: they are not at all from Bali Indonesia. Bali intimate apparel is a branded good passionate about helping in the fight against breast cancer. Because they believe that living beautifully means supporting causes that matter to women.

All this because I got a Bali bras discounted email... back to work!

Category › bali , bali bra , bali bras , bali bras discounted , bali topless

Bikini shoot in Bali

I already told you in my last Bali beach post that there was an annoying bikini shoot going on with a noisy photographer and a girl in a white bikini in need of some Brazilian waxing...

Now for all the criticism I have, I must say that with an old handphone camera you can't get a good swimsuit fashion shoot... Or maybe you can, but then you should go stand near to your model and not taking pictures from the bar with a view to the swimming pool.

Zooming in doesn't help much either, you are able to see she is wearing a bikini bottom and I can assure you she is wearing a bikini top as well. Maybe I should hype it up and say I took this picture to give you a feel of the romantic ambiance we are experiencing here at our Bali spa resort... :-)

Meanwhile I just enjoyed a delicious breakfast and before that did a yoga session: yes, very early in the morning as with the sun coming up you start sweating really fast!

Category › bali , beautiful models , bikini babes , bikini shoot

Bali Beach

This is actually my dream:sitting on a beach with my laptop and reading the news or just blogging about.

Being in Ubud, Bali now, I am not going to the beach with my laptop, but just enjoy my Spa retreat and write you from a little balcony with a cute looking drink: it's the so called house specialty and hot as it is, it has lots of ice and no alcohol, my kind of summer drink.

Internet reception in acceptable being abroad: main thing is I am connected and can upload this post without moving my lazy bum sitting in my swimsuit near the pool.

Some noise here on the swimming pool as a would be model in bikini or a would be photographer are trying to make a swimwear photo-shoot, much to anybodies discomfort. I mean: we all come here to enjoy the sun, peace and quite, after all it is a spa retreat and then these people with an East European accent are shouting to each other.

On top of that she is wearing a white bikini and you can see she should have opted for a Brazilian waxing first... quite gross... Now I will try to take a picture of all this and post in my next post, just that this handphone camera won't reveal the waxing details nor will it reach a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit standard :-)

Category › bali , bikini shoot , swimming pool , ubud