Welcome to BALI!!!

We decided that before we started our new teaching positions that we needed some time in the heat, with a great hotel and a great pool. We found all that and more in BALI!!!

We spent 10 amazing days here. Here is a quick rundown of what we did and saw with a few pics :) 

We stayed in this great hotel called The Pullman. It is right across from the beach and is a five star hotel. It is very resort like with the exception of food and alcohol not being all inclusive, but we did get a great breakfast buffet everyday of our stay! It was amazing, they had everything from waffles, eggs, bacon, to dim sum, a chocolate fountain and ice cream bar. The hotel gave us loads of free water along with gifts for staying there. We were given two big sarongs, hats, a beach bag and fresh fruit baskets every other day. Thank goodness for these things as we soon learned the sun in Bali is incredibly hot; we spent a lot of time in the shade (after cooking ourselves on our first day there!). Our hotel had an infinity pool that overlooked the ocean as well as one in the courtyard with trees and a bar and shade! There was also a 24hr gym with fresh squeezed juices and tons of great equipment. We also had a great room with a huge king size bed, air conditioning and satellite; these were really helpful for the heat of the day (which could get over 45C). We were glad for all the amenities as it made relaxing really easy! 

Sunset on the beach :) 

The view from our hotel's infinity pool.

Bali is a lot like Thailand and Mexico. There are these really nice resorts with somewhat inclusive options and then there are shops, restaurants, spas etc everywhere. You can haggle a deal on just about anything! They also have loads of American franchises (McDonalds, Burger King, Hard Rock Cafe, Starbucks, etc). The bonus of these were for the most part they were really cheap; meals with appetizers, drinks and entrees can be as cheap as $18.00. We got massages a couple of times too because who can turn down an hour massage in a clean and beautiful spa for $8? 

WHO'S THE BOSS???

The shopping here was fun but the shop owners are much more determined than those in Thailand lol. We were used to saying no and that being the end of it but this is not so in Bali. People will walk with you for blocks, often ignoring your refusals. They call you things like Boss or Brother etc. 

Adam started saying TONY DANZA everytime they called him Boss and this really helped them leave us alone. They would all yell TONY DANZA and there would be us Canadians and a bunch of Indonesians yelling TONY DANZA and laughing together (with many others looking at us like we were crazy). This made our trips through the streets hilarious and fun as we learned to joke with the people :) 

Bali also has many temples, and other beautiful areas on the island. For one of our dives we drove through the rainforest and the rice patties to reach the north shore. It was amazingly beautiful and reminded us of Thailand a lot. It is beautiful country for sure. 

SCUBA DUBA DOO!!! 

Adam gives the OKAY sign :)

This is the group of us next to the US Liberty. It is 16 metres down so the only colors you can really see are red and yellow.

NEMO!!! We saw tons of Clownfish but I still had to stop every time cause they are so awesome :) 

For three days of our trip, Adam and I did our Open Water Certification Course at Scuba Duba Doo. We spent one day in a classroom; seven hours with a test! Then we spent the next two days diving. It was a great experience. We got to dive the Tulabem Us Liberty Shipwreck site which is one of the top 10 dive sites in the world. It was amazing; the ship itself is completely covered in sealife but you can swim around it and through it and look around. We also dove a stretch of reef where we saw many different fish, eels, etc. We were taught the course by Mulyadi and he was great, he was very informative and knowledgable. His assistant, Thomas, was super as well. He was hilarious and helpful on our dives. They both were really good with making us feel comfortable and safe.