Blog about Bali

Last month, Nathaniel and I were super lucky that we got to go to Bali. Here are some of the highlights, most of the photograph credits go to him. 

Day One: Lost luggage: Hotel Bound 

Kuta Beach, Surfers Paradise, Beautiful.

Balinese Theatre Show, the girls were so beautiful, I'm gutted we didn't get photos of them! 

Monkey Temple, Ubud. This was by far the highlight of the holiday. You can enter the Temple for 30,000 Rupiah which is roughly £1.50!!! There are monkeys just roaming around walking next to you! It was amazing.

How amazing do these rice fields look?!

Plus, they had the most amazing coffee. The coffee plantation makes Luwak Coffee which is made by Luwak cats. They each a berry which contains the coffee bean however they can't digest the bean so they poop it out. The bean is cleaned and roasted to make the coffee. You can get a tour of the plantation for free and even get amazing free coffee tasters!

Seminyak, Bali. Where we were staying in Kuta could get very loud and pushy. Going to Seminyak which was so peaceful after the chaos of Kuta made the most amazing place in the world to me. If I ever got the chance to go back to Bali, I would stay in Seminyak. 

Sanur, Bali. The beach for swimming. Again so peaceful! As we were leaving, everyone was getting ready to go into the temple for prayer. They were all in traditional Balinese dress. 

We had to visit the Monkey Temple twice.

And for a small donation, you can feed them Ritz crackers!!!

We returned to the best coffee place in the world too!

Bali is the most amazing place I have ever been to, I was worried that the flight may not be worth it but, it definitely was! There were a couple of slip ups like the loss of my luggage that had all our shower gel and toothpaste which was such a nightmare. Kuta's busyness got a little too much at times, we got offers for magic mushrooms on every corner of every street and massages more frequently. It got to the point of tears when a young girl was walking through the traffic selling bracelets, I knew that was going to happen but I don't think anything could prepare for that. Finally, we weren't told that we had to pay airport tax when leaving Bali. It was 100,00 Rupiah each which is only £5 BUT, we had no money, at all. We sorted it and paid the tax and in that situation, all you can really do is laugh. When people ask me 'How was Bali?!' I said, 'An experience' 'It was interesting.' After looking over these photos again, I think that was wrong, it was amazing.  

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I remember walking through London for the second time and seeing streets like Regent and Oxford and being so amazed that I was actually there. I was so happy that I took photos of the street signs.

I was 15 or 16 and I was with my best friend on the protest again the increase in university fees and scrapping of EMA; both of which have affected me. The route of the protest went passed The Ritz right when anarchists smashed the windows, that scared me and I held onto my mum. Maybe I was the wrong person to be at that protest because while people smashed the windows of what I consider to be one of the most desirable places to stay, I imagined being inside, imagined all the people who were staying there, the people who had stayed there and the people who would. Don't get me wrong, I understand the message the anarchists were sending and I appreciate it and in many ways agree with it but, it was the first time I had ever seen a Ritz and I thought that was a big deal and I wanted to admire it. To this day, the only Ritz I know, is the cracker. 

My second experience like this happened in a shopping complex in Holland. I made my mum go into Gucci and Prada with me just to be able to say to myself that I had. I was so close to buying a keyring, just to own something from either shops. That was before I developed my personal style and before I felt like I could comment on the clothes Gucci and Prada produced. 

I was a devoted reader of Company from the age of 12 and still over every magazine I ever bought. I then transitioned into Elle which appears almost too regularly in my shopping trolley. I just loved the luxury of everything and knew I had a passion for it even if I didn't have the confidence to express it. 

Now, I still don't own anything from Gucci or Prada. My most valuable item of clothing is a pair of pink Louboutins that I got in a charity shop for £12 (and got the heel stuck in the drain so are actually worth nothing). My style is still developing but I'm proud of it, I enjoy it. I want to share it here. I'm still trying to perfect charity shopping while working on a a career to be able to afford Prada even it's never been my style.

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