Bali But Not Lonely!

Last week, I went to Bali (again! wow!) to celebrate my birthday. This trip was actually very well-prepared since I'm supposed to go with my bestie Ajeng, but she couldn't make it, because she got pregnant! Yayness! :D

I have to admit that although I'm happy for her, I was mad (or rather panic, actually), because I don't want to go to vacation alone. I know I'm a bit loner, but, hell, seriously, alone? On my birthday? On some random streets in an island I barely know? And having no one to share the moment?

Most of my friends are having their own schedules (since it was 4 days holiday in a loooong weekend) and the others had to go to office (poor them :p). Thus I decided to go alone. Well, not purely alone, actually. Because I visited my long-lost-on-and-off-friend-slash-brother-slash-that-guy-from-the-past :)) Mr. AS. I also have contacted some backpackers I met in Indobackpacker forum. We've planned to meet there.

But the busy Mr. AS had to work on the day I have planned to go to Ubud. The fellow backpackers didn't want to go there because a) it's far and b) they'd rather go to the beach while me, due to my whimsical and quirky daydreams, is really curious about Ubud. So I went there, alone :))

I took the shuttle Perama Bus (peramatour.com) from Legian to Ubud. The shuttle costs IDR 50.000 (IDR 80.000 for a 2-way-trip). It seemed like Perama Tour was a quite long-established tour & travel vendor. Their old bus hadn't got any AC but it was quite good - like a neat and tidy Kopaja, perhaps xD. I was the only native passenger on the bus - the other were mostly bule :p.

And there I was, stranded safely in Ubud, armed with maps I get from Perama Tour Office and Google.

But Ubud was way toooooooo beautiful to make me feel lonely :)

I went to the new hip little coffee shop called Kafe Seniman. The place was reaaaally cute! They brewed coffee like in a laboratory, with measuring glasses and scales and any other geeky stuffs we use in chemistry class. They served coffee in a used jar, with used timber as tray and gave kue klepon as complimentary treats.

this is how they serve coffee in the Kafe Seniman

the owner and the friendly barista 

this barista does know A LOT about coffee

And the coffee tasted good! I also had a moist cinnamon pecan cake :9 And the best is, their prices are really affordable. I wish they'll consider to set another branch in Jakarta.

I also went to several Pura and Gallery and Museums (including Blanco's), and wandered to some parks and local shops. Even the Starbucks there looked sacred and very ethnic :))

this is me playing with Mr. Blanco's bird pets

The worst part of travelling solo is, you can't take your own picture :)) I really wanted to capture myself in the scenery and hidden gems I found but I didn't want to look embarrassed xD and I was too ashamed to ask people to take my picture, so... :))

I really wish I can have that photographer sense >< There was a looot of beautiful places but I couldn't take their pictures properly :( I also wish I have a DSLR so I'll be perceived more tourist-like xD and not looked weird when taking pictures of streets or people. Ahaha! Believe me, some people did give me that weird looks when I took pictures with my not-so-smart-phone :))

Ubud was really magical. I wish I could go back there again and stay longer :)