Uluwatu Day 3, Slowing Down with Good Views, Yoga, and Calls

Day 3, my first day truly alone and not having someone in the city with me, I was curious to see where the day would take me. I did want some "me" time, reading and writing, two hobbies I love and can really only do when I don’t have someone next to me, as I'm typically too tempting to chat with them instead of doing something I know I will always have available. 

I made plans with the german girls to see them at breakfast, but Natalia ended up feeling sick and I wasn’t able to see them before their flight. This was definitely a friendship I know I will miss the most, and I truly hope that I can visit and see them again. I followed through with our breakfast plans to meet at Nourish at 8am, but instead of talking to them, I had an hour long phone call with my mom. I had been so busy in Ubud and hanging out with new friends that I made, it had been a while since having a good conversation and catching up with my mom. So, much in need, it filled my heart to hear from her again and to get some human contact in for my day. I got a breakfast sandwich and it was pretty good, I really have been liking the food in Uluwatu, and in general all of Bali, I have been treated too well here and not ready to leave. 

With the ample time I had alone, I knew I needed to take the time to catch up on my work. It’s crazy how long it takes me to journal, blog, sort through photos, edit, and post. To journal one day takes about an hour and the photos for just one destination takes a few hours. I had no idea how much time it would take and I was so ambitious to do that along with other projects like learning new photography software, reading tons of books, and maybe writing beyond my journal. But, I found that with my current undertakings along with traveling, it would not leave me much free time for anything else. But something I have had time for is to think deeply. I have a little journal that I picked up in Chiang Mai and I use it anytime I have a random thought, a new goal, a business idea, or something of self-discovery. I found that I pull it out a lot at the end of the day while watching the sunset or in the final hours of my time at the beach when I feel so full of joy and nature. I hope that I don’t just keep making these goals and I actually see them through. My most recent journal entry is the lessons I learned from the two German girls, how I hope to see them and not just say that but actually book a flight to Berlin and travel with them. 

So, if I am planning on being on my laptop during the precious day hours, I want a good view to go with it. I found myself at this place called Single Fin, a popular place to watch surfers or hang with a view. I went when it wasn’t busy so I found a nice spot, ordered a coffee, and took in the view of the crystal blue water, the rocks underneath, and the many surfers out there having to share the few waves that roll in. I pulled out my laptop and got to work. I feel like I didn’t even get that much done although I was working hard for a good three hours. My coffee was a small cup so I finished it in just a few gulps, and later in my time there I ordered a green juice which was so delicious. I love being able to embrace my health nerd here, having such amazing options at my fingertips. Once it was time for lunch, I left Single Fin as I needed a change in scenery and wanted to try more places in Ulu. 

I went to a cafe called Muzz Kitchen, it is a vegetarian restaurant and I ordered one of my first Indonesian dishes, Nasi Goreng. I had it once before in Ubud, but I wanted to get it again and really embrace the food here. Normally a fried egg goes on top the fried rice, but they made an accommodation for me and stacked it high with tempeh instead. It was such a delicious and filling meal. I needed it after staying at single fin for so long and in the heat of the day. Of course I was tempted by the dessert list and once my eyes landed on vegan banana bread, I knew it was meant to be. I think of banana bread more as a snack than a dense dessert, growing up with a loaf of banana or zucchini bread always sitting on the counter in the summer. It was warmed up and a delicious light treat to celebrate my last few days on mainland Bali. 

I was there for a while, again sorting through my photos as I got so behind on organizing them. I have almost doubled my storage use in the two months that I’ve been here, everything gets lost in the sauce unless I make an attempt to sort through them as they are taken. I was looking through my photos of the monkeys, and although that was less than a week ago, it felt like I did that forever ago.

I left so that I would have plenty of time to make it to my yin yoga class at 4pm (yes, I did spend almost my entire morning and afternoon doing some recap and trip admin work). I want to work on my flexibility as I feel that is my biggest obstacle at the moment holding me back in my ability to advance in yoga. My whole life I've always struggled with flexibility. I was a budding dancer and gymnast, yet plateaued when I wasn’t able to do the splits or have a bendy body needed to perform the next skill level to advance. I chalked it up to my body type and accepted that it would be something I could never achieve. But now, seeing as I can stretch further in a single practice of yoga with the right mindset and breath, I wonder with repeated practice if could I actually get to that point of advancement. Each session I go to I am more confident that I just need to dedicate more time to it and I will get there. After years of intense working out, it is to no surprise that my muscles are tight and tense when I did little to tend to them then.

Yin yoga was completely different than I expected. First, the place was packed to the brim, and there was way more men there than I thought there would be. I knew this was a stretch and flexibility based class but I had no idea most of those stretches would be done while on the floor. That meant we didn’t activate our muscles in addition to stretching, we just got to relax on the ground, breathing and falling deeper into our stretch, letting gravity do the majority of the work. It was so relaxing and such a calming and easy way to work on your flexibility.

I really want to learn more about yin yoga because it seems like something I could easily do at home, on the living room floor with a show or movie on, or maybe in a studio back home. I was so curious about yin yoga that after the class ended I went up to the instructor and asked her some questions about the practice. She was very knowledgable on it, gave me some guidance on how to do it at home, and also told me a bit about how she came to Bali. I ended up talking to her for 30 minutes, sharing about my travels so far and my goal to dive deeper into yoga while I am here, debating between that and surfing. But, yoga is much easier to do on the average day in the average location, and for that reason along with my enjoyment for it, I have gravitated towards it over surfing. Maybe though I can still do a bit of both, but I want to prioritize yoga at this moment in my travels. She did say that once I get going with surfing, it’s addicting, so maybe its a good thing that I don’t get too deep into it and return from my travels to my landlocked home that lives in the dead of winter half of the year. I want to wait until I move somewhere that I can surf on the daily, have some friends teach me, and push past the fact that no one is ever too old to learn a new sport. 

Yin yoga was great, it put me in a zen because it was a mix of meditation as well as yoga. I wanted to stay at Alchemy and have dinner at their fully plant based restaurant, but I also wanted to catch the sunset because they are unlike anywhere else on earth. So, I biked to the nearest beach, sat and watched the sunset, then walked the fifteen minutes back to the yoga center and restaurant to get dinner.

As I was sorting through the many food options I had, my sister called me. I texted her earlier in the day if she could talk in the morning, knowing it was the weekend but unsure if she had the day off. She did in fact have a shift but she fit me in while she was getting ready and going to work. I hadn’t talked to her since my first day on my trip, when I was recovering in my hotel room in Koh Samui from food poisoning and doubts swirling in my mind if I really could embark on this 100 day trip I have planned. She eased my worries during that call, as she was in the same boat as me having recently moved to Kansas City for work, and chatting with her made me feel less lonely in my situation, and find some faith in myself that I could do this. I wanted to talk to her again to see how she was adjusting to in the new city, and make sure she was in a good place like I have now found myself. 

I was busy chatting with her I didn’t put an order in for food until 8pm, getting the moroccan pizza, wanted to try something new, but the spiced and pepper packed pizza I received made me slightly regret I didn’t just opt for the always delicious margarita. When Rena had to hang up because she arrived at work, I fell back into a comfortable habit and turned on some TV to watch while eating my huge pizza. I have been meaning to rewatch Eat, Pray, Love, as one of her stops was Bali and I wanted to see if there were any similarities to what she did and what I saw. I did in fact recognize her bike ride through the Monkey Forest and she also biked along the many roads through the rice paddies here, although in today's day there's a lot less paddies and a lot more construction for hotels and restaurants. I was seated outdoors on these cushy patio furniture and it slightly felt as though I was at home, sitting on my own patio, being out there in the daylight and not getting up once the night overtook the sun. I love every bit of home I feel and experience, although it is so great to be here and experience new things, it doesn’t take away the fact that at times I miss my home and the comfort I associate with it. That mix of a homey feel in the midst of paradise might be the best combination out there. 

I moved locations though to scope out some dessert, I ended up getting the brownie when my mom called me. I sat down, had the beginnings of a conversation with her when I was distracted by the woman sitting at the table next to me. I could not believe my eyes when I saw a flame larger than the one lit in the candle balloon near her face, and then her napkin being the fuel of that flame. It grew and grew, past the point she could blow it out, and she just let it sit there on the wooden table and not make a move to put it out. I could not believe this girl's tactics to try to put it out The workers finally noticed her struggled, they knocked the napkin from the table and onto the floor and poured some water on it to put out the flame. I could not see this customer's face, but I bet it was darker shade of red than the flame. In no time, she wrapped up her meal and left swiftly, probably out of embarrassment as she gathered the whole restaurants attention. I paused in my conversation with my mom to witness this, texting her the reason for my silence as I had to see this event through. But, back to our conversation, it was a joy to be able to talk to her so much, even though I talked to her this morning there is always something new we have to say. 

I loved my time at Alchemy, the peaceful yoga session, the chats with my sister, and the comfy patio furniture that brought me back home for a moment. I concluded my time there and headed back to my hotel for the night after a much needed chill day.