Seminyak, Bali, Indonesia

Kuta, Bali was an awesome place, but after 3 days there we felt it was time to move on to the next town in Bali! Once we were all packed up, we checked out of the hotel and took a taxi ride 15 minutes North over to our next hotel in the town of Seminyak. On the way over our driver stopped at least five times to ask people where our hotel was. Taxis don’t have GPS in Bali but they should really consider getting it to be more after efficient. Tyson tends to do amazing in cars, but it’s when it’s stopped and we’re not doing anything when he gets a bit fussy, so it wasn’t one of our best rides to date.

Once we finally got to our hotel we were a bit early and the room wasn't ready yet so we were asked to wait 30 minutes or so. To kill time we walked around the nearby main street area which was full of shops and restaurants. One thing we've noticed is that every souvenir shop sells wooden wieners in all different sizes. Not exactly sure why. I mean do people seriously buy those things? Haha! Anyway, we found a good restaurant to stop at for a late lunch. Marshall had a very interesting burger that had fried crunchy ramen noodle patties on the outside instead of a bun topped with a quail egg and Tyson and I shared some chicken and fried rice. When we got back to the hotel we checked in and when we walked into our room the first thing we saw were three beds plus a crib. First of all, the walls of the crib were so low Tyson could easily jump out so that left us with one bed for each of us. Not sure we needed all that but since we had the option we actually tried to all sleep in separate beds to see if we could make it through at least one night without one of us (Tyson) rolling into us throughout the night. Well that lasted about an hour since the moment Tyson realized I wasn’t sleeping next to him he called out for Mama. His thing for the past week has been to give me like 100 kisses before he goes to sleep. He first puckers his lips and makes the Mmmmm sound and then leans in for a kiss. So cute!

The next morning we had the opportunity to hang out with a really cool local. Over the past several months I have been chatting with a guy named Henry who lives in Bali, which a guy from my previous job connected me with. Henry actually offered to pick us up at our hotel when we got to his town and take us around to show us the area he lives in and to experience a ‘day in the life’ with him. So awesome of him to do that and what an amazing experience!! Henry has lived in Bali for 12 years and has built an impressive silver jewelry business called Koi Koi (and other businesses) on the island. The first thing he asked when he picked us up at our hotel in the morning was if we wanted to see his workshop where he makes everything. HECK YES! We drove for about 20 minutes into the wholesale district part of town, basically where all the tourist shops buy the stuff they sell on the popular busy streets and where you can find bulk items on the cheaper side.

When we got to the warehouse we were greeted by several of his employees and a few of their kids with a warm welcome and an offer of tea and coffee. Once we met some of his front end employees we started looking around and it was nothing short of amazing. There were all kinds of one of a kind art pieces that he had made himself. If I had to guess, it looked like every significant piece of furniture, wall piece, and lighting fixtures were all created by him. If that weren’t enough when we started walking around he explained that all his jewelry is handmade and he designs nearly all of the pieces himself. He walked us around the entire shop and we got to see his employees (some 40+ in total) putting together necklaces, bracelets, rings, etc. piece by piece. Seriously, we were very impressed!

He then drove us to his store on one of the main shopping streets. We got to see a lot of his amazing jewelry pieces and meet a few of his other retail employees. It was nearly lunch time by that point so Henry took us to one of his favorite local lunch places. It wasn’t quite open for lunch yet but they said we could sit down and have a coffee while we waited for them to fully open. Tyson had fallen asleep on the drive there so we brought his car seat into the restaurant and let him nap for a bit while we waited for lunch to be available. After about 45 minutes the owner started bringing all the food he had cooked at home and put it in the glass display case. They cook something different every day so the food options are whatever they decide to make that day. You then point at whatever you want in the glass display case and they put it on a plate for you. It was great, although we chose the blandest items like rice, veggies and spring rolls because my stomach wasn’t feeling well and we were all sharing one plate of food. Amazing place though and the food all looked and smelled delicious.

After lunch Henry took us back to his house so we could meet his son, Austin who was home from school with a hurt knee he injured playing basketball on the first day of school. It was cool to see what a typical Indonesian style house looked like on the inside. He had two turtles in his house and Tyson immediately ran over to them and said “TUR-TLE!” That was the first time we’d ever heard him say turtle before. Henry gave Tyson some lettuce to feed the turtles so he was getting a kick out of hand feeding them. After we sat and chatted for a while it was time to head back to our hotel so Tyson could finish the rest of his nap. Henry was nice enough to stop at a big grocery store on the way back so we could pick up some fruit and snacks for Tyson. We had such an awesome day that we scheduled dinner with Henry and Austin for the next evening. The rest of the day Marshall took Tyson to the pool and a walk around town while I stayed and rested and the hotel.

The next morning we headed straight over to the beach and played with Tyson in the sand and dipped his feet in the water. He’s definitely not afraid of the water. Lately he’s been running straight for it once we take off his shoes and his toes touch the sand. The sand here is on a darker scale of gray (almost black in some areas) due to the volcanic activity in the area. There is actually a volcano that erupted on a neighboring island either the day before or the day we landed in Bali! We literally saw the ash/smoke coming out of the top of it as we flew over the island and were landing. We’ve since had several conversations with travelers who were stuck on Bali because all flights in and out were grounded due to the wind pushing the ash cloud our way. Some have been stuck for over 4 days! I hope that doesn’t interfere with our flight out of here in a few weeks!

Once we were beached out we picked up pizza to-go and brought it back to our hotel for lunch. After lunch Marshall took Tyson to splash around in the pool while I rested again since I still wasn’t feeling well. Later that evening Henry and Austin met us at our hotel and we all walked over to a nearby Mexican restaurant that Austin used to work at. We ordered a pitcher of sangria and a few plates for us all to share. Of course I had to order some caramelized bananas with ice cream for dessert. Yum! Henry, being the awesome guy he is insisted to pay for everything as he did for the previous lunch! After dinner we walked to the beach and found a restaurant that had bean bag chairs on the sand and live music so we stopped there to chill out for a bit and have a final drink before heading back to our hotel. Tyson was enjoying throwing sand all over our table, including in my drink. Silly boy! This time we made sure to at least pay for Henry’s drink to show some sort of thanks for the great time he’d showed us the last two days. It was such a wonderful experience getting to know Henry and his son. We are so grateful for this amazing opportunity and are blessed to have met such amazing people as we travel. Thanks again Henry, we’ll never forget your hospitality, kindness, and crazy stories!