I have probably been to Bali more than 20 times since childhood. I was born Indonesian after all.  My Bali trips during my adulthood have always been very different experiences. And during my last trip, I decided to do a couple of activities that I have been dying to try: parasailing and flyboarding. An long-time friend joined me for this half day of glorious fun, and we had a great catch up after not seeing each other for years.

The parasailing was done from a boat. We got to see better view away from the other parasailers, and it was easier and safer to land than on the beach, since we are not very experienced. It was very relaxing and surprisingly comfortable sitting on the harness. We also got five extra minutes of airtime 🙂 Thank you, Pak Komang Gel Gel and team from Bali Jetpacks and Water Sports.

 

 

They also took care of us well during the flyboarding, with the safety gear and ongoing instructions. They also challenged us by bringing us up to 8m high. I fell badly once, but there was no harm done.   It all ended on a high note.

 

 

My adventures do not stop there. I decided to try different ‘babi guling’ (roasted pork) places, instead of driving one hour to Ubud to have my favourite Ibu Oka ‘babi guling’. Every stall has its own version of Balinese ‘babi guling’. I tried ‘babi guling’ Pak Malen (near Seminyak). I love the fried fat and fried skin. The white meat was a tad chewy, but the roasted skin is amazing. It has a thickness of prawn crackers and yet crispy. The blood sausage reminded me of spanish ‘murcilla’ in sweetness and texture. We ate too much!!

 

 

I also tried ‘babi guling’ Pak Dobiel. We got it delivered to our villa with Go-Jek, thanks to our Alila Villa Uluwatu butler for arranging. It was also delicious. I love the softness of the white meat, but the chilli was too spicy for me. (And I can eat spicy!) Another sister who did not come asked me to bring back a portion to Singapore. I forgot though – sorry, sis!

 

The crème de la crème of the trip is of course a stay at the Alila Villa Uluwatu hillside villa – just because I do not mind babysitting my nieces and nephew for a day! Life is sooo hard!! 🙂 Staying here is an experience of its own from the butler service to it iconic sunset cabanas. The food has also greatly improved since we were there last in 2012, both the western and Indonesian food.

 

 

 

My sister commented one morning that it would be a weekend of PJs and swimsuits, and she was not too far off. Being in the villa was very peaceful and we never wanted to go out. The kids jumped in and out of the pool the whole day. The adults lounged around having coffee and snacking on 5-kg salak we bought for the weekend (we really love the sour Balinese salak. Salak is known as snake-skin fruit).

We only came down to the lobby/pool area one afternoon. We had lunch at one of the cabanas, ordering Indonesian food from The Warung restaurant and Cire for the burger.

 

 

 

After that, we worked off the calories, climbing down 600 steps to the beach (during low tide) and back up.

 

 

We enjoyed the resort and its amazingness, but the most precious moment is of course spending quality time with our loved little ones.

A trip to Bali is always a trip to a slice of Paradise.

 

Note: ‘Pak’ is the Indonesian way of calling someone ‘Mr’. ‘Ibu’ means to ‘Ms’ or ‘Mrs’.