Smokey!
Bird that attacked Scott, and rightfully so, because he threw a shell at them.
We took the ferry over to the insanely beautiful Waiheke Island for Christmas to celebrate with Scott's family.
Between eating an extraordinary amount of brie, we beached, hiked and once the sun set, binge watched Master of None. I also finally saw the New Zealand film Boy which is so, so wonderful. Again, put me on a tropical island and I'll still manage to get excited about Netflix.
Full disclosure: this blog is (perpetually) a little behind... so be prepared for Xmas in NZ posts even though it's actually currently March and I'm in Australia. Lots to catch up on!
Here's the start of an Auckland summer:
Smokey. Who you will see many, many more photos of because he came my best bud/photo muse during my time in NZ.
The cat, Slinky, would also come on walks.
This summer was filled with lots of work (mostly from my remote offices: The Ponsonby Library and The Raw Kitchen) but also road trips in my beloved van, beach days at Piha and many runs around my new temporary home: the Te Atatu Peninsula.
It was a good summer. More soon.
Because you haven't seen enough Bali sunset photos on this blog.
Links for your Thursday/Wednesday (depending on what part of the world you're reading from):
A good read: This interesting + witty article by Helen Kim whose author blurb reads "Helen S. Kim made her Korean immigrants' parents dream come true by graduating from from Harvard Law. She then horrified them by leaving her law firm job to write."
Untranslatable Words. My favorites: "eudaimonia" and "fika".
I'm not super into fashion but I do love me some street style photography... so this collection is a bit of a jackpot.
With EditMate now on in full-force, the books + podcasts I've been consuming lately have all been in the "for work-related educational purposes" category. This Start-Up podcast is full of gems of wisdom if you're building a business, plus it's just wildly fascinating to hear how the start up world operates (Season 2 is proving to be particularly juicy).
Videos of folks slowly taking off their clothes sounds like click bait but this series by StyleLikeU is wonderful, specifically this interview with an incredibly articulate Australian actress.
Watching American current events from a distance (the other hemisphere and the other side of the world) has been interesting this year... this is baffling + concerning while this is horrifying. However, this gorgeous example of freedom of speech (while being a super hot jam) makes me proud to be an American.
Speaking of which... while I do feel the Bern, I feel like everyone needs to remember this as well.
I want to read this and this and this as soon as my "for work-related educational purposes" consumption phase takes a break.
Lastly, a song -- from me to you.
Scott's friends Karl + Jemma showed us a lovely time in Newcastle -- complete with BBQs, a trip to the Ocean Baths and playtime with their delightful little babe, Charlotte.
After flying cross country from Perth, we landed in Brisbane! We stayed a few days in the Gold Coast and then took a road trip down to Newcastle, stopping along the way in Burleigh Heads, Nimbin and Byron Bay.
A surf at Burleigh Heads. Note Surfers Paradise (all those tall buildings) in the background.
The beach at Burleigh Heads.
We of course made sure to hit all of the important cultural landmarks... including this giant shrimp and a big banana.
White girls can't jump.
We also had a pit stop in Nimbin, an ultra-hippie little village.
Byron Bay was as stunning as I remembered it. Though the main things I remember from my time there (when I was 22) was an outstanding chai latte I drank and coming THISCLOSE to winning a limbo contest at a bar called Cheeky Monkeys. Which just goes to show you that memory is a strange thing and it's important to take photos.
If you squint here, you can see a dolphin jumping out of the water. (!!!)
The local flora, which appears to be exotic pinecones.
Along with pods of dolphins, I also saw lone lurking sharks so Byron Bay was a mix of magical and terrifying.
It's nice to return a place that you were enamored with when you were 20 and realize that it wasn't just youthful foolishness that had you swooning. Fremantle is a hippie port city that I frequented when I studied abroad then later moved to when the travel bug hit hard, post-college. I'm happy to report that with it's Victorian architecture, eclectic markets and eccentric residents... it's still as delightful as ever.
I visited my old place of an employment: Little Creatures Brewery. Still has the best pale ales and frites (friench fries) + aoli in the world.
We spent a couple of afternoons poking our heads into artists studios and eating our way through the Freo markets. Fremantle seemed slightly smaller than I remembered (I've covered far more ground now then I had back then) but even more charming.
If you ever find yourself in Perth (fun fact: it's the most isolated city in the world!) make sure you take the train down to the wonderful little gem that is Fremantle.
After Bali, we flew to Australia!
We landed in Perth and stayed with Scott's sister in her stunning new house. We washed the Bali off us and spent 10 days enjoying the noticeably fresher air, authentic Aussie BBQ's and bike riding all around the spotless city streets.
Low tide on the reef.
Coconut cemetery.
Vito getting barrelled.
Uluwatu cove.
Family scooter ride.
After a final shopping trip in Kuta.
Bali was full of crystal clear water and dirt, coconuts and exhaust fumes, sunshine and sweat. If you want to live like a Queen on the budget of a freelance producer trying to bootstrap a new business: go to Bali. If you want to expedite a 6 month relationship: travel together in Bali.
It didn't feel like real life but it made "real life" at home feel even less "real". And it was a real good time.
It was a successful 3 months on the incredibly photogenic island of Bali.
4. How to build a website. Example: EditMate.
3. Anything is possible in the sense that everything is negotiable and anything can be arranged.
2. Things are only worth the value assigned to them.
1. A big wide smile makes anyone beautiful. A rotten toothed, one eyed, wrinkly old woman becomes absolutely adorable when she sports a giant smile. 5 purchased bracelets later, her sales approach cat call of "Helloooo sexy sexy lady look at your sexy sexy bum" was effective as well, further proving point #2.
I made a little Balinese friend in the water. We didn't speak the same language so I didn't catch his name but we can safely assume it's either Wayan, Made, Nyoman or Ketut.
Scott turned 32 and we celebrated at Bingin Beach with lots of Bintangs.
To extend our time in Indonesia, we did a visa jump and spent a weekend in Singapore! After being in Bali for 2 months, Singapore felt like THE FUTURE. It's so clean and efficient. It felt wild to ride in squeaky clean public transportation, see people in suits and ties and be amongst massive sky scrapers. It was like we were on another planet.
We booked a hotel in the Joo Chiat district in East Singapore. It's known as a multi-cultural area, with Chinese, Indian and Malay roots. It's full of colorful, pre-war shophouses and quaint eateries... a stark contrast from the uber-modern downtown Singapore. Our favorite meal was at an old school coffee shop called Chin Mee Chin Confectionary where we ate sugary coffee and cakes and slurped very soft boiled eggs.
We rented bikes and rode all through the parks and gardens, stopping at the Cloud Forest and Flower Dome which was reminiscent of Pauly Shore's 1996 film "Bio-Dome". There's a 114 foot mountain and the worlds largest indoor waterfall. It was insane.
The Supertree Grove has man-made trees that harvest solar energy during the day to use at night for light shows. The light shows are choreographed to music from movies like "Aladdin" and "Star Wars" which I know sounds super cheeseball but was actually kind of magical.
We were surprised by how tame and quiet it was at 11 PM on a Saturday night in Singapore, but we eventually found the lively area: Haji Lane. During the day, it was filled with hipster boutiques but at night the bars fill up and the crowd pours out onto the street, with tipsy drinkers twirling around to live bands.
Inside the Marina Bay Sands Hotel.
Back To The Future bike.
Scott at BigMama Korean Restaurant
Left: multi-lingual danger sign. Right: Sign on the subway banning durians, which are extremely smelly fruits. For real.
The sign literally stopped me dead in my tracks at the airport. How great is this? A MAN asking himself these questions. Complete gender reversal to what you usually see.
Singapore was a fascinating island city-state to visit.
It's main principles are meritocracy, multiculturalism and secularism and apparently it has outstanding social policies. It's a secular immigrant nation that emphasizes living harmoniously with others. The city's attitude is to be "neat and clean and responsible for ones actions", which makes for extremely pleasant subway ride. There's adorable cartoon character signs all over the city reminding you of that... just to be considerate of those around you. It almost feels like an imaginary place a budding city-planner would design for a thesis project, it doesn't seem entirely real. Even when you're standing smack in the middle of it. In fact, Singapore was developed so aggressively as a business and finance hub that it's often criticized for forgetting to grow a soul in the process. And there's a weird truth in that.
One thing Singapore definitely does have though: super sick malls. Malls that are glorious, air conditioned and luxurious retail meccas. I tried on about 15 winter coats that I have absolutely no need for.
Our friends Vito + Maria were in Ubud on a workaway gig (the great site I used to work in Naples) and Adri, the owner of Black Rose (you become quite good friends with restaurant owners when you constantly eat at their establishment) moonlights as a mountain bike tour leader, so a bunch of us from DiKubu visited Ubud for a little mountain biking adventure.
Julian, George, Chris, Pauline, Vito, Maria, myself and Adri halfway through our ride.
The view from the hostel.
Maria
George
Adri, our fearless leader.
Vito and Pauline in the background, Adri cheering them on.
We rode up steep hills and through peaceful rice paddies, ate at Clear Cafe and stayed at Hostel Rama Sita where Vito and Maria were working (the very talented Vito is also the newest editor at EditMate!). I was a little nervous beforehand as I'm pretty useless on a bike but I whizzed around without much trouble while Scott showed off with his jumps and tricks. It was sunny and hot and sweaty and a great couple of days in Ubud.
Balinese dancers at the Cultural Park. I swear the one in the front was giving me the eye the whole time, but then everyone in our group said the same thing so I think she just knew how to work a crowd.
Vito after the show.
Vito + Garuda. The cultural park is built around the construction of a massive sculpture which, when complete, will be 390 feet tall (for comparison, the Statue of Liberty is 305 feet) and feature the Hindu God Vishnu riding his bird friend Garuda. The statue is very controversial as religious authorities say it will disrupt the spiritual balance of the land, it's 11 story entertainment complex's commercial nature is inappropriate and it's insanely expensive. It sounds like a pretty bad idea to me, but hey, you do you Bali.
Maria during a Blue Crush Crew spa day at DiKubu.
I like dogs and whatever but I don't go crazy over them like some people.... but I absolutely lost my mind over this one. I found her in a new litter of puppies outside a convenient store. I went so far as to name her ("Ulu"), went back to visit her 4 times, bartered with the owners (got him down to $21!), and researched ways to bring her out of Bali with me (basically impossible). I felt heartbroken and betrayed when I returned one day and she was gone ("Where is black and white dog? You know which dog! Where is my dog?") but hopefully she is in a happy home somewhere in Uluwatu.
The TV show The Shannara Chronicles that I worked on in NZ last year just premiered tonight! It was wild to watch the full show, how they combined real New Zealand landscape with CGI for the scenery, the special effects and how everything was cut together.
The behind the scenes content that I worked on is now up on the MTV website here and here is a few of my favorite videos we did, if you'd like to see...
After venturing North, it was decided that Uluwatu was our favorite spot in Bali. We headed back and booked the DiKubu Homestay on Airbnb (the photos don't do it justice) and were delighted to find that it included Wayan + Ketut as friendly hosts, cute grandparents, grandkids and dogs running around, a great group of friends to hang out with AND air conditioning. It was the ultimate find in $15 a night accommodation.
The steps up to our room.
I'm told there is mail in Bali but I can't say I ever saw a mailman.
Ketut and Wayan, our lovely hosts at DiKubu.
This time around, we got into the habit of daily yoga at Morning Light. Scott can touch his toes now and I can do a range of headstands that will certainly make for great party tricks. I also finally had a few girls to surf with. Our surf gang is named the Blue Crush Crew, in case you were wondering.
Wayan and Papa extracting honey from the honeycomb of a fallen bees nest.
Truly fresh honeycomb.
Our new friends were a United Nations of sorts, folks from: Spain, Columbia, Sweden, France, Germany, England and South Africa.
Vito + Maria.
View from Single Fin when you're eating a Nalu Bowl.
We discovered the best food in Uluwatu too:
BLACK ROSE: Outstandingly fresh, delicious and cheap Vietnamese food. Go for the chicken salad ($2.50 USD), stay for the incredibly nice owners. And they serve tiny Dutch pancakes! We went almost every other day. I feel so strongly about this place that I did a (glowing) Trip Advisor review. And I don't do Trip Advisor reviews.
THE CASHEW TREE: Killer Pitaya bowls. Perfect smoothies. Massive salads. Gorgeous open air set-up. Fast wifi.
NALU BOWLS: Nalu bowls (smoothie bowls topped with fruit and granola) were my favorite discovery in all of Bali. Get one from the little hut outside Single Fin then enjoy the view over Uluwatu reef. Nothing beats a sunset Nalu bowl. Nothing.
BUKIT CAFE: Cool (both aesthetically and temperature wise) interior (most places in Bali don't actually have an actual interior -- you're always just entirely or partially outside being baked by the sun) with delicious chia seed puddings.
LANDS END CAFE: Conveniently situated down the road from Morning Light Yoga and serves French Press coffee which is the closest thing you can get to a good old fashioned, filtered American coffee.
AYU'S: Giant classic breakfasts (eggs, bacon, toast, fruit bowl) in a brightly colored cafe run by a darling Balinese couple.
The Cashew Tree.
Breakfast at Ayu's.
If you visit any of my above recommendations, you'll be eating a lot of fresh, natural good-for-your-body fruits and veggies. If you'd like to undo any of that health... scooter up to the main road and get a sweet MARTABAK (a.k.a. martabak manis or terang bulan).
Street vendor preparing a Martabak. There's also a fried banana cart nearby, which makes for a perfect amuse-bouche while you're waiting.
Originating from Yemen, the martabak spread to India and Southeast Asia. It's a doughy, pancake-like cake, made with: butter, sugar, crushed peanuts, condensed milk, chocolate sprinkles and cheese. It sounds wrong but it's so right. AND a dude in a push cart makes them right on the side of the road.
Bali may not have have their infrastructure sorted out quite yet but their epic desserts are on point.
