travel | loveliness. | Page 13

Category: travel
- luwak coffee
  
  Posted at 8:00 am by jasminedesirees, on September 9, 2014
  
  I’d kind of heard about luwak coffee a few months before we left on our trip, but I didn’t really pay close attention to the description, only that it was the most expensive coffee in the world.
  
  On the way home from Pura Lempuyang, we stopped in at a little farm where they grow coffee beans, cocoa, and spices, and they also produce luwak coffee.
  
  In case you aren’t up on the latest in the world of strange beverages, luwak coffee is produced by coffee beans that have first been eaten, digested and expelled by a luwak (a mongoose) and then the beans are gathered up, roasted and crushed.
  
  Something about the stomach acids of the luwak reacting with the coffee beans makes it taste way better (supposedly) than any other kind of coffee produced.
  
  The little farm was pretty cute, they had examples of all of the different kinds of spices and foods that they grow there, and there was a woman roasting and grinding coffee beans, and she let me take a turn.
  
  The farm had a lovely view of a rice field, and they give you free samples of everything they produce, including a bunch of different coffees and teas. The luwak coffee was pretty good, but I didn’t think it was worth $100USD per cup.
  
  I loved the lemongrass tea though, it tastes like the hot iced tea they used to serve us at summer camp when we were little, which was completely full of sugar and made sleeping a bit tricky, but was totally delicious. I bought a bag of it, and I wish I’d had room in my backpack to buy all the bags they had.
  
  They had one little mongoose there so people could see what a luwak actually looked like. He was very small and cute and I wanted to adopt him.
  
  Posted in food, Indonesia, travel | 3 Comments | Tagged coffee, Indonesia, luwa coffee, luwak, mongoose, travel
- bali homestay
  
  Posted at 8:00 am by jasminedesirees, on September 5, 2014
  
  While we were in Ubud, we stayed in a traditional Balinese homestay, which had been turned into a hotel. They are very common in Ubud, and the one we were staying in was wonderful, the woman who owned it was the sweetest lady, and even though we were out the door by 5 a.m. every single day we stayed there, she always left a little breakfast package on the front desk for us to grab on our way out.
  
  I especially loved the gardens. The whole home is situated around the gardens in the center, complete with fountains, statues and beautiful flowers, as well as a temple for the family to pray at.
  
  As pretty as it was, there were a few downfalls, so I wanted to share them in case any one else is going to be staying in one of these, so you can prepare accordingly before you arrive.
  
  If you are staying in a homestay in the middle of the city, bring ear plugs. There is a lot of noise, and it can be hard to sleep. The first night we stayed there, I was kept awake about half the night by dogs barking in the neighborhood.
  
  Just when they finally stopped, the fan in our room started squeaking, this loud, horrible squawking noise, but we couldn’t turn it off because it was so hot in our room and there was no air conditioning.
  
  Finally, just when the fan stopped squeaking, almost down to the minute, the roosters started crowing. It was so perfectly timed that I briefly wondered if I was being secretly filmed for a reality TV show. Earplugs are definitely your friend.
  
  Also, an eye mask. The room we were staying in was all brick, but on the one side of the room there were decorative cut outs along the top of the wall that were open to the outside to let in more light.
  
  There was a mosquito net around the bed to keep the bugs out, and it was really pretty, for awhile, but eventually I wanted to go to sleep and it was too bright in the room. Luckily, my airplane eye mask saved the day.
  
  The last thing I wanted to mention is that our bathroom was outside, on a balcony. It was completely open to the air, which was unexpected, but it was actually really nice showering outside with the sky above you. It was in the city, so it’s possible I put on a bit of a show for people in surrounding buildings, but you can’t have everything in life.
  
  I don’t think all of the homestay bathrooms are set up this way, even within our hotel I don’t think they were, so if you want to make sure that your bathroom is indoors, just check with the hotel before you book.
  
  All in all, it was a really great experience, and I would absolutely stay there again.
  
  Posted in Indonesia, travel | 0 Comments | Tagged accommodations, Bali, homestay, Indonesia, travel
- green
  
  Posted at 8:00 am by jasminedesirees, on September 2, 2014
  
  The rice fields in Bali might just be my favourite thing in the whole world. I need to make up a new word to describe the colour, because “green” doesn’t really seem to do it justice.
  
  Posted in Indonesia, travel | 0 Comments | Tagged Bali, Indonesia, nature, rice fields, travel
- pura lempuyang
  
  Posted at 8:00 am by jasminedesirees, on September 1, 2014
  
  We only spent two days in Bali, even though I was completely in love with it, because we really wanted to go to Labuan Bajo to do some diving, so we had to be kind of picky about the things we were going to do.
  
  I had seen pictures of the Pura Lempuyang temple, and it was so gorgeous I really wanted to go. I didn’t realize how far it was from Ubud, about 2 1/2 hours, but we did some other things on the way back so it wasn’t too bad. When I told the lady at our homestay where we wanted to go, she was kind of surprised, because apparently not a lot of tourists go there.
  
  She kind of tried to talk us out of it, because it was kind of far away, and she tried to convince us to go to the top of the volcano instead, which sounded kind of amazing, but also really busy, since it’s one of those things that a lot of tourists do when they are in Bali. But she had been to Pura Lempuyang herself, and told us how gorgeous it was, so we decided to check it out.
  
  We set out at about 5 a.m., with our driver, who was really cool and had traveled all over the world. He ended up climbing up to the top of the mountain with us, even though he didn’t have to, and along the way he told us all about the Hindu religion in Bali, what they believe, and how it’s different from Hinduism in India. It was really interesting.
  
  The climb itself was kind of arduous. We knew going into it that it was 1700 steps to the top, but what we didn’t know was that there was actually a lot of walking and climbing of stairs before we even arrived at the 1700 stairs. I had to bribe myself with Oreos just to keep my legs moving.
  
  It was kind of chilly out when we left, at least 4 people told us to bring jackets and wear pants, but we didn’t listen and thank goodness for that.
  
  I was cold for about the first 15 steps, but once we really got into the climb I was so hot and sweaty that I was very glad I didn’t wear more clothing. I did bring a sarong though, since you need one to enter the temples, so bring one if you’ll be visiting, or they rent them at the bottom.
  
  Unfortunately, it was kind of cloudy and foggy on the day that we visited, but just as we were arriving it cleared off for a few minutes so we could see the gorgeous view, including the volcano.
  
  The views were gorgeous, and my legs were shaking so bad the next day I could barely walk, but the most memorable thing for me was the monkeys.
  
  We were told at the bottom of the climb that the monkeys at the top were very aggressive and would bite and attack people who were climbing up, especially if they were carrying food, so we were each given a thick wooden walking stick, and given a crash course in monkey beating.
  
  Luckily I didn’t have to use my vicious new skill, but I totally would have if one of those monkeys had tried to steal my Oreos.
  
  Posted in Indonesia, travel | 5 Comments | Tagged Bali, hindu, Indonesia, pura lempuyang, temples, travel
- bay
  
  Posted at 5:59 pm by jasminedesirees, on August 29, 2014
  
  As much as I’m loving life in Australia, this video is making me a teeeensy bit homesick for the bay. I’ve been lucky enough to live in some pretty cool places.
  
  Posted in California, San Francisco, travel, USA | 0 Comments | Tagged bay area, California, San Francisco, travel, video
- moonlight cinema
  
  Posted at 1:55 am by jasminedesirees, on August 26, 2014
  
  I saw a commercial for an outdoor movie theater in Port Douglas that had a bar and lots of yummy food trucks.
  
  I got really excited, but then I realized Port Douglas is hours away from here.
  
  So we improvised with BBQ burgers and Gilmore Girls and sunset at the beach.
  
  It was just as good.
  
  Posted in Australia, travel | 0 Comments | Tagged Australia, beach, cairns, outdoor movies
- sentosa
  
  Posted at 8:00 am by jasminedesirees, on August 25, 2014
  
  As I mentioned in this post, we were trying to save money in Singapore, so we turned to Groupon, where we got a great deal on tickets to the conservatories at the Gardens by the Bay, and also free tickets to the aquarium at Sentosa Island.
  
  I didn’t really know what Sentosa Island was, everyone just called is Sentosa, and said that we absolutely had to go (and by everyone, I mean everyone in the tourism industry, people that live in Singapore stay far away, but we hadn’t discovered that yet) so we did.
  
  Sentosa Island is basically a huge tourist trap/resort with just about everything you could ever want to do all in one place. There’s a Universal Studios, a beach, an aquarium, and tons of resorts and hotels as well. Also there is a giant lion statue. for some reason.
  
  We were there on a beautiful day, it was actually scorching hot out. It was so bad that I took to hiding out in the corner of a Billabong store just for the air conditioning. The other thing about Sentosa is that it is RIDICULOUSly expensive. A lot of the beach bars have signs out advertising $16 beer at happy hour, as though it’s a bargain.
  
  Even though it was 4000 degrees, I wasn’t spending $16 on a beer, or $22 on a margarita, so we didn’t stay as long as we could’ve.
  
  The aquarium was kind of cool, we got to play with sting rays, you can pet them and feed them. I felt a bit awkward about that later, when we met up with an old classmate of mine for supper in Chinatown and we ended up eating stingray for supper.
  
  I normally don’t really eat anything that swims (fish are friends, not food) but I blame the massive Tiger beers that the waitresses, dressed up like Oktoberfest hostesses, were bringing to our table in buckets.
  
  After the aquarium we went to the dolphin show, which was about 25 minutes of some sea lions playing ring ross and balancing balls on their noses, and then 3 minutes of dolphin jumping.
  
  But the dolphins were pink at least. So that’s not nothing.
  
  Posted in Singapore, travel | 2 Comments | Tagged dolphins, sentosa, Singapore, travel
- lately
  
  Posted at 2:10 am by jasminedesirees, on August 20, 2014
  
  For the last few weeks we’ve been road tripping up the Eastern coast of Australia, sleeping in our car, and eating most of our meals as picnics on the beach.
  
  Subaru’s are actually pretty comfy, as long as you are kind of short, and not very claustrophobic.
  
  Posted in Australia, travel | 0 Comments | Tagged Australia, road trip, travel
- singapore by night
  
  Posted at 7:17 pm by jasminedesirees, on August 18, 2014
  
  A few snaps from the top of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore. We wanted to go up and check out the infinity pool up there, but it was $25 each to go to the top, and you can’t go to the pool anyway, just the observation deck.
  
  After supper in Chinatown one night we decided to go over there and see if we could sneak in. We got dropped off at the entrance to the third tower, and crept inside. It’s really gorgeous inside the hotel, as you would imagine.
  
  We got in the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor, but we needed a key to get up. Just as we were about to get off the elevator, a group of hotel guests got on, and pushed the button, so we were able to go up and check it out.
  
  At the top there is the pool, a couple of bars and restaurants, and several observation decks, and you can see almost a full 360 degree view of Singapore and the Gardens by the Bay at night.
  
  It’s truly stunning, and I’m very grateful to that group of people for helping us sneak up to see it.
  
  Posted in Singapore, travel | 1 Comment | Tagged gardens by the bay, Hotel in Singapore, marina bay sands, Singapore, travel, view
- flower dome
  
  Posted at 8:00 am by jasminedesirees, on August 14, 2014
  
  The Gardens by the Bay has two conservatories, the Cloud Forest, and the Flower Dome. The Cloud Forest is the big, splashy main event, but the Flower Dome was pretty cool too.
  
  It’s divided up into sections, to showcase the flowers and plants that grow in different regions of the world, so you walk around into each section, and find yourself in Australia, or South America, or California, surrounded by those native plants.
  
  My favourite part was the flower field in the center of the dome, it’s a themed flower display that they switch up every few months.
  
  When we were there, it was made into a Persian garden, with lots of bright colours, and table displays.
  
  There is a succulent garden, a large collection of cool, gnarled trees called Boababs, and an olive grove with a 1,000 year old olive tree.
  
  I was eventually unceremoniously dragged out, apparently watching someone take 600 pictures of roses gets boring after awhile, who knew?
  
  Posted in Singapore, travel | 0 Comments | Tagged cloud forest, flower dome, flowers, gardens by the bay, marina bay sands, native plants, Singapore, The Cloud Forest, travel
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