Bali, Indonesia: Waves.

I was in Bali, Indonesia for a month. Snaps:

Piece of shit Ronald McDonald watch I bought. Note to self: never buy a watch in Bali ever again. 

This place is one of the most touristy things to go to in Bali, but it's totally worth going to. I have been here before, years ago when I was a kid with my family. I remember my brother had a package of peanuts and the monkey just snatched it right out of his hands and it shocked and terrified him. I didn't expect for it to feel so new and interesting to be in the park again. It's so crazy and hilarious to be so close to so many monkeys. 

Tanah Lot. 

Went to Bali mainly to surf. 

Puppy spot. 

Paths going I don't know where but oh I'd like to know. 

This was the view during this meal: 

Like I mentioned earlier, I had been to Bali before when I was a kid with my parents. I don't remember much of it and I don't think we did much either when we were there, just stayed at a resort and were as lazy as humanely possible. So I was interested in revisiting it (lol and not living a resort lifestyle) and seeing how I'd feel about it now (tough life, I know).

There were times where I loved Bali - the surfing (catching better waves and moving to shorter boards, hooray!), the incredibly nice, warm and hilarious people, what little untouched nature I did see was beautiful, the ornate architecture and aesthetics, the spirituality running through so much of everyday living. And there were times where I was so frustrated with it. So many people, so many cars creating these paralyzing traffic jams (what should be a 15 minute ride turns into an hour), hotels and villas everywhere, everyone trying to sell me something (a massage, motorbike rental, sarong, bracelets, taxi ride), being asked where I am from and if they could come with me ("No? I miss you already"), the huge gap between rich and poor, the pollution. But I know that there is more to Bali then what I saw and I want to see it. To know it. And I will be there again soon and I hope I get a bit closer to doing that.  

Siargao, Philippines: Young, Wild, and Free.

I went to an island in the Philippines called Siargao for a few weeks:

I had no expectations going into the Philippines. It was kind of random, when I was going out of my mind in Bangkok, I was looking at this and was like oh the Philippines could be cool. And a really good friend had loved the Philippines too. I also went to this island right after Thailand, so there was really no time to process (aka over-think and build-up expectations about) where I was going. 

I had no idea how beautiful it was there. 

I've never seen such vibrant clear water that comes in so many shades of blues and greens. 

I chose to go to this island mainly to surf. It's all reef breaks here. I had no idea what that meant. The first day I went out, I went with an instructor - a 20 year old boy nicknamed Doy Doy, who was endearing with his big eyes and bird-like sounds calling me (he would continue to be my instructor for the rest of time I was there, he was my babysitter of the sea). It was a 45 minute motorbike ride to the water, then a 10 minute boat ride out to the middle of the water. We were out in the middle of what felt like nowhere (the spot funnily enough is called Salvacion) and the waves (after not surfing for a few months) were massive and terrifying. A guy that was with us that day described it well, "I would kind of catch a wave, nearly drown, get washed out, nearly drown again, and maybe catch a wave."

But man it's pretty. You always take a boat out to the waves and that was one of my favorite parts about surfing there. 

I had so many nice meals. People would just get fresh fish from the market, eggplants, and they would all be grilled and served with rice and we would eat it with our hands off of banana leaves. 

A 300 peso chicken for a cock fight. 

What's an Ellen travel blog entry without pictures of dogs:

This guy was the best. A lot of the dogs just start following you, and I couldn't shake this one. I found him cute, the person I was with did not because our fine bulldog friend kept trying to hump him. 

I tried to take a selfie with this dog (but wasn't very successful):

I love his expression and thought you should see it. Cool guy.

The apple of everyone's eye at the place I was staying at. She is the daughter of the owners of the place and whenever she enters a room, people immediately flock to her. You can see why right? So cute. 

Cock fight. This chicken didn't win. It was surreal to watch a cock fight, it takes what feels like forever between cockfights. Once they finally do have one, the fight is over pretty fast and you don't quite see what happens, sometimes it just takes one jab and all of the sudden the chicken is dead. And then you wait a long time again and then another fight comes and goes and it goes on and on until there's no more chickens left to fight. 

Balong - one of the funniest guys I met on the island. He had the best one liners (or not even lines, he could say two words and it be hilarious) and he would say it in the most perfect accent. Here he is with his chicken for a cock fight. This chicken didn't win.  

The island is incredibly laid back. The days revolved around the waves. Every time I asked people what they were doing that day, the answer was: surfing, take a nap, maybe watch some TV and maybe go out at night and sing some songs. Not said but should have been said: make babies. Lots of babies. The families there were massive! The husband that owns the place I stayed at comes from a family of 9. I'm told there's families on the island with 14 kids! WHAT! 

Someone was describing a surfer on the island as "young, wild, and free" and I keep thinking this over and over when I think about the island. It's still pretty untouched with not a lot of people and you see stuff like pigs, water buffalo, and chickens tied to trees. Dogs sleeping on streets while motorbikes speed by. Kids running from trees, waving hello to you. Driving through thick mud and puddles in palm tree ridden forests. And waves, so blue and clear, coming at you so huge. 

I was absolutely gutted when I left Mexico. I didn't think I'd find another place that would make me feel so much and feel so at place like it did. I had such a great time on this island and it showed me that I could feel what I felt in Mexico again (which was a relief). 

xo, Siargao, twas sweet.  

Sayulita

Hi. So I'm travelling for a year (I think) and I am in Mexico right now. In Sayulita. It's an hour outside of Puerto Vallarta and ugh man, it's nice here.  

My neighbor. Okay, I am about to unromanticize this horse. So until now, I have never seen a real horse dick in my life. And oh my god, the other day, this horse, it's dick was out and it was crazyyyyy. I was like, holy that's what they look like? Honestly it was like an elephant trunk, it was nuts.

Ugh these tacos killed me. 

Great novelty: drinking Palomas in a can on the beach. They're not great, but they're cheap and who cares.

This dog. I was like, aw this is a cute sleeping Mexican dog and I want to take a picture of it. The instant I did it freaked out at me and completely spazzed and now I don't want to take pictures of dogs again in Mexico.

Although this dog was nice and followed us around (because we had food) and her name is Tootise and apparently she follows anyone with food around.

Everyone I talk to asks me why I came here. And I say that I came here because I wanted to learn how to surf and I've always liked Mexico and I've heard that this is a nice little town to be and surf in. And it's been good so far. I take Spanish classes every few days (but still can barely understand the basic things people ask/tell me), go to yoga in this open air space, and try to surf (I've caught like 5 waves out of 100 so far).

But it's all about the small victories here. Like going to the laundry place where this cute old lady doesn't speak any English and kind of understanding what she says and coming out with clean laundry the next day (and you feel so fresh, cause god, it is hot and humid here, so clothes are constantly sticky - they even get...mouldy. CRAZY! Clothes get moldy?!) Or having a small conversation with the caretaker of the apartment and then him leaving the most giant avocado for you on your steps (aw he likes me!) Or going to the next town over via the local bus to go to the bigger grocery store and running across the highway and back and not dying. And catching a wave after missing so many of them and riding it till the very end. Or being able to buy tamales for 15 pesos each. And huge slices of cake for 15 pesos each. 

Ugh and time, time moves fast and slow here and I used to wake up in panics back in Vancouver, panic over what I had to do or just feeling a constant sense of that I needed to do something or that I haven't done enough. And I'm glad and lucky that I haven't felt that much since coming here. I guess that's a given and will only last so long, but I'm glad I am able to feel it.

Talk soon friends, hope all is well with you.