45. Gili Meno oh - you're my dreamo!! :)

Gili Meno..

When I think back on India I can’t help but remember the Taj Mahal.. I can close my eyes and go back to that quiet place and feel a sense of calm shift over my body. I like to go there – it’s a nice place J

Anyhoo.. I’ve been doing lots of Island hopping on this adventure of mine, and seen some real beauties - but never have I ever been to the Taj Mahal of Islands – that is until I got to Gili Meno.

You would think that the water had been chlorinated it’s so clear – you would also think that no waves ever existed – since it is so calm – in fact wind might never have blown – nothing to upset the teeny tiny Meno’s peaceful charm. You would also find yourself wondering what on earth most women are thinking – cavorting around showing off their cellulite, fat bums and tums.  You know what they are thinking?? “I don’t give a shit.” Honestly, there is a vibe over there that doesn’t  give a flying fuck what anyone thinks or says.. people wear what they want – as little as they want – no matter how big they are – smiling, happy people, having fun – bouncing around in their own little bubbles without a care in the world.

It’s a beautiful thing.

People usually need to do something, often saying,”So what should we do?” “Anything to do around here?” “What are you doing today? Going anywhere?”This is a very good thing – activate yourself by all means J I can be a ball of energy – hell I climbed two volcanoes in three days (on a hangover) – give credit where credit is deserved ;) But I do tend to be on the lazy side- although I do not like the term “lazy” as I once said to my friend Slava, “I am not lazy! I just don’t move a lot.”

Anyway – even on an Island there is always something to do – somewhere you can walk to or go to, something happening and someone is telling you that you should “totally check it out.” Gili Meno, on the other hand, is an exception to this rule.

There is NOTHING to do there. NOTHING. Seriously, NOTHING. I mean, you can eat and sleep – but these are things we have to do – and beyond that – you can.. relax.

Take it easy, take it slow J

Nowhere to be, Nowhere to go.

Nothing to do, Nothing to see – just beJ

It’s my kind of place!

We had five full days there – in a bungalow on the beach and it felt like ten. We ate, and slept, drank shandies and played cards, read our books and floated in the turquoise water. And when we left I felt like I had been meditating or something – my whole body and mind shifted – and how could I not feel this way? I had just spent five full days at the Taj Mahal J

I fell in love with this place. It’s not just about doing nothing and resting afterwards – but I think as you travel around the world – you are always looking to see new things, and new places – and you keep moving onwards – but there will be those little gems you find along the way that you’ll give a piece of your heart to and know you’ll come back to that special place again.

Gili Meno is that place for me. In fact it is the only place I have felt that strongly about since going to ‘Coffee Bay’ in the Traanskei, South Africa.

And it feels great to be able to add one more place to a section of my heart. 

44. Reunited with my besti speciality person! :D

My mum is without a doubt the most fantastic pencil.

She’s strong – and sharp – blunt and to the point. Forgiving – happy for you to erase things and rewrite the rest of the story. Begin again, by all means. Sometimes she’s hard, and sometimes she’s soft. But. She is always colourful – she comes in bright pinks and blues! She’s creative and is heaps of fun!

The only difference between my mummy and a pencil – is her heart. She has a heart the size of Uranus and makes me laugh more that Cameron in “Modern Family”

She’s my best friend. My constant rock, my sweet, loving.. pencil.

And I hadn't seen her for nine months – after leaving the country for the first time.. and here she was! Well – needless to say we didn't shut up – and jabbered into the wee hours – more like late morning ;)  the following day! But that’s us – so much to say so little time J Always J

Besides being in some alternate universe where every human is pumped with happy gas – because this is what we do to each other J we loved Ubud. LOVED it. It was not this “terrible, touristy, overpriced place” that so many people had told me it was. We found it to be cheap, and the food out of this world – peanut sauce is just a very happy thing for me.  And it’s SO clean – the people have so much pride in their place – taking great care of it. And they radiate bliss – smiling and friendly – always making sure to ask where you are going so that they can relax knowing that you are ok. All is right with the world. Constantly making offerings and praying to their gods. It’s a wonder.. They don’t seem to walk, they glide.. and I found myself biting my tongue – so badly wanting to ask – “Dude? what are you on?” If I wasn’t high off my mum’s happy gas I might of asked for some ;)

We had a “fun day” of missioning around – sussing the place out – we went to Monkey forest which was green and lush – monkey’s doing gymnastics in the water – that’s a sight I’ll never forget and went to the market – I showed me mumzi what a brilliant bargainer I am – she was proud J We found little places to eat and drink my new found friend “Bintang” It’s my best beer. BEST.

The following day we went exploring the rice paddies, forests and local community in Ubud with the charming “Putu” who was a world of information and always tried his best, constantly asking us if he was doing ok, if we we’re happy, if we understood him and so forth. And he was everything we told him he was, and more! We learnt a lot about the Balinese – how they work and how their families function and so forth, after which we had a delicious meal combined with great conversation.

All in all Ubud was so much more that we we’re expecting it to be – the people blew us over with their kindness and the place – with the orange mud covered buildings – so intricately carved – a joy to look at, peanut sauce galore and Bintang to boot!

It was a happy gas indeed!