Travel Recap: 8 Days in Bali, Indonesia

Nicole was going to be in Southeast Asia in the beginning of March right when Fashion Police was about to wrap up after the Oscars. I planned to join her as soon as the show delivered so we could do a new video with a new camera (DJI Osmo).





 I worked hard through Oscars weekend and went to the airport just a few hours after work was done. It was my first long haul flight (over 6 hours) and I passed out for 8 hours, and woke up over Japan! I still had time to watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens and had breakfast before landing in Taiwan, my layover. We had crossed the international date line so I had completely skipped March 1st and landed Wed March 2nd at 6am. I had a couple hours to kill in the airport before the 2nd flight to Bali (5 hours).

When I finally arrived, I hired a car to take me to Ubud, a town about an hour north of the airport. I walked across a bridge into the trees, and a huge lily pond in the sky. It was a beautiful introduction to the Four Seasons Sayan. I got in just in time meet up with Nicole and her friend Doe to watch a traditional Balinese dance and musical performance and have a wonderful buffet dinner complete with Babi Guling - Suckling Pig.

DAY 1

We woke up for 7am power yoga at the outdoor pavilion in the midst of rice paddies. I endured but it was very hot even that early in the morning. We had a nice breakfast and then Nicole and I went on a guided tour. We crossed a river where white water rafters were passing the hotel and up to the opposite cliffside to see the Hotel from afar. When we got back, Doe and I had a lunch among the treetops and spent the half the afternoon waiting out a downpour before it cleared up enough for Nicole and I to shoot pictures and video by the pool.

Doe

Nicole

Me

DAY 2

The next day we had a beautiful breakfast at the suite overlooking the river and our private pool. We went to anti-gravity yoga after digesting and I filmed Nicole and Doe as they stretched and swung from the rafters. We packed up and met our driver Made (Mah-day) who drove us to the Tegalalang rice terraces north of Ubud. He brought us to a roadside restaurant where we had an easy lunch of pork ribs that were so good, Nicole got 2 orders. We stopped at a Durian stand along the way to try out one of the weirdest fruits of South East Asia. Durian is called the King of Fruit because of it’s spiky exterior but they are banned by many resorts because of the intense smell. Andrew Zimmerman from Bizarre Foods will eat anything in the world but is afraid of this fruit. Nicole convinced us to give it a try. She had three bites before giving up but I could barely stand just a little taste. It smells like wet musty rotten socks and looks like mushy artichoke hearts. It’s taste was sweet for a very quick second before I was overwhelmed with a disgusting taste you can only imagine. At least we tried it!

 

We made our way to the beach town of Seminyak - known for parties and upscale resorts. We checked into the W Hotel who was hosting Nicole for their 5th Anniversary party. We walked around a little and it reminded us of Tamarindo in Costa Rica, restaurants all along the streets. We had a light dinner at a restaurant called Sarong, which was highly recommended to us. It was upscale and the food was good but it seemed more of a place you go for the atmosphere. We also went to a beach club called Potato Head next door to the W. It wasn’t that busy and we took the opportunity to feel the warm water of the Indian Ocean on the way back to our hotel.

DAY 3

Saturday morning I spent time on the beach filming before Doe left for the airport. Nicole and I spent the afternoon filming and taking photos around the hotel. We went back to Potato head to shoot some Ciroc video and caught a pretty sunset. That night the W had a party with fireworks and dancing.

DAY 4

I saw a gathering of people down the beach from our hotel so I brought my camera and felt a little like a National Geographic photographer. The people of Seminyak were gathered for a Melasti Cermony, Three days before their new year (Nyepi Day) people come to the beach for a cleansing ritual. There were hundreds of people gathered giving offerings to the Indian Ocean. As I was about to leave, a man ran from the crowd holding a sword to his chest. I was frozen to my spot and all I could do was keep filming him as three people gathered around to support him. He eventually stood up and walked back into the crowd and I walked away feeling a little shocked and like I had witnessed something significant. We left the W Hotel and moved to the Four Seasons in Jimbaran. Jimbaran is a fishing village and the resort was perched over the bay across from the airport. We watched an afternoon rain shower move in and we took the time to settle in. We had a guided tour of the resort and had an amazing dinner at the Sundara restaurant. Chef Liam gave us a tour of the kitchen and sent us some of his best creations to try including fried frog legs. We had some of the most delicious drinks as the sun set over the bay.

DAY 5

We woke up early and met Chris, Jimbaran’s Senior Chef, who took us to the Jimbaran Market. He led a tour through the organized chaos of the fish market, showing us the fresh prawns, crabs, tuna and even shark. We made our way through more fruit & vegetable stands and watched people go about their daily lives, preparing for Nyepi Day celebrations. I filmed Nicole as Chris taught her how to cook a varied Balinese menu full of flavorful Chicken, rice and fish dishes. We could barely put a dent in it. After lunch we explored the resort and took photos and video for Ciroc as the sun set.

DAY 6

We moved on to our last hotel – the Samabe Resort in Nusa Dua, in southeast Bali. Nicole was working as a model for a promotional video for the hotel and we met up with another video team. After shooting for the hotel, we spent the afternoon flying a very large drone over the beach and pool areas and got some amazing footage. Unfortunately, I spent too much time in the sun and broke out in heat rash. It was the start of an uncomfortable couple days but getting the drone footage was all I could think about.

Struggling with heat- looking glamorous behind the scenes

DAY 7

The last full day we spent in Bali was Nyepi Day. At a morning shoot for the hotel, the sun had an almost complete eclipse. I wasn’t able to photograph it directly but the lens flairs took the shape of the crescent sun. As the rest of the Island was at home observing their Day of Silence, we were told we could not go down to the beach, we had to stay on the resort but we didn’t mind. We shot a few more pictures around the resort and had a (hilarious after the fact) encounter with some of the biggest grasshopper bugs I’ve ever seen. After 6pm the resort tried to keep all non-essential lights off and we walked around with flashlights. After dinner I set my camera up to do some night photography as the stars were so visible with no light pollution.

DAY 8

We left the resort at dawn to move on to Singapore. Bali was an amazingly beautiful place. We spent a lot of time organizing footage at the end of every day. (see our setup below) Overall it was an amazing experience. I wish we were able to leave the resorts more and see more of this beautiful country but I am glad they gave us some wonderfully guided experiences of Balinese culture. Everyone we met was incredibly nice and friendly. The heat was what I expected after Costa Rica and Belize but the tropical sun really roasted me. I highly recommend it for a honeymoon trip or a romantic getaway just bring sunscreen!

3 hard drives, 1 Canon DSLR, 1 DJI Osmo, 1 GoPro Hero4, 1 Powerbank & 1 Macbook Air