First We Headed to…
Jaco, Costa Rica for my birthday! What a beautiful area. The people were kind and the only issue we had was trying to navigate all those zeros on their money (oh and some guy who sang a little song about seeing too many lesbianos.*insert eye roll*)
We stayed in an Airbnb which was housed in a housing complex where it appeared to be a residence for the Ticos (the locals). There was a pool and hot tub at the entrance of the complex. We were never able to get in either of those because they stayed relatively full all day. The temperature stayed in the upper 80s. We instead chose to dip into the ocean waters at Jaco Beach. Many local families were there enjoying the beach as well. The water was warm, but the sand was a bit rocky.
Jaco Beach 
Strike a pose 
We had plenty choices for places to eat, but my favorite meals were eaten at the sodas, the “mom and pop” restaurants, located on roads just beyond the main strip. We spent our days strolling up and down the strip, enjoying iced coffee or ice cream. I fell in love with a restaurant called The Green Room. The vibe was really chill and they had live music every night we were there.
We decided to go to Manuel Antonio National Park as an excursion. A chartered bus picked us up nice and early and drove us about an hour and a half away to a restaurant where we had a light breakfast. As soon our group, which consisted of us and two families with older children, our tour guide met us at the restaurant to take us to the long line of people waiting to enter the park. Our guide had someone holding our spots and I was SO glad because the line was SUPER long and it was SUPER hot outside. While we waited in line we saw the cute but mischievous monkeys as they plotted how to steal food from the people in the picnic table area.
Sneaking up in the background 
Sloth as seen through our guides telescope 
Happy to be hiking
This park was so awesome and we were so thankful to have the guide. He pointed out spiders, frogs, hummingbirds and the absolute best sight–the sloths! Especially the baby sloths. We would have never seen these were it not for his guidance as well as his high powered telescope. After the tour we played at the beach and then headed back to the restaurant for lunch before the long ride back to Jaco.
Yummy! Costa Rican Food
The last night there we stayed up the whole night because we had a very early flight. Costa Rica truly showed us “Pura Vida” and I look forward to the day I can return.
In Two Weeks We Were Off To…
Bali!! The beautiful Bali. First we spent our days in the beach area of Seminyak. It was sooo busy with people and stores and restaurants! And scooters! So many scooters! I welcomed our time at the beach which was very peaceful and calm. We stayed at Uma Sapna which was in a great location. Off the heavily trafficked area of “Eat Street” (Jalan Oberoi also called Jalan Laksmana) although only a short walk. We had a villa with our own little plunge pool. The pool was small but just large enough to enjoy a dip after walking in the hot Bali sun. I loved the friendliness of the people and the smell of incense that wafted from their spiritual offerings that lay everywhere along the streets.
One night we were there we went to check out the gay nightlife which was a short taxi ride from our villa. The area was packed and there were drag shows and people just enjoying a beer. The only annoying thing was all the cigarette smoke we had to endure at every bar and restaurant. We have gotten used to that not being a thing where we live. We still managed to have a good time though. I pride myself on being a decent navigator so when we were ready to leave I suggested we walk back. It was dark, but we felt safe and made it back with no incident.
Fun in the Sun 
Seminyak Beach 
Happy Hour 
Bottoms Up Lounge
Highlights of this leg of our trip were parasailing at Nusa Dua Beach (unfortunately we have no pictures), visiting the huge sculpture at GWK Cultural Park, where we saw traditional dancing, and going to Padang Padang Beach where the water was calm and the monkeys were gangsta.
GWK Park 
Traditional dancers 
GWK Statue 
Entrance to Padang Padang Beach 
Padang Padang Beach 
A monkey drinking someone’s bottle of tea
After Seminyak we headed to the more peaceful Ubud. Our host was the gracious Putu who made us feel as though we were in the home of a relative. Our rooftop room was beautiful and the view was amazing. Once again we chose a prime location for our stay. We were just off the main street and were able to walk short distances to the Ubud market, bars and restaurants. We were able to hear live music every night.
Monkey Forest Road 
Traditional home cooked meal 
Breakfast at Putus
Putu brought us breakfast every morning and even made us a traditional home cooked meal the night before we left.
Creating a fiber arts project with the people who traditional create the art is one of the things on my bucket list. So I signed us up to learn how to make Batik. We traveled to Denpasar and sat with women and men who create this beautiful art. We were shown how to make the picture of our choosing. My mouth dropped when I saw the image she chose because there were so many lines that would have to be traced with wax. Then painted. The process was calming and I was very proud of how our pieces turned out.
Next Up…The 1/2 Trip…
I was sad to leave Bali, but we were headed to our new adventure. A day and a night in Taipei City, Taiwan. I was very nervous about visiting Taiwan because we know nothing about their language or culture. But it turned out to be an amazing trip. We stayed in a studio in the bustling area of Wanhua District. The night we arrived I was tired and she was hungry. Thank goodness I wasn’t starving because all that we could find were places that offered pork or beef noodles.
The next day, using iffy GPS and my sense of direction we found a place that sold all vegan food! We ate there, then found some delicious bubble tea. I like how they asked how sweet would you like your tea based on percentages from 0-100%. She got 30% and I went with 70%! Next we found a bookstore that was in this mall. I was in heaven! There were no bookstores to be found on my previous trips. Believe me, I looked.
There were a ton of 7/11s, so we stopped in one and bought 2 cans of Taiwanese beer. Then headed back to the Airbnb studio before leaving for our 15 hour flight back home.
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